At Global Grassroots, 2020 has been one of introspection and reimagining. We have recommitted to our core values and examined our work and relationships to ensure we are authentically living those values. We have investigated and found new insights about the relationship between personal transformation and social change as understood in the realm of science and through the work of our peers. We have evaluated our impact over the last 15 years to distinguish what makes us unique and discern where we might grow next. And we have remained responsive to the needs and ideas of our change leaders, as they serve as transformational first responders at the front-lines of the COVID-19 pandemic locally.

On June 19th or Juneteenth, members of our community gathered for our monthly Conscious Change Circle. Juneteenth marks the commemoration of the official end to slavery in 1865. It was 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and it took troops marching into Galveston, TX to finally ensure the freedom of all slaves. But, as we know, BIPOC people in this country have continued to live with the same separation, hatred, exploitation, oppression, and injustice that slavery was founded upon. As we have faced in every previous moment, we are facing a call now to understand, heal, and repair our role in this system and the trauma it has caused for all people.

Global Grassroots offers the following practices and tools for investing in more conscious communications, especially during times when we need to be having difficult conversations across differences. We include here a mindfulness practice for maintaining presence during dialogue without losing touch with your own emotions; a guide for diffusing conflict; some insights from a study on person-centered communications, which help people feel truly supported; and tools for engaging in an exchange that honors the other’s self-efficacy while aiding them in reconnecting with their inner wisdom and finding their own solution. We hope these may be of support.

In these uncertain times, we all have a need for a little more compassion – compassion for those loved ones with whom we are spending ever more time with inside, those who are deeply suffering from the economic and health consequences of this pandemic, and for ourselves – to let ourselves off the hook a little in how we are coping with everything we are facing. Research shows that mindfulness practices, like meditation, change our perspective on others and our external situations (Hölzel et al., 2011b). Called perspective-taking, we become more adept at considering how another might feel, building empathy and compassion. We also learn how to reframe our perspective on what we experience in a more positive light.

In these uncertain times, we all have a need for a little more compassion – compassion for those loved ones with whom we are spending ever more time with inside, those who are deeply suffering from the economic and health consequences of this pandemic, and for ourselves – to let ourselves off the hook a little in how we are coping with everything we are facing.

To support your wellbeing, mindfulness, and commitment to conscious social change, we have created a list of resources to impact, inform, and inspire you during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for a downloadable and shareable copy.

To support your wellbeing, mindfulness, and commitment to conscious social change, we have created a list of resources to impact, inform, and inspire you during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for a downloadable and shareable copy.

A lovingkindess meditation by Gretchen Steidle.