June 3, 2022

Resilience Lab and CCDE Wrap Up Lecture Series with Two-Day Conference

^{5/31/2022 – In collaboration with Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity} 

On May 18th, 2022, we launched our capstone event for this year’s Resistance through Resilience series, a collaboration with the UW Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity that focuses on the application of mindfulness and compassion-based practices to interrupt racism and its intersections. For this two-day event, consisting of two radical listening sessions and a spotlight speaker panel, we showcased dialogues alongside participatory practices to deepen our understanding of the personal impacts of racial injustice and the everyday tools we use to interrupt them.

---

 

May 18 – Morning Listening Session  

Our morning workshop offers a primer on the concept of radical listening, an important piece of engaging with others in a mindful and equitable way. As a group, we center three sets of dialogues for discussion, interwoven with community-led somatic practices. 

“Radical listening is about slowing down and tending to what you’re hearing, not [just] what you feel,” says Dr. Ralina Joseph, director of the CCDE and one of the event’s facilitators. “[It also] means not everyone is speaking equally all the time… there are others of us whose perspectives are not always heard, and who need to be heard.” 

---

 

May 18 – Afternoon Listening Session 

After a short break, we returned again to important dialogues between community members on the topic of resilience, now introducing the practice of serial testimony. An important exercise in the development of our radical listening skills, serial testimony involves the expression of each individual’s truth without group response or judgement, building mutual respect for our diverse experiences and expressions. In addition, community members lead breathing, gratitude, and kindness practices to refocus our intent as we close out the first day of the conference.  

As a closing offering, Resilience Lab member Sasha Duttchoudhury leads the group in a compassion exercise, inviting participants to extend kindness to others and themselves. “May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you be at peace and at ease. What is it like to offer yourself these same wishes for wellbeing that you offer others?”  

---

 

May 18 – Spotlight Panel 

A panel of four community leaders as they reflect on, expand upon, and even complicate notions of resistance through resilience. Our featured speakers include Aggie Briscoe (Retiree, Information Systems), India Ornelas (Interim Chair, Department of Health Systems and Population Health), Jaye Sablan (Assistant Director, UW Graduate School), and Marsha Rule (Retiree, UW Medicine Journalism). 

Sablan shares her thoughts on self-compassion as a grounding for resilience and contentment: “In my everyday life, I feel like I have to prove myself,” says Sablan. “So then, to tap into self-compassion, it allows us to appreciate and have gratitude for the strengths you have in your life and the people that support you.” 

Rule agrees, emphasizing the importance of creating an internal measure of worth that doesn’t reflect the expectations and judgments of others: “Some people may get it, some people may not. Then I can be really compassionate with myself. This is who I am, I hit my mark!” 

---

Are you interested in learning more about the connection between mindfulness practice and racial justice? You can read more about our previous speakers and watch recorded sessions on our Resistance through Resilience page. 

We’re excited to continue our Resistance through Resilience programming in the 2022-23 academic year! For more information, keep an eye on the program page and sign up for updates from the UW Resilience Lab and the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity.