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New Learning: Learning about the science behind yoga and mindfulness and how it really can be good for you. Also the flight aspect has always been interesting to me since you really don't know what you're like unless you're in a situation.
Potential Growth: I feel like I should definitely do more yoga and get into the practice in order to become better physically but mentally also

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New Learning: the challenges that our culture has when it comes to mindfulness since we are so used to having to do things by ourselves and taught to be independent when mindfulness wants us to be more connected.
Potential Growth: I need to try new things and be more engaging or outgoing. I think I'm a nice person but I feel like I could do things so that I'm more approachable to other people

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New learning: Learned about self care and to work on compassion especially for myself and other so that I can be a better person. And the strategy to focus on relationships and how we all interact with each other
Potential Growth: I know I need to be more self aware so that I can take into account how I am feeling during the day and I can eventually feel better after being aware of myself more.

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New learning: How there's a difference between supremacies like the general supremacy and body supremacy
Potential growth: Now that I've learned of the differences I can be more aware to better help others and myself if I find situations of supremacy

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Potential Growth: I feel like I should do more activities to clear my mind like going on walks, meditating,  or just trying to be more intentional in what I'm going through each day
New learning: importance of who I am and learning how that affects others as well as making sure to learn about others to be more aware of how to interact or treat them better

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New Learning: Learned more about supremacy and the impact it has on different types of people
Potential growth: I feel like I need to use my own voice better in order to help those around me that are maybe suppressed or feel that they can't voice their own opinions and lived experiences

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1. Something new for me this week was the idea that mindfulness can be a form of social justice. I definitely had a very narrow view of social justice before, but now it makes sense that mindfulness is social justice becuase it is an active force working against what are often pain points both for an individual and for a community. I have come to connect it with the idea of community care!
2. A point for growth for me today was when I slightly drifted off and started to think about how I can attempt to include mindfulness into my other classes. Since I am majoring in political science, law, societies and justice and history there is a big emphasis on historical social justice and how we can co-op it to fit the modern day, I often wonder why the practice of mindfulness hasn't been presented in any of my other classesses, because I find it be a very relevant topic to a lot of the time periods we examine.
3. Something that came up for me today was that I really want to just fix everything. I am very socially justice oriented and I just want to do as much good as possible, but that will most likely lead to my own downfall. I also can't seem to put together going out and doing social justice work and also having time to take care of myself. It either needs to be one or the other of the above actions, I don't know why I can't balance both.

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1. Something new for me that I learned today was how many mixed people there are! Its so rare that I get to meet other mixed people and its so exciting to get to be in a shared space with them!
2. A place of growth for me would definitely be in participating more in the mixed student union. The relief and comrodery that I felt in my breakout room when i could share and understand everyone else's experiences because we were all mixed people. I definitely feel like I can lean more into my mixed identity and I think the first step is going back to attending mixed student union meetings.
3. Something that came up for me today is how little I talk about my experience as a mixed person and I wonder if that comes from being white passing or if that comes from the dislike of both of my identities for mixed people in general. Is there a way a I can capitalize on my mixed identity to create a more inviting and inclusive space when I go out into the world?

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1. Something new for me during this class was the practice of writing poetry and actually thinking about what my words meant both to me and to those who might be reading it. I like the format that we wrote in today, and I might try it on my own using a different statment
2. A place for growth for me, and I'm sure for many of my classmates, was the idea of showing self compassion It is so easy to show compassion to others but I need to try to have more compassion for myself especially right now when I juggle 15 things with only 24 hours and 2 hands, and the capacity of 1 mind to handle them all.
3. I realized during practice how hard it was to simply sit. I always feel like I need to be doing something. It was honestly very physically and emotionally taxing for me to simply sit with the world around me and my own feelings. I really do wonder what caused this and when it started being a problem for me.

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What felt like learning for you in todays class?
I learned that mindfulness isn't something that is suitable for everyone.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I want to see what areas in the house that can be a potential place for me to practice mindfulness and having mindfulness help me control my emotions.

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I really enjoyed learning about everyone in the class more. I have not been able to meet or be in a breakout room with everyone in the class yet so being able to hear from all my peers was really special to me. I also enjoyed hearing the poems I thought it was an amazing way of expressing yourself and a good way to connect with each other. I think that an area for potential growth for me would be feeling comfortable sharing my thoughts with others without feeling like I am being judged.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
- "Tuning into a collective nervous system" by naming each person's feelings before launching into activity/discussion (esp. in justice work)
- Perceived discrimination linked to physical pain
- Difference between emotions and feelings: emotions as biological experiences responding to environmental stimuli vs. feelings as narratives we create about those emotions
- Socio-emotional learning
- Neurological explanations for effectiveness of mindfulness and yoga
What felt like areas for potential growth?
- Differentiating between my own emotions and feelings: I often recognize a biological reaction of discomfort to stimuli (e.g., something said to me) that I must then analyze before expressing my feelings, knowing that I have often interpreted or gauged my feelings too quickly based off of that biological response. In differentiating between the two, I can recognize that response and take time to question it before expressing myself or internalizing those immediate reactions.
- Engaging with a trauma-focused approach
- The visual depicting the line between fight/flight and freeze was particularly helpful in understanding the transitions that I experience between states of high anxiety and depression
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
- Many of the neurological functions Dr. King explained felt extremely validating in the sense that it spells out a logic behind the physical experiences of heightened anxiety and depression. I think as a capitalist, individualistic culture, we are encouraged to see those experiences only through a psychological lens rather than seeing them as operating within a system, allowing the "solution/treatment" to be individualized and often shameful.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
- De-individualizing mindfulness; mindfulness as a collective practice
- Capitalism's incentivizing  of performativity (for both individuals and businesses; e.g., valuing "diversity" without engaging with diverse modes of thinking, lived experience)
What felt like areas for potential growth?
- Figuring out where to go after noticing discomfort: how to engage/interrogate interpellations by ideologies I want to reject
- Challenging my own notions/biases about "expertise" (in relation to BK's rejection of formal presentation styles)
- "There's always silliness, there's always light"
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
- I found the group presentation regarding mindfulness in early education very interesting and encouraged me to consider how to incorporate mindful/self-soothing/self-reflection strategies in parenting
- The group presentation about mindfulness in a work setting was conflicting for me: it is difficult to frame mindfulness as a healthy practice during the work day without playing into capitalistic patterns of thought (e.g., productivity)

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

Something that felt like new learning in todays class was the idea that mindfulness is not a one size fits all. This was interesting to learn especially when  I think about how mindfulness can be applied in my daily life. I realize that not everyone will accept it but doesn't mean it is wrong. It simply means everyone experiences it different. Another thing I learned was the vagas nerve. I now understand why we have been focusing so much in our breathing during mindfulness activities. This is because physiologically this area of our brain bring us joy, calmness etc.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Continue to learn how mindfulness relates to my daily environments. I really enjoyed learning about how it connects to science, and would like to see how it is incorporated in our laws.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

In today's class something that felt like new learning was the idea of mindfulness as a compliance in our education systems. This resonated with me but with regards to our foster care system, and how youth who have negative behaviors require additional support. I work with foster youth who have behavioral problems, and at the end of the day it is not that they're "bad" kids but the fact that they lacked the support in their families and communities. At the end of the day it is a structure problem and not an individual problem. These kids didn't choose the environment they were born into.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Learning how to apply this to my workplace but also personal life. Learning how to change this, what can I do to challenge these norms. Overall learning how to contribute as much as I can.

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The lecture was great, maybe the best guess speaker we have had. I feel as thought I gained a light of insight into the neurological and physical effects of our emotions. This was a great realization for me to pay more attention to my body when it needs a practice of mindfulness or other things. Then moving forward from that I found it was important for me to pay attention to these physical aspects in friends or other people around me.
An area of growth for me would be that I can definitely pay more attention to my own physical feeling in more of a direct correlation to these emotional feelings.
Have a great week :)

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
Listening to Dr. King was very educating, I learned the history of mindfulness and it was nice hearing her talk about social justice.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I want to be more lenient on myself and others, taking things in slowly/smoothly.

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I found Dr. Sara King's lecture to be incredibly insightful. I enjoyed the model she showed that correlated our emotions with the 3 different nervous systems. Taking psychology last quarter, it was great to see some of my learnings from that class correlated into mindfulness and emotional responses!
Another thing I felt was really great was the breakout room discussion for this class. Hearing how mindfulness has bettered my peers lives was really inspiring and uplifting. I also connected with my peers on ways that we want to continue to use mindfulness after this class is over.

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From the recorded video, one of my new learnings would be that mindfulness, if not used correctly, could actually support capitalism which I had never thought of. I also learned a lot of positive ways that mindfulness can be integrated

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
-I'm so glad to hear Dr. King share the learning of emotions. I have more in-depth thinking about people perceiving their emotions and reacting to them.
- A new view of social justice and about the mindfulness practices it can focus on many different aspects, like connect to social and relationship.
What felt like areas for potential growth?
-Mindfulness practice helps me feel my emotion changes and better control it.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
-The reading of each class is really helpful and it is easy for me to understand the concepts mentioned in the lecture.
- I get a lot of perspectives through group discussion.

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I really enjoyed learning about the neuroscience behind neuroscience. The various models were helpful for me to understand the intersections between what we have been learning. An area for growth is being kinder to myself with my natural fight/flight/freeze responses, which I tend to be quite harsh with myself about. It was helpful to learn how natural these are and the role they play.

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What felt like new learning today?

I think the idea that mindfulness can be a scientific practice is new learning for me. Dr. King spoke a bit about the origin of mindfulness, and how our modern society is shifting away from it. At first, I thought mindfulness is more of a spiritual-based practice. But it's so much more than that! I feel a lot more educated from this class, and by learning insights from Dr. King.

Potential growth:

I am absolutely in awe of Dr. Sara King's work! Her journey is very interdisciplinary and fascinating! A lot of what she is doing resonates with mine. An area that I'd like to grow is to dive deeper into how I can bring together my work in art, business, education, public health, and media in a unique-structured framework. Dr. King developed a framework on the Science of Social Justice, and it's pretty interesting to see how she integrated science, mindfulness, and social justice for trauma-healing practices.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
Today's presentation by Dr. Sara King was very interesting, and I feel like I learned a lot more about the uses of mindfulness in education.  In the discussion I had with my group we had discuss that we're thankful to have the oppurtunity and like we all enjoy this class
I had no idea that educational systems were taking a more considerate approach to better educating students school are introducing mindfulness to school systems. This very important because the community need and their more to mindfullenses . I felt like a learn so

What felt like areas for potential growth?  For the past 9 weeks of class I really enjoy the mindfullness practice I really engage in it and in today study a learn more about Mindfulness and it study and I really learn about my emotion and body I will continue to learn more about my self

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New Learning:
There were a lot of things in Dr. Sara King's presentation that were new to me. From her definition of social justice, to the differentiation of emotions and feelings, to her discussion of intergenerational trauma. I've heard of intergenerational trauma before but today it clicked for me how much it affects the daily lives of every being. A person's internal drive and motivations are predisposed and preprogrammed based off of trauma experienced by ancestors. And because it is genetically coded it is so much harder to unlearn. The definition of social justice coming from love was so interesting to me, because sometimes social justice seems like it's centered around combating hate rather than creating spaces of love. I don't think love and hate are opposites that cancel each other out, and that's what I took from Dr. King's definition. The intention of social justice is seperate from the intention of oppression. They are not equal opposites.
Areas for Growth:
I think that in breakout rooms I have a tendency to step in and speak a lot. I don't want to control the conversation, but it is hard when others aren't speaking. I think it is important that I take that into large group discussions and speak there when no one else will. It's okay if I don't always say the right thing. I need to be okay with that and take the pressure off of myself. I have things to say, things to share. I need to learn to use my voice in places that seem less welcoming of it, rather than using all of it in one comfortable place.
Anything Else:
I really loved today's class, and all classes. Thank you for creating such a wonderful space for us this quarter. It was such a refuge that I came to every Monday after a stressful shift at work. This class never failed to ground me. Thank you Serena and Manka. Your compassion and energy truly made an impact on me.

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1. I really enjoyed learning about Dr. King's work and how it connects to what we have been talking about in this class. I thought she gave me a lot to consider and discuss moving forward. A new thing for me was the differences in the definition of well-being that Dr. King presented. I liked the distinction as I tend to lean more to the understanding of well-being from the psychologist point of view. I hope medicine starts to incorporate this idea into their definition and understanding of the concept of well-being.

2. I think areas for growth for me could be the idea that Dr. King presented on how when we come from a place of privilege or education, how do we feel like we can engage in social justice. This has been a struggle for me coming from backgrounds like this but I feel like it is important to recognize the discomfort that comes with this. I hope to continue to find ways to engage with others in social justice and understand that my intentions are there.

3. I really enjoyed our last breakout room conversation as it brought up a lot of connections that I have been making over the quarter. I also really loved the concepts that Dr. King is working with. I am feeling very grateful to have taken this class! Thank you for a lovely quarter!!

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One thing that felt like new learning for me today was the definition of justice that Dr. King gave (“loving awareness in action”) - I thought it was really beautiful and I connected with it. I think a lot of the time when I think about justice I think about a fight for justice, and there’s a lot of intensity behind the word. Adding love to that understanding of justice feels really helpful and hopeful.

One area of potential growth for me would probably be trying harder to think of questions to ask at the end of presentations. I always want to but I really struggle with coming up with questions and when I do come up with one, I often feel nervous about asking it and keep silent.

One thing that came up in class for me was something very small, but it kind of intrigued me: the idea of mindful eating. It made me curious, so I think I’m going to look into it.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
I enjoyed Dr. Sara King’s presentation today, I feel like I learned more things about applications  of mindfulness in education. I did not know that the educational systems are taking a mindful approach to better educate students. I just noticed that mindfulness has been introduced to some US schools, and they have multiple approaches when introducing mindfulness to school systems. I also learned some other applications of mindfulness, for example, Peace in Schools, and Latinx Therapists Action Network. I learned that the application of mindfulness focuses on different areas, some focus on family relationships, some are about school systems, and others are about collective well-being and connections with others.
What felt like areas for potential growth?
After this class, I feel that I need to work on applying mindfulness to a broader place, such as in education. I often thought that being mindful is a personal thing, and the goal is to improve one’s well being. I always apply mindfulness on an individual instead of a group of people. I now think that mindfulness could be a collective thing, and one thing I need to work on is to apply mindfulness in particular groups, those could be students, community members, friends, etc.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?

I would like to say thank you to Manka, Serena, and Dr. Sara King. This class definitely helps me to understand more about education. Especially the mindful way to approach education. I think it is an extremely important skill to have, at least it helps me both physically and mentally. I can see my improvements after these nine weeks, and I really appreciate you (the instructors) for organizing such a great class. This is the most enjoyable class that I have this quarter.

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What felt like new learning for you in today's class?
I think that Dr. King's presentation was very informative. I really enjoy the presentation, and having her as our class speaker. I also really like the way she look at social justice.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I think an area of potential growth for me is after class is over I want to pick a mindfulness practice, do it everyday and be consistent with it.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about what came up for you today's class?
Since this is the last exit ticket, I am very glad that I took this class, i am very grateful for everyone and the mindfulness practice. I feel like the mindfulness practice really helped me throughout this quarter, it made me slow down and appreciate what is around me, in turn making me more aware of my surrounding.

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New learning: Dr. Sara King’s presentation was so insightful. Her connections across disciplines were really unique and thought-provoking. The concepts she presented really illustrated how social justice, science, and mindfulness all intersect.

Areas for growth: I would really like to do more reading on neuroscience, social justice, and mindfulness.

What else: Thank you so much for bringing such a cool speaker to class!

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New learning:
After hearing the guest speaker for today's classes, it expanded my understanding for mindful practice from different perspectives, the concept which related to social justice, definitely create a brand new space for me to explore. Before, the area for defining social justice as a whole was blurred for me, but after hearing all the content which the speaker try to convey, I think that it is the same as my inner thoughts agree on. The action which try to express love and hope, all the tiny pieces which exist among our daily life created the bigger picture of social justice. Besides, her illustration from a scientific perspective to look at mindful practice, is also amazing and new for me.
Areas of potential growth:
I feel like the areas of my potential growth would be for me to focus more sources and environment outside of the classes, the mindfulness is everywhere among our daily life, not only in this classes, but also in many field, such as psychology, biology, and many. I would love to read more articles and research which related to how mindful practice can impact the human body and system.

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1. I really enjoyed hearing from Dr. King, and I'm super glad we got to hear from another speaker. I learned that the way we perceive our emotions and respond to trauma influences our wellbeing as well as our physical bodies.
2. I think I can work more on practicing self positivity, like encouraging myself in times when nobody else will, or just thinking positively when I'm too anxious or stressed.
3. I'm really going to miss this class and feel as though I could have learned more valuable lessons with enough time provided.

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Something that was new to me was the importance of neuroscience and how mindfulness could help so much in regards to trauma based work. More specifically, when Dr. Sara King discussed on the chart of freeze, fight or flight, and social engagement and how it correlates to the nervous system. It is very eye opening to see how different interactions could really change your body for better or for worse.

Some areas for potential growth would be to have more interbeing conversations/relationships with one another and to keep in mind the trauma someone might have for the past 5 or 6 generations that still have lasting effects. Basically, to just be more intentional.

Something else to share

I really enjoyed this class so much. I absolutely loved connecting with my classmates and just getting to know more about everyone's lived experiences and I thank you all for letting me become a part of your lives (only if it was for 9 weeks)!

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What felt like new learning for you in today's class?

New learning in todays class was definitely the neuroscience aspect of yoga/mindfulness. Reading or experiencing the good those practices can bring was a really good way of confirming the positive the activities can bring but learning about the science was like the cherry on top. I also loved learning about the flight/freeze aspect of ourselves, it comforted me knowing I wasn't the only one who reacted in these ways.

What felt like areas for potential learning

Potential areas for learning was definitely learning more about yoga and the studios/different practices within yoga that walk you through it using a trauma-focused approach, since the guest speaker mentioned how without this approach yoga would not be at its full potential. I am interested in knowing and learning about these practice and possibly engaging in them come next year.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about what up for you in today's class?

Yes! We had a good time in the breakout room we were in and really connected and laughed with each other it was nice. It was also nice to know Serena is working with the Latinx community! The work she's doing looks really helpful and interesting, I'll also look into it when I get back to Seattle!

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What felt like new learning for you in today's class?
Dr. Sará King's presentation was so educational and I'm really glad that she was able to come into class today to speak. I loved her definition of social justice and the more holistic perspective she had. The thing that stood out to me the most was her clarification that justice does not, and should not, mean more punishment and violence. This is something that I've been thinking for a while but was never able to articulate, and I'm just glad that I was able to hear her explain it.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
As we spoke about in my breakout group, I think trying to stick with mindfulness practices even when I'm not in a class for it is an area for potential growth. I appreciated Manka and Serena's feedback about how it helps to have a mindfulness community to stick with it, and that it's always an option to come back after a period of not practicing. It reminds me that I will be growing through what it means not to be a student doing things for the reward of grades, but a person who is trying to practice mindfulness because I believe in it.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about what came up for you in today's class?
I am so truly grateful I took this class during my last quarter at the UW. It was a beautiful way to end my time in undergrad because I think it did give me tools and practices and ways of thinking that I want to carry with me as I graduate, begin teaching/working with students, and as I grow. (I recently got a copy of Emergent Strategy and have since taken it with me for reading days at the beach and it's lovely and thoughtful and thought-provoking, and I'm excited to read through it!)

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?  Learning about the intersection of science and justice was new learning. As a person more focused on the arts, I tend to focus my time and energy into how dance and writing can be tools of justice.

What felt like areas for potential growth?  I've always kind of regarded STEM as the antithesis to justice work. I think a lot of this is because I'm a student at a big STEM university who experiences art classrooms then hears about STEM classrooms and the difference between how students are treated is staggering. I love the idea of questioning the justice inherent to STEM and how we can use that field as a way to do justice work. For me, this starts as reframing STEM from a soulless, only-grades-matter place to a place where real change can happen.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? This is one of the first classes for a long time that I am sad to see end! I want to thank you, Serena and Manka, for fostering a safe community that I was always happy to come back to. Cheers!

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- new learning for me was definitely defining justice as acts of love and compassion. i feel like I have always disagreed with modern idea of justice and have never been able to put the words to how I feel, and I feel like Sara did perfectly.
- I feel growth for me would be finding ways to have more mindfulness in social settings not just in my individual and private practices.

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1) For today's new learning, I was able to see another educator passionate for the same goals and endeavors I have been meaning to achieve. Through learning about the different experiences that many face such as stress from discrimination, stereotyping, microaggressions, and more, I was able to become aware and reflect upon the past experiences I have had.  Dr. King, had definitely inspired me in some type of way.

2) An area of growth that I could potentially work on would be learning to become more grateful with myself. Trying not to burnout on the last week of the quarter is something I do not want to do. With all of my exams and papers going on, I want to continue to push myself.

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New Learning:
Dr. Sará King's explanation of the difference between emotions and feelings was completely new to me, but it made a lot of sense as she explained it. I can't at this point articulate why, but it feels important to know the difference, that it will be important for me and a source of empowerment as I navigate being a human with a lot of emotions and feelings.
Growth:
In my breakout room we ended up talking about how easy it is to turn to our phones as a way to avoid/numb out the negative emotions that come up during our practices. It made me realize how much I do that, and that I'm not using my phone in a way that aligns with the best version of myself that I want to be. Working on building a better relationship with my phone is definitely an area for growth.
Anything else:
Thank you so much for a wonderful class!

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1.  I was so grateful to be able to listen to Dr. King share her work and passions. I learned about the awareness and mindfulness that can help prevent microagressions and discrimination that is linked to physical pain inside of the body.
2. An area of potential growth for me is being more present with my emotions and processing them as they arise.
3. I have learned so much, and am so grateful, this is an amazing class and community to be a part of.

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I gained a better perspective on my feelings of anxiety and rage when she showed the flight/ fight/ freeze visual. It made me feel validated to understand that my physical reactions and feelings were natural. I think the biopsychosocial model can help me be more empathetic to my own feelings and sensations as well as those of my friends. It brought up more reflections of my mind and body and why they are important in activism.

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I enjoyed this class a lot. For me personally, the best way for me to apply anything is to have a deep understanding of something. Dr. King was probably one of the smartest people I've ever heard speak before. She got big brains, and the way she understood social justice and how these things can affect people helped me so much, especially in the way I will be applying it.

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I am really thankful to have taken this class and been introduced to this way new of life. I am very excited to see where I am able to take my learnings and what I can do with it in my communities and experiences. I think having Dr. Sara in class was amazing and learning the scientific approach to mindfulness and justice was really interesting to me. It made me really happy to learn about all the things she is doing with bigger companies that have large outreach because the is really showing how mindfulness is taking over and people are becoming more aware of it. I think my area for potential growth would be ensuring that I continue the practices and continuing my journey of mindfulness.

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Thank you for having Dr. King share her work with us.  I really enjoyed learning more about perceived discrimination, psychological well-being (including a non-pharmacological approaches), the parasympathetic nervous system, and her thoughts on social and emotional learning (SEL).  I was particularly interested in her ideas on othering.

I think a lot about the notion of othering and how that construct impacts students in the classroom.  I struggle with understanding how to help students have equitable and authentic access to this space of learning.

I really appreciated that Dr. King took the time to define terms (like science, social, and justice) and how those terms hold meaning for her.  Sometimes jargon is difficult to understand--and can actually mean something totally different from one area of study to another (like how the word rigor has evolved from a medical term to an educational term).  I sometimes struggle with those who intensionally complicate the language.  Dr. King's definitions were a breath of fresh air!

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New Learning:
Listening to the different breakout rooms share with such honesty and openness felt like a gift, and I am glad I got the chance to learn more about those that are a part of our learning community. I particularly felt like I learned a lot from the breakout room which was made up entirely of people of mixed race/ethnicities; I had never really had the chance to hear people speak so openly about their experiences with a mixed identity. I feel that I learned a lot about the challenges of their identities, and at a more meta level I gained a greater understanding of why spaces built around shared identities can be so important.
Potential Growth:
I can't remember who in our class made the comment about it being important to remember that each of us experiences the world differently, but I know that is something I sometimes forget, and I want to work on keeping in the front of my mind, particularly when I am in moments of conflict.
Anything else:
Looking forward to our next (and last!) class!

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what I took from class today is stepping out of my comfort zone and talking within the breakout room. by doing that helped me learn more about the different perspectives with mindfulness and how others use it to cope with their daily life.

something I can work on is talking more to my family friends and co workers having them share about how they are doing and me being a little more vulnerable towards my feelings.

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in todays class, I learned that it is better to resolve the conflicts that you have and once it is solve let it go.

an area for potential growth is to learn to let my my feel at ease so I don't get overwhelmed with things that are happening around me.

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What felt like new learning for you in class-
I think it was really nice to see how to look upon all that we've learned in the class and hear a holistic version of it, being able to soak in everything for the heteronormative white patriarchy to sending love to others and how that all correlates to mindfulness. I got a better picture of it.
Areas of Potential Growth-
I don't think there are any new ones. More so just reinforcing what is already there that I've talked about through this quarter. There is always potential growth there.

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New Learning: My best learning today was learning about the moment. Mindfulness to me always meant checking out from reality, today I was checked into the here and the now, with my peers and with my professors, I learned a lot about unique and creative involvements of mindfulness in practice.
Areas of potential growth: In terms of potential growth I think it's important for me to think of mindfulness both as intersecting and combating the routine of my life. How it can assist with the standards we have in society, but also change them to be more empathetic and human.
What else: I wanted to thank Manka and Serena for the safe space they've created in this class. I really appreciate it. Monday was a hard day for me and this class was truly the highlight, especially the breakout rooms. I needed that interaction, that discussion, that moment to ground me.

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I learned a lot about my classmates experiences and challenges that mindfulness may help or make mindfulness difficult in their fields. It was nice to be able to connect with others who want to see equitable change in their fields that are built upon systems that are not equitable. An area for growth that I see is digging deeper into ways mindfulness can be exploited as to make sure it I am not doing that.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
In class today I learn to understand  different mindfulness practice which allow me be calm and I really like the disscussions it really allow me see and understand folks

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Being able to having a time reconnect myself and my opinions and thinking before talking .And being able check in and with others and myself .

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This week I found it very interesting that the similarities I shared with many students. I thought I was kind of the odd student out, as I was not an education major and this was my first mindfulness class. However after talking with my classmates and discussing our backgrounds, it became clear that most people we actually in a similar position to me. That juxtaposition to the class and everything we have been learning about ended up being kind of a humbling experience because it just made me eellike I had more of a sense of belonging, etc.
Areas for growth: I need to acknowledge that I probably have more in common that appear on the surface with most people, if that makes any sense. I need ti be able to communicate that feeling of unease or uncertainly or even misplacement with others more often, because I think more often than I usually acknowledge others are also feeling that way as well.
What else: Nothing! Have a great week :)

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
-I learned about how to apply mindfulness practice in different ways
-Different perspectives on mindfulness practice
-The positive effects of mindfulness practice on people
- I really enjoyed today's discussion of individual practice and community practice. Like for the individuals, the practice can bring the creativity and help mental health. For the community, i it can have group setting, and diversity. This can help people reduce stress.
What felt like areas for potential growth?
- Rethinking what mindfulness practice will bring to us
- Have a deeper understanding of how mindfulness practice affects us
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
-The group discussion shared many different points of view

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
In today's class, I learned different perspectives on mindfulness and how it has a different meaning to everyone.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I want to be able to check in with others more often than I do now. I feel that I get very disconnected and like to be in my own headspace which can be harmful to others.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
In today's class, I learned that being comfortable and feeling joy is very important for the practices. We talked about singing and how it benefits to mindfulness which is something that I never thought about.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I want to be able to communicate freely with others. It is hard for me to speak up or talk to someone because I tend to think that whatever I say will always be wrong.

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New Learning
One thing that felt like new learning to me today was how presentations and our expectations for perfection for ourselves regarding presentations can be tied to white supremacy culture, and that it can be helpful to acknowledge that voice of anxiety over presenting and then set it down beside us and get to work.

Growth

One area of growth for me is still definitely being a mindful listener. I caught myself quite a few times in class today rehearsing what I was going to say or getting lost on a train of thought while I wanted to follow what others were saying.
I think another area of growth is my understanding of how to practice and teach mindfulness in a way  that doesn't reinforce existing problematic systems/structures.

Anything Else
I really appreciated the Education as a Practice of Freedom reading that we discussed today. I thought it presented some valuable ideas and I connected with the need to stop looking at students and communities through a deficit lens and instead really consider what they have to offer!

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?  Learning how to work in a group without a specific goal in mind.  I was really moved by the breakout room that just held space with one another without being concerned about the product they were making.  It reminded me about the small ways that productivity mindset have gotten into my daily routines/ways of thinking.

What felt like areas for potential growth?  Like I shared as my group spoke, I want to work on mindfully integrating community care in the spaces I am a part of.  I really want to see how I can use community care to build relationships and make folks have a really steady connection to others in their community.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? Nope!

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What felt like new learning for you in today's class?
I think something that stood out to me definitely was the connection between mindfulness and storytelling. I don't know if I've ever thought about those two things as practices that could be connected, but today's group offerings highlighted the beauty and vulnerability that comes from mindful story-telling.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I'm still trying to practice the idea of "less prep, more presence" and how it relates to perfectionism and performance anxiety. I find it very confrontational to acknowledge how these are manifestations of systems of white supremacy that exist within my body and mind because perfectionism and performance anxiety (whether at work, in school, or other social settings) has been a constant throughout my entire life. So trying to be conscious of that, and also trying to unlearn it and be kind to myself while I try to unlearn this very deep-rooted way of thinking in my own head, is an area of potential growth.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about what came up for you in today's class?
I really, really enjoyed hearing everyone speak and sharing. It was so wonderful to get to know everyone a little bit more, hear their stories and experiences, and to just listen. I'm really glad we did it.

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What felt like new learning fir you in today's class?
I think something new I learn is presenting on zoom. It's been little over a year since I have done presentation, and presenting over zoom is also a new experience for me since this is the first time I presented over zoom.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I think an area of potential growth for me is to stay engage in class. Since the quarter is close to finish I am a little burnt out from school, so I find that I would get sidetrack.

Anything else you'd like to share about what came up in today's class?
I feel like today's presentation made me step out of my comfort zone, since it's been awhile since I have done presentation.

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1. I felt like I learned about people's different perspectives and what they are taking away from this class. It was nice to have a sense of community in an online setting. I really liked these ideas presented by each group as you could tell each member contributed something to it. I loved the rain cloud and rain drop idea for collective care. This as well as other presentations felt like a new way of framing the concepts we have talked about it class.

2. I struggled with my breakout room today. It was difficult to be creative and do something that wasn't a presentation so we ended up just doing Google Slides. I think I would have liked to learn more about my group and connect with them instead of feeling like we had to come up with a sort of presentation (even though we weren't forced to). Just goes to show you how much the ideas of what productivity looks like and behaves like affects you and others.

3. Overall, I really enjoyed today's class and the discussion it brought up. I wish we could have done one last mindfulness practice though!

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

One thing I learned in today’s class is the challenges in mindfulness in education, the individualism in Western colonization. Since individualism or independence is contradicting collectivism or interdependence, it might be challenging when mindfulness emerges from an individual form to a more collective form. I also learned neoliberalism, I learned about how it relates to capitalism, and mindfulness could be a tool for neoliberalism. Besides, I learned how everything ties together (capitalism, white supremacy, racism, ableism, collective care, colonization, individualism, etc.) with mindfulness in education, from my group discussion and my classmates’ presentations.

What felt like areas for potential growth?

I noticed when we were discussing the questions related to challenges and opportunities of mindfulness, we only focused on one major area which was collective care. I only thought about things and topics that are connected to collective care. I think one area of potential growth is to think outside of the box. I could practice more by thinking about things beyond the topic that is being asked. When listening to others’ presentations, I noticed that I was more mindful and I was able to focus for a long time. However, I think I still need to practice more on mindful listening.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?

I really like the presentation activity that we did today, I learned/reviewed a lot on the topics around mindfulness in education. One thing our group talked about first was about the poems that we did last week. I enjoyed spending some time reading their poems. We discussed the poems afterwards, and we thought that it is a great way to express ourselves, or what we want others to know. It was a very creative activity, and all the poems are written creatively as well.

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1. Today, I learned about how different yet similar the various mixes/biracial experiences are. It was great to connect with other biracial students who feel the same way as I do and could broaden my perspective on other issues that the mixed race community also has to put up with.
2. I would love to have another conversation with the people in my breakout room, especially about other topics related to education, or just feelings about being biracial in general. I feel like there's a lot to learn from other mixes and their experiences.
3. I loved this class and I had a great time meeting people similar to me.

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New Learning: One interesting point we discussed in class was about mindfulness and capitalism. I had thought of doing mindfulness in work spaces as a positive thing, but I did not realize that if it is still framed as a way to get people to do more work and be more productive that it is actually still using mindfulness for capitalist goals.

Area for growth: This realization has made me see that an area for growth I have is thinking critically about what goals hope to be achieved with mindfulness and how I perceive mindfulness in my own life. Am I seeing it as a way to be more productive too?

What else: I really appreciated our group discussion and our class presentations today. As a mixed race person, I especially appreciated my classmates’ thoughts on mixed race identity.

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- What felt like new learning for me was hearing about everyone's diverse experience with mindfulness outside of class, that in some ways mirrored mine, but in other ways were entirely different.
- A place I felt I could grow more is is being more engaged with what the present discussions are as I felt I kept getting sidetracked or hyper-focused on a past idea.

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What felt like new learning today?

How mindfulness ties to capitalism and neoliberalism

Looking at how mindfulness can draw assets in the community-based workplace (it’s not just about personal development, it’s also about community/career development)

Potential growth:

Checking in with coworkers -- asking them how they are really feeling, offering them a safe space to talk about other things in life besides work (stepping into the discomfort to be vulnerable)

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Something new that I learned from class today is the term Neoliberalism. This means to me is seeing mindfulness in corporations to reinforce this capitalist mindset. Or in education, doing mindfulness to achieve higher grades/test scores. I didn’t know this term so it really enlightened me on how mindfulness has changed since its creation.

Some areas of potential growth for myself is not doing mindful meditation practices that have grown through capitalistic ideas. To me this means, I am not trying to do my practices just to achieve success. I should focus more on doing mindful practice to help me and others as a whole to help with social justice and separate ourselves from colonization.

Something additional I can add is I cannot thank everyone enough for saying and speaking up in our presentations today. I am so proud of everyone for contributing and I am so thankful to have learned from all groups. It was very vulnerable for everyone to speak and I really appreciate it.

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I learned a lot about the discourse surrounding teaching mindfulness in education, particularly about teaching low-income students mindfulness without identifying the root of the stress and suffering. I think areas of potential growth include continuing to contextualize practices and ideas that I adopt. My group really bonded over being mixed-race, which helped me realize the importance of connecting with people whose identifies I can share in addition to speaking with diverse people.

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New Learning:
I learned a lot during the breakout room and the sharing of each group, various experience that were provided by classmates related to the mindfulness really expanded my understanding for the mindfulness practice,  students as ourselves sometimes focus too much on achieving good grades but ignore the importance to take some  time giving ourselves some space to think more deeply about our surrounding, our society which we live in . Mindfulness is actually everywhere around us, from the discussion I realized that actually everyone of us is somehow involved with the mindfulness, I think this idea of giving ourselves space should be letting more people to know.
Areas of potential growth:
I think I should pay more attention to the mindfulness that exist among the community that I am lived in, to engage with it and promote it would be my goal. And plus I think I should have more awareness of developing myself from a mindful perspective rather than just "finishing the work done", there are so many meaningful things rather than just finishing the assignment well, and as a Asian, I think I should be more confident and more proud, because the first step before to speak out for ourselves is to truly accept ourselves.

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1) Something that I had found interesting would be how many commonalities they are between different individuals and how we all have been affected by the same systems of America. Learning more about the oppressive systems, it makes me want to learn more so I can find different ways I could breakdown and deconstruct everything.

2. An area where I could potentially grow would be to find learning how to apply more collective care for both my self as an individual and for others as a group. Through learning about everyone's experience and finding ways I could help and relate it not only empowered me, but gave me an entirely new perspective.

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I really enjoyed working in a small group and the group sharing today.  The privilege walk, the  awareness of others challenges and opportunities, the notion that "hope drives change," the concept of looking at the self and the larger picture, and the idea of using different identities to lift up and let down were all great reminder and/or new learnings for me today.

I continue to struggle with finding the right type of practices to try and employ in the elementary classroom.  I still think that walking meditations (outside with nature) and music would make great inroads to self-care.  As I mentioned in class, sometimes I feel like I am walking a tightrope and worried that I might over step. I realize that the practices that are be helpful to me may not be something that interests others.

We also spoke a bit about grit during our small group work.  I really appreciated the different perspectives and how the concept of grit plays out in the educational system.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

Something that felt like new learning during todays class was the "middle way." This resonated with me and how at times I feel like I am not fully invested in myself or the world around me. This has been something I have recently began to change in my life and it was very cool to learn how this was a buddhist teaching.  Another thing was thinking of emergent strategy and how it is applied in our daily life.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Becoming better at implementing this knowledge on a daily basis, but also continue to learn with an open mind and willingness to change everything that makes me unhappy.

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1. Bryan Stevenson's ideas felt like new learning to me. I liked the idea of how hope and justice are intertwined. I think this is important in moving forward toward collective care, etc. I also thought the ideas that the guest speaker shared were new for me. Song as a mindfulness practice is so cool! I often use music as an outlet when I am stressed, etc. so connecting mindfulness and song would be a great thing to try.

2. For me, emergent strategy is still a little confusing. I think I just did not grasp this particular reading as well. I think with practice, it is a concept that will become more familiar. I also think something I could work on is staying focused during class/watching the recording. I tend to let my mind drift too much and lose my attention on the mindfulness practice.

3. I am hoping to be in class more regularly as I have unfortunately missed a few classes and had to watch the recordings.

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1. One thing that was new to me during class today was prating being present within conversations. Often times I am very focused on what I am doing next, and not focusing on what is currently happening.
2. An area of potential growth is being more patient with myself. I often try to rush through things to be more productive.
3. I really enjoyed todays class and learned enjoyed reacting being mindful within everyday practices.

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I learned a greater sense of connection with the earth through the use of poetry. I usually connect with the earth with my body, feeling the earth supporting me, or with my sense of sight, appreciating the beauty around me, but not with words. I think I still have work to do in terms of including the land in my speech and thoughts as I interact, particularly in the university setting. I thought about the use of land acknowledgements and how they can easily be skipped over without letting the words and history sink in.

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In class I learned a new connection between singing and gratitude. I love to sing, but I struggle a lot with being kind to myself and giving myself gratitude. I am going to start trying to sing my gratitude affirmations so they can be easier for me to say!
Areas for growth: Working on what I stated above. I want to give myself more gratitude, even though it's hard. My self esteem is something I continue to work on and I want to be more centered with myself.
What Else: I hope everyone enjoys the weather this week :-)

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Collective care was a new topic we were discussing and I think this subject is super important. This idea really should get mixed into our school system to create morally better kids. At the end of the day, that is much more valuable than knowing chemistry for 99% of the kids.
Potential growth-
I've got to ask myself if I'm demonstrating a collective care in my everyday life, who or what am I valuing in order?

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What did I learn?
It was good to listen to other people's thoughts on mindfulness for racial justice, and I thought we touched on good things. Do what you can seemed important.
Potential growth-
I will be working on keeping my eye open on how I can actually make a difference instead of just scoring points in a conversation

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What was new learning in today's class?
Emergent strategy was definitely new learning. But I still don't understand it all the way yet. I think it is the idea of changing your strategy as new ideas and factors arise.
Potential growth areas-
Probably again thinking about loving others who are obstinate and frustrating to talk to. That seems to be a recurring theme in this class and it is a recurring area to grow.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
-Recognize how injustice exists in society
-Understand how conflicts arise and how people need to resolve them
- Communities and individuals need to keep improving
What felt like areas for potential growth?
- Mindfulness practice allows me to rest and be healed
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
-The article combined with examples to make me understand more clearly

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
In today class learning i enjoy the mindfullnes but it was really difficult I was feeling sick and i was not feeling well what so ever. like i lost my voice due to the sickness that im feeling this was very sort of different for me doing something out my comfort zone
What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
- The group discussion help me gain more perspective on others point of view.
Potential Growth;
Lastly ive been feeling sick and i would say not pushing myself taking time off and helping myself out mentally and physically and feeling much better because that would help. Allowing myself doing things out my comfort zone

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

I grew up singing and was in choir for about 6 years. I never knew that this type of outlet could be used as a mindfulness practice, so this was new to me! Makes me feel like painting or writing poetry could be viewed as another meditation practice too.

Potential Growth:
Recently, I've been feeling stressed, and sometimes, it's hard to relax, so a potential growth for me is to find time and space to ground myself through challenging moments.

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New Learning

One thing that was new learning for me in today’s class was how singing can be used to practice some of the ideas that we’ve been talking about in class, and can be helpful in bridging those ideas with the physical body. Hearing the “May I be filled with loving kindness…” message to the tune of amazing grace was new to me and something that I’m really glad I had the opportunity to learn about today!

Potential Growth

An area for potential growth for me is definitely with the practice that was the focus of today’s class. Using a conversation as a place to practice mindfulness felt difficult for me today as I kept getting distracted during the conversation by the fact that I was trying to be mindful (which was super counterproductive)! So I would love to grow with this.

Anything Else

I'm really glad that we had the opportunity to hear a guest speaker in class today! Today's class felt very uplifting with the musical component.

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New learning: I had a lot of technical difficulties today, so I learned about troubleshooting these issues.

Area for growth: practicing mindfulness more often

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As someone who is super uncomfortable with signing and other sorts of things like that I enjoyed the exercise today as I felt like I did not have to be a good singer to engage in the practice. I learned that this is a good way to center myself, maybe not because of signing but because I was pushed out of my comfort zone. And I like this. I do not, especially due to the pandemic, push myself out of my comfort zone enough. And I really like that feeling to be more centered and intone with myself.
I need to continue to push myself out of my comfort zone more. I need to not let other shame me as much or value other options of me as much. I need to no longer edge in the shameful behavior and culture that is so prevalent within our society. And finally I believe I need to just be a little kinder to all in all aspects of life.
The class inspired me to be more confident outside of my comfort zone. I think that moving forward, as I do not think I will be signing as much, I will be doing more things that make me feel this way in terms of more kind of "free" maybe. Besides that I really enjoyed the class and have enjoyed the work we engaged in today.

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I think that I found the singing exercise we did to be really interesting to me. Singing is not something that I do on a regular basis and it is something that i am not that comfortable with sharing however one area for potential growth for me is becoming more comfortable with these practices and truly being immersed in them, even when it is something that makes me nervous or something new to me. This would help me ensure that I am getting the most out of these practices and truly partaking in them.

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1) Something that I had found interesting and learned was the different Buddhist meditative practice that BK had helped us with during class. Today, I was able to seep in all of its interaction and become more aware of my surrounds. This practice allowed me to really discuss love to myself and open my eyes to a entirely new perspective. Being able to sing or just vocalize my feelings enables me to more further with my choices and my confidence.

2. An area where I could potentially grow in would be to do more of these exercises out side of a classroom and to partake in them. While I do use the older meditative practices, I have yet to incorporate more of the newer ones. Being able to take education 215, I am also being taught about many different practices that tie to just observing, eating, brushing my teeth, and this all allows me to revisit my previous ways of thinking.

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What felt like new learning for you in today's class?
I think the the practice today is new for me. In a way it is a lot like karaoke where you use songs and music to relax yourself. It can be an outlet to express a person's emotions.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I think an area of potential growth for me is trying to focus and engage in class. I find myself often drifting off once in a while, so a goal that I am trying to achieve is stay engage in the practice.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about what came up for you in today's class?
I really enjoyed today's class epically the practice I thought it was very soothing and relaxing,.

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1. The content our guest speaker shared with us today felt like new learning. I had never thought of using song as a method to practice mindfulness or find peace within myself, which I'm not sure why because music is one of the best forms of art to help influence emotions both positively and negatively.
2. I really struggled with the poem activity during our break. I couldn't find the words to describe myself and really didn't want to put a label on myself that I didn't feel was important to my identity, so I couldn't figure out what to write after "As a..." . I'm still not completely sure what I would put in that space, nor do I know how to use poetry to express how I feel about the label.
3. I really enjoyed hearing from our guest speaker and wish we could have more time to learn from them. They were an excellent singer! :)

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What felt like new learning for you in today's class?
BK's presence in today's class was very insightful. It was nice to hear a summary when they went through the components of love, which touched upon things we've discussed in previous classes throughout the quarter. I also really enjoyed the podcast and reading for today's class, particularly Bryan Stevenson's perspective on hope and how without it, working towards justice is impossible.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
One area of potential growth that came from today's singing practice was, again, finding space for myself to receive love and compassion, especially when it comes from myself. It's a journey of feeling deserving enough of kindness, and an area of growth that I'm constantly trying to allow for.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about what came up for you in today's class?
I do love singing, and like Manka and a few others also shared, I hope to incorporate singing and music into my mindfulness practices because I think it can definitely bring me joy and comfort. I also really enjoyed writing the poems, although it was a little scary to be open/vulnerable in that way knowing that others would read my words. But I appreciated the space for that.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

Something new I learned today in class If you don’t believe that there’s hope, there’s no belief in the ability to change. I learned this more specifically through Bryan Stevenson’s podcast, but we also talked about it in class and I just think it is so true! If no one hopes for a change, then no one will go out and make changes to the world for a better future for everyone.

What felt like areas for potential growth?

Something that I think I have areas for growth is to think critically about what communities join, and what specifically organizations donate time and money to. I think when people say to donate to “make changes” people will just throw their money out to groups and we don’t always know what specific groups are actually helping their cause. I think I have to research more groups that I want to involve myself in.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?

I am going to share my poem to everyone because I am trying to be more open: As someone who is living in an able-body that is Hispanic and female,

I feel

Confused about the power that has been given to me compared to my friends who experience things that I never have.

Scared that they will hate me for never truly understanding.

And so eager to want to help in any way I can

Confused about the power that has been given to me compared to my friends who experience things that I never have.

Scared that they will hate me for never truly understanding.

And so eager to want to help in any way I can

Confused about the power that has been given to me compared to my friends who experience things that I never have.

Scared that they will hate me for never truly understanding.

And so eager to want to help in any way I can

As someone who is living in an able-body that is Hispanic and female

I feel tension all around me

And hope that the light and love from this earth will one day heal all pain and suffering.

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New Learning:
Reading the poems by other people in the class really felt like new learning, in the sense that I gained a greater understanding of who is in our learning community and what they bring to the community. Reading the poems of people with whom I share certain identities, I felt a stronger connection and this sense of belonging, a sort of "oh, I'm not alone in this" which I found both comforting and inspiring.
Growth:
I think I have a lot of room to grow in the practice of mindful listening, perhaps it was because it was towards the end of class, but I found it really challenging to be mindful and intentional in listening to those in my breakout room. I am excited to practice this practice some more with the people I live with.
What else: I really appreciated listening to BK speak today

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?  I was really struck when BK said how our privileges can also be our practices.  Most times I've heard privilege be said like it is a dirty word.  In reality, we all want the privileges we lack.  In a perfect, just world, we would all feel privileged.  Moving from shaming myself for privileges to wanting others to share that with me was an important distinction I made today.
What felt like areas for potential growth?  Exploring more about how academic language is also a barrier to justice. I love exploring frameworks of justice and it has always been useful for be to look at injustices from theoretical lenses because that is how my mind best processes information. However, that language can be inaccessible to the masses. I want to think more about how I can take everything I know and, to put it in Stevenson's words, make it more proximal to others.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? The importance of being kind to those who don't understand or have the same vision of justice as I do is something shared! It was really validating to know I am not the only person who struggles with that!

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1. What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
Definitely the guest speaker and the  four part definition of love. It really helped open up my heart and mind to a new way of feeling love for myself.
2. What felt like areas for potential growth?
Something that felt like potential growth was our discussion about how to use emergent strategies to be more interconnected and compassionate in our small communities as a form of justice work.
3. Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
I really loved having a guest in class and I loved the song!

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New Learning:
From the guest speak, I leaned about how singing can help us with the practice. Also as a person who loves singing, I almost forgot how joyful I am when I am singing and following the rhythm of the music. Plus I understand that joy is really important when we do the practice, a comfortable space for us to do the practice, a nice weather for us to do the practice, all the factors contribute to our feelings of the practice, to embrace our true desire, the desire for joy.
Areas of potential growth:
I need to be more mindful with myself, I think right now I am too impetuous, I always want to focus on the right answer of certain issues rather than the process of finding it by myself, I always want a result in a hurry rather than enjoy the process of building it step by step. Sometimes I ignored some of the most basic things, just focusing too much on myself. This world is so big, there are so many things happened everyday, I have to focus on more about the people and the community around me, only in this way I can connect with others better.

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I learned to reconnect with art in the form of music and poetry as a form of reflection and activism. I think areas of growth can be practicing connecting with others rather than focusing on me as an individual when I think about change and hope. I appreciated the practice of reflecting on and articulating about my identities.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

New learning was definitely about everyone in class! A lot of people shared their stories today and it was nice getting to know everybody   in class since we have not had a conversation that open yet.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Potential growth for me was being a better presenter. I suck at presenting and usually get super nervous, it wasn't any different this time but I think with practice I can be better.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?

I'd like to share how it was really nice being in small groups and talking, maybe we could have a session where we could just get to know each other and talk, kind of like some peoples presentations. I think we'd all benefit from that.

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New Learning:
Potential Growth:
Finding awareness in injustices inside and outside of my own spaces. There is so much shame in
Anything Else:
The idea of singing as a mindfulness practice was interesting to me. I've heard about and known the importance of finding, using, activating one's voice and I think that that idea is contingent on love.

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New learning: I learned how singing can be turned into a practice of extending wellness and gratitude to not only others, but also myself. This is something I had experiences a bit in my own native culture but never have really embraced.
Areas for growth: An area for growth I noticed was being less judgmental/more validating/extending grace to myself when examining my experiences as a lighter skinner Native American. In the poem writing exercise I found myself wanting to place a lot of judgement on my experiences.
What else: This class really inspired me to explore expressive practices such as singing and writing.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?
- I loved hearing from BK and getting a brief introduction to Buddhist practice
- Overlap between joy and hope, both being necessary to work toward change
What felt like areas for potential growth?
- Seeing joy as a necessary element of resistance and collective care
- Finding workspaces that don't subscribe to norms of capitalist work culture
Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
- I enjoyed BK's singing today; it reminded me of a type of meditation I practiced as part of Jeanette Bushnell's lovework course, in which a former student led us through a "sound bath," with pouring water, stones, chimes, and her voice.

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What felt like new learning for you in today’s class?

I learned to be more aware of self, and to work with self-care as a foundation. I learned some elements of true love, such as loving kindness, compassion (similar to empathy), and joy. The activity (the music/song) we did together was a great way for me to learn about loving kindness or true love. I felt connected and I found a lot of joy when I was singing along. Like BK said, I also felt that my body begins to “wake up” and my mind begins to be aware of those feelings. Another new learning is the idea of emergent strategy that focuses on the relationship and interactions between one and another.

What felt like areas for potential growth?

One area of potential growth might be to keep being aware of self, and putting efforts to self-care and self-well-being. One way I’m going to do this is to keep practicing singing the song “May I be filled with Loving Kindness”, this helps me to be mindful of my body/myself. Additionally, I would like to improve my sense of true love, to improve compassion and joy in myself, and to increase compassion for others and joy for others. Another thing I need to work on is to practice more mindfulness conversation with other people, and mindfully listen to others when they share their thoughts.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?

I love the song (the lyrics) that BK sang in today’s class. He sang the song “May I/you be filled with Loving Kindness” multiple times, and I really began to think deep into those lyrics/questions. I think singing out the lyrics really helped me to be aware of myself and other beings, rather than just speak them out. I had some emotional feelings and deep thoughts when switching the word from I to you, earth, etc.

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The Prayer/Song to Practice today was a new learning for me.  My regular practice does often include song (traditional Buddhist chanting) and rarely is anything offered in English.  This was a nice opportunity to learn about another path.

I struggled with the poem exercise today.  I am not exactly sure why.  In some respects I am not sure about trying to define myself/focus/choose a particular set of words.  I will sit with that for a while and see if I can find a place of movement.

In class today I really appreciated the way that Amazing Grace, with its historical significance, was transformed into an active prayer.  The flow, from I...to you (like and dislike)...to nature (earth/land)...to all, seems like a natural progression.