I truly appreciate the care of  mindfulness because it allows me to think over exactly having to be able to face setbacks and think about the world. I feel like taking breaks more often is important. I should do that and self reflect and be more mindful to those who are around me and their feelings. Because at the end of the day you matter and your well being .I want to continue to keep a positive idealistic  mindset when  considering things, making sure I look at the benefits more of the brighter side of things in comparison to the negatives that may show and allowing myself to not think so much .

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Areas for potential growth would be to definitely learn more about these systems, not just in my own personal life, but in general and how others who have different identities experience these same systems of power/oppression as well. 

 Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? 
Practicing mindfulness and self-compassion was really emotional for me -- it's definitely something that I am not practicing on my own, so having space in this class to do so will be very helpful for me (even though it's difficult and scary sometimes!)

-I have learned more about social problems through today's class 

-I have learned more about mindfulness and combine with compassion

-Understand the social identity

-Better arrange my time and get some rest

-Learn about different privileges

-Better practice in mindfulness

-Mindfulness practice is a good way for me to think and relax.

What felt like areas for potential growth? 

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

What felt like areas for potential growth? 
- Definitely becoming more comfortable with expressing kindness towards myself with the same level of comfort that I can give it to others.

 Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? 
- Something strange was the discomfort of saying positive things to myself, and feeling that it was frivolous in a way, and just wanting to move on. This was strange and I had never noticed that reaction before.

What felt like areas for potential growth? 
In starting to understand what it means to hold sweetness for myself, I see that it is an area in which I need to grow, a frame of mind I need to develop.

 Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? 
I had a lovely breakout room discussion, I was thankful for the chance to listen to other people share their experiences.

What felt like areas for potential growth? 

Areas for potential growth were mindfulness techniques for me. I think I can improve on them because usually I don't focus on much, I just try not to think and try to notice things I usually don't pay attention to. But, focusing on my breath would help me better my technique to be in the present moment. I also think I can educate myself more on ableism since I have experienced it first hand but had no idea that it had a word attached to it.

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

Yes, during our breakout rooms we talked about society standards and someone brought up how women are "forced" to dress/act/look "manly" in the workplace to seem less feminine. For example suits, "formal business attire" is only suits, for both women and men, but why should women have to dress in suits? Why are formal dresses not allowed? We raised this question while discussing and it was a good point to bring up.

Personally I really enjoyed the Mindful practice during class. It helped me to focus back to the class and  help me relax both my body and mind.

 

Something new I learned is how Ableism is everywhere around us. It is in the construct of our society, it is in the way we speak and the way we view everything around us yet it easily can go so unnoticed because of the privilege some of us have. I also learned that working towards justice is a lot harder than we think but we are slowly starting to talk about the issues that are arising and hopefully change our future and help the next generations. 

Something that also came up was how nice and relaxing doing our practices is for me. It is so refreshing to clear my mind so that I can be ready for our next task at hand. 

The history of mindfulness was new for me, I think the things Serena talked about, such as global traditions and history of Buddhism, help us to know a little more about mindfulness. It is also interesting to see the different interpretations on mindfulness. Ableism is definitely a new term for me, I learned some of the connections between ableism and other concepts that we addressed in the main room, and I also learned more about ableism from our small group discussion. 

An area for potential growth is keeping up with mindful practices. It’s been a long while since I had done mindful practices, now I feel like I’m picking it up. Additionally, I am looking forward to knowing more about ableism and its connection with capitalism and racism and so on. 

I enjoyed today’s mindful practice so much, I had some deep thoughts about myself during the practice, and I also felt emotional when thinking about compassion. When we were talking about ableism, I think the Starbucks example that Devon shared was very compelling. Her explanation helped me to understand ableism a lot more, and I now start to think more on this topic. 

Areas for potential growth:

Something that came up:

Some places where I feel like there is potential growth in myself is to follow in the footsteps of Buddhist beliefs and to work on my self-care before I even try to help in my community. I feel that I will never be able to help others around me to grow if I am rooted in something filled with anger and hate. I also think this is a valuable time to break down what issues I have personally (maybe shame) in order to break down the barriers I have around certain issues and be a person of help and support; an ally. 

Something I’d like to add is that I wish we could talk a little more, like have conversations more but I understand if people get nervous. I get very nervous as well but I am going to try harder!

The social Identity and Power discussion that we discussed in small groups last week helped me to better understand the terms we talked about last time (ableism, racism, capitalism, etc). When we talked about it in our large class discussion today, I was able to see some new perspectives that my classmates discussed. I think the quotation that brought up about Asian-Americans also describes me as well, but I did not notice that until someone mentioned it in class today. Another term that I learned is BIPOC, and how the BIPOC are likely to be treated differently (such as experiencing racism). 

For the areas for potential growth, I could share/express more about myself. In this class, I was able to share my thoughts anytime, so one thing I tell myself is to share my stories more as well as to listen to others more often. Another thing that I’m working on is to be more aware of myself as an individual, to increase both self-care and community care.

I like where there was a long silence after you asked us to share some of the thoughts that we had. It felt awkward at first because I did not see other people do that, they would just move on after a short silence (whether in-person or online). However, as the silence continued at that time, I then began to think/organize my thoughts related to that question you asked. 

One thing that felt like new learning for me today was something I learned in the practice. When imagining another individual and their discomfort, I started off by imagining grief and tried to work with that really heavy and very uncomfortable emotion. I heard the recommendation to picture something less extreme like minor hunger, but thought that a more intense emotion would be easier to work with for practicing compassion. I learned though, after the practice had wrapped up, that I bit off more than I could chew. So, my learning was to start small when working with discomfort in this practice. 

Areas for Potential Growth: 

One area of potential growth that came up for me today was in thinking about solutions to some of the problems my group was discussing. I was able to readily think of ways that we’ve been taught out of collective care, but when I was trying to think of what changes could be made to address that, I wasn’t able to come up with as many responses as I would like to.

Anything else that came up:

I enjoyed my breakout room discussion today and am really interested in hopefully learning more about Community care!

Today’s class helped me learn a different way to approach mindfulness -- through a compassion practice that focuses on offering compassion to someone else. This is not to say that I do not practice this kind of offering when there is someone around me suffering. Instead, it created a different (more aware) feeling just by imagining someone there. 

After reflecting on today’s class, I was not up to speed in completing the readings for today’s session, so I wish to grow more in being prepared for discussions, both in breakout rooms and in the main room. I would also like to be more present in class. I was pretty fidgety today, so I was my attention was in and out.

I appreciate those who did share their thoughts and experiences! It was also lovely to see that even though there was some disagreement on some things, everyone could get their point across respectfully -- it helped me understand both perspectives better. 

Areas for potential growth:

Some areas for potential growth is to explore new spaces and communities in order to learn more about different cultural, backgrounds, and interests. I also noticed that I many ideas and experiences that I wanted to share, and I tend to speak more because of the excitement. Thus, some ways to improve and grow as an individual is to "listen more > talk less". When we talk about the idea of community during class today, it is also important to listen to diverse voices and perspectives. This is how we all learn and understand each other. 

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

Recently, I've noticed this about me, but when I talk to people or connect with them, I feel like I have more energy. Today, during our mindfulness practice, I felt so tired and drained. It seems like when I do nothing, I feel more weak. It sounds odd to say (and I should probably feel more relaxed for sitting in silence, but it didn't turn out that way for me). After the mindfulness practice, it took me a while to regain my energy back. It wasn't until we went into breakout rooms again (where I had the opportunity to speak and share my responses with others). 

One thing that I learned/sat with more is that, in many ways, external factors sculpt the ways that a lot of us think and sit with certain feelings. What I also found interesting and new was the concept of the second arrow -- the example Serena had provided about anger helped give a mental representation of the concept, which helped further my understanding. 

After reflecting on today’s class, specifically our mindfulness practice, I believe an area of growth would be to prepare myself for said practices in class. I don’t usually have issues with finding my center when participating in my practices out of class because I decide to do them during quiet/calm times of the day, but our class is in the middle of the day, and I can fall out of practice reasonably quickly so I think preparing for it would be beneficial. 

I just appreciate how both Manka and Serena put time aside to remind us that they are not only here as educators but also individuals who are here for us at all times -- in class and out of class -- and for the reassurance that they will support us as much as we need them to -- caring for our overall EDUC 200 community :)

In class today the mindfullness practice really helped me understand and reflect myself I was able to focus during the practice 

A potential growth for me is allowing myself to continue talking and not pausing myself and saying nothing and like nobody mind reader but like at least trying to say something.

That my mind is taught to think all the time, but doing mindfulness makes me stop that and stop thinking for a while and instead focus on the present. Hearing everyone's quotes, even though I had already read/heard them, but having them explain and go into detail about what it meant for them I think was also new, they brought new meaning to sentences that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of much.

I learned that I should prepare myself for mindfulness practice which I never do, I think I should start looking into techniques. After hearing Serena talk about how she judges herself for being angry, I also think I am too hard on myself. I think I should work on myself more and be more accepting of my feelings and allow myself to feel, because it's okay. I think I really practice this while doing mindfulness practice but I don't practice it outside of that, so I will out more effort into this.

Anything else you’d like to share about what came up in today’s class?

In our small groups we talked about how important mental health and overall health is and we learned about Unica's group that she founded that advocated this. I think the movement she started is really impactful and I will be looking into their projects to see if I can join some in the future because I'd like to take more care of myself this way.

The notion of self-identity versus outward perception was new to me. To understand how others perceive me and my ethnicity and how that affects me and my experience is important but it shouldn't overshadow my own identity.

Stay with myself and in myself throughout the mindfulness practice yet accept imperfection.

Anything else you’d like to share about what came up in today’s class?
The notion of discomfort can be an emotional turned physical experience. Understanding the origin of that feeling assists us to understand how we are to change and accept that feeling.

I felt like there were some concepts of social justice that felt like new information. The importance of accountability and the division between minority groups, essentially to divide and conquer, were subjects that I hadn't talked about with others previously. It was great to have that conversation within my breakout room.

Taking more action within my community. A big part of making change is taking action, and because I'm such a passive person, I haven't really stepped foot into the realm of social justice when it matters most, especially right now. While being half black makes me feel obligated to participating in protests and becoming an activist, the only thing stopping me is a fear for my own safety, living in a predominantly white area. I feel as though I have no community.

We had a very good discussion about identity in my second breakout room that really resonated with me. Another large reason for my lack of activism is the fact that I struggle with my identity, and have been told for most of my life that I don't count as half white, or I present as black and therefore don't get to identify with my Caucasian half. Because of this, I have always felt the need to prove my whiteness to other people, which includes not partaking in activities that other black students attend, just so that I don't stand out. I am ashamed of this way of thinking and regret it wholeheartedly, as I still feel as though I don't belong with one or the other half of myself.

I had some wonderful chances to connect with people in breakout rooms today in class that I really appreciated.

Some areas of personal growth was that I should really try and move around and more specifically hyper-focusing on the body parts that are hurting and just to sit with them in discomfort. I don’t want to change anything.. I just want to be with myself and my body. 

Something else I’d like to share is that I had the chance to be in a breakout room with Unica Le and I am amazed with her organization she has created, Hearo (https://www.instagram.com/hearo.uw/). I really would like for everyone to check this out and give her a follow on Instagram! It is amazing what she is trying to create for UW and bringing mediation and mindfulness into mental health. 

I think it is interesting that there is a mindful approach towards justice, I think the practice we did in class today really explained this approach.  From the first small group discussion, I was able to learn the connection between mindfulness, justice, compassion and collective care. I did not realize how mindfulness and justice could go together. Our group also shared some perspectives on collective care that I thought are interesting and new for me. 

One area for potential growth is the mindful listening part. After this class, I become more mindful when listening to others sharing their perspectives. It is often difficult for me to focus on one thing for a long time, I’m likely to lose my focus if I listen to a person talking for too long. I was able to mindfully listen to others in the discussions most of the time, I think I still need to improve my mindful listening skills. 

Something came up for me was that after the practice, I kept thinking about the story that Manka shared and asking myself questions. When we reflect on the practice, I saw that someone felt this practice being challenging, and I felt the same way after doing the practice. I think the topic was a bit heavy, and I also felt challenged to stay in the practice. 

The ideas of sitting with discomfort was important to me as we look for ways to talk about racism, ableism, classism, etc. I also liked when Serena talked about finding ways to problem solve the mindfulness practice when it may not feel like it is going the way you envisioned or just accepting that that's okay.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
I think learning that it is okay to not always have the capacity to share or speak up is important for me to recognize. I believe I can get too used to always having to be 100% there and "on it" so to speak. I'm trying to invite myself to just experience and not get too wrapped up in the past or future.

Anything else you’d like to share about what came up in today’s class?

I really loved my group discussion with Judy and Nicole. They are both lovely to talk to and we always have engaging conversations :)

One bit of new learning that stuck with me from today was the idea of the second arrow. I think this is a really interesting way of describing the effects of judging emotions that feel unpleasant. I’ve heard before that it isn’t all that helpful to tell ourselves what we should feel, and visualizing the pain of the second arrow adding onto the pain of the first made this idea even more clear. 

Potential Growth:

I believe one area of growth that I could work on is being more familiar with the feelings that come up during practices like the one we did today, where we listened to a story about race. I really didn’t know what I was feeling so I had no idea how to respond to the question after the practice, and I believe practicing more would help me to know how to better notice/identify what I’m feeling. It isn’t that I want to figure out reasons behind the feelings, I just want to be able better at noticing particular feelings.

Anything Else:

Listening to a story during a mindfulness practice was a first for me - I appreciated it and am curious about how to do this type of practice on my own. 

Today we talked about holding traumas without realizing it in one of my breakout room discussions. It was very enlightening and validating to share our experiences and relate on such a vulnerable level.  

What felt like areas for potential growth? 
I do wish I could allow myself to speak up and take charge when I want to and when I feel the urge without feeling like I'm not capable.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class?
Allow yourself to take up space without guilt or invalidation. 

Something that felt like new learning was really focusing on noticing tension and moving part of my body, without trying to figure out the "problem".

Something that felt like growth is trying to really stay focused on physical sensations, which is something I had trouble with last week, but have been improving at since.

Just a discussion bout how to let things go without ignoring them, and we were left wondering when it is time to let things like emotions go.

Some areas for potential growth is now that I know the difference between white supremacy and white body supremacy, I can work harder on myself personally to make changes for everyone else. I always looked at white supremacy as I state that I do have supremacy and I try to be a part of making the change but I always thought of it in a structurally based way. But I now know that I need to make personal changes as well that disregard the negatives from my ancestors so that I can help myself and the future generations unconscious thoughts from their ancestors (that being us). 

Something else I’d like to share is that I am starting to feel more open while talking in my breakout groups and I am really proud of that and I think it is because of the great connections I am having with my peers. 

I learned more about the reading in today’s class, about the emotions and racism in our body. Specifically, I feel that it is new for me to get to know more about white people. It is interesting to know that white people are locked in ‘unconscious contracts’, and their emotions such as feeling guilty and shamed. I did not know that there are also some problems in the white community, deep in their bodies. 

In the first breakout room, all of us were sharing moments when we don’t get things right. I heard that others also shared how they are working towards getting them right. I notice that I don’t get things right many times in multiple areas. However, one thing I need to work on is to find solutions to those things, I need to improve and to get more things right. 

The second breakout room activity was great. We all asked the questions we prepared and we all tried out best to answer each other’s questions. We discussed questions about the relationship between trauma and emotions. We talked about the rise of our emotions when we react to a traumatic event, whether it is our own experience or someone else’s experience. Additionally, we also talked about the time it takes to heal from trauma, whether it can be healed, the difficulty different generations would face for them to heal, and etc. Overall, we had a great conversation in our group, and the time given was just enough for us to share our thoughts.

After discussing getting it ‘right,’ I was not only faced with a reality check, but I also learned how much many of us try to get things right when, in reality, that ‘right’ isn’t always what we should strive to reach. 

Expanding on my new learning, I also feel that I need to be more aware of what/who I am turning to when understanding what is ‘right.’ To that end, I also think I could work on not comparing myself overtly to others and thinking they’re doing it right, and I’m not because we both can be doing it right in our own ways.

I really liked how there were two practices implemented into today’s class!

I enjoyed doing two mindfulness practices today. It really helped me clear my head and focus on the moment instead of the past or present.

- Getting more sleep/rest.

- Take care of my body by stretching or exercising. 

- Being able to find balance between school and work without tiring myself.

- Taking breaks more often.

- Be more mindful to those who are around me and their feelings.

I learned about the background/history of mindfulness as well as the more in depth version of ableism and capitalism. I feel that these vocabularies are more than just words/meanings.

Areas for potential growth:

I want to be able to give myself breaks instead of keeping a busy schedule and wanting everything to be perfect.

Something that came up:

To be able to reflect on myself and what I bring to the world.

What felt like areas for potential growth?

An area for potential growth for me is to take time out of my day to dedicate it to myself. I want to focus more on improving my mental and physical health.

How to deal with trauma and how important it is to acknowledge it

Areas for growth

I want to bring myself to speak up more and be more content with myself.

I feel

I want time to stop 

because there are times where I am “on my own”

when I don’t know what to do 

when things pile up

I feel

grateful 

for the position I am in right now

one of which my parents worked for me to experience

one of which my parents never experienced

I feel

curious 

of how the next couple of years are going to look like 

of how I’m going to change 

what am I going to change 

What felt like areas for potential growth? 
After reflecting on this class, I noticed that I kind of fell off of participating in my daily mindfulness practices due to the hectic times at the end of each quarter. Hence, an area for potential growth is to keep at incorporating practices, even if it’s only a couple of minutes, into my everyday life. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what came up for you in today’s class? 
I just wanted to say thank you to Manka and Serena for all that you have done for our class and for teaching this class in general! I wish I could have taken this in person, but I loved it nonetheless, given our time together and the valuable lessons I took. 

Learning how to be at one with the earth. It's easy to not appreciate  and overlook the space and the earth we live on, so to have a moment of gratefulness and to feel connected with the earth is very important for inner development.

What felt like areas for potential growth?
Being more aware and taking a moment to embrace the world we live in. Also taking a moment for myself to ground myself. 

Some potential growth that I want to work on is not thinking that I cannot make a change. Because of the podcast and the reading, it really inspired me to think of myself as someone with potential to create social change but I need to be positive and confident in myself through this. Even though I am just one person, I do have the power to make a change for people who feel like they don’t have a voice in the world. 

Something else I could add: I just wanted to share my love letter to Earth :) 

Dear Earth, 

I hear your cries 

And I feel your pain

But I see your unconditional strength 

And I know you are fighting for us.

I am sorry for all the pain we have caused.

I cannot promise that everyone will treat you better 

But I know that I will do all I can to keep you guarded and safe because that is what you deserve

Love, Fran

What felt like areas for potential growth?

Anything else you’d like to share about what came up 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.

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. 

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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!

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!

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!

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)!

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.  

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. 

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.

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.