Use meditation practice to wake up, lean in, and face uncomfortable realities, which helps you gain agency, wisdom, and perspective.
Recognize that individual inner work and understanding broader historical/cultural context are intertwined for true freedom, avoiding spiritual or cultural bypass.
Engage in a continuous, long-term process of learning and deepening understanding about complex issues, embracing a beginner’s mindset rather than expecting quick answers.
Engage with the messiness of difficult conversations and societal issues rather than trying to push them away, as engagement is necessary for healing and progress.
When personal biases or shortcomings arise, observe any shame without self-centeredness, then return to curiosity and interest to enable better decisions and engagement.
Recognize that personal guilt and shame can center whiteness; instead, continuously pay attention to the daily experiences and systemic oppression of Black people.
Begin meditation practice by grounding in the body to stabilize the mind, allowing you to observe thoughts and emotions without being swept away or believing them.
Actively observe your initial thoughts about people, your media consumption, and where your attention is drawn, then question those assumptions to identify and address unconscious biases.
Actively work to unlearn internalized biases by reading, studying, taking classes, and understanding the historical context of how these biases are absorbed from culture.
Examine your social media feeds and general media consumption; consciously seek out and learn from diverse perspectives, especially from people of color, to widen your understanding.
White individuals should initiate and consistently process conversations about racial issues with other white people to avoid burdening people of color with education and emotional labor.
Actively listen to and learn from people of color by reading their books and articles, following them on social media, and supporting their work as academics and teachers.
Envision people who are suffering (e.g., doctors, patients, those on food lines) and consciously wish them freedom from suffering, fear, and physical distress.
Practice self-care, including rest, healthy eating, exercise, meditation, inspiring reading, and journaling, to maintain well-being and effectively serve others, especially when engaging with difficult issues.
Allow yourself to fully feel emotions without judgment, separating the raw feeling from the accompanying narrative or story to prevent getting caught in rumination.
Stay informed about current events but prevent news and social media from dictating your feelings; balance information intake with self-care to avoid being overwhelmed.
Participate in active allyship, such as physically supporting Black people in protests and creating protective barriers, without instigating violence.
Volunteer in ways that allow you to encounter and interact with people from different walks of life to broaden your perspective and jar yourself out of self-centered tendencies.
Recognize that true personal freedom and joy are found by opening to all of life, including pain and suffering, and are ultimately dependent on the liberation of all people.
Utilize meditation for perspective, grounding, and balance to respond to injustice with clarity and kindness, rather than trying to meditate away the issues themselves.
To see clearly and gain full understanding, look both inward at personal conditioning and outward at external realities and systemic issues.