Practice:
Body Scan
What actions can we take to heal a society reeling from the abuse of power in the realms of gender and sexuality? Tibetan Buddhist lama and Harvard-trained theologian Rod Owens is known for bringing ease, authenticity, and humor to “the stuff we’re scared to talk about.” Join him and Compassionate Action Series host Kate Johnson for guidance on how we can use this cultural moment as an opportunity to liberate our collective conditioning around power, pleasure, gender, sexuality, and consent.
The session will start with a secular meditation practice guided by Lama Rod and continue with a discussion between these spiritual activists on finding safety, restoring trust, and feeling good in our bodies and communities. Audience members will have space to ask questions and learn joyful strategies for working with these complex issues in their everyday lives.
About Compassionate Action
How can we cultivate the power within us to balance the power between us? Join meditation teacher Kate Johnson, co-creator and host of Compassionate Action, a series of interactive evenings with artists, changemakers, culture creators, and healers who leverage the power of spirit to fuel their transformative work in the world. Each session will include a conversation, a meditation, and an activity to integrate the learnings. You will have a chance to strengthen your skills to access the clarity, connection, and courage needed to effect change in challenging times. We hope you will leave fortified, inspired, and more skilled to turn your wise intentions into compassionate action.
About the Speakers
Lama Rod Owens is an author, activist, formally authorized Buddhist teacher, and graduate of Harvard Divinity School. He is the co-founder of Bhumisparsha, a Tantric Buddhist practice community, as well as a co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation. His next book on anger and love is due out later this fall.
Kate Johnson works at the intersections of spiritual practice, social action, and creativity. She has been practicing Buddhist meditation in the Western Insight/Theravada tradition since her early twenties and is empowered to teach through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She holds a BFA in dance from the Alvin Ailey School at Fordham University and an MA in performance studies from NYU.
Kate is a core faculty member of MIT’s Presencing Institute and has trained hundreds of leaders and changemakers in Social Presencing Theater, a mindfulness and dance improvisation methodology used to inform strategic planning and systems change in our complex world.