Episode 31: Ruth King

On racism as a curable heart disease, the ever-expanding gift of mindfulness, and what it means to stay awake and responsive in these times with care and wisdom. Ruth offers us an invaluable meditation to close.

Ruth King is an Insight Meditation Teacher and Emotional Wisdom author and consultant. She is on the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and teaches insight meditation retreats nationwide. Recognized as a trainer of trainers and consultant to consultants, King teaches the Mindful of Race Training Program to teams and organizations, supporting an engaged exploration of our racial conditioning, its impact, and our potential through a mindfulness lens. King has a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology and is the author of several publications including The Emotional Wisdom Cards, Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible, and more recently Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out. For more information, visit ruthking.net

• Mindfulness as a way to reprogramme our nervous system, as we deconstruct our minds. [3:00]
• How Ruth came to this work. [6:38]
• The gap between our good intentions and what we do. [8:45]
• Cultivating presence so that we can bear witness. [9:40]
• Waking up to white privilege. Helping white people shift from the idea of being a good individual. Making this issue a collective priority. [10:45]
• What it would be like if white people were talking to their children about race. [14:13]
• Connecting the dots between what we read and the subtle shifts we make in our lives. [17:58]
• The six hindrances. [20:35]
• Internalised oppression. Representation and scarcity. [22:01]
• Stars and constellations. Looking through the lenses of individual and collective. [30:00]
• How white people can teach other people about whiteness. Racial affinity group work.
  Understanding our racial conditioning. [32:14]
• Cumulative impact. Generational fatigue. [36:50]
• Prison industrial complex. [39:08]
• Can we mobilize a collective consciousness around our racial conditioning so that we can see what's happening? [44:46]
• Prioritizing kindness no matter what. [45:33]
• Ruth King leads us in a ten minute guided meditation. [45:55]
• The 5-5-5 rule and Mindfulness practice. 5 mins a day, 5 days a week, 5 weeks.[56:00]
• This work is messy and it's the work of a lifetime. Deep inner work.[56:36]
• Prayers from Mindful of Race. [1:01:36]

Resources

Mindful of Race by Ruth King
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis

Mindful of Race Training - The Mindful of Race Training Program supports an engaged exploration of our racial conditioning through a mindful lens. https://ruthking.net/mindful-of-race-training/

The Emotional Wisdom Cards - This 50 card deck is ideal for individuals, couples, communities, work teams, support groups and other relationships seeking understanding, connection and ease. https://ruthking.net/product/emotional-wisdom-cards/