I have long dreamed of ways to connect healing work, my love for community, Taiji, and my commitment to serving broader social movements. I wondered how my background in functional exercise science and growing knowledge of Taiji could help change- making organizations and the individuals within them. What is possible in terms of community care and rest with a lense of racial equity?
I started to believe. In 2020 I was involved with a now defunct Detroit organization working toward power and liberation for Detroit’s majority black population. Stress, fear, and urgency were all taking a toll on the personal wellbeing of folks’ mental and physical health, and there was a need for rest and balance. I met up with a couple people, and we made a plan.
We gathered regularly to talk about what community care is and could look like. We practiced Taiji together and created care pods. We checked in on one another and moved together. I began to develop a clear sense for how important a program that used Taiji principles are to the lives and critical work of our community members that are fighting for equity across all lines.
Nearly one year later I was asked to offer Taiji in a closed and safe space for my global majority and queer communities in Detroit. We met to practice Taiji weekly in a field. Eventually I started collaborating with other grassroots community organizations and larger organizations to offer the practice of Taiji at multiple day retreats, cookouts, community center gatherings, cohorts of leaders in the labor and worker justice field, and events focused on racial equity and rest.
The support that a program rooted in Taiji can offer is especially useful when an organization is navigating internal transformation or change. Leaders and leadership teams that are stepping into new roles will benefit greatly. This program can be used as a part of a comprehensive leadership development program as well.
The benefits to your organization are many. Often, what is improved in the body of the individual is mirrored at the organizational level. A sense of groundedness, ability to find center, decision making from a place of clarity, reduced stress, fluidity in moving through changes, increased balance and overall strength, increased lung capacity, and fuller breath for a more oxygenated system are just some of the benefits.
Summer 2023 Taiji + Writing Workshop with The Solutionaries Collective, Detroit MI
Teaching at Grounds 4 Gratitude Community Farm and Composting event, Chicago IL
A handful of organizations I have worked with over the past two years
National Black Workers Center Working While Black Expo
Protecting Immigrant Families
Georgia St Community Collective
Grounds 4 Gratitude Community Farm and Composting, Chicago, IL
CIWO ( Center for Innovation in Worker Organization)
The Solutionaries – collaboration for Taiji + Writing Workshop, Detroit MI
Social Ecology and the Black Radical Tradition in Today’s Revolutionary Movements week long intensive hosted by the Institute for Social Ecology and James and Grace Lee Boggs Center, Detroit MI
Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids MI
