Here we are. My final offering within the container of this practicum, yet certainly not the end of this work. As I close this chapter I do so with gratitude, humility and a deep desire to continue this journey of learning and exploration. Before I settle into a pause for rest, I felt a surge of creative energy move through me after my presentation this morning which has resulted in this blog post. Below is a bit of a summary, new thoughts and connections weaving in, and a prelude to the recording attached at the end of this post.
Within the Hermetic tradition (dated between 200 - 500 BCE), an occult sect of spiritual seekers and alchemists, one of their core principles, according to the text The Kybalion (Atkinson, 1908), is referred to as the law of correspondence. Aptly described as “as within, so without, as above, so below, as the Universe, so the soul” (Atkinson, 1908). In other words, due to the interconnected and fractal nature of existence, everything is a reflection of what it is connected to. I first read The Kybalion ten years ago and I immediately felt alignment with much of the philosophical structure it illuminated regarding how to perceive life. This is what sparked my rabbit hole exploration and initiation into rhythm, nondualism, vibration and sound healing.
I heard and felt similar teachings and supportive practices as I moved into the world of yoga. There are several prominent ancient yogic texts and I found myself most drawn to The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (dated between 200 CE to 500 BCE). Translated from sanskrit by Swami Satchidananda (2014), I continue to revisit and reframe these teachings as my experience and understanding of yoga deepens. Patanjali refers to the practice and the state of yoga being in the now, and liberation is achieved when we recognize how to quiet the fluctuations of our mind and see/be the true self shining steadily beneath, which is the reflection of source or Brahman within each one of us. When we learn how to release ourselves from the shackles of our own perceptions and thinking, we have a template for liberation in the outer world. I find this translation to be a beautiful illustrative example of ancient wisdom that we are continuing to learn how to emulate.
Most recently, in the webinar series I have spoken about many times now featuring Tiokasin Ghosthorse (2021), he mentions “as within, so without” as a wisdom teaching within the Lakota culture, represented by the symbol X. As my affinity for symbols has increased exponentially over these past few weeks, I am now enjoying the play with X and the clear depiction of the V reflecting its inverted shape below it.
As someone who is fascinated with ‘change,’ and how to be the most effective, efficient and expansive change-maker, I am more clear on a few steps because of the exploration I have been on during this practicum project. I have been a long-time advocate of the belief that the change we seek externally begins on the inside (i.e., “be the change you wish to see in the world” Mahatma Gandhi). I now understand that when it comes to things like white supremacy culture and racism, these are embedded into our systems like a virus (Menakem, 2021) and conditioned into our psyches in ways that many of us don’t see. In order to deconstruct this, we must be ready to meet the “colonial shattering of identity” that is being fiercely protected at the subconscious level (Drichel, 2013; p. 49). This is not easy work.
This requires us to understand the history of colonialism and white supremacy culture and the various ways we continually recreate this box we live within (Ghosthorse, 2021). Again, as Audre Lorde (1984) reminds us, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” When we see the tools we are wielding to continually recreate domination, othering, disconnection and division (Okun, 2023), we then need a ritual that will help us put those tools down and practice reconstructing with tools of heart-centeredness (hence, the framework).
I share in this recorded presentation a few questions you can use to support the process of questioning what we perceive with justifications like “this is just the way it is.” These questions come from the work of the Bias Free Framework (Eichler & Burke, 2006), as they point out three three major forms of bias that intersect and perpetuate bias when we are unaware of them. I re-worked these “red flags” into questions so that they are (potentially) more tangible reminders that we can work with.
Am I maintaining hierarchy and status quo?
Can I notice, shift and examine multiple perspectives?
Am I using dualistic language or comparison that is inherently exclusive or uses “power over”?
Massive change is possible, and what these, and many other, wisdom teachings are pointing us towards is to take responsibility for our inner-world/work so that we can begin to reflect a new way of engaging and being together in the outer world. If everything is relationships (Wilson, 2019) as many Indigenous teachings guide us to recognize, then the way we become agents of change is through the pathway of our inner-work. When we change the way we relate with ourselves, this changes how we relate with others, which reflects outwards and influences everything we are connected to (which is everything). While we might see the change needed out in the world, what we have intimate access to change is what is happening on the inside, and that is where we must begin. It is certainly not where we end though, as the path of change requires that we engage in the world and practice new ways of relating and creating.
This framework I have co-created through practice, inspiring conversations and the insights garnered from other creators in this field, is structured to settle the chaos of activation. It is a supportive energetic field to meet ourselves with an open and infinitely stable heart-centeredness so we can engage in the world from and with heart-centeredness. It is meant to be flexible and adaptive as there are innumerable situations that it could be used, yet it leads to the same way of being relational, heart-centered, and ready to improvise, connect and collaborate in presence.
Important to note here, this is a framework for ally’s who are interested in doing the intrapersonal and interpersonal work to deconstruct bias and colonial consciousness in an effort to be a part of deconstructing systemic racism and colonial tenets that are foundational in our culture. As my practicum supervisor reminded me last week, when someone has arrows pointed at them or are the target of the oppressive and harmful rhetoric and behavior, as ally’s it is not our place to be the “tone police” or tell them how they could regulate themselves better (Harcourt, 2024, personal conversation). This is a framework for you to choose to explore and practice, and not something to impose onto others.
I will allow the recording of my final presentation to do the rest of the talking for this post.
Thank you for your attention and willingness to join me on this journey. I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and experiences that have arisen from this work.
Presentation Slides
References (for blog post)
Atkinson, W. W. (1908). The kybalion: A study of the Hermetic philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece. A.F. Seward & Co.
Bronstein, E. (2024). Learn with Einat Bronstein. IFS Learning Hub. Retrieved February 2024, from https://learn.ifs-institute.com/programs/values-and-beliefs-in-the-therapy-room/modules/february-2024-lorem-ipsum/lesson/watch-learn-with-einat-bronstein/.
Drichel, S. (2013). Towards a “radical acceptance of vulnerability”: Postcolonialism and deconstruction. SubStance, 42(3), 46–66. https://doi.org/10.1353/sub.2013.0034
Eichler, M., & Burke, M. A. (2006). The Bias Free Framework. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 97(1), 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03405218
Ghosthorse, T. (2021). Deprogramming the colonial mind: Re-languaging regeneration. Restorative Practices. https://restorativepractices.com/product/re-languaging/
Lorde, A. (1984). The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house (Comments at the “The personal and the political panel,” Second Sex Conference, New York, September 29, 1979). In Sister outsider (pp. 110–113). Sister Visions Press. (Original work published 1979).
Menakem, R. (2021). My grandmother’s hands: Racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies. Penguin Books.
Okun, T. (2023). White Supremacy Culture. WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE. https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/
Patañjali. (2014). The yoga sutras of patanjali (S. Satchidananda, Trans.). Integral Yoga Publications.
Wilson, S. (2019). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Langara College.