Issuu

renewal | march 2010

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Read this online: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-201003.html Download printable PDF version: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-201003.pdf

welcome

what's new fearlessYOGA Teacher Training

Happy April Fool's Day!...No foolin', our March issue is coming out in April!

| A Personal & Organizational (R)evolution

In March, we celebrated Women's History Month, Cesar Chavez Day, and the first day of spring. We welcomed the spring equinox and were able to enjoy renewal, growth and the warmth of the sunshine. Here, at CXC, we echoed this season's gifts by celebrating this month's journal theme of renewal in welcoming the two newest additions to CXC's residential Core and staff. We are pleased to introduce Tonya Tbird Ridgely and Kachi Ukeje-Eloagu as our Communications and Events Stewards, respectively. This new dynamic duo brings experience, enthusiasm and a breath of fresh air that helps us here at CXC renew and strengthen our commitment to change the way change is done. We extend a warm welcome to both Tbird and Kachi! And, to all, enjoy the sun, the light, the rain, and all the delights of this month's transform. Expect our April issue in a couple of weeks; it will be chock-full of the fruits being harvested from this month's reNEWal.

personal narrative by Karen Muktayani Villanueva

Next month, in April, we are holding our first ever fearlessYoga Teacher Training (fYTT). We've written our curriculum and had it approved by Yoga Alliance, earning our certification as an official registered yoga school. This is an evolution that began almost 10 years ago. And for the last 4 years, sadhana has been a stalwart part of our morning practice schedule here at CXC, especially for the core residents. The Warrior Flow is the way we wake up and enter the world most days of the week. Read more... CXC Practice Schedule

in SIGHT That's Why I Hate Females 5:37 (Part I)

"CXC Core Team" From Top Left: Kachi Ukeje -Eloagu, Tonya "TBird" Ridgely, Chuck Courts, Premadasi Amada, angel Kyodo williams, Karen Muktayani "Muki" Villanueva

No video? Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch ? v=oE4IekKRks4

In celebration of Women's History and this month's theme of renewal, we share the film, "That's Why I Hate

this is our time

Females," written, edited, and produced by Vassilisa Johri. This provocative film confronts the myth of women's liberation and explores how women heal from

http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/index.html

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will the real american idols please step forward?

women's liberation and explores how women heal from

INcite with angel Kyodo williams

fighting oppression by remembering that love is the

internalized sexism. Vassilisa Johri is a social justice worker, artist, and first-time filmmaker committed to real revolution.

Editor's note: This month's feature is just as relevant today as it was last May. CXC's Founder,

That's Why I Hate Females 5:30 (Part II)

in her one -of-a -kind signature style, reminds us that we are the 'real' american idols and that,

Subscribe to CXC on YouTube

more than ever, NOW is our time. -Muki

Though it may seem hard to discern through the economic debris that is still falling, that so many of us are picking through the pieces of, this is our time. For far too long we have labored for justice and lurched towards change with far too little resources, too little cohesion, too few wins too far and few between. But labor we had to —making do with what we had, holding it together best we could, savoring the wins and weathering the losses—thus lurch we did and change we made. A Black Organizer is in the White House. Justice is getting off the bench and in the Game. It's our time.

in TIME The Only Full Range of Practices Designed for Social Change Agents SPECIAL! YOGA MONTH EVENTS: Language of Freedom: Intro to Sanskrit Weekend April 3 - 4 | Saturday - Sunday | 11am-6pm By the end of the weekend, you will be able to chant the entire alphabet with accurate pronunciation, read simple sutras and basic vocabulary words. Yoga Alliance CEUs available. Register today. Roadmap to Freedom: Yoga Sutras for Awakening 4 Tuesdays Beg. April 6 | 7:00 - 9:30pm Rare study series of the often misunderstood Yoga

The era of the lowly grunt that toils for justice being the underappreciated, underpaid underdog is officially overrated. We are now the wunderkinds that can capture the imagination of our nation with our unwavering commitment to Hope, resounding call for Freedom and heart-stopping effort to reveal Truth, Justice and a truly New American Way. Easy as ABC: rooted by Awareness, grounded in Balance, acting from Center. We, the willing practitioners of a transformative social change, are the only ones who can shift the paradigm. We are the moral & inspirational frontline of America. Like no other movement before us, we span the globe, defy description and transcend all boundaries: some of us wealthy in cash, some in culture, we are cross-class and transgendered, Caucasian and Cablinasian, neo-social and hyper-spiritual, we bow at the altar of Authenticity. Our movement has been moved by doorknockers and dreamers, academics and activists, poets and pundits, writers and rappers, EDs and PhDs: we are all One. We've been a Tribe with a Quest to self-liberate even the antidote of what ails us, because complete freedom is the only freedom that matters. It's our time.

Sutras of Patañjali. The workshop focuses on the 3-fold meditation practices that are essential to the elimination of the mind-stuff that hinders realization of freedom. Yoga Alliance CEUs available. Register today. Eating & Wellness: A Practice for Wholeness Workshop 3 Wednesdays Beg. April 7 | 7 - 9:00pm Care of the Body from the Inside Out. Social Justice Paradigms: Race, Class, Privilege & Power Workshop April 17 | Saturday | 9:00 - 4:00 pm Special Guest Presenter 5th Annual Inner Justice Intensive July 3 - 10 | Sat-Sat Designed for all who work for social change. Inner Justice Intensive includes: fearlessMeditation, fearlessYoga, Breath Practices, Study, and Daily Talk by angel Kyodo williams. Register today.

Auditions are over. We're front and center stage. We must stand up and stand out. We need to take our rightful place as the Real American Idols: the exemplars of excellence that know there is no justice if justice isn't for all.

Language of Freedom: Intro to Sanskrit Weekend Roadmap to Freedom: Yoga Sutras for Awakening Eating & Wellness: A Practice for Wholeness Social Justice: Race, Class, Privilege & Power

http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/index.html

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renewal | march 2010

We'll create a Mad World in which Adam can take home the prize AND Steve for a Union in any State of his choosing because there's a Whole Lotta Love and this town is big enough for all of it. Our children will want to grow up to be aligned agents of change, not morally bankrupt bankers, broken-down mortgage brokers or exposed wizards of Wall Street caught with their hands on the levers of peoples' lives. While they all lined their pockets with peoples' pain, We lay the path for possibility and prosperity. We... are...the...champions. It is our time.

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Social Justice: Race, Class, Privilege & Power 5th Annual Inner Justice Intensive ONGOING PRACTICE: Universal Form: Meditation in Action Saturday, April 10th, 12pm

3 Minutes to Power and Peace Universal Form is a healing practice that incorporates body, breath and energy with elements of Tai Chi, Yoga, and Qigong. Join us at MLK Civic Center Park and take your practice out in the world.

We'll lift every voice to sing. We'll dance with whole body, mind and spirt. We'll shine from the inside, radiating self-awareness, self-care and selflove. The crowds will go wild. Sitting on the edges of their seats, they'll cheer us on, spellbound by the marriage of head and heart, fierce committment to humanity and strength of humility that wins where it matters, even when the scoreboard says otherwise. They'll tweet, twitter, digg, fan and follow the triple-threat talent that steals the show every time:

fearlessYOGA Sundays Weekly | Sundays | 9:30am - 10:30am FREE class for activists, allies and agents of social change... Come experience fearlessYoga in our Sunday drop-in class and engage postures that are part of our Warrior Series sequences. fearlessYoga is yoga built for justice Jo Kata Practice Weekly | Wednesday evening & Friday morning 31 Moves to Your Center

— Our courage to take on Responsibility for the work that needs to be done. — Our conviction to be Accountable to our co-workers, communities, and most of all, ourselves. — Our clarity of Purpose that is the container of our intention and the vision for our success. This Radical Relationship to self, other and the Mother is ecological, evolutionary and embodied.

Aikido-based centering practice done with wooden staff. Community Thursdays Weekly | Thursdays | 6:30pm Chant, Sitting Meditation and Council. Council is a practice of sharing and listening from the heart. Based in Native American tradition, council is an opportunity to bear witness and be witnessed.

This is our time. fearlessYoga and fearlessMeditation Mornings

Well-coiffed and, dare I say, well-dressed, we ARE the bling, we are the Rock Stars, the Sexy Mothers and Mutha...(you get the drift), and Mike wants to be like Us. When the viewers telly and the texts are tallied, we'll be judged by true measures of greatness: how skillfully we exhibit grace under pressure, wield power with precision and receive feedback—even when it seems negative and harsh—with aplomb. Simon says: take what's yours and release the rest. And when the small wins elude us (as they will) we'll flash our pearly whites and see the opportunity to learn from our missteps, sharpen our skill and deepen our practice. We'll accept defeat gracefully as we prepare for the next round with abiding love in our hearts, joy in our spirits, compassion for others and equanimity in the face of it all.

Weekly | Tues - Fri | 6am-8am Yoga and Meditation designed for social change agents to build presence - the moment-to-moment practice of being in relationship to one's life as it unfolds. Universal Form: Meditation in Action fearlessYoga Sundays Jo Kata Practice Community Thursdays fearlessYoga and fearlessMeditation Mornings Deepen Your Practice in Community

in the CENTER 27 Days of Change | Practicing with a Virtual

Because we know that when met in this way, two steps back can propel us a giant leap forward. We know Victory is ours because justice has ALWAYS been on our side, and now, finally, we need only make it so for now, now now... http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/index.html

Community guest written by Leslee Goodman

2009 was my year of virtual Page 3 of 7

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for now, now now...

community. For half the year, my husband and I lived in rural Washington. We had no

NOW is our time.

neighbors, but I did belong to a progressive listserv that enabled me to feel connected and hopeful, even while news of tea parties and other right-wing hysteria swirled around me. I grew to deeply appreciate my

angel Kyodo williams is founder of urbanPEACE and its Center for

listserv members, even though I never met most of

Transformative Change. A social visionary and leading voice for transformative social change, she is the author of Being Black: Zen and

them. They let me know I wasn't alone. Read more...

the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace. Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart Facebook: Fan angel here

inner PRACTICE How Much Time Do We Practice Suffering?

Twitter: Follow angel for tweets of wisdom on Change Web: about.angelkyodowilliams.com

How is it that two people with similar skills, experience, and life history can show up in such

angel Kyodo williams' next public talk:

different ways. Both people may

angel is on sabbatical and next talk is tba. Check here for latest info

have experienced great loss and pain, for example, but

newDharma Talk

one person views the world as their enemy and themselves as a permanent victim, while another

Being Natural

person experiences life as an opportunity and

This talk highlights the importance of being our true ourselves--a value we tend to not see. But If

challenge, while taking responsibility for their own

we just let it all hang out, letting go of our ideas of "perfection," letting of our delusions about who "we're supposed to be," we'll eventually find our Way back Home.

happiness. So what makes the difference? Read more...

outer ACTION Rockwood Leadership Institute | Supporting Leaders in

"Open yourself to the [Way], trust your natural responses; and

Leadership

everything will fall into place." We have a hard time with that, probably all of it. We have a hard time with, first of all, opening ourselves to the Way. It feels like, well, where is it? Where is this Way? How do I get there? I will say [finding the Way is] somewhat like love, like true love-when you get there, you don't wonder at all if you're there. Great doubt is extinguished. So that might be a hint about where it's not..."

Founded in 2000, Rockwood Leadership Institute's mission is to provide individuals, organizations and networks in the social benefit sector with powerful and effective training in leadership and collaboration. Read more...

Listen to Being Natural

social CHANGE Transformative Social Change at US Social Forum: Plans in

activists, allies & agents of change

Progress, Get Involved

Cultivating Beloved Community | Living and Leading from Interconnection

Transformative Social Change

Prior to becoming president of Rockwood in January 2008, Akaya Windwood served as Rockwood's director of leadership development for three years. An executive leadership coach and organizational consultant, Akaya has more than 30 years of experience working for social http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/index.html

organizations are hard at work organizing to be a strong presence at the US Social Forum and provide all USSF participants the opportunity to have the direct experience of practices that build presence - the moment-to-moment practice of being in relationship with one's life as it unfolds. Page 4 of 7

renewal | march 2010

justice. She is known nationally for her commitment to social and economic justice, and for building a compelling vision for effectiveness and collaboration in the nonprofit and social benefit sectors. Straightforward, warm, present, of substance, inspiring, clear, honest, comfortable in her own skin, in relationship with her power (personal and otherwise), bright, committed, reliable, articulate, responsive, passionate... These are some attributes and adjectives that describe this month's featured Changemaker, Akaya Windwood, CEO & President of Rockwood Leadership Institute. In 2005, Akaya joined Rockwood as a trainer, with the encouragement of her friend and colleague, Roberto Vargas. Before that she co-founded and worked with the Women's National Leadership Project for 3 years, in addition to running a successful multicultural consulting practice. Read more... 1000 Voices Interview Bioneers Interview

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of being in relationship with one's life as it unfolds. Read more here to get your first taste of all the exciting moves being made to "instigate greater interest [in the importance of inner awareness practices to social change work] amongst social justice organizations and activists, thereby catalyzing a sea change towards a transformative social change movement within our movements." Plan now to bring your practice and your work for change and share it with thousands of your fellow activist sisters and brothers. Read more... "The Forum in a Nutshell" Get the Inside Scoop by Adrienne Maree Brown, USSF National Coordinator

in the MIND Hard Stop | Just Stop Changing our habits is not as

resources for change窶ｦ

easy as changing our mind...Or is it? It's been said that it takes 21

Learn about women's history through the National Women's History Project, a non-profit educational organization committed to recognizing and celebrating the diverse and significant historical accomplishments of women. Examine many of the great quotes by Cesar Chavez on Power, Motivation, Justice and much more. Read about an inspiring novel by Paulo Coelho, an eternal testament to the transforming power of dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts. The National Women's History Project Quotes by Cesar Chavez on Power, Motivation, Justice and more... The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: A simple fable based on simple truths and places

days to change, make, or break a habit. At CXC, and within the newDharma Community, we give it 27 days, just in case. Many people, when faced with the challenge of addressing a well-worn habit, ask, "How do I stop?" The answer, as trite as it may sound, is, "just STOP." Read more...

"the best workshop i've ever taken. radically changed my work." fearless Meditation is our 3-part signature series that teaches practical meditation in a social justice context is offered for no charge for agents of social change: fearless Meditation I: April 2, 2010 | 7pm & every

quote of the month The miracle of renewal is to repeat without repeating.

1st Friday

in the BODY

窶年ﾃ｢zim Hikmet

Twelve Months of Abhaya (fearless) Asana |

Learn more...

Virabhadrasana The third Asana (posture) in the

support deep change Center for Transformative Change (CXC) is the first national center entirely dedicated to bridging the inner and outer lives of social change agents, activists and allies to support a more effective, more sustainable social justice movement.

fearlessYoga flow, is "Virabhadrasana" or "Warrior Posture." This posture helps us to strengthen our roots and access our power. As we approach the spring equinox, we can practice Virabhadrasana to root ourselves strongly in our core so that we can celebrate

We name, frame and advance Transformative Social Change by both developing practices and programs for agents of social change and working in collaboration with leading organizations to help shape this emerging movement. Most importantly, we reflect the field and the movement back to itself, strengthening our collective identity,

the renewal of springtime from a centered place. Read more...

wellness & being well

community, and shared vision. http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/index.html

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community, and shared vision.

Lighten up and Enjoy All that You Are Now

This long-term vision for shifting the paradigm of work for justice, changing the WAY change is done, will fundamentally alter broad-

Spring is back. Wake up! It's time

based social change at its very core--from inner to outer--resulting in a more just, equitable society for all.

"Seeds of Wisdom" cultivated

to Share your gifts and plant during the wintertime. As you step out of your internal cave to express what you've

Great vision takes great action and our work is not possible without the

learned, Lighten up and Enjoy All that You Are Now. It's

generous support and partnership of individuals like you. No amount is too small, so make your contribution to deep change today.

time to celebrate how far you've come!

Donate to CXC Visit the Center's website What is Transformative Change? Find out HERE