With the rise in consciousness and awareness of racism in the UK and across the world MindfulnessUK support the Black Lives Matter movement. There is a lot to be done and as mindfulness advocates we are naturally more open to being aware and showing compassion and now is a time to also be more aware and learn more about the struggles that black and BAME communities face, day to day.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Director stated that “racism is a public health issue”. This statement resonated with us at MindfulnessUK as we take our role in supporting mental well-being, through mindfulness, very seriously, and want to ensure that we act responsibly whilst continuing to always act with compassion.
At MindfulnessUK we want to increase our own knowledge, offer our support to inform people and create much-needed change, and we are going to:
- Work with our graduates and students to understand more about what they experience in their practices and gain feedback and knowledge, which we can then share to our wider mindfulness community.
- We will continue to promote black and BAME mindfulness talent further via our channels.
- As we grow our online mindfulness teacher training courses, we have the opportunity to be more diverse whilst continuing to teach in an inclusive and compassionate way.
- Build connections and relationships with UK organisations, in support of mental health in black communities, improving community care for black people and showing how mindfulness can support those most in need.
- We already work with several charities across a broad range of sectors and will ensure that we are offering support to a wide and diverse range of charities.
- We will take part in conferences, webinars or any other engagement channels discussing diversity, inclusivity, and equality to ensure that our mindfulness community has a voice in the battle against racism and that we are part of the discussions and debates.
- We will discuss what more we can do within our day to day roles and continue to act with kindness and our open to everyone approach, thinking pro-actively and confronting issues of race and diversity.
This is a group effort, across our entire mindfulness community and, our Senior Partner Karen Atkinson, as BAMBA Convenor issued the following statement – https://bamba.org.uk/statement-from-bamba-in-support-for-black-lives-matter/?fbclid=IwAR0ktvtPSja-ziOnngJTnf011vceB5E7K6LbRbcQGiP5oXNJ6PHaV3oas3E
The Black Lives Matter movement is calling for sustainable transformation in our communities. We are certain that by increasing our knowledge, being supportive and by taking the above steps, we are creating a positive change.
As part of our community we value your opinion and we would be grateful for any feedback or input that you have and want to share with us. Please contact claire@mindfulnessUK.com or info@mindfulnessUK.com.