Q. How do you take care of yourself to sustain your energy long term?
I wake up every morning and do my gratitude list, I thank all the good stuff that happened to me and also the bad stuff, I do an inventory of my previous day to see where I can improve, I do my prayers, meditation usually a long walk counts as well, yoga and physical activity, running, stretching, physical therapy exercises at home and mild weight lifting, I eat healthy no sugar, no carbs, no coffee, no alcohol, no drugs, and most important no toxic people or toxic social media, have my boundaries well set and prioritize my responsibilities, my wellbeing, my husband, my household and my family go first and always find the time to have fun, sing, dance, enjoy life, go on hikes, do Paddle board or play Pickleball, go to the movies and have a date night with my husband or couples date night with our friends, I'm always volunteering, going to support groups, torah class and helping others, I surrender my life every morning to G-d and live on his service going with the flow of what he dictates to me, I maintain a simple but happy life and if I need help I ask for it, I'm not afraid of being vulnerable, go to therapy or call my friends, mom and sponsor for advice, I do a lot of reaserch and asking the professionals and I'm always doing personal work, personal developing, trying new things and try to be better, I remain teachable and I'm constantly changing and evolving, I stay in action and humble.
Q. Take time to envision a different culture of incarceration. What does this new culture look like?
I once read about a tribe somewhere where they teach their kids to follow their dreams and feed al what their souls needs in this dreams, so they train to actually be aware inside their dreams and I think this helps the soul to don't want what can not have, but this same tribe also has this rule where when any of their members do something wrong or harmful to others instead of being punish they give them complete and total attention for one week the whole tribe makes it about them an surrounds them with all the love, so for me a culture where you go to rehabilitation for your transgressions instead of jail would be the answer, no punishment but a lot of love and a lot of personal work, tool development, emotional sobriety and a lot of prevention on schools since we are little.
Q. What is whiteness without white supremacy? What could it be?
A colorblind culture, where being white is just being one more human, no differences, equality, no discrimination, no exploitation. It will be to loose all biases and to end the privilege, same opportunities, a fair and just society.
CHAPTERS 18–22
Q. How do you take care of yourself to sustain your energy long term?
A common theme in my life and throughout this book around taking care of myself and sustaining my energy long term is my individual practice of mindfulness. I was reminded again and again of how energy lives in my body. My embodied knowing and my commitment to recognizing how energy enters, exits, and travels through my body help me understand how I can move, release, and use my energy most efficiently and for the most good.
Q. Take time to envision a different culture of incarceration. What does this new culture look like?
I have not been in a prison, but when the author discussed the layout of a gathering, it made me think that being more mindful about how groups come together and share space could be explored further. I don’t have direct experience with this system or its various layouts, but the feng shui theme in Chapter 18 feels like a possibility. A culture that includes body centered activities and harmonizing bodies in space, ideas discussed in earlier chapters, could support a meaningful shift.
Q. What is whiteness without white supremacy? What could it be?
For me, this involves individual responsibility, holding space for other people’s experiences, and not feeling shame about the color of my skin. It means reimagining what “whiteness” is for me without expecting others to figure it out for me. It means focusing on the potential for harmonizing with my own energy, transmuting my pain, and staying aware of when I am triggered and responding from trauma or emotion rather than grounded presence.
This first question is challenging for me. I find that part of my way of understanding the pain that so many including myself face in the world is to move constantly and keep my mind moving as well. The process of slowing down and disconnecting is incredibly challenging for me. I do the basics to begin, get adequate sleep, take care of my body through nutrition and exercise, and when I feel that the basics are not enough- and they often are not, I walk and listen to nature, sit in silence with a hot liquid, meditate, rely on my loved ones. This year is a year that has been transformative for me, in that I have finally laid to rest many habits and things that do not serve me. Small things like deleting my social media, to bigger things like the decision to stop using nicotine and alcohol. I know I am taking care of myself when my decisions are in alignment with my principles.
I have been a strong believer that incarceration as it exists today is unsustainable for everyone involved. Too many people get hurt. I think that this book and training has shown me just how much white body supremacy- which upholds the prison industrial complex, harms literally every person both in and outside of it. We must address trauma, in our individual bodies and have ample opportunities to heal it, as well as heal our communites traumas with guidance from those well versed in it. The work must center our HUMANITY and need for every individual to be free from the things that keep them hurting and down. I believe in a country and world without prisons, but to make that happen, I believe that participating in this program is the first right step to understanding what that can and could look like.
Whiteness without supremacy looks like strength across communities strength in diversity and a world without shame- imposed on those who live in white bodies and imposed by those white bodies on others. Whiteness without supremacy knows when to be quiet and just listen, rather than yelling over someones voice. It softens the lines we draw in the sand to separate ourselves and others those we see as different and of lesser value. It is the decision to look inside the white body, affirm that it has experienced trauma, commit to healing it, and never ever recreating that same hurt in any other body or people.