by Prajna Piper

Almost all spiritual traditions include a code of morality, of ethical understanding and behavior. Right, or wise, or mindful speech is the third quality addressed in the Buddha’s eight-fold path, and the first of the qualities that have to do with ethics.

Wise speech is sometimes reduced to a few sentences – Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Of course there’s more to it than that – the practice of cultivating right speech can become extremely refined – but those three guidelines are always good to remember. I once heard a meditation teacher say that every time he’d taught on right speech he would hear later from a student who had been accosted in the parking lot, after the talk, by another student wanting to tell them what was wrong with them. This kind of confrontation may be honest, but it isn’t necessarily right speech.

Hearing someone teach about morality can feel ponderous, and that’s probably because we already have a pretty strong moral compass inside of ourselves. There may be unusual situations where we have to think about how we frame our view, or understand a bigger picture of what is really ethical, but for the most part, we know inside ourselves what moral behavior is. We know when we speak uncaringly to others. And we certainly know, by the way it feels, when someone speaks uncaringly to us.

In today’s culture, morality doesn’t apply to speech for a lot of people. There’s the out and out grossness of some of the TV news stations, or the way people will publicly express hatred, as an extreme example of that. But when we’re looking more closely, at our own personal morality, at a refinement and cultivation of our words and deeds, I think there’s also often a real reluctance to monitor our own speech. For reasons related to self-expression, or authenticity, or the simple pleasure of being spontaneous, we don’t want to exercise restraint. We want to be autonomous beings, free-wheeling, with personas and ways of our own. But this is not exactly how morality works. Morality is something that needs to be attended to, and, it’s important to remember that we aren’t autonomous, free-wheeling beings. For better or for worse, we’re in this life together.

Years ago, I was in a month-long mindful living program, held at the Insight Meditation Society, in Barre, MA, and the Buddhist teacher, Joseph Goldstein came in to talk to our group.

Joseph is a really big deal to a lot of people and our group teacher had told us to save our hard questions for him. Everyone in the group had tried to come up with something complex to inquire about, and we’d all failed. So instead we asked him what, in all his years of practice, stood out for him in the teachings, and he thought for a moment and said, ‘well, three things then.’

I’m a little annoyed with myself that I can’t remember what the first two were. I think they were the teachings on non-self and on impermanence. But I remember very distinctly that he then paused and said that the third thing, and that he had to include it because he’d seen over and over again how much suffering speech caused, was right, or mindful, speech.

Later, in that session, a loud noise was heard overhead, and someone said, “it’s an airplane.” And it probably was. But Joseph said, quietly, questioningly, “well, we don’t really know that, do we?” What had been an assumption had been stated as a fact.

Over the course of the month while I was at Barre, I had occasion to exchange a few words with Joseph, to observe him socially, and to see that he was taking a split second before answering people, even in casual conversation, that he was monitoring, very carefully, what was going to come out of his mouth. I remember being touched by how diligently he was practicing, and when I tell people about this, I always have to say that you might think this would make someone seem boring, or unnatural. But it didn’t. He was just practicing, very sincerely and humbly, training himself to consider his intention before speaking.

This spiritual life we are trying to live needs to be based on our values, our intentions. If we value kindness and honesty, generosity, consideration and restraint, these qualities need to be practiced in our speech as well as in our minds and in our actions.

The residents at San Francisco IYI have chosen to practice right speech as the practice of the month. May we all practice with sincerity and humility, for the benefit of all beings.

Prajna lives and practices at Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco.

by Kamala Itzel Hayward

“Collective trauma” is the mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual harm experienced by a group of people as the result of a traumatic event or series of events. The group can be a specific demographic, a nation, or even everyone in the world. Acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and war are common examples, as are persistent societal and cultural conditions, such as colonialism, imperialism, toxic capitalism, and all forms of structural and systemic oppression.

Dominant culture embraces and even celebrates individualism. As such, it urges us to consider trauma as an individual problem, and to take an individualistic approach to healing from it. The result is the toxic denial of our essential interdependence.

Contemporary research confirms what the ancients have told us for centuries: that yoga can heal. Studies show that asana, pranayama, deep relaxation, and meditation all help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (the opposite of the fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode that’s engaged during a traumatic event), thereby helping to reduce many trauma symptoms. These practices are a balm to our nervous system, giving our bodies, minds, and spirits time and space for silence, reflection, and rest. This space is the field in which we can come back into connection with both our humanity and the awareness of our own divinity.

Healing from collective trauma is further served through engaging in those yoga practices alongside others.

Practicing in community allows us to move out of the feelings of disconnection, shame, and isolation that are the result of trauma, and begin to understand that our trauma is not unique to any one of us. It creates a sense of community and belonging. In community we are reminded of our interdependence and interconnectedness. Practicing together also allows us to co-create a space in which we, as a community, can support each others’ healing and also visualize and dream together of a world we’ve never lived in—a world free from oppression and traumatic wounding.

As we come together to engage in healing practices, we begin to see more deeply into the truth of the fact that we are not separate from others and, as such, the healing of the individual is not separate from the healing of others. And we become better able to support one another and work toward creating healing change in our communities.

To make the most meaningful movement toward collective healing through practicing in community, find a trauma-informed yoga class with a teacher who actively moves away from yoga practices shaped by colonialism and appropriation and who understands the nature and impact of the collective trauma that comes from living in systems of oppression.

In the upcoming online Satsang, Yoga for Healing Collective Trauma, Sat. March 18 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm PT, we’ll explore the role that yoga can play in the transformation and healing of collective trauma—in particular, collective trauma experienced as a result of living under structural and systemic oppression. We’ll come together to talk and explore ways we can collectively work to disrupt this oppression. And you’ll be guided through a practice to connect with the wisdom of your ancestors, the healing of yourself and future generations, and our sacred interconnectedness with all beings, wherever and whenever they may be.

Kamala Itzel Hayward was a lawyer for over a decade before becoming a Yoga teacher and Yoga therapist specializing in trauma, addiction, and wellness. She is passionate about bringing Yoga and other healing modalities to adults facing chronic stress caused by living under oppression, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, and more.
She is founder of the Integral Yoga Institute’s Scholarship-Based Yoga Teacher Training for Black, Indigenous, People of Color. For the last 12 years, she has been sharing Yoga with individuals facing housing insecurity and related challenges, including systemic barriers; structural oppression; social dislocation; physical, emotional, and mental health challenges; substance abuse; and addiction. She sits on the Advisory Board for the Trauma Prevention and Recovery Certificate Program at the City College of San Francisco.

Rachel brings years of mental health experience working with at-risk and underserved populations, integrating Eastern and Western practices to help clients move past symptom relief into true healing. She has brought holistic yoga programs and professional trainings on yoga for mental health into community mental health centers, hospitals and schools. Rachel’s aim is to guide individuals into states of peace and trust in their life’s story through the mind and body, create community, and bring the teachings and practices of yoga into various settings around the world. Rachel’s classes meet each student where they are at while still challenging them to reach new heights of self-realization, acceptance, and strength and flexibility, both on and off of the mat. She will push you to challenge yourself while also guiding you to listen to your body and intuition, teaching from a place of authenticity, passion and playfulness. To learn more about Rachel and her work visit Rachel Jennine Wellness.