Growing our inner capacity to face racial ignorance and suffering with a wise and caring heart
This powerful and penetrating book offers us healing medicine for the great suffering of racism. Ruth King, a deeply wise and caring mindfulness teacher and diversity consultant, not only helps us understand the complexity of our great racial divide, she offers a core of practices, reflections and actions that gives us hope for transformation. Our world needs this book. We need this book. Please read with a receptive heart, and share with all you know! - Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge
Thank you for teaching with candor in Mindfulness of Race... It has been like asking a fish to see the water... This has been one of the deepest dives on my mindfulness journey. ~ Maggie Stevens
Ron Rawald, senior managing director and head of international real estate at Cerberus Capital Management, died two days after recording this video. His biracial daughters, who edited the video with him, shared that their conversation was long awaited and profoundly meaningful to their family. Ron was not able to join our memorial event, but his legacy lives loud.
Reading your book is like understanding the blueprints before building the house. ~ Robyn Freedman Comyn
King's approach is revolutionary in the deepest sense because it addresses our racial problems at their root, which is consciousness, or the mind itself. Mindful of Race is rich in anecdotes and examples that will, I believe, cause a reader to smile and perhaps even say, “Thank you.” Mindful of Race is a trustworthy guide for claiming our birthright – happiness and freedom. - Charles Johnson, author, Middle Passage and Taming the Ox
In this publication, King invites us to explore:
- Ourselves as racial beings, the dynamics of oppression, and our role in racism
- The power of paying homage to our most turbulent emotions, and perceiving the wisdom they hold
- Key mindfulness tools to understand and engage with racial tension and distress
- Identifying our “soft spots” of fear and vulnerability - how we defend them and how to heal them
- Embracing discomfort – a core competency for transformation
- How our thoughts and emotions “rigidify” our sense of self, and how to return to the natural flow of who we are
- Body, breath, and relaxation practices to cultivate ease.
- Identifying our most sensitive “activation points” and tending to them with caring awareness
- The generational constellation of racial rage and ignorance, and how to work with them
- And many other compelling topics
"In this book, I have given us a way to see how we got here; how we can shift from racial distress to inner freedom; and how we can heal, reach across the divide, and invest in a culture of care."
Ruth King recorded for the 10% Happier: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics Podcast with Dan Harris at the ABC News Studios in NYC!
Mindful of Race is a wonderfully pragmatic and inspiring guide on this journey of transformation. King explores the role of mindfulness in understanding the suffering of racism and the power of mindfulness for healing that corrosive conditioning. Highly recommended. - Joseph Goldstein, author, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
This revered teacher shines a compassionate, provocative, and practical light into a deeply neglected and world-changing domain profoundly relevant to all of us. In her newest publication, Mindful of Race, Ruth King shares: Understanding how we have been conditioned to think and react is at the root of both racial distress and racial healing. Drawing on her expertise as a meditation teacher and diversity consultant, King helps readers of all backgrounds examine with fresh eyes the complexity of racial identity and the dynamics of oppression. She offers guided instructions on how to work with intense emotions mindfully and shows us how to cultivate a culture of care from a less tangled place to a place of greater clarity and compassion. - Sounds True Publisher, 2018