How do you speak truth to a power that is closer to you than your own breath? 

Imagine, this power as a beautiful silver coin. On one side is the fear of all that you are, and on the other is the love.

Loving ALL that you fear about yourself is the key to unlocking the art of breathing. Finding this key, and unlocking this art of breath is what we share here at BRT Studio.

 We often fail to recognize our proximity to it due to expectations we have for ourselves in relation to others. Think about it. How much of our behavior is dictated by the fear of what others may think? Versus - how often do we allow ourselves to freely flow as the rivers of our own loving creation without taking the opinions of others personally? My money (or crypto these days?) is on that fear charting our path more often than not. 

So as we venture into this holiday season I’d like to give you a small gift to help you reclaim this key. A dash of sage like advice from BRT Studio Co-Steward Jaleel Mackey, which may help re-route your internal compass towards more love in 2024.

Below is an excerpt from our podcast Between 2 Breaths, in which Jaleel is responding to the question: ‘How do you speak truth to someone in a position of authority who is creating a harmful environment?’

As you read, I invite you to imagine that the fictional ‘harmful’ character in this story is your fear, and you are having this dialogue with yourself. Get creative with it, and imagine what your fear looks like as a person. What is it’s gender? Height? Age? Fashion Sense? Etc. Allow it to expand out into potential interpersonal relationships from there, and in the process, feel what arises within you.

‘What I've grown to appreciate and understand about anyone who has beliefs that are harmful, or, we’ll call them racist beliefs, we'll call them what they are, right? That person is a product of their environment. They're a product of their family, the history that came before them. And so for me, in order for me to even begin to have a conversation with that person, I first and foremost have to remember that it is not personal, that it is a byproduct of their life experiences. And it is not a reflection on me by any stretch of the imagination. Because if I walk into that conversation, ready to fight that person, I'm going nowhere fast. And the only way to step into that conversation, not wanting to fight that person, is to appreciate this human being on the other end of this conversation is doing the best that they fucking can with what they've got. And what they've got happens to be racist as fuck.

And so from that place of, okay, this person is saying hurtful things, they believe hurtful things, let's just use the example that you shared of somebody who is in a leadership position. Maybe they're saying things that are hurtful about a certain group of people. And I walk into this room with this person. And I let them know, ‘Hey, I've been hearing that some people are upset about XYZ, right?’ (I’m sure they probably know at this point.) ‘I just wanted to hear your side of this. What's going on? Talk to me, tell me about what's going on for you.’ Everybody, no matter who you are, it doesn't matter what level of authority, doesn't matter where you are in the world, it doesn't matter what your perceived position is, everybody just wants to be heard. We all just want to be heard. And because I'm somebody who can come into a conversation, recognize that they have a whole world that they've got going on over there. And they've got an emotional charge and a bunch of things that they're acting on. And I can come into that conversation and keep myself in a state of calm, and a state of curiosity and compassion. Being endlessly curious about the mystery of life, like, always be curious is one of the things that I talk to my team about all the time, because when we separate these conversations with people who are having challenges in their companies, and we're trying to help solve those challenges. I gotta be eternally curious about that over and over again, I keep asking why? Tell me more about that. Tell me more about that. So the same thing is true for this person that is saying hurtful things or has hurtful beliefs about people. Tell me about this. Tell me tell me about what's going on for you. I want to hear it. I want to hear how it is for you right now. I don't care about what other people are saying. I don't care about how people are feeling about what you're saying. Like you tell me tell me what's going on here. And giving that person space to speak. Whether or not I believe what they're saying does not fucking matter. It really doesn't matter. In order for me to get to a place where this person is even going to hear me. I have to first show them I'm willing to listen. And so sitting in this place and and having a conversation allowing for this person to tell me what's going on for them, holding that space free of judgment, staying mindful of the whole process, being mindful of my own responses that may be coming up, but not acting on them. And then maybe asking them, right? All these things that you're telling me. How is that impacting you as a person? Is it fear? I'm trying to understand more deeply, why you feel so strongly about this particular group of people? Are you afraid, if someone does something to you? Do you have a history that this is something that happened to your family members that you you're carrying with you, like, tell me more about this, so we can get to the root of it.

Because at the end of the day, I believe that you as a human being, are a well intended person, and that you want nothing but peace for yourself and your life and people that you care about. And this is not true for everybody. I'm aware of that. But I think 99.9% of the people on this planet are actually good human beings. They just want to be safe. They want to feel loved, they want to feel heard. And they want to know the people and the things that they care about, are also safe. And so in that place of conversation, I don't know where it would go, right. I would just create dialogue. And I think that's the beginning. And this is a long winded way to get to this answer. I think that's where a lot of us are struggling today when it comes to the narrative of, of all of the different challenges that we're experiencing when it comes to oppression in this country, and on this planet. There is an unwillingness to have a conversation. We're all so afraid of our sovereignty, being robbed by another human being that we are not willing to simply hear this other person and what they have to say. No one can take my sovereignty but me.

So I'll wrap it up with this. If I am in a conversation with someone who has different beliefs that I don't necessarily hold, I’m still going to step into that conversation eternally curious, wondering who is this person? Why do they think the way they do? And how can I hear them? Because once they feel heard, then I have the opportunity to share what I think as well.’

Woof! That’s the wise and wonderful Jaleel Mackey ladies and gentlemen. He knows a thing or two.

How are you feeling into it as an example of choosing love in the face of fear? How did that image of fear take shape in your mind? How does that image of love take shape in your life when you do choose it over fear?

All just food for thought, on this Sunday morning, so I hope you enjoy the meal throughout the day. If you want to hear the whole episode and more, click here

And for those of you interested in a engaging more this kind of perspective and energy, I will be stewarding two wonderful breathwork experiences to close out the calendar year in DC this December. One at The Eaton Hotel, and the other at the Balian Springs Spa. Space is limited, but you can learn more and sign up for them in the links below.

The Eaton - 12/16

Balian Springs Spa - 12/17* disregard the October 29th date. They didn’t update the page since October, but it still functions accurately.

In Love + Play,

Rua