Exploring Decolonization with Mindfulness

Workshop Description

We live in a world that has been greatly impacted by colonization. The value systems that come along with the colonizers of any area will influence how new societal systems are built. This in turn influences our personal values as we are raised within these systems. This workshop is about exploring what values are at the forefront of our societal systems and the impacts they have on our lives.

Take a moment to reflect on how much you were raised to value ‘productivity’. At its core this value is a wonderful and important part of any society or individual's life. Pushed too far however, constant productivity can lead to negative side effects such as burnout, high turnover, injuries or disease. This workshop will focus on exploring the impacts of having certain values prioritized more than others and what it would take to restore balance.

What if schools and workplaces equally valued productivity and self-care? What kind of new or reformed systems and cultures would evolve in these environments? What if success wasn’t only measured by how productive we are and how much money we make but also how healthy our relationships are? How would this impact our lives?

Using guided meditations, value reflection charts and group breakout conversations we will explore these questions and what it looks like to bring balance to our lives and societal systems.

Goals of workshop

- Expanding our ability to reflect on what kind of values we prioritize in our personal lives and in current post colonized western society.

- Exploring where we learned our values and whether they are in balance with other values that are important to us.

- Brainstorming the impacts of having imbalanced values on a personal and societal/structural level.

- Building clarity on what we can do to bring more balance in our values for both ourselves and the systems of our communities

About the facilitator

Warren Hooley is a 35-year old man from the (Okanagan) Territory in Penticton, British Columbia. Having mixed roots of Okanagan, English and Ukrainian and growing up in both western and indigenous worlds, Warren sees himself as a bridge, helping both sides move from polarity to deeper connection. For the past 10 years, Warren has passionately facilitated over 1500 workshops on the topics of Compassionate Communication, Indigenous ‘Allyship’ and Decolonization. Today, living in Vancouver BC, Warren is dedicated to helping create a world where everyone can thrive and succeed to their own definition. His work is focused on teaching the tangible skills for healthy, happy and sustainable relationships.

About the host

This daylong workshop is hosted by the Consciousness Explorers Club, a registered not-for-profit with the mission of making meditation and personal growth practices fun and accessible to all. It is being offered on a "pay what you're able to" model, with a wide sliding scale to accomodate all income ranges.

Zoom link for the workshop will be provided upon registration.