• Pledge to VOTE: The easiest thing you can do is take the pledge. Pledging commits you to and intention and builds the energy of action.
• Become a LEADER: Go beyond the “click” and lead others to vote mindfully. One out of every 15 people is a mindfulness practitioner in the US.  Organize and facilitate a Mindful Circle, bring partners on board and recruit more leaders. Actions big and small add up. Together we CAN have an impact.
• Be a PARTNER: Your organization, institution or group is where communities come together. Leverage your networks to inspire, engage & transform how politics are done in America.
• REGISTER to Vote: Find out if you are registered properly and on time.
• DONATE to MindfulVOTES: Big impact calls for bold investment. We’re just getting started and we need your support to expand our reach and connect as many people as possible.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are preparing to face off in their first televised debate.  It is a major stepping stone in the race to the White House as both men try to win over undecided voters.  So what can the candidates learn from past debates?  Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane looks at the question.

Rev. williams is regarded as a gifted communicator of the essence of Dharma, the universal truth that leads to freedom. Named “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist in America” by Library Journal, Kyodoshi, as she is affectionately called, is known for her ability to make profound wisdom teaching relevant to everyday life.

angel Kyodo is the “Mahamitra” or great spiritual friend of the New Dharma Community, which has its physical home in Berkeley,CA with members in NY, MA and as far away as Lebanon. she is a maverick within her root tradition of zen buddhism, holding an interest in articulating relevant expressions of the essence of zen. Her dharma name, Kyodo, means “way of teaching.” At her priest ordination ceremony, the suffix “-ji” meaning compassion, was added by her preceptor, Paco Genkoji Lugoviña, so that her full dharma name is something akin to: Way of Teaching Compassion. while she is humbled and sometimes chagrined by the enormity of practicing this name, she is fully committed to doing just that by any means necessary: in an unflinching, authentic way, not bound by social convention, political correctness, the desire to appeal to student’s favor or for financial gain.

Kyodoshi-mitra lives as a full-time dharma teacher, spiritual friend and leader of what is likely one of the most unique, vibrant and diverse transformative practice communities in the nation.

                                   Tuesday, September 25, 2012

• Pledge to VOTE: The easiest thing you can do is take the pledge. Pledging commits you to and intention and builds the energy of action.
• Become a LEADER: Go beyond the “click” and lead others to vote mindfully. One out of every 15 people is a mindfulness practitioner in the US.  Organize and facilitate a conversation circle, bring partners on board and recruit more leaders. Actions big and small add up. Together we CAN have an impact.
• Be a PARTNER: Your organization, institution or group is where communities come together. Leverage your networks to inspire, engage & transform how politics are done in America.
• REGISTER to Vote: Find out if you are registered properly and on time.
• DONATE to MindfulVOTES: Big impact calls for bold investment. We’re just getting started and we need your support to expand our reach and connect as many people as possible.

Full Update 

Whoa!

That’s the best word to describe the experience at the RNC and DNC. Add to that “intense, unexpected, unpredictable, grueling, gratifying and satisfying” and you get a taste of what it was like to go from Tampa FL helping to setup and staff The Huffington Post-sponsored Oasis, hop to Charlotte NC for a respite over Labor Day Weekend with MindfulVOTES Ambassador Ruth King as a gracious host, then onward to The Oasis site for the DNC.

The truth of the matter is that our own mindfulness practices were a critical support in being able to navigate the many different currents, activities, personalities, agendas and moods of the two convention spaces. Arianna Huffington clearly had a vision for creating a unique experience alongside the conventions, and that was accomplished in spades. Both the interiors and exteriors of the spaces used for the Oases were transformed into living invitations to relax, eat, hydrate, and find your way to a yoga mat, meditation cushion, sleep pod, or just pass out on a comfy couch lulled by the pounding of the Charlotte downpour.

Huffington Post/Oasis Highlights:

No doubt the entire orchestration was held together by the many gracious volunteers, recruited and organized by Off The Mat, Into The World, our allies and the team behind our sister campaign, YogaVotes. We are especially grateful for the grace & grit of the powerful women behind YogaVotes: Kerri Kelly (Director), Jocelyn Corbett (Campaign Director), Seane Corn (co-founder), Suzanne Sterling (co-founder) Here are some highlights:

• OTM co-founder Seane Corn interviewed angel Kyodo williams about coming to The Oasis and MindfulVOTES (video link coming)
• Arianna Huffington and OTM’s Seane Corn & Kerri Kelly discuss the mission of The Oasis at RNC
• angel Kyodo williams talks about volunteering for The Oasis
• MindfulVOTES anchor team member Karen “Muki” Villanueva talks about volunteering for The Oasis
• Meet the experts of The Oasis at the RNC

MindfulVOTES Team Highlights & Accomplishments:

We also had the pleasure of having MV Ambassador Sharon Salzberg teach basic meditation at the DNC. On the second day she taught, Congressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation: How A Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit, joined in. The OH Congressman, who “presents us with an inspiring and hopeful view of our country’s future,” agreed to be an MV Ambassador, too. More highlights:

• YogaVotes Director Kerri Kelly and MindfulVOTES’ angel Kyodo williams tag-teamed meditation & yoga at the DNC Oasis
• MV Media Steward Zochi Alonzo Young brought Mu-i Tai Chi, a simple, accessible 10-step practice we learned from Norma Wong and take everywhere we go.
• Karen “Muki” Villanueva taught meditation one-on-one and in smal groups to otherwise tentative beginners.
• chandra thuy tran led a rockin’ social justice-rooted fearlessYOGA Warrior Flow attended by beginners as well as experienced yoga teacher and the feedback was awesome!
• We distributed MindfulVOTES postcards, learning more about how to tell story.
• and more

Off Our Mats & Cushions, Into…Play:

All work and no play makes for dull practitioners. We enjoyed several non-work wins, too:

• We snagged credentials to the DNC and got to see Michelle Obama’s speech. angel furiously tweeted commentary on her & Bill Clinton’s messages.
• angel Kyodo williams got to share words of admiration and a photo-op with Sandra Fluke.
• We were fed (and over-fed!) by LYFE Kitchen, which supplied endless meals to both convention’s Oasis-goers.
• The MV Team cut loose for a bit of party time after watching Bill Clinton’s speech, hosted by moderate think tank Third Way. Big thanks to the whip smart Nancy Hale.

A lot of Uptime and a Little Downtime:

We returned to our practice home at the Center for Transformative Change to early morning practice on Friday and a daylong of practice on Saturday. As luck would have it, two team members needed to take some downtime, hence our full report back was slightly delayed. But, they’re both on the mend and we’re gearing up for the big push towards election day. Will you pledge? Will you lead? Will you partner? If not now, then when?

Mindfully Yours,

angel Kyodo williams

and the MindfulVOTES anchor team

Karen “Muki” Villanueva

Alonzo Zochi Young

• Pledge to VOTE: The easiest thing you can do is take the pledge. Pledging commits you to and intention and builds the energy of action.
• Become a LEADER: Go beyond the “click” and lead others to vote mindfully. One out of every 15 people is a mindfulness practitioner in the US.  Organize and facilitate a conversation circle, bring partners on board and recruit more leaders. Actions big and small add up. Together we CAN have an impact.
• Be a PARTNER: Your organization, institution or group is where communities come together. Leverage your networks to inspire, engage & transform how politics are done in America.
• REGISTER to Vote: Find out if you are registered properly and on time.
• DONATE to MindfulVOTES: Big impact calls for bold investment. We’re just getting started and we need your support to expand our reach and connect as many people as possible.

Full Update

Full Article

The Opportunity
In just one week, the Republican National Convention will be held, followed by the Democratic National Convention. In an effort to lift up the importance of bringing consciousness to the political process, Arianna Huffington and Huffington Post is sponsoring an “Oasis” at the conventions. It will be a space to unplug and recharge featuring meditation, yoga, spa services and healthy refreshments to give the delegates a rejuvenating place to reconnect to their bodies and minds so they can bring their hearts in a powerful way during the supercharged political conventions.

The Impact
The reach of these events will be significant, with 16,000 participants gathering in Charlotte and Tampa. 1000 – 2000 people each day. This effort transcends partisanship and brings a fundamental sanity to a process that has seemed pretty insane lately.

Transformative Change, in an alliance with Off The Mat Into the World, the team behind YogaVotes, is anchoring MindfulVotes, to galvanize ALL people that aspire to bring mindfulness into every aspect of their lives—and the resulting values of love, compassion and inclusivity—to the fore of American politics. No matter where we stand on the political spectrum…

HOW we vote and engage matters.

What Is Needed
We need to raise $5000 by the end of this week to send a team of four leaders of color to the conventions, to anchor a larger group of locally-based teachers. Each skilled leader can teach meditation, yoga, tai chi and other mindfulness practices. Chip in now to keep airfare costs down.

Why Does This Matter?
It’s time to liberate our politics from negativity and closed-heartedness. The widely-held mindfulness values of love, compassion and inclusivity can return us, as Americans, back to our center of goodness. Help make that happen.

We setup a campaign site on GoFundMe to make it easy. Now we just need your support. Check out the site, share/post/tweet and send email to your circles. People are looking for inspiration in a seemingly hopeless deadlock of divisiveness. Give them the opportunity to be hopeful and inspired.

Fund the Change