The workshop “Resilience through Beloved Community,” with renowned author and teacher Rhonda Magee, takes place at Grass Valley’s Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains, 246 South Church Street, from 1 pm to 5pm on Saturday, May 16.
It draws on social psychology, contemplative practice, and community involvement. Participants are taught practical tools to strengthen connection, navigate conflict, and care for others regardless of differences, while finding more meaning and joy in their lives.
Color Me Human, a Nevada County non-profit, sponsors the event. For information or to register, people can contact board member Curt Beckmann at curtbeckmann@gmail.com. A donation of $60 is suggested.
Magee is Professor Emeritus and founding Director of the Center for Contemplative Law and Ethics at the University of San Francisco. As well as a law degree, she has a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Virginia. Magee is also an internationally-recognized teacher of mindfulness, which is one of the tools she teaches in her workshops.
A key aspect of mindfulness involves bringing one’s attention to the present moment without judging it. Her work has gained awards for her innovative use of it to support social engagement and social justice as well as personal healing and wellbeing.
Her website, www.rhondavmagee.com, notes that, “Professor Magee is a leading mindfulness teacher and practice innovator with a focus on applying mindfulness to the hardest challenges of our times…. She…weave[s] storytelling, poetry, analysis, and practices into inspiration for changing how we think, act and live together in a rapidly changing world.”
Magee’s best-selling book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness, has an endorsement and forward by Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the world’s foremost teachers of the approach.
Beckmann says, “Color Me Human is excited to bring such an important teacher to our area. The skills her workshop teaches can help us develop inner strength while we work to build a stronger and healthier community.”
Color Me Human is dedicated to celebrating and supporting under-resourced communities in Nevada County, while opposing systems of oppression and promoting equity and inclusion for everyone. It strives to create a welcoming environment where the positive contributions of each individual are recognized and valued. For more information visit their website: www.colormehuman.org/events.