Who it’s for
A one day online workshop suitable for Mitras and Order members already engaged in or considering teaching or supporting courses and events within the Triratna Buddhist Community. Led by Singhashri and Balajit.
If you are interested but unable to join us on January 19th, we’re offering this workshop again on March 9th.
What it’s about
For some, going to a public class, whilst offering a source of connection and learning, can also be experienced as potentially threatening. If we don’t feel safe 'enough', our nervous systems go into heightened anxiety or shutdown, making learning, growth and connection much more difficult.
Whilst triggers cannot be avoided, how can we relate and teach in a way that helps people, especially those with a significant history of trauma, stay connected with themselves, each other and the teachings we’re offering? How do we hold space in ways that support a deepening sense of safety, dignity and belonging?
This course will draw on the emerging psycho-biological understanding of trauma and trauma-informed methods for supporting healing and transformation through a Triratna Buddhism lens. Together, we will:
look at how our in-built fight, flight and freeze physiologies powerfully condition emotions, cognition and behaviours (including the 'hindrances').
hone our skills in spotting early signs of overwhelm in ourselves and others, as well as explore techniques and resources to help reduce overwhelm and establish regulation.
look at how teaching environments can trigger trauma and share practical examples of addressing this through creative applications of metta.
synthesize and co-create good practice and deepening understanding from the diversity of experiences and skills in our group.
explore and deepen our understanding of the conditions that support the efficacy of many of the core practices and emphasises of Triratna in giving a primal sense of safety on the crucial reptilian level.
Dana: Supporting our work
Events like this one are only possible because of the generosity of those who attend and are able to give. Please give what you can and only if you can. Those who give the maximum amount (or more!) make it possible for others with less financial resources to attend.
Suggested donation amounts depending on your circumstances:
Unwaged - £25
Student/benefits - £40
Waged - £60
Dana can be given via PayPal at paypal.me/radicalembrace or by bank transfer. Please email Singhashri at singhashri@radicalembrace.org for bank details.
Who we are
Singhashri
Singhashri (she/her or they/them) is a queer, Latinx-American-British Order member, dharma teacher and writer. They teach mindfulness and compassion as means to awakening to love, beauty and truth and have committed their life to supporting collective liberation for all and the joy and freedom found there.
Singhashri has a background in youth work, strategic planning, organisational change management, and diversity, equity and inclusion. They are also an accredited Breathworks Mindfulness teacher, trainer and supervisor and is currently training as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). They work at the intersection of dharma, social justice and somatics, weaving these into her writing, teaching and one-to-one therapy.
They teach at various retreat and urban centres across the UK, Europe and the USA, and support a number of projects aimed at creating greater diversity and inclusion within Buddhist sanghas and the secular mindfulness field. They currently live in London with their partner.
Balajit
Balajit (he/him) has been leading retreats and events across the UK for around 15 years. For several years he lived and worked at Vajraloka Retreat Centre in North Wales.
Currently based in Birmingham, he mixes Buddhist teaching responsibilities with work as a trauma therapist. He has studied the newly emerging psycho-biological approaches to trauma work and nervous system well being- and is qualified in Somatic Experiencing, NARM therapy and SHEN Therapy.
In the past few years, Balajit has been exploring correspondences between these emerging approaches and the canonical Dharma. In particular, how transforming trauma can weaken forces that cloud the heart-mind, allowing a deepening of meditation and supporting the dawning of embodied wisdom.