Michelle Cassandra Johnson > Quotes

“To respond to the grief that we experience as a collective, we need to be present to what is breaking our hearts. We need a spiritual practice to hold and allow us to feel grounded as we begin to recognize our brokenheartedness. When we turn toward our brokenheartedness, I believe we can begin to acknowledge what we are grieving, and we can create space to grieve. As we grieve, we also tap into our own capacity to heal. We connect with our resilience and begin to piece back together the parts of ourselves that feel shattered. We come back into wholeness.”
― Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief

“a teacher or guide, let people know that you will offer modifications or options and encourage individuals to listen to their bodies and hearts more than they are listening to your cues. This gives people the opportunity to practice discernment and to clarify what will best serve their bodies and hearts in the moment. This service to the body and heart isn’t just about the individual, it is tied to coming back home to the self to then be able to expand out in service of the larger collective. When people choose to modify or adjust I reinforce that what they are doing is tuning into to their needs and then responding by honoring what they hear as they tune in. In this way, people are taking care of themselves not from a self-centered space but from a space of deep listening.”
― Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World