Shambhala Peace Warrior Program – Part 2

Shambhala Chicago is proud to announce that we have received a grant from the Lenz Foundation which will allow us to offer the Shambhala Peace Warrior program to employees of UCAN and Dr. Pedro Albizo Campos High School’s care team. UCAN is a non-profit that caters to working with youth that are encountering trauma, and Campos High School’s care team is a group of care workers from several non-profits that support students at the school.

Two Shambhalians, Aarti Tejuja, owner of Spiritual Activism, and Sojourner Wright, creator of Stillness, meditation for femmes and women of color, will teach the first part of the program, and Acharya Gaylon Ferguson will teach the second part.

The Shambhala Peace Warrior Program began two years ago as a project of the Shambhala Office of Social Engagement. The first iteration was taught by Aarti and Acharya Ferguson.

The Peace Warrior Program is a mindfulness meditation, deep listening, and warriorship training program designed for those working in non-profits, community activist settings, and education. Mindfulness meditation, warriorship tools, deep listening, and compassion practices are taught in a gentle format within a 6-week series that meets weekly for 2 hours, and concludes with a 2-day retreat. Sessions are spent learning how to meditate and other related practices, and also include discussions, talks, and readings about how these practices can apply in the work they are doing. Retreat time will allow for the ability to further deepen in the practices learned during the 6 weeks. Mindfulness, compassion practices, deep listening, and warriorship training will help to build resilience, heal trauma, and offer deep self-care for those who are doing this difficult work. Staying sane and caring for oneself in the face of insurmountable systems of oppression is critical.

Part two will be a program that will allow those who wish to continue to take part in a train-the-trainer program.

The programs will take place at UCAN, Campos High School, and at Shambhala Chicago this spring and summer. The train-the-trainer portion will take place in 2020.