I've been on this trip of starting to think of all the different words consent means to me that really depict my work, what I'm about, and what I do.
I start out my consent workshops this way, by having people answer the question of Consent =________ and have them fill in the appropriate word for them.
The other day, a friend who came to one of my Community Empowerment Song Circles (a circle that merges consent culture practices and awareness with voice empowerment through singing) shared that he felt like what I was really doing was teaching mindfulness.
What I continue to learn in how I lead my workshops and circles is that consent really begins with
TRACKING.
Tracking the self and tracking the other. And this is what I love to encourage in whomever attend my events to do.
Tracking looks like pausing, taking breaths, and really feeling into each experience to understand...
1) What you're feeling, your body sensations
AND
2) How you relate what you're feeling in your body to what you may need or feel available for in that moment (what your yes's and no's are).
Tracking really means practicing mindfulness.
It's all about having a really good relationship with your body and it's sensations and being able to relate it to what you're needing in every given moment.
And with this awareness being mindful of others experiences and tracking their body cues, etc. to be able to navigate what they might need.
And moreover being able to have those tools to track dynamics in a group or at a place to be able to respond care-fully (full of care), in respect to yourself and others, because of your awareness.
So to practice consent culture really is to practice mindfulness in every moment, and I LOVE helping people step more into this kind of mindfulness.
If you're interested in creating more of this for yourself or for your community, please contact me :) *
