Loving Awareness in Action: Redefining Social Justice with Dr. Sará Yafah King

Prison Yoga Project Podcast

This episode was recorded 7/8/2022

Dr. Sará Yafah King titles and range of study extend beautifully and with great depth. A neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, medical anthropologist, social entrepreneur, public speaker, a mother, and more. At the cross-section of her meditation study and social justice, she joins us to speak of her journey of redefining social justice.

Dr. Sará King's spiritual journey began when she was six years old. She watched her brother be arrested, sentenced, and incarcerated. Overwhelmed with the abrupt transition from childhood to consciousness, she began trying to piece together the puzzle of our current human condition. Thoughts began to appear while she was looking for answers and a deeper understanding: " Who created this system? Why can't we get my brother out? " Beginning to unravel the causes and conditions of her brothers' incarceration, a seed was planted for her spiritual journey. As her brother was stuck in a cage, she also felt imprisoned in her own body.

"When talking about the science of Social Justice, in the word 'Social', we study the field of our shared interbeing. The word 'Justice' is problematic because, for me, justice is not punitive or is it ever punitive. How do we know if justice is present? It's never going to be punitive; it's never violent or full of vengeance. I think justice is a feeling, and we can redefine this feeling as loving awareness in action. With this new definition of justice as a feeling, then justice is based in the body. Justice is something we can become aware of through body-based practices. These practices can become part of feeling justice in the body, and we can begin the collective journey of what justice feels like."

About Our Guests:

Dr. Sará King is a neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, medical anthropologist, social entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and meditation instructor. She is an internationally recognized thought leader in the interdisciplinary field that examines the role of social justice, art, and mindfulness in neuroscience. Dr. King is currently an NIH post-doctoral fellow in Neurology at Oregon Health Science University (OHSU) in the Oregon Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Neurological Disorders.

Dr. King's research and teaching focus on the relationship between mindfulness, community alternative medicine, and social justice with an emphasis on examining the relationship between individual and collective awareness as it relates to well-being and the healing of intergenerational trauma. She is the creator of the "Science of Social Justice" framework for research and facilitation, and the "Systems-Based Awareness Map," a model of the relationship between individual and collective awareness and well-being. Dr. King has worked with organizations such as Nike, the Jordan Brand, the Ford Foundation, Google, The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, Oxford University, Columbia University, OHSU, UCLA, UCSF, and Harvard Medical School.

You can read more about her work here: https://mindheartconsulting.com/about/

Your host Blaire Embrey (RYT 500) is the Communications Manager for Prison Yoga Project and the producer of Prison Yoga Project Podcast. She is a student of Tibetan Buddhism, Post-Lineage Yoga, and Peruvian Mountain Shamanism; she is pulled towards the profound mystery of existence, cultivating compassion for all beings, and holding space.

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