Inner Transformation for Social Changemakers: Clarity, Resilience & Purpose

COURSE PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIALS

“This course helped me contemplate how healing it can be when we allow ourselves to step back from our daily routine and create space to just be with nature and with our own nature.” – Marwa Elgezery, M.Ed., EdD., Head of School, Sakura International School 

“Becoming more aware of my body has significantly changed how I perceive my emotions and manage self-regulation during challenging times. Embodied presence during the days, meetings, etc. also helps me to better connect with people around me, as I am more aware of how my body is responding to what is happening in the present moment.” – Geissy Araujo, Neuroscientist and Psychologist 

“When I heard the teacher’s words, thoughts, and reflections, I felt like I was being understood by someone, someone who doesn’t know me personally, but they could tell how I was feeling.” – Junli Zhai 

LIVE COURSE SESSIONS

Session 1: Contemplating Nature as a Resource: Connecting to Ourselves and Our World as an Interdependent Web – Kaira Jewel Lingo 

Thursday May 29 @ 9:00-10:30am HKT
Wednesday May 28 @ 9:00-10:30pm EST

This opening session invites participants to deepen their connection with the natural world as a source of insight, resilience, and interconnected wisdom. Through practices such as nature bathing and meditation on interdependence, participants will experience how attuning to the natural world can cultivate presence, perspective, and a sense of belonging.  

***

Session 2: Exploring the Wisdom of the Body: Contemplation in Motion – Arawana Hayashi 

Thursday June 5 @ 9:00-10:30am HKT
Wednesday June 4 @ 9:00-10:30pm EST

In this session, we delve into the body’s innate wisdom and its essential role in leadership, decision-making, and resilience. Through mindful movement practices drawn from traditions such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, yoga, breathwork, and somatics, participants will explore how bodily awareness deepens self-understanding and enhances their capacity for responsive, rather than reactive, leadership.  

***

Session 3: Foundations of Contemplation and Inner Transformation: The Mind Within and Between – Dr. Daniel J. Siegel 

Thursday June 12 @ 9:00-10:30am HKT
Wednesday June 11 @ 9:00-10:30pm EST

In this session, we explore the foundational concepts of contemplation and inner transformation, examining how intentional inner work enhances both personal well-being and professional effectiveness in the social impact space. Through guided contemplative practices such as mindful awareness and values reflection, participants will engage in deep inquiry into the relationship between inner development, integrity, and outward action.  

***

Session 4: The Power of the Breath: Breathing Techniques for Calm, Resilience, and Vitality – Annie Carpenter 

Thursday June 19 @ 9:00-10:30am HKT
Wednesday June 18 @ 9:00-10:30pm EST

In this session, we relate to the breath as a powerful tool for cultivating resilience, clarity, and vitality in both personal and professional life. Through guided breathwork practices such as deep breathing, the physiological sigh, and box breathing, participants will experience how intentional breathing can enhance focus, restore balance in moments of stress, and reignite passion for their work.  

***

Session 5: Becoming an Integrated Leader: From Personal Practice to Social Impact – Yuki Imoto 

Thursday June 27 @ 9:00-10:30am HKT
Wednesday June 26 @ 9:00-10:30pm EST

In this closing session, we bring together the insights and practices from the course, exploring how to integrate contemplative practices into daily life and leadership. Through group practice, reflections, and action commitments, participants will identify the tools that best support their resilience, clarity, and ability to foster meaningful change. We will discuss practical strategies for weaving breathwork, nature connection, and somatic practices into social impact work, emphasizing how inner transformation fuels collaborative leadership and collective well-being.

***

TEACHERS

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in spirituality and social justice. Her work continues the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh, and she draws inspiration from her parents’ lives of service and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King, Jr. After living as an ordained nun for 15 years in Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastic community, Kaira Jewel now teaches internationally in the Zen lineage and the Vipassana tradition, as well as in secular mindfulness, at the intersection of racial, climate and social justice with a focus on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and activists, as well as artists, educators, families, and youth. Based in New York, she offers spiritual mentoring to groups and is author of We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons in Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption and co-author of Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy and Liberation. Learn more at www.kairajewel.com.