Mindfulness began when the first human was created and continued when we discovered our first breaths and heard the first wind and felt the rays of the first sun, when we who believe in freedom rested in the full embrace of its strength and its victory.

Mindfulness knew its place in everything that embraced us in the fullness of its prayer, its song, its dance, its meditation.  Mindfulness was the pure power of realizing family, nurturing, building, protecting, uniting, educating, creating, connecting, and being one.

Our ancestors wove the soul of being mindful into the circles of elders and the fires of honor and the triumph of bravery.  Great Spirits. Great Mothers.  Great Hunters.  Great Artists.  Great Legends.  Great Poems.  Great Dances.  Great Songs are all part of the tapestry of mindfulness that centered us in the heart of the first sound, the first rhythm, the first beat, the first love deep in the roots of our journeys, our legends, and our truths.

In the circle of mindfulness is the pure power of love, the testimony of faith that has been tested and triumphed, the synergy of wisdom that knows nothing but also everything.  We welcome our roots in the practice of knowing we are one, that we are the soul’s deep connection, that we are the harmony of peace, with all that we need everywhere present.

How grateful I am to be part of the first Blacks in Mindfulness Summit, which took place in Delaware, led by Dr. Michelle Chatman, where we reconnected the mindfulness of our ancestors, as Dr. Chatman led us in meditation, worship and song, as we danced the beat of grace, honoring those who have gone before us (Dr. Monika Son), loving ourselves through art (Dr. Traci Currie and Dr. Bradford Grant), restoring ourselves through new words, understandings and meaning (Dr. Joyce Piert), scholarly writings (Dr. Steven Oliver),  peace (Dr. Stephanie Briggs), and wholeness (Dr. Cecilia B. Loving).

We arrive at the altar of creation with the gifts of the ages, gifts that transcend norms, traditions and definitions imposed by boxes that cannot contain us.  There is power in claiming and knowing who we are, and cherishing all that we offer to the world, especially in our witness, presence and contribution to all that is, especially mindfulness.

I have never experienced anything so amazing, so transforming, so necessary.

I was reborn in mindfulness.