THE ACADEMY FOR CONSCIOUS SOCIAL CHANGE
Why does inner work matter for social change?
Inner Work for Social Change
At Umurage Growth, we believe that inner work and personal transformation are integral to sustainable change. At the heart of our work is our core Academy for Conscious Social Change, a mindfulness-based leadership program and social venture incubator for teams of women launching social change ventures (micro-NGOs).
Through our Academy for Conscious Social Change, these powerful change agents practice deeper self-knowledge and personal transformation while advancing positive change for the common good. Upon completion, they bring clean water, health education, gender equity training, and other holistic solutions to thousands of people each year.
And yet, even in light of their notable successes, it can be hard to articulate why investing in mindfulness practices and breathwork is an essential part of supporting sustainable social change work. So, alongside Global Grassroots, we took some time to explore what the clinical and scholarly research had to say about the role of personal transformation in influencing social change.
Inner work positively impacts five fields of personal transformation.
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Mindfulness comes from the Pali word sati, which means having awareness, attention, and remembering. These practices involve paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally, which bring our internal experiences, like emotional reactivity, under greater conscious control over time. To explore more, please download our Spotlight on Mindfulness.
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Wellbeing is a state of being where human needs are met, where one can act meaningfully to pursue one's goals, and where one enjoys a satisfactory quality of life. Resilience is a positive adaptation despite adversity that leads to growth and greater wellbeing. To learn more please download our Spotlight on Wellbeing & Resilience.
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Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own and others’ feelings in the moment and use that information to inform one’s action in relationship. Social intelligence is the ability to more deeply understand people by perceiving or experiencing their life situations and, as a result, gain insight into structural inequalities and disparities. To learn more, please download our Spotlight on Social & Emotional Intelligence.
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Empowerment is the ability to choose, including the existence of options and a capacity to make purposeful choices in a changing context where little power once existed. To learn more, please download our Spotlight on Empowerment & Agency.
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A sense of community includes a feeling of belonging, a sense of mattering to the group, a feeling that needs will be met by shared resources, and having a shared emotional connection. To learn more, please download our Spotlight on Community & Belonging.
Key Impacts
Practicing inner work involves a fundamental change in the structure and functioning of the brain and physiology, resulting in a more positive orientation towards self and the surrounding world.
Inner work and personal transformation help foster prosocial behavior, including helping, charitable altruism, motivation to act for the common good, and social communication—improving compassion, understanding, and connection with others.
A connection to community and a sense of belonging is critical to the process of individual growth. Personal transformation is influenced by and has a direct impact on the community in which a person’s transformation occurs.
Inner work helped me develop patience. When someone makes a mistake, I feel like I could also make that kind of mistake. I put myself in the place of the person, and I help him or her to solve that problem… If someone is dedicated to doing something - with determination and love – no matter what, she or he will achieve it.”
-Jeanine Kaigirwa, Team Construct the Family, a domestic violence venture.
Important Definitions
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Inner work is the intentional engagement in practice (or as a response to challenge), with self-reflection and the integration of insight for personal transformation.
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Personal transformation is the process and experience of undergoing positive inner change towards personal growth and self-realization.
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Systems change can be defined as shifting component parts of a system — and the pattern of interactions between these parts — to ultimately form a new system that behaves in a qualitatively different way
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Conscious Social Change (CSC), is a design philosophy and methodology of creative, compassionate problem-solving and solutions-building grounded in mindfulness and self-awareness.