Integrating Mindfulness Drives Sustainability

Transformation is Most Effective When Driven from Within

Our unique holistic blend of inner work, and a mindfulness-based social venture incubator, catalyzes inner and outer transformation. We believe that for sustainable development to occur, transformation is most effectively driven from within. This means, from the start, we honor the wisdom and nurture the holistic growth of local leaders - women in particular - so they can mindfully lead and influence change from within their own communities.   

Our core methodology, called Conscious Social Change, uses inner work as a vehicle for sustainably solving complex social issues. For example, we learn self-awareness and self-regulation through mindfulness practices which help us notice our mental activity, emotional state, and physical bodies. This helps us recognize things like when we are replaying old messages in our heads about not having the capacity to do this work, becoming angry, or feeling exhausted. We then can learn about how we or others compensate for feeling vulnerable by clinging to power, avoiding others, or reacting harshly. As we work on being aware of and changing those patterns in ourselves, we can recognize these challenges in others. So, when faced with opposition or resistance to our work, we can find our inner strength, feel compassion for another, and work in ways to understand and address the underlying fear or challenge instead of giving up or trying to force others to comply with our wishes. This helps foster deeper connection between different stakeholders, broadening the understanding of complex systemic issues from multiple perspectives. It allows for building more trust and better alliances and collaborations. Over time, social change efforts drive social cohesion and social capital, which contributes to longer-term sustainability.

Over the course of the venture incubator and accelerator, staff look for personal transformation within individual team members in: