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Workshops, Mindfulness Science & Practice

Mindfulness and the Crisis of Belonging: Finding Our Ground in a Divided World

In a time of political polarization and rising backlash against anti-racism efforts, how can mindfulness offer more than personal stress relief?

Drawing from classical Buddhist teachings and contemporary practice, this keynote explores mindfulness as a powerful resource for meeting collective suffering with clarity, courage, and care. Far from passive acceptance, mindfulness helps us face difficult truths—internally and externally—while transforming reactivity into wise response. With attention to the emotional impact of injustice, social division, and disconnection, we’ll examine how mindfulness fosters resilience, supports relational awareness, and reconnects us to our values. Oren Jay Sofer will share practical insights from over two decades of teaching on mindful communication, trauma-informed practice, and socially engaged Dharma to invite a deeper, more grounded approach to belonging and social transformation.

Please register in advance for this webinar via the following link: https://wustl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p7ZR8Pi8RFuEvPlboJZLTw

  • Join a watch party in Brown Lounge on the Danforth campus. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to ensure enough food.
  • Join a watch party at WashU Medicine in Farrell Learning and Teaching Center - FLTC 302. Light refreshments will be served. 

Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation and communication internationally, integrating classical Buddhist training with Nonviolent Communication and Somatics. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. Oren is the author of several books, including the best-seller Say What You Mean and Your Heart Was Made for This. A husband and father, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches worldwide through courses and guided meditations. 

This talk is co-sponsored by the following WashU centers: the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies and the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, & Equity.