Hey Reader,

At one of the monasteries grounded in Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings, there’s a beautiful tradition:

Throughout the day, and at seemingly random intervals, a bell chimes across the entire campus. It’s an invitation (and a norm) that everyone, including guests, pause what they’re doing and settle in for a moment of mindfulness.

In the middle of a bite? Pause.

In the middle of a conversation? Pause.

In the middle of a lecture or teaching? Pause.

It’s meant as a sometimes-gentle, sometimes-jarring disruption of the status quo — an invitation for everyone who hears it to reset their attention, check-in with their senses, and ground themselves in the here and now.

It’s a ritual acknowledgment that disruption is vital.

As the world events of the past week have come fast and heavy, I’ve been reflecting on how I might open myself more to the vitality of disruption: both as inner preparation to handle it in more skillful ways, but also how I might engage in acts of justice-oriented disruption with more focus and clarity.

Questions that have come to mind for me:

• How can I help disrupt the spread of white Christian nationalism?
• How can I help disrupt the stripping away of women’s rights?
• How can I, even in my little workplace, disrupt humanity-denying practices that have existed for a century?
• How can I experience disruption, not as a threat, but as an invitation?
• How can I be an embodied commitment to disruption, right now?

Here’s a simple practice I’m engaging this week, and if it resonates, I hope you’ll try it.

Find a small object, like a small stone or a marble, and carry it in your pocket. Whenever you feel it or remember it’s there, do two things:

1. Take a breath and center yourself
2. Commit to becoming part of a disruption

If you try this out, let me know how it goes and what comes up for you!

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❓ Questions

1. What rituals of disruption might you foster in your life?
2. How will you disrupt one inhumane or oppressive system today, no matter how big or small the action is?

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🧰 Resources

• ​Thich Nhat Hanh on transforming suffering (article)
• ​Sustained, disruptive protests work (article)
• ​The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom, by Willa Blythe Baker (book)

👉 Recommended Next Read

Hope you are well or well-enough,

Andrew IG: @andrewglang​