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Want to try something new with us? This program is called Mindful Giving, and includes insights and mindfulness practices to make personal giving a practice of ease, authenticity and sufficiency. It is a self-guided journey of curated resources, on this page, navigable by the Categories you see to the right. What is Mindful Giving? Giving, and receiving, these actions weave us together as a community, resourcing each other based on the values and vision we live for. Mindful Giving is the conscious practice of weaving a community and vision that is aligned with values. Mindful Giving is giving with and into wholeness. What You'll Learn:
 Why Mindful Giving? For Space Between, we ground everything we do in mindfulness and our values of alignment, authenticity, and connection. These values extend from how we work in schools with youth, with each other, to how we connect and share with you, our community and resourcers. Moreover, when we nurture Mindful Giving, we contribute to equity. Mindful Giving is our invitation to you. The Invitation We suggest that you find a partner to join and process with you on this journey each week. The journey consists of self-paced reflections and resources, curated here on this page. We may organize virtual gatherings to process in small groups later this year. If you'd like to be in community in that way with us, let us know by emailing Nicole Sirivansanti to be added to the list. This experience is for givers at all levels, there is no expectation around the size of your donations, but rather how you want to deepen your own giving experience. Why not start now?
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 Thank you for choosing to join us on the Mindful Giving journey! To get ready, read below, then watch and ground yourself with the practice below. Here's an overview of the themes for each module; we suggest you journey in the following sequence, but feel free to hop around if you like:
As we embark on this journey, let’s remember our goals to:
Shedding light on these aspects of giving may uncover emotions that span the spectrum from joy and connection, to shame and numbness. And just as we can learn to meet these emotions that are bound to arise in our daily lives, we can learn to meet them here with compassion, curiosity, and ease. We are not here to judge what is right or wrong, but rather to offer a learning and practice opportunity. To round out, practice along with us - here’s a 6:53 min video. Alternatively, if you have one, do your own mindfulness practice with this prompt - "What would ease judgment into non-judgment?" Then take 5 minutes to read this article on nurturing Beginner’s Mind.  Here we go! Take your time (we suggest 1 hour) to process this module, and we recommend finding a partner to do this with. Send us any questions or feedback if you have them.
~ Reflection ~ Let’s begin, no surprise, with ourselves. What is your history of giving? Trace where you have given money, time, other resources. What prompted you to give? Who did you give to? How did you feel as you gave? What dream are you creating with your giving? ~ Practice ~ Recalling your stories of giving may have also recalled a variety of emotions. What might it feel like to nurture curiosity and compassion to meet those emotions? How can mindfulness be a resource we can call on when things feel uncomfortable? Explore with this practice (9 min). ~ Learn ~ Just as you have a history of giving, so do we as a society have a history of giving. In particular, the charitable nonprofit system where many of us give monetarily has a history. Some of what you hear may make you uncomfortable, or perhaps you’ll encounter disbelief. Can you bring the curiosity and compassion from practice to the moment, see where it leads? Listen to Michelle Muri and Christine Shimizu on the Racist Roots of Philanthropy (31 min). ~ Process ~
As you sit with and process these emotions and prompts over the next two weeks, we offer an invitation to practice mindfulness. At Space Between, we share that mindfulness is the practice of being present with curiosity and compassion. For being present with joy and surprise, anger and defensiveness, and more. Read this (5 min), or watch this (10 min) about pain as a teacher, and try the practice again. Bonus: Stifled Generosity (10 min to read) Generosity to Justice (1 min video)  Take your time (we suggest 1 hour) to process this module, and we recommend finding a partner to do this with. Send us any questions or feedback if you'd like.
~ Reflection ~ Last time, we uncovered a side to philanthropy that isn't as obvious, and perhaps stirred up some pain, skepticism, or righteousness in you. Taking a mindful stance of curiosity and compassion, how do you choose to proceed? Now, let’s consider the other side of the giving coin - receiving. Can you recall a time when you received a gift, one whose value you couldn’t measure, or put a price tag on? How do you feel when you receive a gift? Now think back to Part 1 and your story of giving a gift. How do you think the person you gave to felt? ~ Learn ~ Watch Lynne Twist share her story of encountering the Achuar people of the Amazon forest (14 min), and how her partnership with them developed. What was it about the nature of Twist’s partnership with the Achuar people that was unexpected and different? ~ Process ~
~ Practice ~ How do you feel as a receiver? How do you want to feel as a receiver? What do you receive? Is there something you receive as a giver? Explore with this practice (7 min). Bonus: For more from Lynne Twist, watch Soul of Money video, Part 1 and Part 2 (25 min each).  Take your time (we suggest 1 hour) to process this module, and we recommend finding a partner to do this with. Send us any questions or feedback if you'd like.
~ Reflection ~ Part 1 and 2 invited you to reflect on giving and receiving. In fact, as a wise person once shared, giving is not complete without receiving. We also shared perspective on the racist roots of philanthropy, and a story of philanthropic partnership started by solidarity, rather than saviorism. Sharing these ideas is part of cultivating consciousness of the system of giving that we live in. Let us see this clearly. Thank you for walking this far in the journey with us; it is a lot to take in. Giving and receiving is part of what weaves us together as a community. And what you expect from community can be a lot of different things (2:54 min). What do you look for in community? ~ Learn ~ This week, we introduce to you the Community-Centric Fundraising Principles (10 min to read). These are principles born from conversation among many fundraisers of color over several years, meant to transform the fundraising and nonprofit community into one of healing and liberation. Please review them, and feel free to explore the CCF website. ~ Process ~
~ Practice ~ What does being in community feel like in your body? With this practice (10 min), is there a part of your body or sensation that you notice that surprises you, or feels new? Or if you prefer, do your own practice with this prompt: How much more healthy are we when we stand alongside each other, rather than alone, on different levels? Bonus: I Trust You (3:14 min video). Karim Sulayman is an Arab-American tenor from Chicago. Ten days after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Sulayman teamed up with filmmaker Meredith Kaufman Younger to perform a trust experiment. Watch this silent video (set to Sulayman singing Sinead O'Connor's "In this Heart") as Sulayman stands blindfolded outside Trump International Hotel in Central Park West in New York City and asks strangers to trust him.  Take your time (we suggest 1 hour) to process this module, and we recommend finding a partner to do this with. Send us any questions or feedback if you'd like.
~ Reflection ~ Gratitude (4 min video) makes the fabric of community stronger, reinforcing the connections of giving and receiving that weave us together. In fact, gratitude is a gift in itself. How do you think that is? ~ Learn ~ Sometimes, the best teacher in life is the Earth. Read this excerpt from Robin Wall-Kimmerer, “Returning the Gift.” (5 min) ~ Process ~
~ Practice ~ What are the pleasant or unpleasant sensations that come along with being grateful? What happens when we acknowledge the gifts around us, and within ourselves? Is reciprocity a gift? Explore with this practice (9:25 min). Or, practice on your own with this prompt: How does expressing gratitude feel? And how does receiving gratitude feel? Bonus: Grateful (5 min music video by Empty Hands)  =Here's the penultimate module. Take your time (we suggest 1 hour) to process this module, and we recommend finding a partner to do this with. Send us any questions or feedback if you'd like.
~ Reflection ~ This time, we uncover and honor pain, and talk about money and separation. Recall a time when you felt stuck, discomfort, worry, or failed at something. What were the circumstances? Where did you feel it in your body? If you peeled back those emotions, what was at the center? Many times, the source of our pain is our feeling of "not enough," of scarcity. “I am not enough.” “You are not enough.” “There is not enough time, energy, capacity, money, etc.” How real is this idea of not enough? Of scarcity? Let’s for a moment think about the opposite of scarcity - sufficiency. What might that feel like? ~ Learn ~ On sufficiency: last time, we shared that Robin Wall-Kimmerer writes, “The practice of gratitude can, in a very real way, lead to the practice of self-restraint, of taking only what we need. Acknowledging the gifts that surround us creates a sense of satisfaction, a feeling of enough-ness which is an antidote to the societal messages that drill into our spirits telling us we must have more. Practicing contentment is a radical act in a consumption-driven society.” On scarcity: watch this video called Sacred Economics (12 min), where Charles Eisenstein illustrates how money breeds scarcity and separation. Meanwhile, Edgar Villaneuva (15 min video) on Decolonizing Wealth, says that money can be medicine for the world. ~ Process ~
~ Practice ~ We recognize this module may push at your growing edges. When we bring our attention to scarcity we begin to recognize it in too many places. Let's spend a little time with that, and also explore what does wholeness and sufficiency, enoughness, feel like? Try with this practice (17 min). It's a bit longer than past practices, but it's sufficient, just as you are. If you prefer, do your own practice with this prompt: What does enough-ness feel like? Is there an ease and flow you can find? Bonus: Projects to explore and engage:  This is the last module of our journey. Take your time (we suggest 1 hour) to process this module, and we recommend finding a partner to do this with. fter you've completed this module, can you please share your feedback here? ~ Reflection ~ Remember back to the second module, where we shared Lynne Twist’s video. She offers a lesson from the Achuar people: to "change your dream of the modern world." What did you dream before starting this journey with us? Has anything you learned made you reconsider the dream? What is your "dream for the modern world?" ~ Learn ~ Watch this video about “A New Story of People.” (8 min) Then, see what Valaida Fullwood researched - You don’t have to be a millionaire to be a philanthropist (10 min) - “Philanthropy is deeper than your pockets.” ~ Process ~
~ Practice ~ When you connect to your heart, when you give, and receive, what does that feel like? Explore with this practice (6:39 min). Or, if you prefer, do your own practice with this prompt: What does giving joyfully and freely feel like? What story is your breath telling now? Bonus: For more from Lynne Twist, watch Soul of Money video, Part 1 and Part 2 (25 min each). May I receive what I need.
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