Daylong – Sunday, November 19th
10am – 4pm PT (Time Zone Converter)
IN PERSON at EBMC
Join us on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance for a heartfelt and empowering event, designed to honor and celebrate the transgender community while nurturing our own well-being.
In observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, we invite you to a special gathering that offers a unique blend of meditation and movements. This event is not only an opportunity to pay tribute to those we have lost but also to explore and embrace self-care practices that can enhance our lives.
This day of practice is open to individuals of all backgrounds and identities. Our experienced Trans* identified facilitators and allies will lead and hold the space, ensuring a supportive environment for all participants.
Teacher Bios
Fresh “Lev” White, CPCC, is a Certified Professional, Mindfulness & Life Coach. He has been practicing Mindfulness since 2007, and is currently a student of Spirit Rock’s Dharma Leadership Program. In addition to Co-leading the Teen Sangha at EBMC, Fresh! is also a rotating teacher at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and leads a group for Trans* and Gender Variant folks in Oakland as well. Fresh! earned his Early Childhood Education Credits at Skyline College when he committed to being a classroom assistant and volunteer back in the 90s. Since 2003, Fresh! has facilitated or co-lead over 100 discussions in San Francisco and Marin, in schools and workplaces, with a goal of ending bullying for all, with a focus on creating safety for the LBGTQI communities.
Rabbi Dev Noily lives on the unceded land of the Lisjan Ohlone People, in an area commonly known as Oakland, California, Dev is Senior Rabbi of Kehilla Community Synagogue which includes over 500 member households and is part of local and national networks of multifaith organizing and spiritually-rooted activism focused on racial, environmental and economic justice.
Dev is also the co-founder of Jews On Ohlone Land, activating the Jewish community in solidarity with Indigenous sovereignty. They serve on the board of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County and are a current Schusterman Fellow empowering Jewish leaders to drive positive change.
Previously, Dev served as a Spiritual Director for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; as a facilitator for difficult conversations among Jews about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; as an advocate for LGBTQ civil rights and religious inclusion; and as a Chaplain for Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Philadelphia.
Riya Christie was born and raised in Jamaica, and moved to the United States where she started her transition. She has ran workshops around safe sex practice, HIV/AIDS, and other STIs, doing outreach to vulnerable communities including LGBT people, sex workers, drug users, and others. In 2016, She graced the cover of See Me: Transforming NYC’s Homeless Youth, a book by a renowned NYC photographer, Alex Fradkin, in collaboration with the Reciprocity foundation – a nonprofit organization that helps homeless youth.
Riya made herself very vulnerable because she wanted society to pay attention to disenfranchised communities and take affirmative action. In 2017, she was a panelist at the LGBTQ+ Career Conference 2017: Strategies for Thriving During and Beyond Berkeley, and spoke about the additional challenges transgender and gender non-conforming individuals often have to navigate while looking for work or advancing their careers. She also performed at Transgender Day of Visibility along with her sister and Momma’s Boyz. Riya now is at the San Francisco LGBT Center helping to connect people with the tools they need to be able to successfully sustain themselves.
This will be an in person class, where participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so through Venmo: freshencounter, PayPal: fresh@affirmativeacts.org, or CashApp: $FreshWhite
Funds will be split by the teachers
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.
