Online, Saturday, February 11th, 2023 (via Zoom)
With Melvin Escobar and Marcella Raimondo
10-2pm PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided
Radically accepting ourselves and our experiences is a revolutionary act. We receive many problematic messages about food that make it challenging to nourish ourselves. Our bodies, especially those of us living in larger bodies, continue to be subject to great harm and derision. By weaving the timeless Dhamma with contemporary psychological frameworks, we will deconstruct aspects of structural oppression (including diet culture). We will be invited into somatic awareness practices, along with interactive and reflective exercises to explore kinder ways of relating to our bodies to create community on the middle path to body liberation for all.
Please note: Registered participants will receive a zoom link to join us online with their Eventbrite confirmation email. Thank you for your support
Teachers
Melvin Escobar, LCSW, RYT has devoted most of his life to serving people from marginalized communities, drawing on his life experiences as a cisgender able-bodied queer man of color from an immigrant working-class background. Melvin is committed to understanding and embodying healing around how patriarchy, capitalism, and diet culture work together to create more suffering in the world. He continues daily to learn the revolutionary potential of body-centered contemplative practices to create personal and social healing.
Marcella Raimondo, PhD, MPH is a queer cisgender able-bodied woman of color and a passionate and spirited clinical trainer speaking from her heart on multicultural issues in eating disorders since 1995. Marcella currently serves as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Kaiser Oakland’s eating disorder clinic and also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco and UC Berkeley Extension. Marcella herself recovered from anorexia nervosa over 15 years ago. Marcella trains in Kajukenbo at Hand to Hand Kajukenbo Self Defense Center in Oakland and holds a first degree black belt. Her recovery and her martial arts training inspire her dedication to multicultural body nurturance and community celebration.
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.
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks and be fully vaccinated against covid19, which at this time means having received the covid bivalent booster no less than two weeks before the event. (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.
