Accepting What Is, with Kessonga

(air hisses) (mouse clicks) (bright music) Headspace Studios. You know, there's a saying that I used to teach in my MBSR class, "As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than there is wrong." Have you ever wished you had a wise meditation teacher on speed dial? Someone you can call after a long day? Someone you could lean on for their advice? Someone to listen and help you to see things differently? Welcome to "Dear Headspace." (upbeat music) Hi, people, welcome to "Dear Headspace," a podcast where I sit down with a Headspace meditation teacher and we answer your questions. I'm Robin Hopkins, and today I am so, so excited to be sitting here, virtually speaking, of course, with Kessonga. (Kessonga chuckles) Hello, friend. How you doing, Robin? I am so thrilled to be here once again, sitting across from you, virtually, you know, speaking, of course. Of course, of course. (Robin and Kessonga laugh) But I'm doing really well. I hope you're doing the same. You know, things have been going well since we spoke last. And this is 2023, February, and it is actually Black History Month. Oh, yes, it is. Well, for myself, you know, Black History Month is pretty much every day. (Kessonga and Robin laugh) But here in in the US, we designate this one month to acknowledge Black history, but it comes on the heels of Kwanzaa, which I celebrate in December. Yeah. And with Kwanzaa, we have these seven principles, and it's all about really uplifting and strengthening, if you will, our Black community. And so it kind of goes hand in hand. And what I get from Black History Month is really just intentionally acknowledging those that have come before me, like, literally our history, and really, like, just soaking up the resilience. And that's what it's really all about for me. Yeah. For me, it's really all about highlighting that that resilience that my people have endured and exhibited, and that still courses through our veins. It kind of ties hand in hand with mindfulness for me. You know, mindfulness is not something you have to go out and find. Yeah. It's not something that you have to seek out. It resides within you, just as the resilience of my people reside within me. So, yeah, so it's just about really allowing yourself to settle in and do some introspection, if you will, and know that it's there. Oh, that's beautiful. So with that being said, Happy Black History Month to everyone out there (laughs). I love it. I love it. Now it is time for us to switch gears a little bit, and we're gonna jump into some listener questions, shall we? Yes, let's do it. Today we are gonna be talking about how to handle burnout and persistent anger, dealing with being broke early in your career, and how to handle relationships with folks who are prejudice. So let's kick things off with our first question. (relaxing music) Hi,...