Danforth Campus Mindfulness Month,
Medical Campus Mindfulness Month,
Special Events,
Mindfulness & Anti-Racism Lectureship Series
Oren Jay Sofer: Mindfulness & Anti-Racism Speaker Series 10th Speaker
Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation and communication internationally, integrating classical Buddhist training with Nonviolent Communication and Somatics.
Mindfulness and the Crisis of Belonging: Finding Our Ground in a Divided World
Via Zoom with In-Person Watch Party
CEU Credits available for this event*
Many thanks to our sponsors: Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2) and The Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies.
Dr. Lisa Gilbert, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education will introduce Jay Oren Sofer and will facilitate the Q&A section of his talk.
In a time of political polarization and rising backlash against anti-racism efforts, how can mindfulness offer more than personal stress relief? Drawing from classical Buddhist teachings and contemporary practice, this keynote explores mindfulness as a powerful resource for meeting collective suffering with clarity, courage, and care.
Far from passive acceptance, mindfulness helps us face difficult truths—internally and externally—while transforming reactivity into wise response. With attention to the emotional impact of injustice, social division, and disconnection, we’ll examine how mindfulness fosters resilience, supports relational awareness, and reconnects us to our values.
Oren Jay Sofer will share practical insights from over two decades of teaching on mindful communication, trauma-informed practice, and socially engaged Dharma to invite a deeper, more grounded approach to belonging and social transformation.
He teaches meditation and communication internationally, integrating classical Buddhist training with Nonviolent Communication and Somatics. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.
Oren is the author of several books, including the best-seller Say What You Mean and Your Heart Was Made for This. A husband and father, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches worldwide through courses and guided meditations.
- Join a watch party in Brown Lounge on the Danforth campus. Light refreshments will be served following the event. Please RSVP so we have enough food.
- Join a watch party at WashU Medicine in Farrell Learning and Teaching Center - FLTC 302. Light refreshments will be served.
*CEU credits from Brown School of Social Work are available for participating in this event. Contact Manasseh Begay to request at b.manasseh@wustl.edu.