Happy New Year!
Remember that where the mind goes, energy flows—so join me in directing your mind toward breaking bias in 2025
Wishing a Happy New Year to you, my Beloved Community! I hope this first day of 2025 finds you and your communities safe, happy, and well. We often start the new year by setting resolutions, but over 75% of them won’t make it to the end of January. That’s why, instead of making resolutions, I think it’s important to set intentions. Intentions and resolutions couldn’t be more different. Before thoughts, there are intentions, and our intentions are a key part of any mindfulness practice. Our intentions guide where our life’s energy goes. As I never get tired of saying: “where the mind goes, energy flows!” So, where do you want your energy to flow? What do you want to create, strive toward, and embody today? This week? This year?
There’s no right or wrong answer—but I would be honored if your answer included breaking bias. This is the 21st-century Civil Rights movement, and during this time of polarization, anxiety, and fear, I’m overjoyed to be surrounded by all of you, my Beloved Community, and to share tools we can use to advance this work together.
My book, Breaking Bias, is your guide in this work. Breaking Bias is filled with lists—16 in total. All of them are rooted in Buddhist Mind-Science, which has been proven to measurably reduce bias when you put them into regular practice. You can learn more about what’s inside by taking a deeper dive into the contents here, and keep reading for a sneak preview of what’s waiting for you when you get your copy.
Authentic communication for collective healing
Breaking bias isn’t just about the big actions we take or the grand intentions we set. It’s also about how we communicate with one another every day. This was the topic of my heartfelt conversation with Naomi Shihab Nye as part of my Breaking Bias Masterclass, “Dialogue as Medicine: Healing Through Authentic Communication.” In our conversation together, we explore the power of honest, compassionate dialogue to bridge divides, foster understanding, and promote healing. I would love it if you would listen to the conversation and learn—through storytelling, poetry, and personal reflection—how authentic communication can act as medicine for both personal and collective transformation.
The holiday season might be behind us, but as we enter into the new year, I can’t wait to share tools to support you on your breaking bias journey. As you set your intentions this January, consider gifting Breaking Bias to yourself, family, coworkers, and friends. Plus when you order 2 copies on Amazon, you’ll get 50% off—so please order now!
If you’re ready to take the next step in your learning, I have classes that meet you wherever you are right now, from an intro to breaking bias foundations to a deep dive into a Masterclass. Learn more and register here!
Attend My Upcoming Book Events
Breaking Bias will be featured at SXSW 2025 in Austin, TX! Join me from March 3–6, 2025 as I share about “Building A World Where Belonging Replaces Bias” as part of next year’s SXSW EDU. The full schedule will be available soon, but you can get your tickets today and have conversations about Breaking Bias with me all week.
Join my talk on Dharma and Justice with the Union Theological Seminary on April 9 from 7–8:30 pm EST in New York. I’ll be joined in conversation by Kosen Gregory Snyder to discuss how we can use a Buddhist lens to examine, recognize, and uproot bias. Register today.
Watch recordings from some of my past events. Last year, I was invited to be part of Thomas Hübl’s Collective Healing Conference. You can watch me discuss Breaking Bias as part of this transformative virtual event for educators, leaders, and practitioners dedicated to creating resilient, inclusive learning environments. Watch the recording here!
Some Terms from the Breaking Bias Glossary
Conscious Bias: learned false beliefs about a secondary identity, accepted as true, that distort how humans perceive, reason, remember, and make decisions toward themselves and others.
Unconscious Bias: learned habits of thoughts about a secondary identity that distort how humans perceive, reason, remember, and make decisions toward themselves and others.
Race: a story that ranks humans on a hierarchy based on descent and appearance.
Gender: a layering of stories that assign and expect humans to perform specific social roles based on the intersection of sex, gender identity, sexuality, and other secondary identities within families, institutions, and societies.
Resources and Reflection
Breaking Bias was featured on the 10% Happier Podcast with Dan Harris. We talk about the 5 causes of bias, the dis-utility of shame, why DEI trainings often fail, contemplative practices for breaking bias, and my response to skeptics. Listen here!
Breaking Bias is the perfect gift in the new year! Give my best-selling book to friends, family, colleagues, and anyone else in your life who you want to support in their breaking bias journeys this year. The book was highlighted by the Non-Obvious Book Awards and was featured by Maria Schriver in her Sunday Paper. It’s not too late—support breaking bias in your communities by ordering the book today. Plus when you order 2 copies on Amazon, you’ll get 50% off—so please order now!
Ready to jumpstart your Breaking Bias journey? Check out my courses! Whether you hope to build foundational skills, dig deeper, or dive into a Breaking Bias Masterclass, my self-led courses are here for you. They also make a great New Year gift for a family member or loved one! Learn more here.
Unlearning stories of race and gender
I wrote my best-selling book after decades of research revealed that breaking bias is the key to unlocking multiple crises in our world—from racism, sexism, classism, and other -isms to burnout, loneliness, and climate change. In Breaking Bias, I don’t just talk about what bias is, where it comes from, and how it unconsciously shapes our habits of thinking and acting in the world. I also share my PRISM Toolkit, a set of science-backed, somatically informed contemplative tools you can use to begin breaking bias right now.
That’s the promise of Breaking Bias. But how does my book deliver on this promise? If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll become a paid subscriber to learn more about how bias manifests at different levels and how our stories about race and gender have come into formation over time.
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