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Restorative Empathy

Transforming Domination Culture from the Inside Out

Ferocious Warmth for Chilling Times

May 2, 2025 By Angela Watrous

 

Hello, dearest. Today I’m feeling into the power of fire, sending up a flare, calling you to gather with me on May 17 to begin cultivating Ferocious Warmth for Chilling Times.

Today is Beltane, the Celtic beginning of summer, traditionally celebrated around a bonfire. Today is also May Day, an international celebration of labor solidarity.

This day of celebration and collective action is an ancestral union between the political and the spiritual, and today people all over the world are gathering their sparks together to tend a growing blaze of collective solidarity.

In these chilling times, we’re going to need to cultivate and protect the warm sparks of our own life energy to contribute to the blaze of liberation.

The problem is that the collective shadow—manifesting as contempt, disgust, intentional harm, disregard for the sacredness of all life, destruction of the planet, othering of people born on different sides of imaginary lines—is a chilling, dampening energy that perpetually threatens to overtake us, crush our spirits, squelch our bravery, and tamp down our love.

The antidote to this toxic coldness is within reach: Warm, resonant self-compassion, which, when cultivated, warms our hearts, words, and actions, which inevitably warms those around us. Warmth for ourselves, our fears, our overwhelm, our righteous rage, is key to persisting in efforts to liberate ourselves and each other from all that does not serve life.

But what if you’ve never learned how to be warm with yourself? What if, especially when you’re overwhelmed, you get cold and stuck instead of warm and active?

This warm, loving gathering is for you if:
—You’re hard on yourself, especially when you get overwhelmed
—You blame yourself when things go awry
—You think or speak harshly toward yourself and others
—You find yourself frozen around the cultural troubles
—You feel shame around not doing enough
—You long to contribute, but you feel stuck, defeated, or lost
—You get swept up in the cultural retaliatory energies of contempt, disgust, and hatred

Ferocious warmth isn’t a solitary endeavor, it’s an internal resource that requires the warm spark of connection. I hope you’ll join me for this powerful, resourcing gathering. You’ll leave with deeper self-understanding and easy doable steps toward cultivating an indistinguishable warmth for yourself and others to help you meet whatever comes.

With ferocious warmth and love,
Angela

May 17, 2025
noon-1:30 pm PST
$25-50 sliding scale
limited space, register today!

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Welcome to Restorative Empathy!

My work is inspired by a rich lineage of nonviolence, the neurobiologically healing power of empathy, and diverse spiritual traditions. I approach personal and social healing as inextricably linked. Read More…

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