"A POWERFUL WORK OF SPIRITUALITY AND ANTI-RACISM"—Publishers Weekly
"IF YOU READ ONE BOOK IN 2020, MAKE IT THIS ONE."—Tricycle
From much-admired meditation expert Sebene Selassie, You Belong is a call to action, exploring our tangled relationship with belonging, connection, and each other
You are not separate. You never were. You never will be.
We are not separate from each other. But we don’t always believe it, and we certainly don’t always practice it. In fact, we often practice the opposite—disconnection and domination. From unconscious bias to “cancel culture,” denial of our inherent interconnection limits our own freedom.
In You Belong, much-admired meditation expert Sebene Selassie reveals that accepting our belonging is the key to facing the many challenges currently impacting our world. Using ancient philosophy, multidisciplinary research, exquisite storytelling, and razor-sharp wit, Selassie leads us in an exploration of all the ways we separate (and thus suffer) and offers a map back to belonging.
To belong is to experience joy in any moment: to feel pleasure, dance in public, accept death, forgive what seems unforgivable, and extend kindness to yourself and others. To belong is also to acknowledge injustice, reckon with history, and face our own shadows. Full of practical advice and profound revelations, You Belong makes a winning case for resisting the forces that demand separation and reclaiming the connection—and belonging—that have been ours all along.
Sebene Selassie is a teacher & author who guides people to remember and trust their belonging. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Washington DC, she is trained as a meditation teacher, an integral coach, and as a practitioner of Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT). She offers courses, workshops, and retreats online and in person and is one of the most popular teachers on the Ten Percent Happier meditation app. She lives with her partner Frederic on unceded Lenape territory in Brooklyn, NY.
Table of Contents
Introduction: An Imitation to Belonging 1
1 The Delusion of Separation 11
We Were Never Separate
2 Domination 39
Fueling the Fire of Not Belonging
3 Ground Yourself 71
4 Know Yourself 105
5 Love Yourself 139
6 Connect Yourself 167
7 Be Yourself 201
Appendix 1 Ten Tips for Meditating at Home 227
Appendix 2 Journal Prompts & Meditations and Practice 233
