Many of us and our communities have had to navigate grief and violence in the past months and weeks. The recent targeted attack on students and faculty of a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo occurred within a broader context of rising misogyny and anti-2SLGBTQIA+ violence. Recognizing this challenging context, several support offices and partners at the University of Toronto invite members of the tri-campus community to a virtual space centered on caring for ourselves and caring for community.

This session focuses on practices and strategies to help ground us in community as well as promote personal wellness rooted in Medical Qigong and Yoga traditions. Facilitator and U of T community member, Billy J. Choi-Gekas, will share teachings and embodied practices around navigating both individual and collective grief in the context of recent and escalating hate and violence. All bodies and experience levels welcome.

If you are planning on attending and require accommodation(s) due to disability, please email us directly and we will work with you to make appropriate arrangements.

About the facilitator:

Billy J. Choi-Gekas (they/them) is a Nonbinary, Queer, mixed-race Settler from Tkaronto. They are the Circulation Supervisor for the John W. Graham Library at Trinity College, University of Toronto, and served as Chair of the “Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, AntiRacism'' (IDEAR) Committee of the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) for the past 2 years. Billy is currently coordinating the BIPOC-Chat-Space for UTL staff, a monthly therapeutic workshop series with Hill Studio (a Black Psychotherapist & Wellness Practitioner Collective). For the past 5 years, Billy has been serving on the Board of Directors for Toronto Urban Native Ministry. And for the past 17 years, has a private practice as a wholistic practitioner and anti-oppression consultant, working with individuals and communities, as well as numerous social justice, Queer, and interreligious organizations across North America. You can find Billy and their team through the: School of Radical Healing and Sacred Activism (SORHSA) www.myradicalhealing.com

This event is a collaboration between the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office, Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre, UTM Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office, UTSC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office, and the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.