Unearthing the Heart of Transformative Justice

Transformative Justice is an alternative approach to responding to conflict, harm, violence, and abuse. Current responses often uphold a punitive approach as a means of resolution. Transformative approaches seek to uncover justice through the means of healing trauma, the undercurrent of where most harm originates.

Transformative approaches are healing, work to cultivate resilience, promote safety to the overall community, and fall along the basic premise that every member of society is valued and no one deserves to be discarded.

This gathering will present the view of Transformative Justice and help people to deeply feel into the spaces that hold them back from creating truly transformative approaches and accountability processes inside of their own communities when working inside of conflict.

Aarti Tejuja (she/her) is sacred space holder/facilitator, transformative portal builder, healer and social activist. Aarti has also been a community organizer, youth mentor and advocate for those impacted by the current punitive justice system.

Aarti currently co-owns Joyful Ground with Sojourner Wright and with the help of their ancestors and spirit guides, they create transformative portals that take groups of people on inner and outer journeys of healing, decision making, conflict resolution, celebration, uncovering biases and more. These portals are facilitated using embodiment practices, rest practices, healing the inner child through play, transformative justice, emergence and element healing.

Aarti lives with her partner Matt Lentz and 2 kitties, Fiona and Buttercup. Most of her ancestors are from Sindh, currently in Pakistan and formerly in India prior to partition in 1947.

She lives in a house that is on the lands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi, Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois Nations. Present day called Berwyn, IL, a very close suburb of Chicago. Aarti also lives on the technology superhighway where she can be found on zoom.

If you can't join us live, this recording will be available on the Weekly Dharma Gathering Platform within 48 hours. You will receive an email when the talk is posted.