Ava and Nadia discuss the dynamics of social justice and in-equity within society and culture. The responsibility we all have to address imbalances within society and ensure the availability of support and access for all. What it means to be aware of the inherited trauma within a culture and the healing necessary. What it means to meet everyone's needs.
About Nadia Gilani
Member of the Board. Nadia Gilani is a yoga teacher and author of the Yoga Manifesto. Her working background is in news journalism and communications, which she did for a decade before teaching yoga. After starting life out as a blogger and music reviewer, Nadia trained as a hard news journalist working on local papers before moving onto national titles. After a decade on news desks, having worked as a crime reporter, covered several elections and written dozens of features and front pages, Nadia worked as a communications manager at petition’s website Change.org and later crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.
Nadia has extensive experience of working with people with different bodies and from all walks of life. She is deeply committed to making yoga inclusive. Her teaching approach is contemporary, non-dogmatic and explorative, while maintaining a deep respect for the ancient Indian practice. In her view, anyone can practice yoga - it’s down to the teacher to take a flexible, compassionate and intelligent approach to help students find what best suits them.
Links to work:
Instagram:@theyogadissident
Website: https://nadiagilani.co.uk/
About Ava Riby-Williams
Ava is a Creative Facilitator and Yoga Teacher. Her work focuses on using creativity to connect people, and guiding groups into deeper contemplation about issues concerning their liberation and wellbeing- on personal and collective levels. As a guide, Ava is clear that the point of her work is to encourage students to become their own inner teachers: she does this with young people and adults.
Links to work:
Instagram:@avazarah
Website: https://www.avazarah.com/
References:
James Baldwin - The Fire Next, Return of the Native, No Name in the Street
Nicole Cardoza - Anti Racism Daily
“Trauma in a person, decontextualized over time, looks like personality. Trauma in a family, decontextualized over time looks like family traits. Trauma in a people decontextualized over time looks like culture!”
Resmaa Menakem
www.fractalenlightenment.com
‘Social justice for me is really a framework for seeing the world and also acting, participating in the world aimed at resisting the unfairness and the inequity in the culture we live in and making a commitment to enhance freedom and possibility for all people.’
Ava Riby-Williams
Thankyou for listening to Speak Up Louder brought to you by TheOMPowerment Project. Special thanks goes to Dave Pickering, Julia Midland, Sally Balfourth and Jessica Green. Music was produced by Sofia Papadopoulos with vocals by Ava Riby-Williams. If you've enjoyed this conversation, please consider supporting our work by buying us a ko-fi or pledging via our Patreon page. Every bit contributed supports our efforts to continue creating meaningful content. Links to both are in the show notes.