“Are we doing the things that we need to do to co-regulate and to self- regulate so that we can be as strategic as possible and so that we can also not take each other out in the process of getting free?” Erica Woodland (he/him) is a facilitator, consultant, psychotherapist and healing justice practitioner with more than 20 years of experience working at the intersections of movements for racial, gender, economic, trans & queer justice. Erica is a co-editor of the anthology ‘Healing Justice Lineages: Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation, Collective Care and Safety’ (North Atlantic Books, 2023) & Founder/Executive Director of the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN.com). In this special episode, Anjali and Erica discuss: Erica’s journey and path into the work, a calling from the ancestors Collective memory regarding the legacy of resistance, roots and lessons for building movements and healing.  Foundational premises of healing justice and the abolitionist approach to justice The meaning of healing Learning from the mistakes of our movement ancestors Misconceptions that people have about healing justice work The integrality of dissent How we can prevent the values of dominant culture, for example, capitalism or hyper individualism from seeping into movement work Practices of care Connect with Erica on his website or on Instagram @ebmore1 @nqttcn @hjlineages You can order the Healing Justice Lineages Book HERE! Free Resources for Teachers We are grateful for the support of our podcast partner OfferingTree — an all-in-one, easy to use business platform for classes, courses, memberships and more. Check it out at www.offeringtree.com/accessibleyoga.

Content Warning: Abuse “If we were able to just hold the multi- dimensional state of all things, I think we would just be more evolved. Because we are such binary thinkers that everything's this or that, and it's actually limiting. It's limiting us. It's limiting others. It's limiting society.” Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist, a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, who is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Her work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, and queer identities and has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others.  She is currently the deputy editor of Violet Book, sits on the advisory board of Slow Factory, and frequently writes essays on her Substack from everything about comparing yourself to others, schadenfreude, and the deeply profound film, Saint-Omer. Róisín has published a book of poetry entitled How To Cure A Ghost (Abrams), a journal called Being In Your Body (Abrams), and a novel named Like A Bird (Unnamed Press) which was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by NPR, Globe and Mail, Harper’s Bazaar, a must-read by Buzzfeed News and received a starred review by the Library Journal. Upon the book’s release, she was also profiled in The New York Times. Her first work of non-fiction Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who it Leaves Behind (HarperWave) was released in 2022, and her second book of poetry is Survival Takes A Wild Imagination is out Fall of 2023. In this episode, Anjali and Fariha discuss: Fariha’s path into this work as a multi disciplinary artist/ writer/ radical femme Muslim Moving excavations from Fariha’s lived experiences, her healing from abuse and trauma, and how these inform and hold her work in the world now. Navigation of imposter syndrome as an immigrant Gaza and Palestine: what does showing up as a dedicated ally look like for those of us who are geographically far away from the lands? What is anti colonial wellness? How can we manifest and co create spaces of care? What role does art have in activism?  Who is Wellness for? The inspiration and the process of writing. Liminality is critical in collective transformation. How can we build capacity and portals of expansion into liminality? Fariha’s practices of care during tumultuous times.

“We are at a crossroads as individuals and collectives in this moment to figure out how we're going to approach what is happening around us.” Deepa Iyer is a South Asian American writer, strategist, and lawyer. Her work is rooted in Asian American, South Asian, Muslim, and Arab communities where she spent fifteen years in policy advocacy and coalition building in the wake of the September 11th attacks and ensuing backlash. Currently, Deepa leads projects on solidarity and social movements at the Building Movement Project, a national nonprofit. She has written two books, We Too Sing America and Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection. Her first children’s picture book, We Are The Builders, will be released in the fall of 2024. Many people are moved to do something and often feel overwhelmed by the scope and the vastness of all that is going on in the world. Can you share more about some of the roles in the social change model, and how can one go about finding their place, their role? In this special episode, Anjali and Deepa discuss: The biggest misconceptions around justice work Radical visioning for the world we live in Liberation Practices of care in times of adversity Connect with Deepa on her website and Instagram @deepaviyer. Free Resources for Teachers We are grateful for the support of our podcast partner OfferingTree — an all-in-one, easy to use business platform for classes, courses, memberships and more. Check it out at www.offeringtree.com/accessibleyoga.