EVENTS
'HOLDING sPACE'
The 'holding space' series seeks to honour the vastness of the challenge before us; showing up whole, 'no part left out' and engaging in the big issues in all of their complexity can be life-giving, but can also be painful. Our events and community building activities encourage us to create space for ourselves, and hold space for others, we support one another to collectively make sense of what is happening around us, and think about how our commitment to social change might take shape.
There is no pressure to share anything deep or clever, these sessions are about creating space in our minds and ordering some of the clutter in our heads. Listening can also be healing. We aim to keep the space flexible and responsive to the needs of those who are attending. These sessions will be run in an informal style inspired by peer support - mostly listening, allowing people the time and space to process, no advice, maybe some group sharing of strategies that work for each of us, if appropriate.
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The events listed on this page are part of our permanent series, however, we often run one-off events, so keep an eye on social media for updates.
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If you are interested in joining one of our groups, please e-mail Aman with the details of the session/s you'd like to sign up for on aman@birthingourselves.co.uk; she will be in touch to discuss more with you.
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COLLECTIVE BIRTHING: SOUTH ASIAN SOLIDARITY
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Who: Womxn of South Asian heritage
What? The social justice space, especially the racial justice space can be a confusing place for south asian people. Colonialism, and approaches to 'divide and conquer' placed us in the category of both 'oppressor' and 'oppressed' - the legacy of which lives on in our communities to this day. This is a space for womxn of South Asian heritage to process, reckon with, and find healing in connecting with the complexities of our own ancestral histories, and present places of power and subjection.
Re-imagining social justice
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Who: Womxn of colour
What? For many of us, the social justice spaces that we are engaged in can cloud our ability to re-imagine a better world. When working towards change, especially in a paid capacity, the bottom line that we're held to can influence and limit our thinking in so many ways. These sessions offer us a space for us to exercise our imagination, building our ability to re-imagine what equity could look like - allowing us to free-think new realities into being with the support, wisdom, solidarity of fellow travellers.
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seVa beyond langar: Sikh womxn and social justice
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Who: Womxn of Sikh heritage
What? Sikhi is built on the principles of equality and social justice for all, yet leadership around these principles in our communities is relatively low; where the work is happening, it tends to be led by men. This is an opportunity for sisters of Sikh heritage to come together, connect and share how we currently do this work, but also how we might re-imagine and be braver in our leadership. What changes do we long for in our community, and how can we lead them to fruition?
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Wake work: on HONOURING loss and birthing our longings
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Who: Womxn of colour
What? As womxn of colour engaged in the work of social justice, we are consistently faced with loss. We (literally) live in the wake of the myriad injustices forced upon us, and sometimes the impact of re-imagining what could be, faces us with all we have lost. This series of sessions honours the power of loss in bringing forth new beginnings.
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