Why Schools Need Restorative Practices Ft. Sima Savdharia w/Anita Nowak - Purposeful Empathy
Description
In a special series devoted to empathy in education with leaders and fellows of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL), watch this episode to learn how restorative justice and trauma-informed somatic practices lead to collective healing.
Sima Savdharia, founder of Square Root Mediation & Facilitation, reflects on their work bridging conflict resolution, spirituality, and education. They also share how their journey from studying abroad in Honduras to supporting youth in Oakland has shaped their commitment to Dr. King’s vision of Beloved Community—grounded in empathy, dialogue, and love.
00:00 Preview
01:11 Introduction
01:46 About Sima Savdharia
04:08 Sima’s backstory
07:05 Sima’s understanding of a “Beloved Community”
10:51 Understanding conflict and why it’s not inherently bad
14:51 Generational trauma and emotional triggers
18:40 Why does “Psychological Safety” matter?
20:12 Restorative practices in corporate world
28:11 Why social media detoxing is a radical act of self-care
30:22 The power “Restorative Circles”— and how to do them
34:43 Why grounding the nervous system matters in conflict resolution
37:31 What is “non-violence” in conflict resolution?
41:12 Why is self-awareness the first step to restorative justice?
45:35 Lessons from restorative practices and why schools need to slow down?
50:01 The role of empathy in education
53:34 Sima Savdharia’s Purposeful Empathy story
CONNECT WITH ANITA
✩ Email purposefulempathy@gmail.com
✩ Website https://www.anitanowak.com
✩ Buy a copy of Purposeful Empathy http://tiny.cc/PurposefulEmpathyCA
✩ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitanowak/
✩ Instagram https://tinyurl.com/anitanowakinstagram
✩ Podcast Audio https://tinyurl.com/PurposefulEmpathyPodcast
✩ Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/anitanowak.bsky.social
CONNECT WITH SIMA
✩ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sima-savdharia-976151246/
✩ Website http://simasavdharia.com
SHOW NOTES
✩ Transformative Educational leadership https://www.teleadership.org/
Video edited by Green Horizon Studio
United States
