Relatively Nobody

On this weeks episode we are so happy and excited to have Nico Nelson and Je$$ica Escobedo talk to us about boundaries. Nico and Je$$ run a boundaries workshop for femme identified humans. In this episode you will get a taste of their extraordinary work educating and empowering other femmes to set boundaries and suffer less, enjoy life more, and ultimately love more fully. Find them on Instagram to connect and find out more about their upcoming boundaries workshop starting March 10th, 2021. Je$$ica Escobedo is @wholesomehoodrat and Nico Nelson is @thatbitchnico. 

zulaikha and gia chat with Kainath Merchant about taboo topics, especially in South Asian culture. Kainath has been growing a platform on tiktok, approaching many topics nobody wants to talk about within the Desi culture, including the first generation experience, marital rape, destigmatizing divorce, and breaking the shame cycle. Kainath brings her beautiful positive spirit to hard conversations, and through using her voice is creating space for a new culture. You can find Kainath on tiktok @kainathmer and see the vast range of important topics she covers.

i am you is a narrative series where we interview guests and each other in the spirit of radical openness and building community. By connecting to our heart spaces, we can practice vulnerability deeply with one another in service of shared humanity and storytelling. Get to know gia in the second installment of the i am you interview series. Content Warning: This episode contains sensitive information about sexual abuse.

Zulaikha and Gia have a necessary and enriching conversation with educator and activist Kimberly Bolden, discussing the ways in which white savior complex shows up in our communities. From toxic kindness to exploiting trauma, white saviorism pervades our society. Kimberly emphasizes the importance of speaking up,  making ethical choices, and holding people and organizations accountable. 

i am you is a narrative series where we interview guests and each other in the spirit of radical openness and building community. By connecting to our heart spaces, we can practice vulnerability deeply with one another in service of shared humanity and storytelling. In this episode, get to know zulaikha in the first i am you interview of the series. 

Welcome to season 2 of Relatively Nobody!

Zulaikha and Gia have a joyful and real chat with Zulaikha's friend and coworker DeRon Brown. In this episode they talk with DeRon about his entry into the practice of mindfulness, his first silent meditation retreat, and how he thought he could hack the practice for his own happiness.DeRon grew up in a small city in southwest Virginia. Later he moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he got his bachelors in computer science and engineering from MIT, as well as a couple of All-American football honors. A career mobile app developer, DeRon has an eclectic taste in music, enjoys only critically-acclaimed television shows, and loves eating Oreos, bacon, and Skittles. He currently lives in Boston with his wife Felicia and their Shiba Inu Myles.

Zulaikha and Gia talk about mudita, or sympathetic joy, in the context of how we are socialized into an individualistic culture. Mudita, which is delighting in the happiness of others, is one of the four immeasurables (or limitless qualities) in Buddhist psychology, which are qualities you can cultivate through concentration. These qualities allow you to expand and grow inward, and include equanimity, compassion, loving kindness, as well as mudita.  

Gia and Zulaikha sit down to discuss trauma in the context of agency. Using their background in trauma-informed mindfulness, they open up another topic which begins to investigate the many layers of trauma, as well as the cost of racism to both White and BIPOC individuals, and the unfolding process of compassion. 

Gia guides a metta (lovingkindness/compassion) meditation as a tool to cultivate self-compassion. This helps with trauma healing, resilience, and can assist with secondary trauma or compassion fatigue.

In the midst of a global pandemic, a widespread collective awakening is simultaneously occurring. This awakening to white supremacy, systemic racism, and to the mistreatment of the Black community is long overdue. Through their exploration of identity and activism, Zulaikha and Gia reflect on the BLM movement, and how white supremacy and privilege has deliberately dehumanized Black communities, specifically in North America. They open up the first of many  discussions about race and anti-blackness. In talking about their own unlearning, they observe how systems of oppression pervade the many layers of being human, and how we can use the energy of this movement to reimagine a more equitable society.