RETHINKING WELLNESS

PUBLIC EVENT | 2 March 2024 | 13.30 - 16.00 | Wereldmuseum Amsterdam | Entry at 13.30

The body is a living archive of emotion and inheritance: connecting to your body is an essential source of knowledge. However, so many of us are not encouraged to listen to our bodies or our feelings. Racialised capitalism created a divide between the body and mind, where the body is a tool for labour. At the same time, popular self-care practices that emphasize 'the mind-body connection' often exclude people because of their structural ties to racism and capitalism. On March 2, Sheila Chitanie and Sandra Coral share ideas about how racialised bodies can find safety in alternative somatic practices that address their specific histories and lived experiences.

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About the speakers

Sandra Coral

Sandra Coral is a queer, Black femme and trans-racial adoptee who grew up in the countryside of Ontario, Canada. She has a masters in Educational Psychology and has taught for over 18 years in schools all over the world. Sandra is the person behind Neurodivergent Narratives, a podcast and Substack newsletter that centres on the unique challenges and experiences of neurodivergence for historically excluded groups. They utilise their training in education, narrative therapy and somatic attachment therapy to support people, schools and workplaces in better understanding neurodivergence and creating neurodiversity-affirming environments. Sandra lives just outside London, England with her partner and son.

Sandra Coral

Sheila Chitanie

Sheila Chitanie is born and raised in the Netherlands and of Surinamse descent. She has an Afro-Surinamse mother and an Indo-Caribbean father. Sheila has been practicing shiatsu since 2018. Shiatsu is an integral body therapy from Japan. Shiatsu gave her a language to address health and wellbeing issues specifically for racialized people. In her quest to unite her identity, her profession and her politics she had a vision to bring black and brown health care professionals together to build a sustainable wellbeing community, that acknowledges the devastating impact of racism on your (mental) health. Thus KABRA was born. We are geared towards our liberation from oppressive systems through bodywork, mental health and spirituality. Sheila has her shiatsu practice at KABRA, in Amsterdam.

Sheila Chitanie