This is Episode 9, and I’m delighted to share this conversation with Kim Brodey— a loving and caring elder in my life, and a dear friend. Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with Kim, sharing stories and reflections on life and death, healing and trauma, our relationship with land and nature, and the ongoing practice of cultivating community.

Kim Brodey has a multifaceted background that has included working as a singer/actor, midwife, childbirth educator, and educational change workshop leader (in areas of conflict resolution, and cultural inclusivity). Kim has been an authorized Continuum teacher since 1991 mentored by Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper.

She has over 35 years of experience mentoring and working with groups, couples and individuals in traditional and non-traditional ways. Kim and Jerry have been married since 1983. They have two children, five grandchildren, and a three God children.

To learn more about Kim and Continuum:

https://redcanoestudio.com/who-we-are.html

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close circle of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support this path, you can learn more here:

https://gofund.me/2ee174312

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

https://www.layahjane.com/workshops-with-layah

https://5rhythmstoronto.com/classes/

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch at: ⁠

alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

In this Episode we enter a conversation with Maya, someone whom I have intersected with for many years in facilitation trainings and 5 Rhythms workshops. she is a beautiful creative spirit, an energetically fascinating individual, and a a fellow dancer whom I have come to cherish their laughter and their presence in my life.

Maya Nadeem is a somatic coach and creative facilitator, working from a trauma-informed lens, who supports people in reclaiming creative vitality, inner trust, and embodied self-worth. Her work invites more alive, authentic, and self-directed ways of being, particularly where life experience has narrowed expression or connection.

She weaves somatics, creative expression, and energy-based work to support people through periods of transition and reorientation, cultivating greater presence, pleasure, and capacity for life. Her approach is intuitive, relational, and deeply attuned - not about fixing, but orienting toward what is already alive and what becomes possible when we can fully open to it.

Grounded in over 18 years of experience in individual and collective healing spaces, Maya has worked with people impacted by sexual and gender-based violence and traumatic loss, as well as within schools, nonprofits, and organizations. An artist and poet, art, poetry, and writing are living practices that shape her work, serving as bridges between the body, psyche, and the unseen.

To Learn more about Maya:

IG: mayanadeem_

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close circle of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support this path, you can learn more here:

https://gofund.me/2ee174312

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

https://www.layahjane.com/workshops-with-layah

https://5rhythmstoronto.com/classes/

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch at: ⁠

alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

This is a very special episode as it is an honour for me to have Layah Jane in this podcast. In this conversation, Layah shares the story of how she came to ho hold space within Toronto's conscious dance community as a 5 Rhythms facilitator.

I first met Layah in 2016, when I began attending 5Rhythms workshops in Toronto. I became deeply engaged and committed to learning from her work and embedding myself in the community she holds space for. Layah teaches weekly in Toronto, and she produces Conscious Dance workshops with visiting international teachers. She is passionate about offering dancers sacred space to experience music and motion as medicine.

Layah is a gifted dancer, a skilled heart-led facilitator, an integral space holder, and an avid, prolific producer. She has been the most influential teacher and mentor in my embodied movement journey. Over the years, we have supported one another through countless dances, workshops, community events, and friendship.

To learn more about Layah:

⁠https://www.layahjane.com/

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close circle of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support this path, you can learn more here:

https://gofund.me/d47b39cea

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

https://5rhythmstoronto.com/classes/

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch at: ⁠

alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com⁠

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

In this Podcast we have a conversation with Rose Mina Munjee. One of the kindest humans I know with an extraordinary life journey working in an incredible intersection of somatic practice, healing work, and social justice praxis.

Rose Mina is a Registered Psychotherapist, a certified mindfulness teacher, a craniosacral therapist, and a therapeutic yoga/mindful movement teacher.

She teaches at the Center for Mindful Self Compassion (LOMSC, COP - BIPOC, LOTT), Centre for Mindfulness Studies (Professional, Personal, Community Programs), True North Insight, and the University of Toronto.

Rose Mina's PhD research is focused on how to continue dismantling oppression through inquiring into the experiences of racism or oppression of Canadians who practice and study mindfulness. She is developing an anti-oppressive teaching methodology with a culturally sensitive and trauma informed lens. Rose Mina has written for several peer reviewed journals and is conducting mindfulness research in adult education on racism, oppression, and pedagogy for adult education.

She has a Master’s in Spiritual Care and Buddhist Studies with Psychotherapy from the University of Toronto, and is completing a PhD (ABD) in Education at Reading University in the UK.

To find out more about Rose Mina:

https://roseminamunjee.com/aboutrosemina

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close circle of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support this path, you can learn more here:

https://gofund.me/d47b39cea

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

https://www.layahjane.com/5rhythms

https://5rhythmstoronto.com/classes/

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch at: ⁠

alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com⁠

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

In this episode, we hear Sarah’s story of coming home to her body through her dance practice. Sarah is a trained opera singer, choral conductor, a psychotherapist, a dear friend, and a fierce dancer.

Through our conversation, we explore the deeper layers of how embodied movement practices allow us to connect differently—with ourselves and with one another—and why listening to the truth of our bodies is essential as we navigate our journeys of embodiment through dance and movement in community.

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close circle of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support this path, you can learn more here:

https://gofund.me/d47b39cea

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

https://www.layahjane.com/5rhythms

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch with me at: ⁠

alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com⁠

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

In this episode, we explore Scott and Mabel’s journey into dance as a personal practice, their experience holding community spaces for embodied exploration, and—of course—the fact that they are supporting each other and doing this together as a couple.

Scott Krayenhoff is a university professor and a delightful human whose commitment to personal growth and self-discovery I deeply admire. We’ve crossed paths in nature-based community gatherings, facilitation trainings, and conscious dance spaces, and it has always been a joy to share time and space with him.

Mabel Vonk is a coach, facilitator, whose very unique and gifted presence always brings joy and lightness to her community work. Founder and host of Wisdom Tables, she draws on a background in language studies, international communication, and speaks six languages.

Together, Scott and Mabel created SoulRise, a conscious dance community space in the city of Guelph. Join us as they share reflections and stories about how they found their way to the dance floor, how they hold space for others, and how they move intentionally and lovingly—not only in dance, but as a couple and in all other aspects of their lives...

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close community of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5 Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support us, here’s how:

https://gofund.me/d47b39cea

To learn more about Mabel, Scott & Soul Rise:

SoulRise: SoulRise Link

Mabel

Web: https://www.mabelvonk.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/mabelvonk/

Scott

Web: https://ses.uoguelph.ca/people/scott-krayenhoff

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

https://www.layahjane.com/5rhythms

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch with me at: ⁠

alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com⁠

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

In our third episode, we hear the incredible story of Justine Dembo and how dance transformed her life. Justine is a psychiatrist, DJ, and ecstatic dance facilitator whose world took a beautiful and colourful turn when she first began dancing online during the Covid pandemic.

For the past two years, Justine has been holding a monthly ecstatic-dance space in the Cobourg community. She speaks eloquently about how a psychiatrist can be changed by the practice of ecstatic dance, how trauma-informed and mental-health-sensitive approaches can be supported through movement, and how we might re-imagine mental-health care through the facilitation of mindful, embodied dance.

These podcast episodes are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close community of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5 Rhythms Teacher Training next year. If you’re curious about why we are fundraising, or if you’d like to support us, here’s how:

⁠https://gofund.me/a16de4c3b⁠

To learn more about Justine Dembo & Ecstatic Dance Cobourg:

www.ecstaticdancecobourg.com

IG: @DJ_Justine

Email: ⁠Justine.dembo@mail.utoronto.ca

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/justinedembo

⁠⁠

⁠⁠To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:

⁠https://www.layahjane.com/5rhythms⁠

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch with me at: ⁠alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com⁠

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga

In this second episode, we hear the incredible journey of resilience and healing of Social Arts Facilitator and Visual Artist Melanie Schambach, and how the practices of Vipassana and 5 Rhythms came into her life.

Melanie is one of the most gifted artists, group facilitators, community organizers, and creative spirits I have had the privilege to learn from, grow with, work with, and collaborate with. Her extensive catalogue of participatory community paintings serves as a shared testimony of our expressions of humanity, fostering a profound sense of connection, authenticity, and a collective embodied vision for healthier, brighter communities.

Melanie has been one of my greatest mentors, and I remain deeply grateful to her for bringing both Vipassana and 5 Rhythms into my life—at a time when I would never have tried these practices had she not… quite literally… dragged me into them.

These podcasts are part of my commitment to a fundraiser organized by a close community of friends who are supporting my journey toward attending the 5 Rhythms Teacher Training next year.
If you are curious about why we are fundraising, or if you would like to support us:

https://gofund.me/a16de4c3b

To learn more about Melanie and her Participatory paintings and Social Art's work:

To learn more about 5 Rhythms in the Toronto community:
https://www.layahjane.com/5rhythms

If you have a story you would like to share about how embodied movement became a medicine for you, or if you have any other inquiries, please get in touch with me at alejandroczuluaga@gmail.com

With care,

Alejandro Zuluaga