NKEM NDEFO on the Body as Compass /227
Macro image reveals the cellular structure and midrib of a verdant green leaf with veins branching off either side; photo by Markus Spiske.
Intuitively, we know that we cannot remain limber, give freely, or work through the muck when our emotional, physical, and spiritual reserves are depleted - yet late-stage capitalism continues to force many of us to continue running on empty. Instead of allowing each other to burn out, what if we devoted ourselves to relearning where resilience inherently lives in our bodies? This week’s guest Nkem Ndefo explores resilience in conjunction with co-liberation and how our bodies are deep wells that are here to sustain us, as long as we listen to them. This work is not just for our wellbeing, but is an important step in allowing us to engage in flexible visioning, grow our capacity for discomfort, and adequately prepare for transformation.
In conversation, Nkem also challenges our capitalistic impulses around healing, wellness, and control, our inability to accept limitations as gifts, and appeasement as a biological and cultural response. As we see just how many people are collapsing in the midst of difficult conversations about racial justice or remain unable to acknowledge the scale of transformation that climate change is necessitating, our ability to reclaim our resilience, listen to our bodies, and make friends with discomfort is more important than ever.
“Systems don’t change themselves.
An oppressive system does not become liberatory of its own volition.”
Photo of Nkem Ndefo by Linda Abbott
Nkem is the founder and president of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit, a model that promotes embodied self-awareness and self-regulation in an ecologically sensitive framework and social justice context. Licensed as a nurse-midwife, Nkem also has extensive post-graduate training in complementary health modalities and emotional therapies. She brings an abundance of experience as a clinician, educator, consultant, and community strategist to innovative programs that address stress and trauma and build resilience for individuals, organizations, and communities across sectors, both in her home country (USA) and internationally. Nkem is particularly interested in working alongside people most impacted by violence and marginalization.
♫ The music featured in this episode is “Beam” by Harrison Foster, “Of the Land & Lake” by Marian McLaughlin, “Maiden of Midnight” by Ariana Saraha, and “Nothing and Everything” by Emily Ritz.
Episode References
When Agreement is Not Consent by Rae Johnson and Nkem Ndefo
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For The Wild Podcast is an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.