Another report from the GIC. In the keynote lecture, Hannah Kendaru, an Indonesian-British facilitator and breathworker, spoke about the principles of decolonial healing and establishing new connections between people.
It sounded relevant and emotional, especially in terms of how terribly Ukraine is suffering from the consequences of long-lasting colonisation.
However, in reality, in one way or another, all of humanity suffers from various types of colonisation.
After all, colonisation is not just the conquest and humiliation of one people by another. We have all been colonised by capitalism and a certain global culture, and have been taught certain types of perception of each other and limiting behavioural patterns since childhood.
We have all been cut off from direct contact with the land, natural cycles, generational traditions, our original dances, stories and songs for a long time.
To varying degrees, people in different countries share the same suffering.
Everything that is in humanity as a whole is present within each of us. The culture of withdrawal that is widespread in our civilisation encourages us to push out what we don’t like.
In particular, we exclude certain groups of people from society (those who have broken the law, or are in an altered state of consciousness, or people of any age with special needs, etc.).
We deal in a similar way with parts of ourselves that for some reason we don’t like, frighten us, or we have been taught to be ashamed of or dislike.
For example, we all know that each of us has an innocent inner child – but how often do we realise that we also have an inner child of oppression, or an inner child shaped by oppression? That is, the one that others once taught to hate, fear, aggressiveness, competition, lies…
Just imagine how a lonely, confused child feels, usually an outcast somewhere deep inside, manifesting itself in a subconscious and awkward way and never receiving enough attention and love to heal… It’s horrible.
When we learn to love these exiled parts of ourselves, we can also learn to love the exiled parts of our society, and to interact with them adequately.
Colonisation and exile are not only external but also internal concepts.
From childhood, we are all taught to evaluate and be evaluated – superficially, without seeing our uniqueness, through the shape and appearance of our bodies, behaviour, skin colour, etc. But the truth is that we are terribly overwhelmed and paralysed by all of this, so much so that we don’t even notice how much we are missing.
Decolonising healing involves a deeply personal conscious study of how each of us is affected by the system, where exactly everyone is in the overall coordinate system.
It is not about fighting against the system or, on the contrary, accepting it uncritically, but about exploring in what ways you are privileged in relation to this system and in what ways you are not, and how you may be ashamed of both, not use the opportunities and ranks available, and avoid important personal responsibility.
We have to recognise that pain and violence are happening in the world and within us, so we have to engage with all this world disorder before we can establish a new kind of human connection.
At the same time, the process of decolonial healing involves a deep study and appropriation of one’s own roots, people, and unique history and origin.
The further path to liberation is through breath, body and movement, building healthy connections with other people.
People from different countries have the experience of spontaneously transcending colonisation – we all experience unconditional acceptance of each other, our deep equality before life, when we dance, breathe, sound and move together.
Hannah also shared her experience of how she and her colleagues bring breathwork and the principle of decolonial healing to different national communities.
The topic was then continued in a panel discussion.
In particular, we noted that when discussing existing problems, we are always tempted by the idea of global transformations and quick, bright solutions, but this is detached from reality. The process of decolonisation requires considerable time, deep knowledge and awareness, systematic efforts and human sincere commitment.
If we are to seek healing as a society, each of us must look within ourselves, study and understand ourselves deeply, establish a deep connection with our own origins, and realise and accept the necessary responsibility.
We also talked about the fact that the capitalism that colonises us, despite all its flaws, remains the best of the modern options for social order. One has only to remember the social horror that any attempts to combat it have turned into…