• Belonging is a subjective experience that cannot be prescriptive or imposed.
• The concept of belonging is often used in DEI initiatives, but its meaning and implementation vary.
• Belonging requires a sense of connection to oneself, others, and nature.
• True belonging is a process, not a finish line, and requires ongoing effort and reflection. Belonging is characterized by a magnetic pull and body knowing.
• Joyfulness, laughter, and rituals foster a sense of community.
• The loss of belonging can lead to a grieving process.
• Belonging in retreat spaces can be powerful but is not necessarily meant to last forever.
• The capitalist framework often fails to foster true belonging.
• Belonging in nature is characterized by interbeing and the presence of antidotes to toxicity.
• Belonging is a spiritual journey that requires embracing discomfort and undergoing true transformation.

• Rest and restoration are crucial in the DEI process, allowing for healing and creativity to emerge.
• Resistance to change and pushback on DEI initiatives are common, particularly in industries that are inaccessible to marginalized communities.
• Decentralized leadership is necessary to center marginalized voices and foster creative problem-solving.
• Active rest and spaciousness are essential for unlocking creativity and finding innovative solutions.
• Progress in the DEI process requires reflection, learning from failures, and gaining new perspectives.

In this episode we host our colleague, community member and friend, Consuelo Hernandez (@consueloherna), DEI practitioner for over a decade. Consuelo shares some of her inspiring stories about her own healing journey and how it has influenced her work in the DEI space. We also continue our conversation around why this intersection of DEI and wellness is so powerful and where professional alchemy can take place on an individual, team, department, and company level.

Questions or ideas on a podcast episode? Reach us at [email protected]

Our March workshop series is open for enrollment!

This episode explores the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and wellness through the lens of our recent article, The Umami of DEI. We discuss the need to approach DEI and wellness with joy and playfulness much like creating a recipe in the kitchen while also exploring the missing ingredients needed for the future of DEI design and of future world-building in general. Visit us at deicipher.com to sign up for our newsletter and stay in touch on upcoming workshops and retreats

00:00 Land Acknowledgement and Connection

09:24 Intersection of DEI and Wellness

13:31 The Umami of DEI

19:14 Embodiment and Breath

21:20 The Magic of Fat and Wellness

25:02 The Wellness Industry and Decolonization

29:10 Wellness as a Birthright

35:02 Models of Community Care

42:20 The Power of Collaboration and Community

44:17 Closing Meditation

This episode couples with our previous episode on DEI principles in the marketing space. Our conversation takes you on a journey beyond the standard paradigm of marketing and capitalist values and into a new world of how we can use marketing as a space for creativity, collaboration, professional healing, and DEI initiatives. Questions? Thoughts Reach out to us at deicipher.com

This episode focuses on DEI principles and marketing. Recorded in 2022 right before our joint travels to Morocco, Yoli and I explore how marketing and communications (both internal and external) can serve as a space to integrate accountability, creativity, and decentralized leadership.

• Decolonization is an embodied practice that involves reclaiming language, spirituality, culture, and land from colonialist systems.
• Indigenous perspectives and leadership are essential in the decolonization process.
• The Enlightenment era and the emphasis on reason and scientific thinking have contributed to the suppression of non-empirical ways of knowing, such as intuition.
• Decolonization requires engaging in acts of futurism and imagining new worlds that are rooted in community, collaboration, and the well-being of the land and its inhabitants.
• It is important to navigate discomfort and fear when confronting the concept of decolonization and to actively seek out diverse perspectives and voices in the conversation.

Head over to deicipher.com to learn more about upcoming workshops, events, retreat and more.

In this episode, Yoli and I talk about the term Soft Life. We explore its origins, and the kinds of reactions that can arise when reflecting on what a softer way of living means for us as individuals, groups, communities, and the collective. If you haven't already listened to our first episode on active restoration, we invite you to listen as these two are interconnected on many levels. We'd love to hear what comes up for you.

This episode focuses on one of our core domains at Decipher Group, Active Restoration. Yoli and I talk about the vitality of rest and how that leads to restorative justice, what we discover about ourselves along the way, and which tools we are currently enjoying in our lives.