Bhumi B Patel @bhumithelion is a queer, desi artist/activist, dance scholar, and director of pateldanceworks @pateldanceworks (she/they). In its purest form, Bhumi's performance work is a love letter to her ancestors, and she pursues liberation through dancing, choreographing, curating, educating, and writing/scholarship. Bhumi aims to support marginalized and oppressed voices through performance and movement education. She earned her MA in American Dance Studies from Florida State University and her MFA in Dance from Mills College, and is currently a doctoral student at the Ohio State University. She is also a member of Dancing Around Race, and engages with curatorial practices for both performances and written publications. Making art is her way of tracing the deeply woven connections in which we live–past, present, future–as a way to build communities of nourishment and care.

Meet two awesome female entrepreneurs based in Karachi, Pakistan.

Raasti Said Diwan @yogi_raasti is the founder & owner of Karachi based wellness studio Yoga Lift @yogaliftpk which provides an array of yoga and wellness classes for men and women both. Raasti is also an internationally certified yoga instructor with a 200 hour certification in Ashtanga vinyasa, a 50 hour aerial yoga certification, yoga alliance continuing education credits in Somatic Movement and Prenatal Yoga, and is currently pursuing her 300 Yoga Teacher Training with San Francisco based Jason Crandell.

These days through her pregnancy, she is delving into restorative and healing practices, giving her body the space and ease it needs at this time.

Maria Aeiliya Jafri @mariaoffthehandle is a registered yoga instructor with a 200 hour training in vinyasa & hatha yoga and 50 hour training in Aerial yoga. Maria has been practicing yoga for over 10 years, and has been teaching for 2 years. She is also the co-founder of Jump Chinese @jumpchinese - a Mandarin Chinese Learning Program.

Maria’s favorite aspect of practicing yoga is the self love, acceptance and compassion she gains everytime she steps on the mat. Marias favourite part of teaching is inspiring wellness and self awareness in her clients. Overall Marias yoga is quirky, strong and passionate! Follow her yoga journey @mariaoffthehandle

After seeing Shaheen Gull @shaheen.gull21 speak and perform at the Aurat March in Karachi, Pakistan, Farah knew that her story needed to be shared.

Shaheen was born to a Baloch family in a small village of Badin Sindh. She was a survivor of multiple forms of systematic abuse throughout her childhood, and eventually sought out a marriage with the hope that this would provide the change that she needed in her life, but found this to be untrue. Shaheen eventually moved to Karachi with her daughter, and embraced, though she had know for a while, that she was queer. With the quality of her education either being stunted or lacking in quality, Shaheen took it upon herself to educate herself in various ways, and is now a Rapper, Mouth Harpist, Content Creator and Poet. She hopes that by sharing her stories of trauma, she can help others to know they are not alone and seek the support they need. Shaheen also hopes to break these cycles of abuse that are ignored and perpetuated in many societies and communities.

Listen to this short excerpt of Shaheen talking about the importance of sexual education in all societies, and how it needs to begin in the home, and how she is doing that with her own daughter.

A comedian, writer, and actor, Pallavi writes for Crooked Media's Lovett or Leave It, has performed at numerous festivals including SF Sketchfest and New York Comedy Festival, and was a Laugh Factory Fresh Face. She's opened for Maria Bamford, Preacher Lawson, and Moses Storm and has been featured on Funny or Die. She's a producer for Facial Recognition Comedy and Funnilingus, and was on UCB and Second City improv teams. Check out her wild, brutally honest, and goofy takes on social media @PallaviGunalan everywhere.

We kick off Women's History Month with Meenu Devrani @meenu_devrani and Saloni Shrestha - both entrepreneurs who are following their creative journeys which eventually led them to crossing paths and working together to build the @agaatifoundation

Meenu is a silversmith with over 10 years of working in the artisan retail sector with her studio practice based art jewelry brand Vaasvara Jewelry @vaasvara and more recently, her new artisan made social enterprise start up Fyoli Fyoli @fyolifyoli Passionate about the environment and craftspeople of the world, Meenu believes that the handmade economy is going to play a crucial role towards attaining a more sustainable future for this planet and the people. As she reflects on the kind of impact she would like to leave in this world she embraces and lives the idea that the world we deserve exists at the intersection of Social, Gender and Environmental justice.

Saloni is a social entrepreneur with over 12 years of international fashion design & management experience. A fashion design graduate from Parsons, New York, Saloni is trained in couture & ready-to-wear at reputed fashion houses Oscar De La Renta, Diane Von Furstenberg, Zac Posen, & Naeem Khan. Her commitment to creative life & craftsmanship has evolved from working with artisans for design projects starting @agaatifoundation - building an Ethical, Eco friendly & Equitable Artisan Economy that is deeply rooted in creativity nurtured by human hand & soulful spirit. @salonirathor @agaati.california

Multidisciplinary artist TRISHES challenges the confines of art and constructs of self by using live looping, visual art and spoken word to delve into our psyches. Her undeniably original songwriting, fleshed out by hip-hop beats and pop hooks, examines human struggle through an anthropological lens to prompt listeners on a journey of self-inquiry.

As a musician, the Trinidadian-American has been featured on NPR, Billboard, Rolling Stone India, MTV India, and VH1 India; and she has performed internationally, playing festivals like SXSW, CMW, Women’s Redrock Festival, Tune In Tel Aviv, Linda Perry’s Rock N Relief, Pyramid Yoga Festival and more. Her visual art has been part of Adidas “Nite Jogger” campaign and she has been nominated for Best Music Video at the South Asian Film Festival two years in a row, including one nomination for her directorial debut on her music video “Gaslight.” Her debut album “The Id” came out in October 2021 and in December of 2021, Trish gave her first TEDx talk @tedxdelthornewomen

Suhani Parikh @withlovesuhani @modernmarigoldbooks is a mom of three and entrepreneur based in Charlotte, NC. Her experience growing up as a second-generation Indian American girl with alopecia areata and a love of books, led her to write her debut children’s book “Shreya’s Very Own Style” and launch her publishing company Modern Marigold Books @modernmarigoldbooks Now a traditional independent publisher, Suhani helps other authors tell their stories by creating own-voice, realistic-fiction children’s literature to help shape a generation that celebrates diversity and embodies inclusion.

Sahasra Sambamoorthi @sahi_s is co-founder and CEO of Navatman @navatman one of the largest Indian performing arts institutes in the world. Her knowledge in bharatanatyam started at 9 from guru Ramya Ramnarayan, and she currently trains in kathak under Prashant Shah. With her main training in these two styles, she also trains in odissi, kuchipudi, and kalaripayattu when the opportunity arises.

In 2021, Sahasra led Navatman to present a a dance theater film - a recreating of the Mahabharata, and to pass down the Mahabharata as ever-changing, versatile, and relevant and that which does not belong to one tradition, religion, or group of people. In this excerpt from this episode on Heartistry, Sahasra's shares why she feels this is such an important topic.

Dheepa Chari @dheepamusic is an Indian-American and NYC-based singer, delivering a range from velvety softness to sultry blues, jazz, and soul, plumbing the depths of human emotion. A beauty both in appearance and in her musical gifts, Dheepa has graced the East Coast jazz scene with her dazzling versatility and range and corralled praise from some of the genre’s guiding lights such as All About Jazz, Jazz Corner, and Jazz Times. Dheepa’s upcoming release of her new album "Good Intentions" in January 2022, is somewhat of a departure from her earlier recordings and embraces a more contemporary and soulful feel, collaborating with renowned Brazilian producer and guitarist Sandro Albert and having assembled a band of top New York session musicians to bring her many original compositions to life.

This week's episode features 3 guests - each in a separate conversation, but all sharing something in common. Sima Belmar, Pramit Baul, Andrea Spearman are each connected to dance as dance writers, artists, choreographers, former practitioners, or students, AND each is also a podcaster themselves with each of their podcasts connected to dance in various ways.

Sima Belmar, Ph.D. @simabelmar is a Lecturer in the Department of Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is @odcsf Writer in Residence and host of the new podcast Dance Cast. She has been writing the “In Practice” column for @dancersgroupsf In Dance since 2017.

Pramit Baul is the host of The Kathak Podcast @kathakkachakkar which has weekly episodes featuring conversations with Kathak Practitioners across the globe.

Andréa Spearman has been a student, teacher, choreographer, and performer of a variety of modern-based movement in the San Francisco Bay Area and is the host The Black Landscape @theblacklandscape - a podcast featuring a series of conversations with Black leaders in a variety of industries all in the San Francisco Bay Area.