Inspire with Araam

Salena Shaikh is a therapist by training who spent five years in clinical practice before leaving her secure job to build a spiritual coaching practice for Muslim women, bringing faith back into healing work where it had been removed.

In this episode of Inspire with Araam, Hiba sits down with Salena to talk about the year everything changed: leaving her clinic job, finding her first Muslim client through a Reddit comment, and the video that went viral showing her at every age of her life with one message: I was Muslim then and I am Muslim now.

Salena is honest about what it cost. The hateful comments poked at the same wound a dogmatic religious upbringing leaves behind, and she felt the anxiety and the fear in her body. But her faith didn't waver, and that's the message she wants every woman to hear: whether you wear hijab or not, whatever situation you find yourself in, no one can take that away from you.

What this conversation covers:

• Why she left a job she loved to work only with Muslim women who want faith in the room
• How a stranger's Reddit post became her first Muslim client, and a full year of work together
• Why people get so triggered by untraditional representations of Islam, and why that is their own inner turmoil, not yours
• The blue hair theory: a trigger is a wound you haven't fully met yet, and how she uses negative comments as a roadmap for her own healing
• Noticing the "protector part" that shows up when family judgment hits, and learning to sit with it instead of pushing it down
• The three planes of being, physical, mental and spiritual, and why your relationship with Allah is based in your relationship with yourself
• Embodied faith: the difference between believing in Allah in your head and taking action knowing He will provide through the entirety of the path
• What our immigrant parents can teach us about trust: if they could leave an entire country, we can change a career

Like every episode, we close with Salena's mind, body, and soul non-negotiables and the one thing she wants you to take home: be embodied as a Muslim. Honor your body, give your mind the rest it asks for, and protect the soul Allah breathed into you.

Stay until the end for an exclusive Araam Mind meditation, "Let Go & Release," to surrender what is no longer meant for you.

Find Salena

Instagram: @healingtimelines

About Inspire with Araam

Inspire with Araam is the podcast for Muslim women breaking barriers, from Araam Wellness, a wellness brand and community for Muslim women. Hosted by Hiba Anjum (@hibaanjum). New episodes every Tuesday.

Website: araamwellness.com · Instagram: @araamhq · Episode notes: araamwellness.com/blogs/inspire-with-araam

If this episode spoke to you, please leave a rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We're a brand new show and every review goes a long way.

This episode is sponsored by Araam Mind, the faith-based meditation app for Muslim women, built on psychology and neuroscience. Download it on the App Store: Araam Mind: Grow & Reset

Nailah Dean is a writer and attorney who has spent years writing candidly about love, dating, and marriage in the Muslim world. Her essays on the Muslim marriage market have been published by Al Jazeera and Insider, and her photo series The ISMs Project documents the ageism, racism, sexism, and colorism Muslim women run into while looking for a spouse.

In this episode, Nailah and Hiba get into the conversation Muslim women have in the group chat but rarely in public: the apps, the shame around admitting you are trying, the rejection nobody talks about, divorce, and the pressure to build your whole life around a husband who may or may not show up. Nailah shares how heartbreak turned into writing, what happens when the men she meets find her essays, the reader message that made a whole month worth it, and the advice she gives herself while living with uncertainty: create your own milestones, because "behind" is only measured against someone else's life. She also opens up for the first time about becoming a foster mom as a single Muslim woman, and why community service is the most fulfilling thing she has done.

Like every episode, we close with Nailah's mind, body, and soul non-negotiables and the one thing she wants you to take home. Stay until the end for an exclusive Araam Mind meditation, Listen When You're Feeling Stuck.

Find Nailah
Instagram: @nailahdean28
Substack: Nailah's Musings
Website: nailahdean.com

Episode notes: araamwellness.com

About Inspire with Araam
The podcast for Muslim women breaking barriers, from Araam Wellness. Hosted by Hiba Anjum (@hibaanjum), founder of Araam Wellness. New episodes every Tuesday.
araamwellness.com · @araamhq

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It goes a long way for a brand new show.

This episode is sponsored by Araam Mind, Araam Wellness' official meditation and mindfulness app. Download it on the App Store: Araam Mind

Salma Hilweh is a Pilates and sculpt instructor and a fashion creator known for her untraditional hijabi style: sporty, edgy, and still incredibly beautiful. She has built an audience of nearly 300K across Instagram and TikTok by staying true to herself.

In the first episode of Inspire with Araam, Salma and Hiba talk about what it actually takes to show up authentically as a hijabi in the creator/fitness space: where that confidence came from, how she handles pushback and negative comments (yes, the block button counts), how she strives for more goals, and where she would be today if she had never taken the leap to do something different.

Like every episode, we close with Salma's mind, body, and soul non-negotiables and the one thing she wants you to take home.

Find Salma
Instagram and TikTok: @fitsbyhilweh

Inspire with Araam is the podcast for Muslim women breaking barriers, from Araam Wellness, the wellness community for Muslim women.
Hosted by Hiba Anjum (@hibaanjum)
Araam: araamwellness.com | @araamhq

New episodes every Monday.