Return to ourselve through dance

It’s late at night. Your thoughts are racing, your chest feels tight, and your body refuses to stay still. Anxiety has settled in. Or maybe it’s mid-afternoon, and a flood of worries about work or school makes your hands shake or your stomach knot. Even standing in a crowded line at the store, feeling overwhelmed by small pressures, can trigger the same tight, restless sensation. Anxiety can feel overwhelming, but it’s important to remember that there are so many ways to mana

You step into the goob, ready to kill it, only for three aunties to storm the circle before you even take your first step. You politely retreat to the sidelines and clap. How many times has this happened to you? Listen. The goob is not a place for hesitation. It’s where you make your presence known through bold, explosive body language. Step in unsure or shy, and the next habaryar will happily take over the show. Your job in the goob is not to wait for permission, it’s to com

Yesterday, a woman in Somalia was sentenced to death for brutally taking the life of innocent Sabrine. Before anything else, let me be clear: harming a child is a crime against all of us. But I can't ignore the other innocent girls whose lives were stolen through brutal violence at the hands of men, and how drastically different their cases were treated. Where was this swift justice when Luul Abdiasis Jazirah was burned alive, along with her unborn child? We heard excuses: “H

I've come to realize that freedom of movement is where all success begins for women. Not just the physical ability to dance, to walk freely, to occupy space without apology, but the mental and emotional freedom to pivot, to shift, to change direction in life as we see fit. When we can move freely, we can change careers when one path no longer serves us. We can choose motherhood or choose not to, both decisions equally valid, equally ours. We can leave spaces that diminish us

When we think about fitness, it often falls into boxes: strength training at the gym, sculpting in Pilates, or maybe hitting the...

Dance isn't something you perfect to show off to others, it’s an art form. The kind you carry with you every day to inspire yourself, move your body and lift your spirits. “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Picasso. That’s exactly what dance does. You don’t have to be a professional to feel that cleansing. A single step, a sway of the shoulders, a spin in your kitchen while you make shaax for your guests, it all cleanses away the heaviness we carry, m

It’s long been tradition at Somali weddings for the bride to watch as the women in her life — aunties, cousins, sisters, childhood friends — take the stage in joy, dancing buraanbur in her honor. It’s a stunning expression of love: the women show up for her, celebrate with her, and dance because of her. It’s magical — a community in motion. But something is often missing: her. We’ve been taught that a shy bride is a beautiful bride — and there is undeniable grace in that. The

Welcome to the first post of a blog dedicated to honouring buraanbur—the poetry, the movement, the power and the legacy. There is...