“When I had my son, one of the things that changed was that I no longer had the space to dedicate to my spiritual practice. Suddenly, it felt like so many things that were helping to anchor me and calm my mind, were taken away. At the point when I needed it most,” said Uzma Hasan, Entrepreneur, Producer and Creative Leader.
To make space for our kids and careers, we often disconnect from our support systems. Including the soul deep aspects of self-care, which for many of us includes spiritual practices.
Religion can be a divisive topic so, we’re often discouraged from even discussing it. But whether you crave deeper spiritual connection or question its relevance, it can add a powerful dimension to how we live, heal, convene and communicate. So, how do you overcome the barriers and find meaningful ways to embed spiritual wellness into your life?
We Constantly Remix Life’s Priorities
Uzma was navigating her son’s infancy during the height of the pandemic lockdown. She said, “I didn’t realize, especially in the newborn phase from zero to one, that it’s a very intense but short period of time where all of the rules for yourself, have to go out of the window. You really are just ‘mother’ at that point. You’re giving of your body, time, and your emotions to create a very special connection with this human being.” It’s a profound experience and to remain whole, it’s still critical to reengage with our own mental, physical and emotional health. The difficulty often becomes ‘how’ to make the time.
Often at the Expense of Our Wellbeing
Uzma wanted to find her way back to the practices that created stability and deep purpose in her life. “As I was coming out that first very intense year, I remembered that the connection to my faith could not be untethered by anything. So, I was trying to go back to it and thought, how am I going to introduce my son to this whole rich world that he is an inheritor of?” At around the same time, Uzma’s friend and colleague, Gayatri Patel Bahl an Actor, Dancer and Wellness practitioner, had a similar reawakening.
So, We Search for How to Make it All Work
Gayatri said, “After my son was born, there were a lot of setbacks within my family and my entire support system collapsed. I was raising a child in New York alone and helping to provide them with emotional support from afar. So, I felt stretched beyond my capacity.”
I could relate, because many of us live at a distance from our families of origin. Which adds pressure, especially when our children are young. She added, “Through all of that, I was auditioning and still climbing, holding on so tightly to the career vision I had before giving birth. I’ve only released it within the past year, when I finally surrendered because I realized that none of it was in my hands.”
Assess What You Need to Feel Whole
Uzma, Gayatri and I, are all from immigrant backgrounds and we discussed how US culture, promotes a false sense of self-reliance, especially for parents. Gayatri said, “After having a child and no village, I started reassessing everything. Like, ‘who decided that we were going to do this alone?’ I thought perhaps this western concept infiltrated my being, and I needed to reassess it.”
She added, “I wondered, how do I make space for hustle culture? Or space to do all of these things that I selfishly need and want to do, when I’m so busy holding space for everybody else?” This reevaluation ultimately led her to deepen her spiritual practice. She’s now a practitioner in the faith traditions she grew up with.
Including Your Spiritual Wellbeing
Religious presence and practices vary quite a bit based on what part of the world you’re in. Although globally, most people adhere to a religion, attendance for traditional religious services in the US has been trending down for years.
Wellness practices rooted in spirituality, like contemplation, meditation, yoga, and reiki, continue to rise in popularity. For the most part, they are now considered forms of exercise but at what cost to the deeper meaning behind the rituals?
Find Purpose and Address Your Gaps
Uzma said, “In our conversations, Gayatri and I noticed what a huge gap there was in popular wellness practices. We also realized a lot of women like us, women from the global majority were feeling this way, mums and non-mums. And perhaps we had forgotten the tools at our disposal to gather strength, by gathering together.”
Many women feel left out of the mainstream wellness movement. In part because it’s often comprised of transactional experiences that lack deeper context. But what if there’s another way?
Build Your Supportive Community
Uzma said, “Part of wanting to create our own community was seeing how the wellness community, which is huge and very well capitalized, is mostly run by people who don’t come from the spiritual practices they sell. They’ve somehow disassociated very important spiritual practices like yoga, breath work and oral meditation, from their roots. Roots that include worship, submission and higher truth, yet they’ve been sanitized. So, when we looked for places to go ourselves for some respite, we realized those spaces weren’t really built for us.”
The best innovations tend to come from seeing and fulfilling our own unmet needs. At a time, when loneliness has reached epidemic levels and mental health continues to decline, community spaces are a critical part of the answer.
Where You Can Find Sanctuary and Retreat
Uzma and Gayatri decided to create what they couldn’t find and foster their own interfaith spaces for retreat, community, wellness and genuine spirituality.
Gayatri said, “Before becoming a practitioner, for a split second I thought I just needed to create better boundaries. At that point, boundaries felt like walls and I thought, ‘well if I just wall myself up and focus, I can do all of the things I want to do.’ But I wasn’t being who I’m supposed to be. I’m here to hold space, that is a part of the makeup of who I am.”
While Tapping Into a Larger Source of Energy
We discussed how although we are from three different faith traditions, and cultures, we share common values. Including maintaining close connections to our communities and families. It’s something we often lose in the fervor of busy culture.
Gayatri said, “I decided I needed better tools. This led back to practices where I could facilitate access to life force energy, without using my personal life force energy. I realized, a lot of the spiritual practices go back to this idea of rejuvenation and connection to source, whether we call that God or Allah.”
Many thanks to the talented Gayatri Patel Bahl and Uzma Hasan!
Learn more about Gayatri and Uzma’s soon to launch retreat space, The Rooted Sanctuary.
Also follow Gayatri’s great adventure on Instagram and her practice website. And follow Uzma’s great adventure on LinkedIn.
——-
Enjoy the gift of more time for you. Self-care support, app & packages for Moms.
Ready to put yourself back onto your to-do list? Take a TimeCheck.
Shared your story yet? Take our quick survey to change how workplaces support parents.
Employers, make work ‘work’ for mothers and caregivers, become Allies@Work
About Gayatri Patel Bahl:
Gayatri Patel Bahl is a healer and breathwork facilitator dedicated to awakening human potential through embodied healing practices. Her journey of transformation weaves together artistic expression, entrepreneurial spirit, and deep spiritual exploration.
Through Anami Healing, Gayatri designs and leads immersive spiritual retreats that blend breathwork, somatic experiencing, and conscious movement. Her sought-after transformational experiences draw participants from across the globe to explore deep personal healing and spiritual growth.
A trained dancer and filmmaker, Gayatri’s creative background forms the foundation of her holistic healing practice. A self-taught whirler who began whirling at age 5, Gayatri’s training with legendary choreographers like Saroj Khan, her studies in Kathak with masters such as Vijayshree Chaudhary and Parul Shah, and her practice of Ashtanga yoga with Eefa Shrof have deeply informed her understanding of body intelligence and energetic movement.
Certified in Holy Fire Reiki and breathwork with David Elliott, Gayatri integrates scientific understanding with ancient wisdom traditions to help individuals release deeply held patterns and reconnect with their authentic selves. She guides people through powerful experiences of inner alchemy, helping them shift what she calls ‘the blueprint of their existence.
Drawing from her multidisciplinary background – which includes film production, dance performance, and tech entrepreneurship – Gayatri brings a unique, creative approach to spiritual facilitation. Her work is a testament to the power of integrating artistic expression, entrepreneurial vision, and deep spiritual practice.
Gayatri lives in Brooklyn with her son and husband. Learn more about her offerings at Anamihealing.com
About Uzma Hazan:
Uzma Hasan is a creative leader passionate about supporting women of color in (re)discovering their spiritual selves and ancestral strength. Her latest retreat series “Safar” is designed as a sacred space for seekers to heal themselves through divine connection and collective empowerment.
In addition to leading retreats, Uzma has an accomplished career in film production, cultural leadership, and organizational management. She has a global mission to support overlooked communities in reclaiming their narratives. She is currently the Chair of the Bush Theatre, an organization dedicated to centering marginalized narratives and disrupting the canon. She was the first person of color to sit on the board of Channel 4, the world’s youngest public broadcaster, where she was appointed by then Prime Minister Theresa May. Her most recent feature film, CREATURE, is a genre-defying collaboration between Academy Award winner Asif Kapadia (AMY) and Laurence Olivier Award-winning choreographer Akram Khan (DESH).
Uzma lives in Brooklyn with her husband, son, dog, and Siberian forest cat, Sikander Jaan.
