On waking up, grief as a practice, and finding wonder in a collapsing world. With Bob Bharij, hosted by Amel Murphy

What if the way forward isn't to imagine a better future yet, but to make space for grief first?

Bob Bharij is the co-founder of Foundation for Change, where he has spent more than two decades working with people recovering from addiction, trauma and social exclusion. This conversation asks what that work has to teach us about living through today's overlapping crises.

Amel and Bob reflect on the metacrisis, climate grief, trauma, capitalism, patriarchy and the importance of understanding the past before trying to create the future. They discuss waking up to ourselves through education, curiosity and embodied awareness, and why learning to recognise our body's signals may be the first step towards meaningful action.

From a silent retreat in the Italian Alps to the metaphor of dragging invisible balls and chains through life, Bob offers images that stay with you long after the conversation ends.

"They're not ready to reimagine. You know, there's still grieving that needs to take place, you know, there's still despair that needs to be felt." — Bob Bharij

Opening question: "What's alive for you right now?"

Returning from retreat: the metacrisis, grief and asking "How the hell are we here?"

Freeze responses, bodily awareness and why action starts with the body

Twenty-two years in addiction recovery: understanding suffering beyond substance use

Foundation for Change: rebuilding identity, purpose and hope through education

Why self-awareness begins with understanding the past

Wonder, curiosity and creating space away from constant distraction

The invisible "balls and chains" we carry through life

Capitalism, patriarchy and environmental collapse as connected systems

Why grief comes before reimagining the future; yoga as a practice for living with discomfort and joy

About Bob Bharij

Bob Bharij is the co-founder of Foundation for Change and has worked in addiction recovery, trauma-informed practice and adult education for more than twenty-two years. His work combines psychology, philosophy and feminist theory to help people rebuild identity, purpose and self-awareness after addiction and trauma. He is passionate about creating educational approaches that help people think critically about themselves and the world around them. He lives and works in London.

https://www.foundationforchange.org.uk/

About Amel Murphy

Amel is the founder of Embodied Beings. She grew up between cultures, and it was the body, not the book, that first taught her what belonging feels like. For over twenty years, she has worked at the intersection of personal healing and collective change, supporting leaders, communities, and changemakers to come into right relationship with themselves, each other, and the world around them. This podcast was born from that inquiry, and from the belief that stories, told honestly, are medicine.

www.embodied-beings.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelmurphy

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Share this episode with someone who needs it. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Know someone whose story belongs in this podcast? Tell us; we read every message. Music by HappinessInMusic from Pixabay.

What if pleasure is not a luxury, but one of the most radical forms of resistance we have?

Sexologist and educator Tanya Koens joins Amel Murphy to question what we've been taught about sex, pleasure and intimacy. Drawing on years of clinical practice, she argues that pleasure belongs to everyone, not just a privileged few.

Their conversation moves from shame, patriarchy and capitalism to consent, communication and desire. Tanya explains why intercourse is only a small part of sexual experience, why safety creates pleasure, and how learning to ask for what we want can change every relationship, including the one we have with ourselves.

Along the way she offers a simple invitation: become curious about what pleasure actually means for you.

"Pleasure can be an act of resistance." — Tanya Koens

EPISODE GUIDE

Opening conversation: how Tanya became a sexologist

Learning beyond traditional sex education

What it means to be a pleasure activist

Pleasure beyond sex: reclaiming the senses

Why intercourse is only five percent of the menu

Consent, communication and asking for what you want

Safety, shame and the social stories we inherit

Libido, stress and the realities of everyday life

Pleasure as resistance to patriarchy and capitalism

Closing reflections: curiosity, kindness and generosity

ABOUT TANYA KOENS

Tanya Koens (she/her) is a sexologist, counsellor and educator with more than two decades of experience supporting individuals and couples to build healthier relationships with sex, pleasure and intimacy. Her work combines anatomy, psychology, consent education and relationship coaching with a strong focus on reducing shame and increasing agency. She is a regular media commentator, speaker and the founder of Pleasure Love Relating. Tanya lives on Bundjalung Country in Australia, where she continues to teach, write and advocate for pleasure as a human right.

https://www.pleasureloverelating.com

ABOUT AMEL MURPHY

Amel Murphy is a senior facilitator and leadership coach with over 20 years of experience working across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Her work is inclusive, body-based, and trauma-informed. She is lead faculty on the Nature Leader programme at Common Purpose. Amel speaks English, French, and Arabic.

www.embodied-beings.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelmurphy

STAY CONNECTED

Share this episode with someone who needs it. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Know someone whose story belongs in this podcast? Tell us; we read every message. Music by HappinessInMusic from Pixabay.

What if the future depends less on finding new answers than remembering what we already know?

Farzana Khan is Executive Director of Healing Justice London, a social sculptor and writer whose work brings together collective healing, movement building and cultural organising. In this conversation she reflects on the practices that help us stay in relationship with ourselves, one another and the living world.

Amel and Farzana talk about remembrance as a practice, what it means to become prayerful without dogma, and why shaping social change begins with listening rather than certainty. They discuss multiple rhythms instead of constant urgency, collective power without domination, and conflict as something that belongs to a community rather than an individual.

Farzana ends with a simple invitation: become more prayerful and more playful.

"Sometimes I say to myself, we choose to fight when we could play."; Farzana Khan

Episode guide

Opening question: what is the medicine we each carry?

Prayerfulness as a way of meeting this moment

Social sculpting: shaping what is longing to emerge

Listening beyond certainty and individual will

From polycrisis to polyrhythms

Repair, transformation and remembrance

Four capacities for healthy movements and communities

Belonging beyond systems of power

Prayerfulness and playfulness as practices of change

Farzana's closing seed: remember what you already know

About Farzana Khan

Farzana Khan is Executive Director of Healing Justice London, a social sculptor and writer working at the intersection of healing justice, collective liberation and cultural organising. Her work supports movements, organisations and communities to develop the conditions for collective care, conflict transformation and shared power. She is a long standing organiser whose practice is rooted in political education, spirituality and social change.

https://healingjusticelondon.org

About Amel Murphy

Amel is the founder of Embodied Beings. She grew up between cultures, and it was the body, not the book, that first taught her what belonging feels like. For over twenty years, she has worked at the intersection of personal healing and collective change, supporting leaders, communities, and changemakers to come into right relationship with themselves, each other, and the world around them. This podcast was born from that inquiry, and from the belief that stories, told honestly, are medicine.

www.embodied-beings.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelmurphy

Stay Connected

Share this episode with someone who needs it. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Know someone whose story belongs in this podcast? Tell us; we read every message. Music by HappinessInMusic from Pixabay.