Our expat community thrives on connection, and here at Jingkids, we’re all about our readers, what they need and want in order to maximize their time here in Beijing. Every Monday, we’re going to feature a prominent member of our expat community and get to know them a little bit better.
Masooma Kachelo is Pakistani by birth and gypsy by heart. She has been an expat all her life and loves adventure in all its forms!
She began her healing journey at a support group for “Adult Children of Alcoholics” when she was 20. Masooma grew up in a home where there was intense suffering and violence. The impact of this generational trauma fostered her commitment to healing so that the generations who follow don’t have to suffer. She has been on a journey of nurturing the scared little girl inside herself, and it is with this intimate knowledge of pain and personal transformation that she is able to guide others back into their heart.
With the support of her incredibly generous husband, Masooma has traveled the world studying under dynamic teachers like Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She is a certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher through the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program (Greater Good Science Center University of Berkeley), Mindful Schools in California, & UVA Minds in the Netherlands. She is currently studying Compassionate Inquiry with Dr. Gabor Mate to support people working through their deepest trauma. She also has a MS in Psychology from the US and an LLB from the UK.
Masooma feels most alive when she is able to bring people together to “Connect Consciously.” Her deepest wish and purpose in life is to create spaces so loving and safe that people find courage to let go of their masks and find their most authentic voice. She does this through holding a weekly meditation group, organizing “Sober Curious” Groups, Full Moon Dance Meditation Circles, Retreats, Mindful Parenting Workshops, and 1:1 intuitive healing.
Masooma loves being a mother to her three children who are her toughest and most loving teachers. Although, there are days she wishes to roam the world alone, her children are her anchors. She loves any gathering that requires a costume and abhors small talk!
What’s on your mind?
I am putting together a weekend retreat for women in January and it’s all I can think of. I am in the flow of the creative process of designing the retreat. I absolutely love the journey leading to the moment I stand at the door and sage each woman as she takes the leap of faith to let her self be seen and see. I ask myself when these beautiful women go home on Sunday evening what will they leave with? What would I want to feel if I came to the retreat? What would help me feel safe and allow my heart to open to healing?
I find answers to my questions rarely in my mind but usually in my meditation practice on and off the mat. I spend a lot of time connecting with my intuition, guides, and trust that as long as my intention is clear and grounded it will be exactly as it should be.
What’s your motivation to get moving?
The motivation in my life are my children and my purpose to hold people in deep pain and equally in ecstatic joy. In order to do that I have to do the challenging work of deepening my connection with myself and the divine. This happens when I tickle my daughter awake every morning or give my teenagers three-breath hugs before and after school. It happens when I take my dog for a walk and feel the cold air against my cheeks. It happens when I welcome people to come connect with themselves every Tuesday through meditation and when women gather in my backyard and dance around a fire to harness and give thanks to the magical energy of the full moon.
Having said that, you may be getting an image of my inner world as a place of ease and bliss all the time. And imagine me floating out of bed laughing and singing with some perfect children. And although that happens once in a while, many mornings I barely have the energy to go shower. I can get caught in my head in stories of hopelessness and aloneness and sometimes I just feel the sadness of the youngest parts of me that struggled to have their needs met. On days like that, I sometimes find myself going back to bed after drop off until my next client. This is the ebb and flow of my life and motivation kicks in strong some weeks and others I can hardly find it. This my very human experience.
How do you stay sane in all the madness?
I think I can debate the extent of my sanity on some days!
Here is my list of all the little things that add up to enough sanity so that I can do my work and show up for our children: Moving my body, connecting inwards through meditation, a good laugh through a funny TV show (Ted Lasso!), masala chai with cookies for dipping every day at 4pm, playing hide and seek with my 7-year-old, full moon circles, our Tuesday night Meditation/Contemplation Circle, talking nonsense with my friends, long hot showers, putting my fully grown teens to bed, calling my best friends once a week for a heart spill, my talented loving ayi, Zhao, who cooks delicious meals for me, dressing up and going dancing with girls, and all my incredible clients who show me that humans have a deep capacity and resilience for awakening no matter what we may have been through.
What’s your favorite thing about Beijing?
I love that although there are millions of people living here it never feels crowded, I love that the hutongs can connect me to the nostalgia of how this city began. I love that the wall is an hour away and we can access nature so quickly. Beijing is where my family is, where my children are coming of age, where I am growing and changing – that in itself makes Beijing special for me.
Have someone you believe deserves some recognition for their outstanding contributions to our community? Nominate them for our weekly spotlight by writing their name in the comments below!
KEEP READING: Dawn Garretson: “I Don’t Need To Speak the Language To Be Accepted Here”
Images: Courtesy of Masooma
