Tending the Whole: Nkem Ndefo & Staci K. Haines, Facilitated by Rae Abileah

There is a “false wall” often placed between contemplative life and political action—a story implying that inner peace and outer justice are separate vocations. This imaginary divide exhausts us. In a world facing converging crises, how do those dedicated to healing move beyond the limits of individualized work to support systemic transformation?

Join somatics experts and social change practitioners Nkem Ndefo and Staci K. Haines for a conversation introducing The Outer Work Project; an initiative dedicated to bridging trauma healing spaces with sustained social and climate justice movements. This episode explores how to move from personal healing as solely an inward practice into a rooted force for collective change.

Guests

Nkem Ndefo is an alchemist, disabled Black midwife, facilitator, coach, and strategist. She is the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit, a model for embodied healing and liberatory change rooted in neuroscience and social justice. Her work spans the US, UK, and Palestine.

Staci K. Haines has been working at the intersections of personal and social transformation for over 30 years through politicized somatics, trauma healing, embodied leadership, and transformative justice. She is the co-founder of Generative Somatics and co-leads The Outer Work Project. She is the author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice.

Rae Abileah (facilitator) is a social change strategist, Jewish faith leader, and member of the SAND team. Her work spans Beautiful Trouble, The Nature Conservancy Agility Lab, and ALAS, weaving cultural connection, the arts, and frontline community leadership as pathways to healing and climate justice.

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Welcome & opening from SAND
• 00:03 — Rae opens: breathing, interdependence, and tending the whole amidst brokenness
• 00:07 — Nkem and Staci introduce themselves: lineage, the politic of suffering, and why this work
• 00:15 — The false wall: separating spiritual and political 
• 00:16 — Case study: National Domestic Workers Alliance and embodied leadership
• 00:19 — Case study: LA County health system, anti-racism work, and the word "love"
• 00:25 — Burnout, overwhelm, and sustaining movement work from the inside out
• 00:35 — Consent, boundaries, and building a somatic culture in organizations
• 00:43 — Tearing down vs. building: holding contradictions without collapsing
• 00:48 — Visioning our yes: what a racially just feminist social democracy could feel like
• 00:50 — Legacy, small acts, and what we're building together
• 01:00 — Closing reflections: love as action and trusting our courage

Resources & Links

Nkem Ndefo

• Lumos Transforms — website
• The Resilience Toolkit
• Lumos Transforms Community (global network)
• Practicing Liberation — contributing author (North Atlantic Books, 2024)

Staci K. Haines

• Website: StaciHaines.com
• The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice — North Atlantic Books, 2019
• Generative Somatics
• The Outer Work Project
• Strozzi Institute

Rae Abileah

• CreateWell
• Beautiful Trouble
• ALAS — Ayudando Latinos a Soñar

Organizations & concepts referenced

• National Domestic Workers Alliance — Staci's 7-year embodied leadership program with domestic worker organizers
• Ai-jen Poo — founder of NDWA — referenced throughout the NDWA story
• Movement Generation — Just Transitions zine — "From Banks and Tanks to Cooperation and Caring," referenced by Staci as an essential framework for a regenerative economy
• Terry Tempest Williams — The Glorians (audiobook) — Rae references the passage "We cannot breathe" during the opening
• generationFIVE — founded by Staci, committed to ending child sexual abuse within five generations using transformative justice approaches

SAND Events, Courses and Films

• What Occupation Does to the Soul: A Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma — June 26th, with Dr. Samah Jabr, Dr. Gabor Maté, and Dr. Jennifer Mullan
• Decolonial Mental Health Practices — Four-part webinar series with Dr. Samah Jabr

 

• The Eternal Song film series

 

Contact SAND

• podcast@scienceandnonduality.com

Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member