Wellbeing: Heemali Inamdar on what inspired Aikyam Collective

Trauma-informed yoga practitioner, Heemali Inamdar, discusses her new passion - Aikyam Collective – which brings together likeminded facilitators to create events which promote wellness, positive mental health, diversity and trauma release

-How Aikyam Collective started

Having settled back home in Cambridge after a long period of travelling, I realised there was a huge gap in the wellbeing sector. There are plenty of good wellness classes and events in the city but they can be quite similar and sometimes only cater to certain demographics and groups of people. I am someone who listens to R’n’B music but also has to meditate to stay grounded. I no longer drink alcohol but love getting down on the dancefloor, I am predominantly plant-based but also love a cheeky ice cream. I don’t like being labelled or feeling restricted; we are all here to live without feeling like our every move is being judged and sometimes it can be difficult to feel accepted or to find events that cater to my various aspects of being. I wanted to create a safe environment that was accessible to people from all walks of life in order to make socialising more accessible, tackle loneliness, release trauma, promote diversity and work with local people to create a community.

-My collaborators

We all have our own skill sets and expertise so why not join forces to create magical events? As a trauma survivor myself and trauma informed facilitator, I have worked with ample facilitators and therapists during my journey and love being able to share these gifted beings with others. It can be a daunting process to choose who to work with when you are going through a period of confusion or instability, so we are here to do that for you; all you need to do is turn up. After scrolling multiple times and never finding events that appealed to me, I decided to just do it myself with my wonderful community of facilitators and venues earlier this year.

-The name

Aikyam ऐक्यम् translates to oneness, unity and harmony in Sanskrit.

-Our ethos

We are a collective made up of facilitators, artists and venues creating unique, authentic workshops, retreats and events in the wellness space. We are a collective that promotes accessibility, trauma release, positive mental health and diversity.

The modalities on offer have come from all around the world and our facilitators take great pride in keeping the culture and authenticity behind the practice alive. We offer concession prices and skill swaps if there are people struggling financially, have a disability (visible or hidden) or come from an ethnic minority background. We try our best to keep each session inclusive to people from all walks of life, as both inclusivity and diversity are a priority.

-Wellness events

We have previously had a sacred womb ceremony where we collaborated with Abington Barns, a ‘Connect’ workshop with Fellows House, ‘Free Yoga’ sessions with Floatwell, and over the summer we have partnered with Hyatt Centric in Eddington to offer Rooftop Rhythm + Yoga with a live DJ, Bring Your Dog Along Yoga and Sip + Sketch events.

-Coming up. . .

Mental health, work/life balance and working with the seasons are some of our core values at AC, so we only hold events from spring to summer, when we have more energy and sunlight. To finish off our season we have a Rooftop New Moon Yoga event in September, along with a ‘Sleep’ workshop and a couple of other surprise events that haven’t been released yet. Catch us on Instagram to keep up with what’s going on!

-Our client feedback

So far so good! Our Bring Your Dog Along Yoga events have been fully booked (there are a limited number of spaces for those who don’t have a pooch, but love them as well) and our Rooftop Yoga with a live DJ events have been a huge hit, so we are excited for next season.

-Hopes for Aikyam Collective

My main hope is that we are able to reach everyone who needs these practices and events. Cambridge is in need of some unique, diverse and fun events so we are here to offer them.

-Find out more at aikyamcollective.com