Nervous System Awareness and Collective Care
We are living through a time of complex, compounding crises, political, social, environmental, and institutional. For many working in social impact, this is not abstract. It is felt in our bodies, our relationships, and our capacity to keep going.
This session invites you to pause and reconnect, with yourself and with others, to explore what it means to sustain both individual and collective wellbeing in the midst of this work.
Drawing on somatic practice and the science of nervous system regulation, the session will explore how our bodies respond to stress, why awareness matters, and why it is not enough on its own. Chronic stress and burnout are not just personal challenges, they are shaped by structural and systemic conditions that require collective responses.
Rooted in longstanding feminist work on care, this session creates space to reflect on how we build care into our systems, institutions, and movements, not as an afterthought, but as a core condition for sustained impact.
This will be an experiential, participatory session. Participants will engage in gentle practices such as breathing and movement, alongside open reflection and dialogue.
Who this is for
This session is for anyone navigating the tension between the urgency of social change work and the human cost of sustaining it, including funders, practitioners, organisers, and leaders.
What you will get out of it
A deeper understanding of nervous system responses to stress and burnout
Practical tools for regulation, including simple breathing and movement practices
Space to reflect on your own experience in a supportive environment
Insight into how care can be built into systems and collective work
Connection with others exploring more sustainable ways of working
Come as you are. You will leave with something useful, whether that is a practice, a reframe, a new connection, or simply time spent in community.
Niyati Shah is a somatic practitioner and social scientist who has been been committed and working to advance gender equality and systems change for over two decades.
Location & access
Accessibility matters deeply to us, and we do our best to choose spaces that reflect that. That said, some of our Oxford venues are in historic buildings without lifts. This room is unfortunately not accessible for wheelchair users, those with mobility challenges, or anyone needing step-free access.