“[Shumaila’s] message addresses the critical and often misunderstood issue of burnout with empathy and insight. [Her] points about the uniqueness of each individual’s experience with burnout and the systematic nature of its causes are particularly poignant.”
—— Dr. Alister Martin, CEO, A Healthier Democracy; former Physician, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Deep Centering with Music, Writing, & Movement
4 weeks | Saturdays | Begins Jul 4, 2026 9:00am-10:30am MT | 8:00am-9:30am PT | 11:00 am-1:00am ET
This four-week online course is inspired by the musical and personal insights I have gained through years of listening, singing, and riyaaz in this raag. Together, we will explore the foundations of Raag Bairagi Bhairon and gradually move into alaap, tarana, and taans. Each session will include approximately 45 minutes of guided musical practice, followed by reflective journaling to explore whatever emotions, memories, or insights emerge through the music. We will conclude with gentle movement to help integrate the experience into the body. This course is ideal for singers, writers, artists, changemakers, and anyone seeking creative rest, focus, inspiration, and a deeper connection with themselves through sound.
“Writing to Shift Systems was a really great class. I learned a lot and appreciated the community of participants. I’m looking forward to taking another course with Shumaila.”
— Susan
Writing Soundscapes of Cities
4 weeks | Tuesdays | Begins July 7, 2026 9am-11am PT | 10am-12pm MT | 11am-1pm CT | 12pm-2pm ET | 1pm-3pm AT
What does a city sound like to you?
A train passing at dawn. Footsteps in an alleyway. The call of street vendors. Rain against apartment windows. Traffic, silence, music drifting from distant rooms. In this 4-week online course, Writing the Soundscapes of Cities, we will explore how sound shapes memory, emotion, migration, and our relationship to place. Through deep listening exercises and creative nonfiction techniques, participants will learn to transform everyday listening into vivid personal essays. Together, we will write about:
• the cities we were born into
• the cities we migrated to
• the cities we travelled through
• and the cities that continue to echo within us
This course emerges from my long-standing fascination with urban soundscapes across the places I have lived and travelled around the world. I first taught this course from an ethnomusicological perspective for Semester at Sea, and I am excited to now offer it through the lens of creative nonfiction and sensory storytelling. Open to writers of all levels, especially those interested in sound, music, memory, migration, and storytelling.
This workshop is held online via Zoom.
Archived
Writing in the Wound
6 weeks | Tuesdays | Begins May 12, 2026 5:30pm-7:30pm PT | 6:30pm-8:30pm MT | 7:30pm-9:30pm CT | 8:30pm-10:30pm ET
What happens when your scars begin to speak?
In this memoir-focused course, writers will explore how to transform lived experience, trauma, and uncertainty into crafted narrative — with care for both the story and the nervous system. Drawing on her memoir Writing in the Wound, Dr. Shumaila Hemani offers a compassionate, structured space for writers ready to bring their deepest stories onto the page with courage and intention.
