Maidan-e-Ishq: Monthly Gatherings for Creative Reset (Online)
A monthly gathering for slowing down, listening deeply, and reconnecting with the body through sound, silence, and reflection.
In times of precarity and overwhelm, this circle offers a space to pause together. Through guided listening practices, gentle reflection, and community presence, we explore rest as a collective practice.
It is especially intended for changemakers, artists, scholars, and community leaders working toward systemic change who need moments of restoration, grounding, and creative renewal.
The Call of this Moment
Maidān-e-Ishq (The Field of Love) was the title of my first performance in Canada in 2012. It later became part of a reflection on how I discovered ethnomusicology and the power of listening as a way of understanding culture and emotion.
Since my graduation, I have found it increasingly difficult to sustain the cultural space I cultivated through shagirdi (mentorship) with two Ustads in Pakistan, who taught me to sing Sufi poetry in the locally known singing styles of kafi and shah jo raag. In Canada’s public sphere, the politics of cultural proprietorship often marginalize minority women’s voices from the global majority.
This circle comes to me as a spiritual calling at a very important juncture in human history, where much of what we once knew is in the midst of destruction, and the level of devastation seems to grow each day.
This circle series continues that journey by opening a shared space where sound, reflection, and embodied practice invite us to listen more deeply—to ourselves, to each other, and to the emotional landscapes carried within rāg.
I began the year 2026 in a state of deep anxiety and exhaustion—not only because of the global situation, but also because of the systemic precarity I have been navigating in my own life as an immigrant. I reflect on these experiences in my memoir, Writing in the Wound.
An Indigenous cultural leader, Patti Pon, in so‑called Canada invited me to think of my art as a calling from the moment. What is the moment asking of you? she would inspire us to ask ourselves.
After a period of deep incubation in writing and music-making, I now feel a gentle calling to open a space for community again. Maidān-e-Ishq is an invitation to slow down together—to listen, breathe, reflect, and reconnect through sound, writing, and embodied practice.
These are difficult times for many of us. The state of the world, along with the personal pressures we carry in our own lives, can make it hard to find moments of rest, reflection, and connection.
Each month, we will explore the emotional landscapes of the melodic modes in the Hindustani rāg tradition through meditation, vocal practice, creative reflection, and gentle movement.
(No prior music experience is necessary).
The intention is simple: to create a space where we can process what we are carrying, regulate our nervous systems, and enter the week with a little more grounding and clarity.
You are warmly welcome to join, whether you come to sing, listen, reflect, or simply rest in the presence of sound.
The Arc of the Circle
Each Maidān-e-Ishq gathering lasts 90 minutes and takes place on Sundays online via Zoom. The timing of each circle may vary to align with the traditional time associations of the rāg we explore that month. The session unfolds through a gentle sequence of meditation, guided listening and rāg practice, creative reflection through writing or drawing, poetry, and embodied integration through mindful movement—offering participants a space to slow down, listen deeply, and reset before the week ahead.
The gatherings are conducted in English and are open to people from all cultural backgrounds. No prior experience with South Asian music traditions is required—participants are welcome whether they come with deep familiarity or simple curiosity. The emphasis of the circle is not musical training, but listening, reflection, and shared presence.
In this circle, you will:
-Slow down and rest
-Experience the emotional landscapes of rāg
-Reflect through writing or drawing
-Move gently to integrate the experience
-Leave grounded and ready for the week ahead
Core Benefits
These circles offers a space to process emotions, regulate anxiety, and reconnect with the body through meditation, rāg listening, creative reflection, and gentle movement. Participants leave grounded and more prepared for the week ahead.
This circle holds space for the full range of human emotion—grief, longing, stillness, tenderness, and moments of joy—through sound, reflection, and embodied listening.
In many contemplative and musical traditions—including Hindustani aesthetics—emotional life is understood as a spectrum rather than a single mood. A rāg can hold longing and beauty at the same time. In this way, the circle reflects the richness and complexity of human feeling.
Emotional Regulation
Simple breath, sound, and deep listening practices help your nervous system settle, so you can be with strong emotions without shutting down or burning out.
Grounding
Gentle movement and connection with land and body bring you back into yourself, offering a sense of rootedness in the midst of grief, uncertainty, and change.
Cultivate Presence
Slowing down to listen—to sound, to story, to the more‑than‑human world—opens space to meet this moment with more clarity, compassion, and courage.
If you are searching for a space which allows you to feel deeply without feeling overwhelmed, then our practices, including meditation, rāg, reflection, and movement, will naturally support that balance.
Joy does not need to be excluded from spaces that acknowledge grief, anxiety, or uncertainty. In fact, moments of joy often play an important balancing role. When gatherings focus only on heaviness, participants may leave feeling more drained. When there is space for calm, tenderness, and even small moments of joy, difficult emotions can be processed more safely and more fully.
Arrival & Grounding
Each gathering in Maidān-e-Ishq unfolds slowly, inviting participants to move from the noise of the week into a shared space of listening, reflection, and renewal.
The circle begins with arriving and grounding. Through gentle breathing and mindfulness, participants settle into the space, noticing the rhythm of the body and the sounds around them. These first 10–15 minutes create a transition from the pace of everyday life into a quieter, more attentive state of presence.
Riyāz
From there, the gathering moves into riyāz—a practice of attentive sound and voice rooted in Hindustani musical traditions. Over approximately 30 minutes, participants explore simple vocal exercises, humming, and melodic phrases supported by the steady resonance of a drone. Musical training is not required; listening itself becomes the practice.
After the riyāz, the group enters a brief pause of silence. For several minutes, participants simply rest with the lingering vibrations of sound, turning attention inward and practicing deep listening to the body. This quiet moment allows the experience of sound to settle and integrate.
Creative Writing or Drawing
The gathering then opens into a period of creative reflection. Participants are offered a direct writing or drawing prompt inviting them to explore the emotions that surfaced during the rāg practice. Rather than analyzing the experience, the prompt encourages simply naming and expressing what is present—perhaps a feeling of longing, calm, grief, tenderness, or quiet joy.
This reflective moment creates space to acknowledge what has emerged in the body and heart, allowing emotions to be expressed through words, images, or silence.
Gentle Movement
The final twenty minutes invite participants into gentle movement inspired by the principles of the Five Rhythms practice. This is not a dance class but a simple invitation to move slowly and intuitively with the body. Participants may stretch, sway, walk, or move in whatever way feels natural.
This embodied moment allows the sounds, emotions, and reflections of the gathering to settle into the body, helping participants integrate the experience before returning to the week ahead.
Transformative listening moments
“Thank you for an awesome session. It left me with so much to think about.”
— Nsen Abengha, Barrister, Solicitor & Notary; National Coordinator, Civitas Cameroon; Expert in Human Rights & Humanitarian Action
Upcoming Gatherings
March — Rāg Aiman (Yaman)
March 29th, 2026, SUNDAY
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Locations vary per gathering, selected to nurture resting, reflection, and collective listening across communities together.
Learn more
June — Rāg Darbari
Jun 28th 2026, SUNDAY
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Locations rotate to honor diverse communities and provide accessible, restorative environments that support attentive listening.
Join us
September — Rāg Malkauns
September 27th, 2026 SUNDAY
Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Venues chosen with accessibility and rest in mind, fostering safe spaces for reflection and growth.
View events
April — Rāg Bhim (Bhimpalasi)
April 26th 2026, SUNDAY
Time: 2:00-3:30
Gatherings held in community centers, libraries, studios—places that invite listening and gentleness for care and rest.
See details
July — Rāg Bhairon (Bhairav)
July 26th, 2026, SUNDAY
August 30Time: 8:30-10:00 a.m.
Register now
October — Rāg Desi
October 25th 2026, SUNDAY
Time: 9:00-10:30 a.m.
November — Rāg Des
November 29
Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.
RSVP now
May — Rāg Megh
May 31st 2026, SUNDAY
Time: 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Venue details emailed after registration to support access and quiet spaces for reflection and breath.
Addresses released with invitation to ensure quiet, accessible spaces in communities everywhere we gather online.
See etails
August — Rāg Bairagi Bhairon
August 30th, SUNDAY
Time: 8:30-10:00 a.m.
Locations shared with invite; accessibility prioritized to support everyone in attending and resting together there.
Join us
December — Rāg Ahir Bhairon
December 27th 2026
Time: 8:30-10:00 a.m.
Addresses will be emailed with registration confirmation to help plan transit and childcare needs locally.
Register now
Transformative listening moments
“The session was very enlightening! I would love to share this with the students at our college who are experiencing burnout.”
— David Fischer, Rhodes College of Wellness, Canada
