Mindfulness through Journaling

Date: Saturday 28th March 2020

Time: 14:00 – 15:30 (GMT)

Location: Online via Webex

Life has become fast and busy. With information being accessible at our fingertips 24/7 within minutes or even seconds. This means we have multiple thoughts and ideas criss-crossing through our heads simultaneously.

Add to the formula the unique position of professional Muslim women. We are juggling various aspects of life across issues of gender, race, culture, faith and profession. For many of us it can be overwhelming.

In this session we will explore how journaling can be a useful tool to effectively ‘brain dump’, organise, and then prioritise these thoughts for implementation. The key being actioning ideas and plans that may otherwise remain fruitless.

The aim is to take the overwhelming mountain of ideas, break them down into manageable chunks and organise them in a manner that aids life management. Journalising is one of many methods that can be used to enable us to balance our professional, personal and spiritual lives. Whilst being mindful of our mental and physical health.

This month we are honoured to have Jia Jamali as our guest speaker connecting with us from across the Atlantic in Canada. As her bio below conveys, Jia is another example of a multi-faceted professional Muslim woman who balances being a wife, daughter and mother with being a teacher, personal trainer, fitness instructor and influencer.

Jia will showcase how journaling has helped her become more reflective and organise how she spends her time between ventures. She will focus on the importance of Mindfulness through Journaling and how it can positively impact the various aspects of life we all try to juggle and balance.

Does this sound like something you’d be interested in? Please register your interest by booking your ticket below.

This is a sisters’ only online event.

Log-in details will be provided to those sisters who register and provide an email address for contacting.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

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Speaker Bio:

Jia Jamali

Jia Jamali is a mother of two, a full time elementary school teacher, a fitness and wellness influencer, a certified personal trainer, and a group fitness instructor.

Jia teaches Grade 6 Language and Health & Physical Education to Grades 1 to 8. She currently facilitates 6 group classes per week for the Muslim women in our communities, including yoga, bootcamp and dance fitness across the GTA.

Apart from this, she is also pursuing a masters degree in counselling psychology and aims to specialize in marriage counselling and helping youth with drug, alcohol and addiction related issues.

Jia is passionate about health and wellness and has a desire to help women and children become the best versions of themselves in all aspects: mentally, physically & spiritually.

http://www.jiajamfit.com | Insta: @jia.fitness | jia.fitnesspt@gmail.com

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This was a historic moment for all at Pass the Mic Sis as it was our first ever online event and that too with an international guest speaker! Huge thanks to #JiaJamali for providing such a wonderful presentation full of useful information, advice and tips for being more mindful in all we do in life.

Thank you to the sisters who attended and took part in an interactive session whereby each of you were able to make a contribution and engage in the Q&A segment.

The session had a great balance of contribution to deen and dunya. Everything we do in this world will affect how we a judged in the hereafter, therefore we need to be mindful about everything we do. What is the purpose? How will it benefit us spiritually?

Below is a video of the recorded session, hope you find it as useful as the rest of us attendees did.

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Design the Job You Love

Date: Saturday 18th January 2020

Time: 14:00 – 16:45

Location: Euston Road

Sometimes it is difficult to see the blessings in our lives as we struggle to fight our inner demons and fatigue from the year gone by.

However with the New Year brings fresh set of hopes, challenges and opportunities. With a renewed positive mindset and different perspective, what previously may have been seen as obstacles and minefields can be seen as opportunities for personal and professional development.

Join us for an interactive session where we will explore the fundamentals of what fulfilling work is and how you can design a work-life that works for you.

We will explore the main ingredients of a fulfilling career and you will get to design what a fulfilling career looks to you.

Our guest specialist, Lola Yunus says:

“I love helping professionals design the work they love without sacrificing their financial security.

It is said that an average person will spend 1/3 of their lives working – [therefore] it is important we do work we enjoy.”

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Speaker bio:
Lola Yunus is the Founder of Impact Street, a training and development company.

Lola is a Career and Business Mentor, a Trainer and Facilitator at Impact Street. Lola is also a Writer and writes at www.lolayunus.com.

Lola is currently undergoing her certified Professional Life Coach training by Transformation Academy and a Business Coaching programme by Ruth Kudzi Coaching Ltd.

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Thanks to @regentsplace once again for enabling us to use their venue for our event ‘Design the Job You Love’ on Saturday, which had a great turnout alhumdulillah. Thank you to @lola.yunus for planning the great workshop and to all the sisters who attended.

It was an invaluable session whereby #LolaYunus of @impact.street provided the sisters with great tips and insights into how we can shift our mindsets to overcome the common blockers to progression at work and life.

In shaa Allah we welcome you to attend our next event on Saturday 29th February, ‘Setting up your own business’. Keep your eyes peeled for more details!

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Mental Health & Well Being: Stress at Work

Date: Saturday 16th March 2019

Time: 2.45-5.15pm

Location: Edgware Road (venue details disclosed to sisters who confirm attendance).

Research shows that Muslim women are unique in the sense that they face triple penalty discrimination – being women, being ethnic minorities, and Muslim. The stress that comes with having to deal with these pressures can impact one’s mental health, and left unchecked can lead to serious health problems.

Within the Muslim community mental health and well being is still quite the taboo issue. The stigma that comes with mental health is so strong that many will go untreated or counselled, and will suffer alone. The perception of what it means to be a sufferer of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues stops people from disclosing their problems. This is also an issue when approaching current and potential employers at the risk of being overlooked for jobs, promotions, or stimulating workloads.

However ground has been broken in mental health awareness across all sectors. Faith leaders and employers are being provided guidelines and training support to deal with members of the community and staff respectively that show concerns for their mental health and well being. From the design of work environments to support for coaching, training, and counselling, employers are being made responsible for their workforce. A healthy happy workforce is more likely to boost productivity, reduce the amount of annual sick leave and loss of work hours, and increase profits.

The aim of this workshop is to explore the various aspects of work life that can impact a Muslim woman’s ability to handle the various pressures that come with it. From level of responsibilities, workloads, working relations with bosses, colleagues, clients, and various consultants, to the specifics of hours, commute, expectations, and opportunities for training and promotions. What about our work and faith identities are they the one and the same or do we feel caught between the two? Is this an internal or external manifestation? Does potential discrimination faced at work contribute to this? How do Muslim women deal with this on top of their personal pressures?

This will be delivered through our specialists in the field talking about the different issues, support, and treatment available. Interactive activities will showcase the important cognitive behavioural therapy techniques that can help alleviate and address stress and anxiety. This will highlight the importance of mindfulness and compassion towards others as well as to oneself in not only coming to terms with mental health issues, but as a stress management tool.

The aim for the session is to enable sisters to:

1. learn ways to deal with work related stress or spot others in need of help
2. how to reconfigure one’s mindset to be more effective in dealing with it
3. different avenues and methods of treatment/counselling and support groups available i.e. where and who to ask for help

Our focus is exploring what works, what could be done better, and what can one do to begin making a positive and productive step forward.

Please note that this is a sisters’ only event and for security purposes venue details will only be disclosed to sisters who confirm their place.

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Light refreshments are available and any sisters interested can join us for dinner to continue discussions at a local restaurant after.

The nearest station is Colindale Tube Station. Bus stops for routes 32, 142 and N16 outside the building. Bus stops for either 292 or 303 bus routes a short walk away.

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Thanks to all who attended today’s sessions. Our specialists #DrIramSattar and #DrSophiaMohyuddin provided some very useful information, tips, resources and background to the topic with a good balance of Islamic perspective.

Shout out to our venue coordinator #AttiaAli who organised today’s venue! Jzk sis!

Keep your eyes peeled for the next event sisters!

Work-Life Balance – Can it be truly achieved?

Date: Saturday 9th February 2019

Time: 2.45-5.15pm

Location: Farringdon

As working Muslim women we are uniquely placed in a position whereby multiple pressures influence the decisions we make in our work and private lives. Everyone seems to know how we should live our lives better than we do. Not only do we face society’s cultural expectations as daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and aunties, there are also the Islamic guidelines to adhere to. A lot of which comes down to how the Quranic teachings are interpreted. How to balance such expectations with our own aspirations?

Muslim women cannot be all airbrushed with the same colour, we are as diverse as the world in which we live. The aim of the session is to explore the experiences of a range of professional Muslim women and how they maintain a balance between their work and personal lives (or not!). What works, what doesn’t, and what can be done better? What challenges were faced, opportunities sought, and life lessons learnt?

A panel of sisters will share their experiences followed by a Q&A Session to engage the audience. The richness of the conversation will be found in the variety of ethnic and professional backgrounds and personal statuses of the sisters on the panel; some of the sisters on the panel are married, have kids, others are single or divorced. We appreciate each and every one of them.

Please note that this is a sisters’ only event and for security purposes venue details will only be disclosed to sisters who confirm their place.

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Light refreshments are available and any sisters interested can join us for dinner to continue discussions at a local restaurant after.

The venue is a short walk from Farringdon Station (Thameslink, Metropolitan, Hammersmith&City and Circle lines) and St John’s Street bus stop. There may be some limited on-street parking, although it’ll be on a first come first serve basis pending availability.

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Alhumdulillah what a lovely session! We were pleased to have had #FahmidaRahman of #SteppingStonesStoke, #SamiraAli of @unwomen, and #FarahDualeh of @inspirehercoachingltd as our guest speakers today at our ‘Work-Life Balance: Can it be truly achieved?’ event.

There were many learning points and ideas to take away. Appreciated how the speakers fully engaged with the attendees, who were equally responsive. Look forward to the next one in shaa Allah!

Quick #shoutout to #AttiaAli who couldn’t make it due to an unforeseen emergency and @MEBDesignLtd for once again providing a great Central London venue. Alhumdulillah.

The Elevator Pitch

Date: Saturday 21st July 2018

Time: 2.45-5.15pm

Location: Farringdon

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, business owner, home-schooler, employee, or a sister looking for a career change, come and tell us your story!

The Elevator Pitch is the chance for you to test your ideas, generate leads or practice your presentation skills. OR all of the above. Whether you are just starting out, thinking of starting out or are already well-established in your field why not come and share your journey with us? No idea is too small or too big! Inspire others to begin or further their journeys.

As one of four Pitchers, you will be given 5 minutes to entice the audience, after which you will receive feedback through shared discussion. If you email the organiser prior to the event that you’d like to do a pitch along with what you hope to achieve from your 5 minute Pitch and post-Pitch feedback slot, we can try to direct the Q&A / feedback session accordingly. In shaa Allah.

Alternatively you could attend and enjoy the event as an audience member and join in with the discussions and Q&A sessions!

Please note that this is a sisters’ only event and for security purposes venue details will only be disclosed to sisters who confirm their place.

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Light refreshments are available and any sisters interested can join us for dinner to continue discussions at a local restaurant after.

The venue is a short walk from Farringdon Station (Thameslink, Metropolitan, Hammersmith&City and Circle lines) and St John’s Street bus stop. There may be some limited on-street parking, although it’ll be on a first come first serve basis pending availability.

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Thanks to the sisters who were able to battle through the tube closures and made it to our #TheElevatorPitch session. It was an intimate event with Pitchers receiving constructive feedback to hone in on and develop their #presentationskills and #confidence in #publicspeaking.

1st Anniversary: Journeys

Date: Saturday 5th May 2018

Time: 2.45-5.15pm

Location: Farringdon

This year we celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary / 1st Birthday of our establishment. It has been year of organising and meeting a range of Professional Muslim Women across industries, at various levels of experience and life stages.

It was an intimate session where we were able to talk quite in depth of our individual journeys, the challenges and opportunities we felt. What we succeeded in, what lessons we learnt and talked about where we would like to go now in the future.

It was good to reflect on the the journey of Pass the Mic Sis to see what was achieved within a short amount of time, with limited professional connections and resources. It just goes to prove that if one has the will to do something anything is possible. If a year a go someone would have told me that I would be organising networking events and contacting professional Muslim and non-Muslim women to be guest speakers, I would have laughed. But alhumdilillah an amazing bunch of Muslimahs have joined the ride and in shaa Allah we will continue to grow and attract a wider range of Professional Muslim Women in the year ahead.

So all you Professional Muslim Women out there, if you are interested in networking, supporting, learning and growing with an amazing range of fellow Muslim women come join us at our future events and help us develop the sessions further. In shaa Allah.

Influential Muslim Women: Historic & Contemporary 2

Date: Saturday 10th February 2018

Time: 3-5pm

Location: Farringdon

During this session we explored the life of Noor Inayat Khan who during WW2 helped the British Government as a spy operating in Occupied France. She was an example of how many Muslims were took an active part in British society throughout history. We need to be educated about female Muslim role models throughout history and how our sisters in Islam took an active role in society, during major world events that we were not aware of.

As our contemporary role model we had the honour of having Maya Nasaani as our guest speaker. She spoke about her experiences across Saudi Arabia, Syria and here in London. The irony of it being that the her experience within the male dominated construction industry was no different in any of these regions. Maya, made her mark in Saudi Arabia by instead of waiting for an opportunity for her to progress in her to arise, she made it happen. She advocated for the inclusion of women in decision making roles and gained respect from her male colleagues by excelling in her role and proving her worth by doing.

It was amazing having these two role models showcased during the session and a sense of female empowerment was felt in this group. The discussions that followed naturally were invigorating and showed how wonderful an opportunity it is for Muslim women to gather and discuss relevant topics, opportunities, and challenges we face.

There were many women we started listing who are doing great work in representing Muslim women across a range of industries without forcing their faith on others. Muslim women are excelling in a range of professions much like women from across communities and faith groups. The sisters left the session feeling inspired and wanting to learn more about Muslim women in society.

New Year New You!

Date: Saturday 13th January 2018

Time: 3-5pm

Location: Farringdon

Looking to the year ahead, we used this session to consider productive and achievable goals for the coming months that were realistic and beneficial in the long run. The discussion focused on setting goals that were more useful to our personal or professional aspirations by breaking them down into manageable chunks and using the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time) method as a tool.

It was an intimate session which enabled a more in-depth look at how we generally undertake tasks initially with great zeal, but more often than not run out of steam mid-way, losing focus and motivation to see them through to the end.

We also used this as another focus group to generate ideas for taking Pass the Mic Sis to the next level with more topics, method of advertising events, getting interested sisters to take part in the organisation of events and the potential platforms for launching the event series online.

Networking for Building and Maintaining Professional Relationships

Date: Saturday 4th November 2017

Time 3-5pm

Location: Vauxhall

This successful session focused on the challenges faced by Muslim women when it comes to networking at respective industry gatherings. From social customs to male dominated industries, most sisters in attendance agreed that as Muslim women the challenges we face are three-fold; firstly as women, secondly our diverse cultural backgrounds, and thirdly our Muslim identity.

This leads to having to overcome internal pressures and barriers placed by both ourselves and society leading to issues with mental health, lack of confidence, conviction and communication skills. Imagine juggling all or some of these while trying to navigate a room full of people with whom one shares little or no common ground.

We were honoured to have Siobhan Fitzpatrick as our first guest speaker, who made it all the way from Ireland especially to meet us and relay some of her experience and expertise in networking. She wrote an interesting article Allergic to Networking? which was perfect to start discussions.

Siobhan was very warm and gracious in how she listened and involved everyone in the session and gave some useful feedback which many of the sisters, including myself, tried out. The sisters who attended appreciated the presence of and external guest speaker, and expert in her field to give us her time and advice.

 

Mental Health and Wellbeing at Work

Date: Saturday 30th September 2017

Time: 3-5pm

Location: Vauxhall

Our most popular event so far has been the Mental Health and Wellbeing session where we had a panel of sisters talking about their experiences of going through depression and various forms of mental health issues and how they dealt with it in two different ways; one sister actively sought medical help to treat her problems while the other found alternative means and self-help methods.

The session highlighted how much of a taboo mental health is within the Muslim community and society at large. To the extent that most affected will not reveal their condition to employers and recruiters for fear of losing their livelihoods and/or not being selected for potential opportunities.

The discussions that followed evoked emotions and sense of unity amongst the sisters who attended was heart-warming. The feeling of trust and openness of all proved why Pass the Mic Sis is an important platform to enable such conversations to happen in a safe and trusted group of sisters.

We will be following up this session in the coming months to take our discussions further to focus directly on how stress and mental health issues affect Muslim women in the workplace. Keep your eyes peeled for dates.

Inspirational Role Models 2: Influential Muslim Women

Date: Saturday 8th July 2017

Time: 3-5pm

Location: Farringdon

This was a popular session during which we explored four different inspirational Muslim women. Our two historic examples included Khadijah (raa) and the Queen of Sheba. Both in their own way show how Muslim women can be leaders, business women, articulate, respected, all while maintaining their morals and empathy towards others.

The late Zaha Hadid and Ibtihaj Muhammad comprised our contemporary influential Muslim women. They both did groundbreaking work in their respective fields and as role models for future architects and sportswomen from the Muslim community.

This session was particularly important due to the nature of the way Muslim women are misrepresented by a wide variety of stakeholders from all sectors of society. It is time we stood up and raised our own voices as Muslim women. As Susan Carland rightly wrote in her piece for the Guardian online last year, “If you want to know about Muslim women’s rights, ask Muslim women”!

The ladies who attended valued the presentation of female Muslim role models and it evoked a great discussion on the experiences of sisters in the workplace based on their Muslim identities. The session felt important and the networking group valued for bringing together Muslim women to provide support and network within a comfortable group of sisters who genuinely understood.

Inspirational Role Models 1: Who inspires us and why?

Date: Saturday 13th May 2017

Time: 12-2pm

Location: Farringdon

The theme of our second session was Inspirational Role Models: Who inspires us and why? The idea was to ensure that we are aware of the variety of fields and industries in which Muslim women have entered and are excelling in. It was a good opportunity to find out who our role models currently are and if we as Muslim women look up to other Muslim women as role models or if there are others in our lives whom we naturally adopt.

The intimate nature of the group size enabled the session to turn into a focus group to identify potential topics to discuss at future events, the most appropriate time (i.e. after lunch to avoid rumbling stomachs!) and the format.

It was a good point to test an introduction presentation laying the mission statement and vision for Pass the Mic Sis and the origins from where it all began. As a fledgling event series it was important to find out what the sisters would like to achieve and gain from attending the sessions to ensure a level of professionalism is maintained.

 

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