Episode # 151

Change Begins with Breathing, with Kim Thai

Have you ever felt like you don’t belong somewhere simply because of one or more of your identities? Being biracial, we’ve felt that way in various settings - sometimes all White crowds, sometimes Asian affinity groups. And sometimes in rooms full of men… anyway, you get the picture. And what we can say is that growing up that way leads to a lot of introspection, learning to tune into our own intuition to listen to the messages it’s trying to tell us, and working to stop prioritizing our brains - which, if we’re honest, can justify and try to explain away a lot and make us feel like we’re not “enough” and need to keep going - and listen our body’s messages instead. It’s something we are still working on. I don’t know if we can say it enough - we think the inner work of self awareness is the foundation of being able to do the outer work of tackling racism. And it’s work that people of all races can be part of.

That’s why we’re so grateful that Kim Thai of GaneshSpace was willing to take the time to speak with us today about her experiences as a queer Asian woman, a person who brings mindfulness to her spaces in order to help dismantle internalized oppression.

Warning that today’s episode does drop a few explicit words in it, so mind those ears.

Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at hello@dearwhitewomen.com.

What to listen for:

The power of influence that parents can have, and how Kim was led to meditation and mindfulness - and ultimately, the creation of GaneshSpace
What is internalized oppression?
Looking at the small things, like when we say “I’m sorry” as a way to make change
The importance of having separate spaces for marginalized community members to heal, and how many people who point out the segregation tend to be in the dominant culture
How to think about self-care, joy, and mindfulness to incorporate more of them in our daily lives

About Kim Thai: Kim Thai is an Emmy-award winning producer, writer, activist, and mindfulness teacher.

She is the founder of GaneshSpace, a community organization dedicated to creating spaces to dismantle internalized oppression and explore identity through the lens of intersectionality. She also served as the Assistant Director of Heights Meditation, a non-profit offering free meditation to Upper Manhattan in NYC and is currently and advisor at YAP Media, an upcoming podcast production company.

She has produced video series for TED, MTV, Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet; and written for FORTUNE, Newsweek, USA Today and the Associated Press, among others. (More of her professional history here.) And is currently creating issue-based campaigns for SEIU, the world’s second-largest labor union in the world.

She believes fiercely in the power of storytelling, understanding your body and being unapologetically yourself. She also loves to take a #yolopilgrimmage (™) as often as possible.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas (like Beyoncé), she is the proud daughter of two Vietnamese War refugees and has 5 nephews, all of whom she loves equally. She moved to NYC more than a decade ago to attend J-School at Columbia University, after applying 48 hours before the deadline. She currently lives in Washington Heights with her partner and two cat-sons, Watson and Charlie, who have a larger Instagram following than her. Follow Ganesh Space on Instagram here!

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