Episode 8: Feeling Into the Possibility of a Different World | Shireen Amini 

“I feel like when we gather to sing–when I call it like a little bubble of a universe–to me it’s like, we have to know what it feels like to then know how to bring it in the greater bubbles, the greater ripples until it becomes something that we know how to feel as an entire global community.” -Shireen Amini 

Join us for the eighth episode of The Lesson is Love, as I speak with Shireen Amini, a community songleader, percussionist and teaching artist based on unceded Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and Grande Ronde land, aka Portland, Oregon.

In this episode we talk about the capacity to interrupt reactivity with care, community singing as a little bubble of a universe in which we can experience a felt sense of liberation, Shireen’s recent east coast tour with Lyndsey Scott, and the philosophy of grief to activism. 

About the Host, Grisha Stewart: 

Grisha Stewart is an author, international speaker, dog trainer, and online dog school facilitator based in Oregon, USA, who specializes in dog reactivity and canine empowerment. She’s been  training dogs since 2003. Her two most recent books are Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0: New Practical Techniques for Fear, Frustration, and Aggression in Dogs and The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual: A Practical, Force-Free Guide to Problem Solving and Manners. In 2022, she revealed the update to BAT 3.0 (BAT 2.0 is still the best book on the subject). She presents dog training and behavior seminars around the world and lessons online.  There are over 100 different courses in her innovative online dog training school, with more coming every few weeks from a variety of instructors, including Grisha. In addition to her professional pursuits and projects, Grisha is an avid conversationalist and enjoys exploring topics of connection, love, communication, and interspecies community.  

About the Guest, Shireen Amini: 

Shireen Amini (non-binary using she/her in English, elle in Spanish) is a queer Puerto Rican-Iranian American, Earth-loving singer-songwriter, community songleader, percussionist, and teaching artist based on unceded Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and Grande Ronde land, aka Portland, Oregon. As a human, she carries a deep commitment to her own liberation path and vision of a more just world. As an artist, she believes strongly in music’s power to propel cultural revolution. To this end, she blends pop, rock, hip hop, latin, and roots sensibilities with socially-conscious themes to tell soulful stories of change and to create modern medicine music for community singing. As a community songleader, she holds transformational space, leading joyful, groove-based songs, evoking tenderness, and often engaging her participants the rhythm and deep ceremony of it all. She also teaches drumming, leads workshops, and facilitates grief ritual as part of her community-based music empowerment project Shireen Amini Music Medicine.

Links to folks referenced in the episode:

CIIS in San Francisco

Ysaye Barnwell

Circlesinging (Bobby McFerrin)

Laurence Cole

Lisa Littlebird

Lyndsey Scott

Connect with Shireen: 

Artist Website ~ shireenamini.com

Community Offerings Website ~ shireenaminimusicmedicine.com

Bandcamp ~ shireenamini.bandcamp.com

Instagram ~ @shireenaminimusic

Facebook ~ @shireenaminimusic

Youtube ~ youtube.com/shireenamini

An upcoming community song album is in-the-works! Join her newsletter to stay informed.

The next Drum-Song Reclamation Training will happen in Spring 2024, fill out this interest form!

Connect with Grisha:

Grisha’s website

The Grisha Stewart Academy

The Lesson is Love Podcast Webpage 

Grisha’s InstagramGrisha’s Facebook