CommuniTea and Conversation
SPRING 2023
Please join us for a series of gatherings aimed at supporting our Iranian Riverbats and others in our community with ties to Iran. These gatherings will provide a space for those impacted by the political violence in Iran to come together, build community and collective empowerment, and process the challenging developments taking place inside Iran. Each event will feature Persian tea and sweets, live music, and facilitated dialogue and activities aimed at processing the collective trauma that is impacting the Iranian community at large.
Free & open to the public.
art by: @coachkarlahelps
Friday, January 27th, 2023 from 5:30-7:00 PM
In this session, participants will have an opportunity to come together and engage in yoga practice for stress reduction. This session will be led by Persian-speaking, Iranian American therapist Geeti Shirazi Mahajan.
TRHT Center 6101 Highland Campus Dr. | Building 4000, Room 4.2205 | Austin, Texas 78752
Geeti is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT500), a Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher (TIYT), and a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT). She specializes in serving those with mental health needs.
As a biracial Iranian-Indian American, Geeti grew up with the influences of Islam and Hinduism, and was exposed to diverse contemplative practices early in life.
Geeti’s first introduction to a mind, body, spirit practice was through 15 years of classical Indian dance training in Bharata Natyam.
She eventually took her first formal yoga class in college at the age of 19, and was certified as a yoga therapist in the style of Integrative Yoga Therapy more than a decade later.
Since 2012, Geeti has continued to offer yoga to address mental health issues in medical settings, with a focus on working with survivors of trauma.
Friday, February 24, 2023 from 5:30-7:00 PM
In this session, Iranian poet Roja Chamankar will conduct a reading and poetry workshop for those in attendance.
TRHT Center 6101 Highland Campus Dr. | Building 4000, Room 4.2205 | Austin, Texas 78752
Born in Borazjan in southern Iran in 1981, Roja Chamankar is a poet and filmmaker with an academic background in Dramatic Literature and Film Studies. She has published eleven books of poetry in Iran, co-written four books for children, and translated two collections of poems from French into Persian. Her works have been translated into several other languages and have won a number of national and international awards, including the Greek Nikos Gatsos prize in 2016. Roja has participated in numerous poetry readings and festivals in Iran, France, Sweden, Austria, Malta, and the United States. A collection of her poems titled Dying in A Mother Tongue is published in November 2018 by the University of Texas Press.
Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
For our final event in this series we will take the opportunity to gather and celebrate the coming of Nowruz, the Iranian new year which corresponds with the arrival of Spring and serves as an eternal symbol of renewal and rebirth. Participants will enjoy a dinner of Persian cuisine and live music and have an opportunity to reflect on their hopes and aspirations for the new year.
6101 Highland Campus Dr. | Building 4000, Room 1000.C (Student Commons) | Austin, Texas 78752
FALL 2022
The first of four gatherings took place on: Tuesday, December 6th from 4:30 – 6:30 PM @ the TRHT Center HLC 4000, Room 4.2205
This gathering featured musical guest Mohammad Firoozi, who led us in singing emancipatory anthems, both new and old.
TRHT Center 6101 Highland Campus Dr. | Building 4000, Room 4.2205 | Austin, Texas 78752