By: Michelle Young, Staff Writer
Dora Kamau is a Vancouver-based meditation teacher and mindfulness artist who hosts meditation classes and conversations for women to emotionally heal from stress, trauma, and self-doubt. Previously the founder of Bliss Your Heart, “an online and in-person platform [ . . . ] with the intention to foster meaningful and intentional connections [and] community in Vancouver,” Kamau focuses her work on self-care and self-discovery for all women, seeking to “empower women through clarity, connection, and conversation.”
Though Kamau is no longer active under the Bliss Your Heart alias, she continues her work via Instagram, hosting and co-hosting a variety of wellness events, workshops, and conversations. Most recently, she held the Instagram live, “you can’t police my joy,” a conversation and meditation for “all black beautiful bodies.”
Kamau has a library of guided meditations where she focuses on healing. These three to ten-minute audio clips feature her soothing voice and affirming words. Paired with peaceful music, these meditations invite listeners to be present and aware of themselves via their breath and bodies. While these guides are similar to many meditations — pushing those who are participating to unclench their jaws and relax their shoulders — Kamau takes them a step further. From my experience, typical meditations are filled with calming flowery words and images. Kamau’s, however, contain powerful words that are woven together to sound nearly poetic. She touches on topics like unapologetically setting boundaries and being compassionate towards oneself. Though these pieces are calming, they are nonetheless powerful.
Kamau has studied Psychiatric Nursing, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and is “interested in human nature and how we interact with ourselves and our environment.” She told Douglas College in an interview that her work stems from personal experiences: riddled with trauma and in search of healing, Kamau wanted to “create a space for other women like [her], to gather and hold space for one another, where [they] could silence shame by having powerful conversations about self-love, self-care and mental health.”
Motivated by the normalization of burnout culture and encouraged by her ability to inspire young Black women, Kamau’s work pushes for change — change within ourselves, to take care of ourselves, recognize our needs, and to love ourselves. She also pushes for greater societal change as she continues to facilitate conversations and create spaces that advocate for compassion, women’s rights, and Black empowerment.
You can find recordings of her past events and search for upcoming events on Kamau’s Instagram.
