Guest: Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein
Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein shares that as a young person she struggled to understand the value of reading, writing, along with finding her sense of belonging. It was only after she started to play sports actively in her pre-teen years that she began noticing an increased sense of self-worth and belonging and saw a significant improvement in her academics. She delved right in to share the difficulties that were brought on by expectations to meet certain developmental milestones — she explains the nuances of differences in development occurs differently, for any individual. She unveils how joy and passion were ignited within her as she continued with sport. Dr. Shemine has learned how her muscles twitch, and values how particular sensations help her to stay connected. She shares about the innate capacity her body acquires to signal to herself that she is safe or not in any given encounter. Dr. Shemine claims a much deeper underlying theme of ‘shame’ and how she felt misunderstood. She expresses after commencing with sport, her body twitches were rewarded, the movements started to make sense, and this sense of belonging was everything she required, and it brought herself to a place where she could feel that the people around her understood the world from her perspective. Her key message to the listeners is that: spend time learning your movements — take the space to create, develop, and express; to parents and caregivers, recognize and build awareness of the movements of others and get curious about them; power flow through those movements; there are multiple ways to move, so express yourself in different ways.
Guest Bio: Dr. Shemine Gulamhusein, Ph.D. in Child and Youth Care, believes in the power of movement and how each muscle within the body tells its own story. During the day, Dr. Shemine is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Care at MacEwan University, focusing on global perspectives, mental health, and family care.
Dr. Shemine’s research focuses on the intersection of recreation, development, race, culture, spirituality, and pre- and post- migration trauma. By night, if Dr. Shemine is not spending time with clients in her private practice at ‘Engaged Care and Counselling’, she allows her muscle twitches to guide her art creations, drive her physical activity, and enter and embrace unknown spaces. In her free time, she enjoys golfing and weaving.
Passionate about: Free Play For Kids. She is passionate about all organizations that offer accessible opportunities for BIPOC and immigrant youth!
