Dr Muzammal

13/02/2026

If we can allow ourselves to fully feel and welcome, rather than resist, our emotional experiences - whether sadness, loss, fear, anger, grief, and so forth - each can be a doorway that will take us deeper.

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
- Rumi (13C poet, mystic, Islamic scholar)

As we feel successive emotional layers and continue to surrender, our experiences may soften, and become more expansive. We eventually open into an inner Peace that was there all along.

This inner peace is a felt experience that is of our Essence, and where we are receptive to deeper guidance and healing.

In such therapeutic work, this precious experience provides the expanded space and compassion for potentially painful memories or and trauma to be revisited, and the possibility for radical healing to naturally unfold.

Clients might describe this experience using words such as beauty, pure oneness, bliss, peace, light and boundless love, to name a few.

Thus, rather than attempt to process traumatic memories at the level of the memory, they are processed within an expanded, compassionate 'container'. Locked emotions can now be released in a safe and graceful way.

With an expanded awareness in the healing process, we are able to also enter into other perspectives, and discover meaning and lessons that we can take with us as we move forwards.

--

If you'd like to find out more about this transformational work, or would like an initial consultation with me, check out https://www.restorativewholeness.com/

18/01/2026

Our tendency, when we experience a strong, uncomfortable emotion can often be (for valid reason) to push it down, distract ourselves, or find a way to numb it. Yet, as we feel an emotion arise in the body, if rather than suppressing it or distracting ourself from it, we instead are supported to accept and feel into it, something interesting happens: the emotion feels welcome.

It’s as though it now has permission to be, and to move through us. It doesn’t stay stuck any more. It doesn’t hang out beneath the surface consuming energy and haunting us. It finally feels free.

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”
- Rumi (13C poet, mystic, Islamic scholar)

As we continue to feel the welcomed emotion, it comes up and moves through the body - and as it moves through, space is then created for whatever is deeper to now emerge.

Thus a deeper emotion can now arise, and this can also be approached in a similar way. We connect with and feel into it. It feels welcomed and passes through. And so forth.

While this process can result in strong emotions coming up, and tears may also arise, there’s a sense of authentic connection and release as we go through this.

With our resistance out of the way, and compassionate acceptance there instead, the brakes are off. We have moved our ego aside, and are undergoing a process that is in fact very natural. It’s as though we’re finally entering into what our soul truly needs and wants.

As we feel and move through successive emotional layers, our experiences eventually become more expansive and joyful. We are gradually drawn deep, into that underlying experience of Stillness, of Oneness, or Unity. It’s an experience of Bliss.

---

The above is a profound process, that requires sitting with an emotion while letting go of the story around it. If we tie the emotion to a story, this might cause the emotion to linger or stay stuck. Whereas feeling the pure, raw emotion in the body tends to cause it to be fully felt and released. This can be part of a wider healing process that can lead to release, forgiveness, and revealed meaning.

(Stories are also important, and witnessing them offers something of value at a certain and important level. At the same time, in certain contexts we can move through deep healing when we let go of the story holding the emotion, and simply feel in our bodies...)

27/12/2025

What allows forgiveness to be real? Often there can be a strong emphasis on forgiving someone, while discounting the pain the person being told to forgive might still be feeling.

Yet my own experience is that if I am still feeling deeply hurt following another person’s actions, the act of saying, “I forgive you”, will usually feel like I am going through the motions to fit into an expectation: i.e. the forgiveness won’t feel or be real.

It was through authentic emotional work that I more fully realised the importance of connecting with, and releasing, stored pain or trauma, prior to moving to forgiveness.

Once I have fully emptied out the pain, I feel light - there is then nothing left to hold onto. Forgiveness becomes the next natural step - and importantly, now does feel real.

The missing piece is having the appropriate tools to release pain that is stored, which is where approaches that can hold us to gently connect, feel and allow the emptying out of strong emotions have such a crucial role to play.

However, if already there genuinely is no pain, and the only step left is to forgive, then moving to forgiveness would of course be appropriate. But only if the pain has been released, when much of the time, for many of us, it has yet to be - even if we may want to believe and show otherwise.

24/11/2025

Shared Power and Collaborative Decision Making - The Commons is a Co-Housing community in Santa Fe, New Mexico (a magical region in USA) that has started to use elements of Sociocracy to help with their organising and decision making.

I've been staying there for a few weeks (my third visit), and I was honoured to have presented an overview of sociocractic principles to the community. As an outsider, my input is to help stimulate the lovely folk to reflect on how they are organising and making decisions.

I wasn't there to tell them what to do. Simply to stimulate reflection and conversation around shared power.

It was also joyfully stimulating for me. As much as I might offer anything, I also learn through these interactions. I get to appreciate how the community has adapted principles of shared power in their own way, and how it's working.

We also shared challenges we have each had, and shared ideas. It's enriching :)

I chose not so use powerpoint. Just flipchart, being present and allowing spontaneity.

While at the community, I've also engaged in community meals, and helping with aspects of work needed to hold the communtiy together.

I've met some deeply inspiring people: a lovely physician involved in holistic healthcare: she has written three books (I look forward to begin reading one I bought!), documentary film makers, a therapist, people who have just been in a Zen community and more.

Some simple photos of the evening below..

05/05/2024

🌷 'Beyond Power Over' 🌷: Most of us are conditioned in top-down decision making. Our bodyminds have internalised organisational structures in which the majority are governed by those few, above.

Yet, we frequently complain of not having being heard. Our manager, boss, or team leader has not listened. Simultaneously, we may sadly have never truly experienced structures whereby there is no boss, no manager, no power-over over us! Or where we have, maybe it has felt chaotic.

Yet, there has been much work around systems, approaches and practises in sharing and distributing power.

Welcome to the world of !

This 1.5 hour workshop on Thurs 16th May 2024 will be a simple introduction to consent-based decision-making in small teams.

It's work I've been involved with over about twenty years, on the ground and through trainings. I've supported organisations in this sphere of work - I continue to learn and am excited to explore this rich area with others.

The workshop is hosted by the Permaculture Association of Britain, and will be online. So you can join in from afar.

There's more info and the option to register here:
https://www.permacultureday.org/listing/decision-making-for-small-groups-with-muzammal-hussain/

I hope you can join me..

Permaculture is much more powerful when we collaborate with others. Yet, how can we collaborate and make decisions together when we've been conditioned in top-down cultures of domination? What could be a more mature approach, despite the temptation of individualism? And what about our emotions and b...

18/09/2023

If you're interested in how we can view nature as a teacher (which demonstrates principles of resilience, sustainability andregeneration) to design human systems with those same qualities, permaculture might inspire you, as it has done me.

This coming weekend is the national Festival of Permaculture (UK), taking place just outside London. There will be practical workshops, talks, activities and music, to help heal community and the earth...

This year’s event will be focused on the power of Community, and there are many amazing workshops and opportunities to chill and hang out with fellow change-makers.

With a passion on social permaculture and inspiring wholesome, effective teams, my own formal contribution will be a 1.5 hour workshop on this topic.

Here's an example list of just a few of the many sessions:

- Muzammal Hussain: Nature-Based Decision-Making for small groups: Beyond cultures of domination and individualism
- Liba Ravindrin: Anti-Oppression Circle: creative writing and land justice
- Morag Gamble: Permaculture Education Worldwide
- Katie Shepherd: Moving through climate grief to climate action
- Kayode Olafmihan: Permaculture and the indigenous: Holding an edge
- Gerald Jagwe: Amplifying voices from Africa
- Huw Richards: Self Sufficiency on a half-sized allotment
- Vicki Hird: Rebugging the Planet - Your land, your life, your politics
- Wenderlynn Bagnall: Active Resilience for Community and Earth
and More...

All weekend tickets include 6 meals (Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sunday breakfast, lunch) plus all workshops and entertainment. Day tickets also available.

There is more info, and the full programme on this site, from where you can also book a place if you are free and it draws your fancy...

Dates: Fri 22nd September - Sun 24th September 2023
Venue: (Outskirts of London): Lambourne End Centre, Manor Road, Lambourne End, Ess*x, RM4 1NB

22-24 September, Lambourne End Outdoor Activity Centre, Ess*x Join the changemakers on 22-24 September! A weekend of practical workshops, talks, activities and music to inspire change and find solutions using permaculture ethics, principles and design tools. Join us alongside some of the UK’s lead...

22/08/2023

'BODY, EMOTIONS, PRESENCE: DOORWAY TO OUR ESSSENCE'
I chose this title when I was generously asked if I would facilitate a workshop at a weekend micro-festival at a friend's home/garden in Brighton (Saltdean area). The festival is called 'Susubury' and if I'm correct, it originated one year when the orgniser wasn't going to be able to make it to Glastonbury! (Notice the same ending in the festival names!)

There are also workshops on Voice and Wellbeing, the I Ching, Egyptian and Ecstatic Dance, as well as musicians, delicious food and opening and closing ceremonies. It's on Sat/Sun 9th/10th Sept. My 1-hour workshop will be on the Sunday (2.30pm).

It's just £10 for the wristband/entry for the whole weekend. Workshops then free. (Accomodation not provided).

It's open to friends, so if anyone who knows me is interested, just let me know and I'll share the booking link with you.

26/04/2022

🍁 If some kind of substance, or substances, are to be used, increasingly this seems to me to be a much more attractive option than conventional antidepressants, which even though I've prescribed in the past - and I believe do have their place within our current paradigm - I've never felt to be worth the chanelling of energy, resources, and attention that has gone in their direction.

"The psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms helps to open up depressed people’s brains and make them less fixed in negative thinking patterns, research suggests.
According to the findings, psilocybin makes the brain more flexible, working differently to regular antidepressants, even weeks after use. Researchers say the findings indicate that psilocybin could be a viable alternative to depression treatments.
They say patterns of brain activity in depression can become rigid and restricted, and psilocybin could help the brain to break out of the rut in a way traditional therapies cannot."

Research shows effects of compound found in magic mushrooms can be seen weeks after treatment

08/05/2021

🌾 I liked this article on the importance of embracing all emotions.. including sadness:
Some quotes: "I continued my quest and discovered that avoiding sadness by burying it or ignoring it doesn’t work, since suppressing so-called negative thoughts only exacerbates them. Experiencing temporary sadness on the other hand, can – counterintuitively – make us happier....

Accepting sadness as a key part of our human experience makes us more compassionate to ourselves as well as others.

And... sadness can act as a catalyst for much-needed change and ultimately a more fulfilling life.

Since I started studying sadness, I’ve begun to make changes prompted by those powerful feelings. It isn’t easy, but it is necessary. Because many of us have been sold a very narrow definition of happiness that means never being sad. But this isn’t happiness – it’s barely even a life. If we want to live well, we have to make friends with sadness, too. Starting now."

Bedridden, and unable to move, I realised that I had spent my life running from misery. It was time to confront it, says author and journalist Helen Russell

25/03/2021

🌾 Hearing about the experience of a brave doctor (GP) who I recently worked with over three processes on zoom, may be useful for anyone seeking healing for trauma.

From my end, this work is a joy, it bypasses the mental story and gets straight to the heart of our experiences, allowing deep pain to naturally release and insights to emerge. 🌾

08/03/2021

🌾 'Vitamin D Insufficiency May Account for Almost Nine of Ten COVID-19 Deaths...'
Thank you to Todd Caldecott for highlighting this article.

"Although results of an observational study, such as this one, need to be interpreted with caution, as done by the authors [1], due to the potential of residual confounding or reverse causality (i.e., vitamin D insufficiency resulting from poor health status at baseline rather than vice versa), it appears extremely unlikely that such a strong association in this prospective cohort study could be explained this way, in particular as the authors had adjusted for age, s*x and comorbidity as potential confounders..."

Evidence from observational studies is accumulating, suggesting that the majority of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 infections are statistically attributable to vitamin D insufficiency and could potentially be prevented by vitamin D supplementation [...]