Turning On Payments for MD

When and why I'm turning on payments for my newsletter

Hi folx,

You’re receiving this outside of the usual cadence for Mindbodies Decolonised (MD) because I wanted to let you know that I have decided to turn on payments for my newsletter. Important things to note:

• If you have pledged to pay for MD, this will mean you will start paying for it according to the amount and frequency pledged.

• If you have not pledged to pay for MD, you will continue to receive it for free.

• I am turning on payments on Thursday 13th July - the date of the next newsletter.

• Suggested prices will be £7/$9 per month or £70/$90 per year, however you will be able to pay less or more than that if you choose to.

Why pay for Mindbodies Decolonised?

Over the past three months of producing MD, I have paid attention to how much it takes from me to do so. From a practical point of view, I spend hours researching the topics I write about and gathering sources. Writing, editing and finalising pieces takes several more hours. The amount of myself, my creativity and my vulnerability that I pour into it, though cathartic and valuable for me, is still labour, and currently that labour is unpaid.

To avoid recreating extractive systems involves paying people fairly within the current set up, so that we can do less labour and look after ourselves well enough to continue to do the work of reimagining our reality. It is a way of being in community, to choose to pay for the labour we do for each other and the value we bring to each other’s lives and learning. You could also consider it a form of reparations: South Asians live with the legacy of colonialism in our bodies as well as in our lack of generational wealth. Along with other Global Majority people we are, in general, underpaid for our labour and continue to face systemic racism and prejudice that does not impact our white colleagues.

I understand that paying for MD won’t be accessible for some subscribers, so I’m making payment optional for now, and I plan to always provide some free content even if/when I put some of it behind a paywall. Also, if you are one of the people who took part in the research I did before I launched MD, your access will always be free (unless you choose to pay). If you can afford to pay and find my work valuable, you will now have the opportunity to do so.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up, I’m so completely chuffed to have reached 115 subscribers! I am loving going on this journey with you and look forward to (hopefully) being able to continue decolonising my mindbody alongside you for a long time to come.

— AJ

Today’s Neuro-Embodiment Prompts:

Suggestions and questions to help you engage with mindbody decolonisation:

• Who are your teachers? Are you compensating them for their labour? This may not always be monetary, but a value exchange of another kind. Consider where you have opportunities to pay people for their labour when it brings you value, particularly if you benefit from whiteness more than they do (I, for example, pay my Black teachers for the education they provide for me).

• Are you being extracted from? What boundaries could you, within the limits of your circumstances, put in place to lead to a) less labour for you and b) more compensation?