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Nlovu
About US
Humans are a social animal.
Imperialist late stage capitalism and the individual pursuit of happiness binds us to hyper independence which we declare loudly, proudly.
We chase and chase and chase.
We think we don’t owe anyone anything.
How can we give others and ourselves if that’s where and how we start each encounter?
At Nlovu the sanctity of community is the core of all.
The first community you encounter is you. Your body, mind and spirit, your ancestors, your loved ones, your colleagues, your neighbours, everyone you have contact with is affected when you start your healing journey.
“I catch flights, not feeling”, the thing about numbing yourself is that you can’t pick and choose what you’re numb too. What may have started out as protective armour can become calcified, rigid. We have to set the intention and commitment to break out of the casing that desensitises us to life.
In our highly mechanised dogmatic world our lives are built in ways that push us further from the earth, from the act of creation itself; we compare ourselves to the fancy of man and not the experience of nature.
The senses as starting points of connecting to the present, to the body, to open felt possibility.
Sensuality is oftentimes misrepresented as to do with sex; it can be a part of sexuality but the two are not synonymous. It is paying attention to the sensory data you’re experiencing.
Sensuality is revelling in the gift that the great cosmic intelligence that creates universes, writes laws of physics, that codes bioluminescence, photosynthesis and metamorphosis has bestowed on to you. It’s in your perception, perspective, presence and participation.
Sensuality is benediction received in the act of creation concaving on itself to pour breath into you. It’s the prayer of your exhale and how it connects you to all.
My name is Imale Ndhlovu.
I am African, Black British, I’m a non binary, queer artist who is also neurodivergent, poly, kinky and living with endometriosis. I’m a qualified counsellor, an accredited sex and relationships educator and a mental health first aider.
Beyond my qualifications, I’ve had to navigate world systems that have tried to tell me that I ain’t shit, whether it was the distorted piety of the church and its insistence on original sin or imperialism and colonialism that said what you have isn’t good, or society that said, you won’t amount to anything or the medical racism that tired to convince me that pain was in my head.
In the depth of despair, I’ve watched life insist on itself, these moments have taught me the quiet awe inducing persistence of life, and in the barren seasons of life I’m reminded that this tenacity exists in me, in you, in us.
Healing the community of you, heals the rest of your community.
Drawing from ancestral, academic and experiential wisdom, Nlovu is an ecosystem a combination of self directed journals and collaborative services; in person and virtual and products.
Only you can give yourself permission, your body, experiences and desires are a knowledge system and you’re the expert.
I support your discovery by witnessing you honestly and reflecting back parts of you that you might know how to hold or explore.
