How to Breathe Freely: A Guide to Decolonization

How to breathe freely? A Decolonization Guide is a self-study manual that combines cultural analysis, motivational practices, and the psychology of self-discovery.

The full-scale war revealed a bitter truth to us: Russian aggression is not only a struggle for resources and territories. It is the desire for one state to colonize another. And this colonial trauma continues to define our present and influence our future. Who are we really, and what does it mean to be a Ukrainian woman/man? Do we have the right to anger when we have to give up our own memories? Can we afford not to know what to do next? And how can we finally breathe freely again? Culturologist Mariam Naiem suggests that we learn not to be afraid of our own truth and regain the ability to feel, speak, belong, and love. Each chapter of the book "How to breathe freely?" represents a separate stage of decolonization: the first three — anger, shame, confusion — describe the psychological traps in which we can remain for decades without finding a way out; the next — curiosity, grieving, creation, forgiveness — offer tools and practices for escaping these traps. It's a long journey. But you are not alone. Your story is important. And every new step is already a great act of freedom.