Show Notes
Ana is sounding the alarm: fascism doesn’t begin with violence—it begins with apathy. It creeps in through:
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disinterest,
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detachment masked as spirituality,
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normalized silence,
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the overemphasis on self-care as a form of avoidance.
She is not dismissing self-care, but calling out how it’s been commodified into an escape hatch—a way for people to say, “not my circus, not my problem,” while the world burns around them.
What She’s Teaching
1. Fascism thrives in silence and disengagement
She draws a bold line between early fascism and the bystander effect. It doesn’t require weapons to begin—just a populace too tuned out, too passive, or too spiritually “above it all” to act.
“Fascism doesn’t begin with guns. It begins with disinterest.”
2. Spiritual detachment is being misused
Ana criticizes how some spiritual communities tell people to “stay in their frequency” or ignore the suffering of others under the guise of “vibrational alignment.” This, she argues, is spiritual bypassing and a dereliction of collective moral duty.
“Spiritual influencers telling you to stay in your own frequency…”
3. Self-care has become a cult
She’s not against self-care. She is against using it to replace collective action. When we idolize self-care and ignore community responsibility, we are sacrificing our shared humanity.
“Self-care has become the new religion, and the price of that religion is our humanity.”
️ Tone and Voice
Ana speaks with:
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Radical clarity – There’s no soft-pedaling.
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Moral urgency – It’s a wake-up call to a community lulled by comfort and detachment.
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Feminist and anti-fascist resistance – This is aligned with activist traditions rooted in trauma-informed, politically aware healing.
Lessons & Impact
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Healing without action = complicity.
We cannot heal in isolation while harm is enacted around us. Ana insists that true healing includes moral responsibility to others. -
Collective care must return.
The absence of collective care has left us vulnerable to oppressive systems—and we can’t afford to keep paying that price. -
Reclaim community and moral bravery.
This is a call to remember our shared obligations as citizens, neighbors, and humans—especially when laws are being signed in silence.
Influence & Cultural Importance
Ana is pushing against a rising tide of:
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performative healing,
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detached spirituality,
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passive liberalism.
Her voice re-centers the urgent moral work of being alive during political collapse. She’s inviting her audience—particularly trauma survivors and empathic people—to stop retreating inward as their only response. She’s saying:
“Your healing is real. But so is the world. Don’t trade one for the other.”
Ana Mael’s Unique Approach to Trauma Healing:
Ana Mael offers a trauma-informed, justice-centered approach to healing. As a somatic therapist and genocide survivor, Ana’s unique insights stem from lived experience. She doesn’t just teach healing in the traditional sense; she advocates for truth, accountability, and dignity as core components of trauma recovery.
Her work speaks to marginalized communities—those who have been forced to suppress their emotions and voices in the face of violence and oppression. She helps them reconnect with their authenticity and emotional sovereignty. Ana challenges harmful practices that disregard the systemic nature of trauma and promotes trauma justice as the important path to healing.
By weaving in somatic techniques, Ana empowers individuals to release the weight of their past and move toward personal empowerment.
Ana has unique ability to blend compassionate understanding of trauma with empowerment and advocacy for those who are often marginalized.
About Ana Mael:
Ana Mael is a genocide survivor, somatic therapist, and author of The Trauma We Don’t Talk About. She is the founder of the Somatic Trauma Recovery Center and has dedicated her career to helping survivors reclaim their identity, dignity, and self-trust.
With decades of lived experience, Ana offers a unique, unapologetic approach to healing that combines trauma justice, somatic therapy, and spiritual integrity. She advocates for vulnerability, accountability, and collective healing to dismantle the systems that perpetuate oppression and harm.
Ana’s work provides a critical lens into the trauma of marginalized communities and offers a roadmap for healing that is both deeply personal and collectively transformative.
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Chapters
- (00:00:00) - Self-Care has become the new religion
