About advaya



advaya is a transformative learning platform exploring the interrelated fields of ecology, consciousness and the body.

Our offerings explore the multiple realities we find ourselves in, nurture purpose and belonging, and help us navigate pathways towards lives of meaning, connection and presence. Unique online and in-person experiences are guided by the leading hearts and minds of our time to transform how we relate to each other and to the world around and within us.

As part of our blossoming multimedia ecosystem, you’ll find courses, community membership, events, podcasts and blogs on topics such as animism, mycology, mythology, psychedelics, artificial intelligence, regenerative economics, spiritual ecology, decolonisation, intersectionality and much more.

In a time of increasing polarisation, binary thinking and dogmatisim, we are creating space for generative collective inquiry and collective imaginging, asking questions with compassion and curiosity, reawakening wonder, and stirring the realities our hearts know are possible.

advaya was born in 2015 when sisters Ruby Reed & Christabel Reed asked: What if we saw the ecological, social, political, personal and spiritual crises as interrelated, and as opportunities to evolve? Ruby and Christabel had been dedicated yoga and meditation practitioners but felt disheartened by the wellbeing world, which focused almost solely on personal development while environmental and social justice, the very foundations of wellbeing, went unacknowledged. Similarly, it seemed that the activist communities they were coming into contact with had little engagement with personal wellbeing or spiritual practice, and they were witnessing high levels of burnout, anger and despair. Rather than outer and inner transformation standing in opposition, Ruby and Christabel understood that these were two sides of the same coin and that both were necessary for the changes our world is calling for. They wanted to know that they were not alone in their dreams and vision for a world where people and planet thrived. In September 2015 they organised their first gathering and invited Satish Kumar, Mick Collins, Nick Jankel and Stewart Gilchrist to come to The Tabernacle in Notting Hill, London, to explore changemaking, purpose and joy. They were joined by 300 others and advaya was born.

Some 500+ events, retreats, festivals, and online courses later, advaya finds itself at an exciting juncture as an emerging leader in the transformative learning space.

With a team of multi-skilled women and non-binary folks spread out across the globe, advaya delivers radical, timely, and heart-led programmes to an international community seeking to unite across borders and carry the knowledge gained via our offerings out into the world. We are lucky to be joined along the way by a roster of incredible teachers, artists, activists, practitioners, and leaders of all kinds.

Our mission

To transform how people think, relate and act, enabling thriving lives in harmony with the natural living world.

Our values

Community

Community and collaboration are at the centre of what we do and who we are.

Interconnectedness

The world is complex, multi-faceted and non-dualistic. advaya inquires into complex issues through deeper thinking and transformative learning.

Joy

We believe change will happen when enough people are empowered and united in joyful collaboration.

Imagination

We connect as a community through our shared vision of the future. Through transformative learning advaya shines a light on topics that ignite the imagination and a more meaningful way of being.

Meet the team

Ruby Reed

Ruby is a curator, catalyst and organiser fascinated with how we can recentre our relationship with the natural world into our perception of life as a whole. She is the co-founder of advaya, Earthed and the Charity Initiative Earth. She is also a curator for Medicine Festival, Trustee of Resurgence Trust, co-founder of Rebel Retreats, and part of Be The Earth Foundation’s flow funding network.

Christabel Reed

Christabel Reed is the co-founder and director of advaya and Earthed. Her work is energised by a fascination in how we heal our relationship with ourselves, each other, our environments and the cosmos. For Christabel, we cannot separate these entwined journeys of inner and outer healing if what we envision is a world that thrives. After years of learning, practice, activism and movement building, Christabel is now focused on building the mechanisms that might enable the radical imagination to become manifested by making accessible transformative wisdom, skills, networks and funds.

Grace Burrows

Grace joined advaya to blend her professional experience with her love for community and learning. From studying Anthropology at LSE to a recent Cambridge diploma in business sustainability, Grace believes that education is a transformative pursuit and should be accessible to all. When not working at advaya she can be found working her other job, looking after her son Dusty.

Tammy Gan

Tammy (she/her) leads on content and storytelling at advaya, and sees her work at advaya as integral to her quest, to create digital and physical community and learning spaces to build towards a more just, regenerative and loving world within our current one. As a builder and storyteller, Tammy seeks to be in service to movements, organisations and collectives that prefigure a better world.

Priya Subberwal

Priya (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist focused on the intersections between ecological stewardship, collective liberation, and creative expression. She received her BA in Environmental Studies from NYU and is currently completing an MA in environmental writing at the University of Montana. When she’s not pushing pixels, Priya can be found rock climbing, hiking, or talking to trees.

Sara Zaltash

Beloved Sara Zaltash is queer British-Iranian astrologer and artist dedicated to raising the voice of GodS. With roots in sacred activism, they apply their skills as a performer, diviner, writer, singer and space-holder to weave holy healing across all spheres of life. Beloved Sara writes Advaya’s weekly Horoscopes for Healing in service to personal transformation, systemic evolution and earthly renewal. www.belovedsarazaltash.com.

Cassandra Bradshaw

Cassandra facilitates individual and group journeys at www.riserooted.co and is a photographer at www.embodied.photography. Holding space for individuals to rise with awareness to the presence of their purpose. When an individual remembers their true significance within the collective, they shine a light in and onto their meaning of purposeful presence, and they begin to contribute to the collective in a coherent movement, dancing to the beat of their soul's earth rhythm, weaving their thread into the great tapestry of this life, during their time here on earth

Kare Khoo

Kare (pronounced ‘Care’) is a visual communicator and artist at heart. She co-runs the video production company, Webb Street Studios, and thrives collaborating across all departments. She has produced, directed, shot and edited films for clients including Universal, Sony Music and The Royal Albert Hall. Having worked in film, theatre, audio, photography, and motion graphics, she believes that every story should be told through the right medium. Kare also collaborates on unconventional projects that push limits and create unique audience experiences, most notably; live events with multi-sensory immersive theatre company, BitterSuite, and creating experiential music campaigns for US-based folk singer, Hayley Reardon. As a Thai/Chinese-Malaysian based in London, Kare loves exploring the intersection between identity and ecology. She is often found illustrating or at her pottery wheel.

Ali Webb

Ali is a multi-disciplinary creative and entrepreneur energised by connecting with the more-than-human world. Combining his passion for the arts and technology, he founded the award-winning video production company, Webb Street Studios, collaborating with and producing projects for brands such as Sony Pictures, Public Health England, Universal Music and more. Ali spent two years in e-learning, building, marketing and managing online courses and communities for a leading embodiment organisation. He also founded Change the Climate, a non-profit that educates and inspires citizens to take climate action through talks, workshops and events. He is passionate about the environment and is currently studying arboriculture. When he’s not behind his laptop, Ali can be found coppicing in the woods or connecting with like-minded souls at eco-events.