Episode 5 Reset It Up with Special Guest CEO & Founder of The Networking Company Helen Nicholson
Watch Level Up with Ziyaad, Nabihah, and Isa Plaatjes on Radio Islam International MW 1548
Episode 5: Reset It Up with Special Guest Helen Nicholson - CEO & Founder of The Networking Company
Sunday 05th October 2025 / 12th Rabi al Thani 1447AH 14h00 - 15h00 (CAT)
Listen to Level Up with Ziyaad, Nabihah, and Isa Plaatjes on Radio Islam International MW 1548
Episode 5: Reset It Up with Special Guest Helen Nicholson - CEO & Founder of The Networking Company
Sunday 05th October 2025 / 12th Rabi al Thani 1447AH 14h00 - 15h00 (CAT)
Transcript
7 seconds
Dear listeners, it's 8 minutes past 2 on this 12th day of Rabiani 14:47 ah which
14 seconds
corresponds to Sunday the 5th of October 2025.
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I'm Zad Plchies and with me are my co-hosts Nabia and Issa Plachis. And behind the scenes is also my namesake
26 seconds
who will be looking after us in the studio this afternoon. We're coming to you live from the Johannesburg studio here at Radio Islam International.
36 seconds
Welcome to Level Up where we listen,
39 seconds
learn, and grow inshallah with Allah Subhanahu Waaala's guidance and we break down the week's news and talk about what really matters to young Muslims today.
49 seconds
Our WhatsApp line is open. The number is 0727861548 or you can call in on 01854702.
1 minute, 5 seconds
We should actually say welcome back to level up.
1 minute, 11 seconds
Yes, we should. Um if you were listening last week you would have heard us saying that we were going to a break and we did
1 minute, 18 seconds
go to a break um a little bit longer than usual about a week. Uh but alhamdulillah we are back and I know
1 minute, 25 seconds
that many listeners messaged after the program to ask what Issa's tips to de-stress were um which we will get to
1 minute, 32 seconds
shortly but what we are talking about but what are we talking about today Nabia in today's program?
1 minute, 38 seconds
Yeah. Alhamdulillah. I I also got so many messages because so many people were looking forward to um Issa's tips
1 minute, 46 seconds
on d-stressing as an 11year-old. So, we should definitely move that up and not keep it at the end of the show. But um
1 minute, 54 seconds
yeah, since we are in October now, today is the first Sunday in October and it's a mental health awareness month. In
2 minutes, 3 seconds
today's show, we will be continuing our discussion as um dis our discussion of mental health and lifestyle. We'll be chatting to CEO and co-founder, sorry,
2 minutes, 13 seconds
CEO and founder of the networking company, Helen Nicholson. We will be breaking down this week's news. But
2 minutes, 20 seconds
first, the long awaited Issa will be sharing how he deals with stress.
2 minutes, 32 seconds
So, I have quite a bit of stress. I have the stress of preparing for the level up program.
2 minutes, 42 seconds
The stress of preparing for the uh car reviews that I do for Let's Talk today.
2 minutes, 51 seconds
And because I'm homeschooled,
2 minutes, 53 seconds
I have the stress of being at home. And besides having to do my work, I have to make sure the place is clean.
3 minutes, 3 seconds
Okay. But you're not always at home. A lot of people think homeschool is where you just stay at home and you only learn at home and we don't let you out at all.
3 minutes, 11 seconds
You know, we have to actually address that, you know.
3 minutes, 14 seconds
Yes, we should. Um, but I think maybe on our education segment. Yes, definitely. We have to add it.
3 minutes, 19 seconds
We have to talk about homeschooling and uh Issa telling everybody that he has to clean the place.
3 minutes, 30 seconds
On a serious note, it's not a lot of stress because I love doing all those things, but sometimes it can be
3 minutes, 38 seconds
stressful because some of the things overlap. I'm not an expert.
3 minutes, 45 seconds
Uh but I will try to do well I'll try to do some of these things which I research and I'm try to do more inshallah.
3 minutes, 58 seconds
Amen.
4 minutes
When I get overwhelmed I do breathing exercises. My mom taught me this and I I
4 minutes, 7 seconds
do deep breathing in and out which helps to calm me down. Sometimes I get a bit
4 minutes, 16 seconds
angry when I'm stressed. I used to punch my pillow but now alhamdulillah I have a
4 minutes, 22 seconds
punching bag which I use to get that negative energy out. Writing down my
4 minutes, 30 seconds
feelings also helps to calm me down and helps to express what I'm going through.
4 minutes, 40 seconds
The one that helps me the most though is making salah du or reading uh durude
4 minutes, 49 seconds
um and this usually helps my mood change very quickly and I have a much better day. Alhamdulillah.
5 minutes, 1 second
Alhamdulillah. Yes. uh we don't realize how important salah is um dua dur
5 minutes, 8 seconds
andikar and even reading Quran can change our thoughts and emotions and bring an abundance of positive energy.
5 minutes, 16 seconds
So, Shukran, Issa for um sharing that with us and I know some of our listeners might have some tips that they want to
5 minutes, 25 seconds
to share with us and our WhatsApp number is 0727861548.
5 minutes, 33 seconds
Yes. Um definitely I also use that as a de-stressing mechanism you know reading Quran tur um you know you guys know this
5 minutes, 44 seconds
when I start my day I like to start with my morning duas and also when I feel like the energy is just not right I said I say
5 minutes, 52 seconds
you know let's play a surah bakra and we I like to listen to it I like to read it while it's playing so yeah I like to do
6 minutes
that and um I love his other tips as Well, uh, the release of stress and negative energy by way of writing things
6 minutes, 8 seconds
down is that's that's basically like it's taking what's in your brain and downloading it to try and make sense of things and then
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also um, you know, like writing it down. It makes sense, you know, to write to download to download everything because
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you have to there's so much going on like we said. So, taking all of that,
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writing it down, making sense of it or just getting that out and then um releasing by way of sport, that's also
6 minutes, 38 seconds
interesting. You can also use certain types of sport, not just boxing like he does. You can use other activities to
6 minutes, 45 seconds
release as well. Um you can run, you can play, what is it? Paddle. Pedal. I can never know the right way of saying pedal. Paddle.
6 minutes, 56 seconds
Yes. And um you touched on the surah bakar and we actually have this not a ritual but we basically start our day
7 minutes, 4 seconds
with surah yasin in the home um when we get in the car as a journey as well and we plan our day around salah and I think
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that's very important is planning your day around your salah um because you already going on a positive note you
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know you asking for Allah's guidance and you already asking him to de-stress your day
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and making salah is is a form of meditation.
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Exactly. Exactly. You know, all of these um what are they called? Life coaches who aren't Muslim obviously always
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always always mention meditation and we have that alhamdulillah we have that in our Islam, our practices, our
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teaching. So we should make use of that you know. Um, can I um tell you
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something about uh why the salah is at the different times of the day? Okay.
8 minutes, 2 seconds
So, I read something very interesting recently. I'm going to say it's from Aisha.
8 minutes, 9 seconds
Why Allah placed the five daily prayers exactly where they are. It's not random.
8 minutes, 14 seconds
It's not cultural. Each prayer is timed with precision aligned with your body clock, your mind's needs, and your
8 minutes, 22 seconds
soul's journey. Here's a secret power and wisdom behind it. Okay. So,
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basically, it's Allah's way of realigning us five times a day so that we never lose uh ourself in the noise of the dunya. It's like a spiritual detox.
8 minutes, 38 seconds
It's also time management cuz like you said, we plan our day around salah. We um we we we find out, okay, this is what we're doing. Okay. Where will we be around? Where will we be around Asser?
8 minutes, 49 seconds
Is there masid around there? And alhamdulillah there is.
8 minutes, 52 seconds
Alhamdulillah. Now there's a lot of Alhamdulill and ladies facilities as well. There are the few um where we have
8 minutes, 59 seconds
to go in a dark place. But alhamdulillah there's a lot of ladies facilities as well. So it helps and it makes our
9 minutes, 6 seconds
journey easier so that we are able because we travel a lot. So it makes it easier for us and then we know that we
9 minutes, 13 seconds
reading our salah our at this time our assur at this time and it takes when we plan it and we know where we're going um
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it takes the stress away from that it and also sitting down making woo and sitting and reading our salah also takes
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d-stresses us from our journey from our day. Okay. But let me continue.
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But just before you carry on, you said we travel a lot and just to to bring up um we were actually in Nottingham Road the other day.
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Yes.
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And they building a mid there for those who are in the area who don't know about it and an actual full mid.
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Actual full masid. So they had like a little malah there for 100 years, however long. That's exactly what he said, isn't it?
9 minutes, 57 seconds
100 years. And um they're building a a proper structure like he said and um we
10 minutes, 4 seconds
actually didn't know that the mala was still there and we went in to read there and um
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we went into this building that had no um carpets carpets as yet but the structure was there. The building was there. I think
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they finished building but they obviously have to put all the the the finishing the finishing touches.
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We found it on Google. So we just, you know, Google maps and the brother said we were the first to read something. Alhamdulillah.
10 minutes, 33 seconds
And you were so happy. He was actually um he was No, it was rainy. It was very concerned because we we went into this
10 minutes, 41 seconds
like structure that they're still building and it was a rainy day. So and he wanted us to go and you know like read where it was. But he was actually
10 minutes, 48 seconds
glad that we read you know Salah there in his building. That's that's he said is going to be in the next few months.
10 minutes, 56 seconds
in the next few months inshallah. So if you're ever traveling down Nottingham Road, Malah, I mean Mas Masjid, actual masid will be ready inshallah in a few months.
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Probably if you're going down to to to Keden or you're coming up from Kaden in December. Yeah.
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Well, I don't know. We we shouldn't put pressure on the brother, but the masid built the structures there. It looks like he just needs a bit finishing
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touches. So yeah, alhamdulillah. Um okay, so let me continue. Right. So fajar is the light of beginning. Your
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cortisol naturally rises at dawn and your prayer your your salah that you read at fud your it stabilizes your
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energy. The morning light boosts your serotonin which sets the mood for the day and of course angel angels witness fajger.
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Praying fudger at this time stabilizes circadian is it circadian rhythms preventing fatigue and mood swings.
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Alhamdulillah.
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Okay. Then zur is the midday reset. The sun is at its peak and so is human
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stress. Allah causes you to uh calls you to pause. He calls you to pause. Subhan Allah. So we have that reset, you know.
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Um it's sometimes mostly now we're getting into summer it's going to be hot. So we need that reset. We need to stop what we're doing
12 minutes, 23 seconds
and we just need to go make woodoo and go on the masala and read. So around and wait just sorry to interrupt you
12 minutes, 30 seconds
again but talking about hudoo you know like we say that we must always make fresh hudoo and we think that it's just like you say a ritual or we were taught
12 minutes, 39 seconds
that but medically they found that you know the five times making that hoodoo is actually good for you because you're
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not only washing away your sins but you actually um you're revitalizing your body by just having that water wash over you.
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Yes. Alhamdulillah. But you know, you know that a lot of the things now we reading, science has, you know, learned
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these things where we learned a long time ago. Subhan Allah. 1400 almost 1500 years ago, we learned all of this. All of this was already written,
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our teachings were written, our practices, the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was written,
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you know. Um so if we just practice that we are ready if we practice the proper
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sunnah and we follow the teachings of the Quran as well we we we're going to live a healthy life inshallah we're
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going to but besides that you know like I said science is only learning now or they've only been learning along the way
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many many things they they've already mentioned many things that we were like okay we already knew this was the sunnah so Yeah. Okay. But let me carry on.
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Around noon, so this is th right around noon, cognitive performance naturally dips. So this is called the post lunch
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dip. You know when you're feeling low around lunchtime, around um tea time.
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No, that's not tea time. That's lunch time. It's um stepping away for acts like a
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neurological reset, improving attention and productivity.
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Okay. And then deep breathing and rhythmic motions of salah lower blood pressure and reduce cortisol.
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So it breaks the cyclist of endless work protecting you from burnout. Alhamdulillah.
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Alhamdulillah. So that's your midday. So obviously you know we don't pray at midday. That's is
14 minutes, 38 seconds
you know we're supposed to pray at least what is it 5 to 10 minutes after. So because we're not praying to the sun,
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you know, so we have to make sure that we're reading at this time. We're having our midday reset. Alhamdulillah. It
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gives us that that little bit as other people will call it meditation, but it will it's it is actually, you know,
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meditation, but it connects connects you to your Lord. Subhan Allah.
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Then you continue with your work and then you know um when you know those in corporate would know around assur
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that's tea time. Yeah that's your tea time. You're feeling that dip as well.
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So assur is I wake up earlier so that's why my tea time is early.
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Oh yeah. Yeah that's true. Your lunch time is around 10:00.
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Anyway, the anchor of consistency afternoons bring fatigue, which is exactly what we said. Regrets of the past and worries of the future.
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Did you ever notice this? No, I didn't.
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You didn't notice. Maybe you you'll take a more um uh be more aware of, you know,
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because sometimes many people do do that. They tend to stress more around late afternoon time. Okay, late
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afternoon is when reaction times and alertness peak, but also when stress accumulates. Prayer movements regulate
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the autonomic nervous system, calming racing thoughts.
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Studies show consistent breaks like assur improve long-term memory consolidation.
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Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam said missing assur is like losing everything. I think this is why there's then that old wives tale that
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says you mustn't read between I mean you mustn't sleep between asset and mak and you lose your memory or something like that. So um I mean it might not be true
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but there's some uh what I just read now it's like it's missing is like losing
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everything. So it's almost like that and it improves long-term memory. So has something to do with memory. Okay.
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Mahib, hormonal synchronizer. At sunset, melatonin, which is your sleep hormone,
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begins its release. Playing mahib synchronizes your internal clock with nature's dayight cycle. Reflection at
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sunset lowers evening anxiety, preparing mind and body for restful recovery. As the sun sets, the soul reflects. It's your checkpoint. How did I live today?
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What do I carry to the night? And Isha is a deep rest and brain detox. Before sleep, Isha reduces pre-sleep anxiety,
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slowing down the mind's beta waves into calm alpha states. Sudjude increases blood flow to the brain, improving oxygenation and mental clarity.
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Sleep quality is proven better when preceded by mindful spiritual practice.
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The world sleeps, but Allah calls you to rest in his remembrance. Science says isha prepares the brain for deep restorative sleep.
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Subhan Allah. Subhan Allah. Alhamdulillah. So you see, you're not a machine. You are a soul.
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And these practices have been carefully thought out for us.
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At the follow exactly.
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So um yes if you have any listen our dear listeners if you have any tips that you'd like to share you you're welcome
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to WhatsApp us or we are on social media um atabs.com you can send that during the week but yet a few days ago we had
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the pleasure of attending the launch of the edge which is powered by the networking company and it's situated at the DP world wanderers stadium. Yes, we
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did, Nabia. And I love the fact that they have converted the suites now to businesses. And uh as they've said,
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they've made a living, breathing stadium.
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Yes, living breathing indeed. Not to give too much away, the edge has this fantastic view overlooking the whole
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stadium and it's used for co-working space, conferencing, and self-care. So um maybe after the break inshallah we
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will chat to Helen Nicholson CEO and founder of the networking company and the edge to find out more.
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Yes I think let's go for a break and then after the break we will have Helen Nicholson on the line inshallah
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and welcome back to level up. If you've just tuned in we have been talking all about mental health. I shared some of the ways I de-stress,
19 minutes, 29 seconds
but right now we have our guest on the line, Helen Nicholson, CEO and founder of the networking company. Our WhatsApp
19 minutes, 38 seconds
line is open. The number is 0727861548 or you can call in on 0118547022
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if you have anything you would like to ask Helen.
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So Helen Nicholson is a specialist in the area of mindful resilience. She has been pioneering this work for the past
20 minutes
20 years and has trained over 16,000 people in what Time magazine calls the biggest performance game changer. She's the founder of the networking company,
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has brought up 28-year-old identical twin girls as a single mother, and ran the New York Marathon in 2011. She
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understands performance demands and has personally experienced both the productivity and resilience benefits of mindfulness. Helen Nicholson has been
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called the networking queen by many of her clients. She began her career as an accountant and has evolved into the CEO
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and founder of the networking company where they speak and train people on how to master the art of personal branding and networking.
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Helen has published two best-selling business books on networking. Her last book was on mindfulness, how to stay sane in an insane world, released in
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2022 and became a bestseller. Networking for Introverts is her latest book released in 2024 and reached the number
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one spot in exclusive books. She's a board member of EO Entrepreneurs Organization in South Africa and is on
21 minutes, 6 seconds
the women in tech advisory board. She has international corporate experience and lived in the Middle East for 5 years where she developed and sold her own
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successful business in Dubai. On her return to South Africa, Helen has run the networking company for 20 years.
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She's a passionate South African who has been interviewed by Gibbs Business School as one of South Africa's leading female entrepreneurs. She's a passionate
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connector and she walks her network talk.
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Wow, what a an amazing list of accolades. Hey, good afternoon Helen and welcome to Level Up. Thank you for
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joining us this afternoon. How are you doing, Helen? Helen, Helen,
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it's wonderful to be here and thank you for inviting me.
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My pleasure. Did you notice I did that um three I'm very impressed. I'm very impressed.
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Before we get into it, do you want to tell our listeners what those three um name calling your name three times um suggests?
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So, if I had to put my networking hat on, one of the ways or you know, I get a lot of people say to me, I never remember people's names um when I meet
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them. And I always say if you want to increase your ability to remember people's names immediately say their name three times during a conversation
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because one of the problems is we often only say it once. So when you meet the person say their name Helen during the conversation say their name Helen and
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then when you leave that person say you know Helen it was great to meet you. And that three times actually embeds the person's name in in your brain.
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That is perfect. I love that. Um, I know my son likes to do something like that. He says, "My name is Issa Isa."
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Yes, it's wonderful.
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Yes. Helen, we had the pleasure of viewing your latest project, The Edge,
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firsthand, but please can you tell our listeners what it is and what they can expect when visiting the edge?
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So we you know the networking company has been a leadership training business for the last 20 years and I think there's so many innovations happening in
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tech with AI and and a lot of innovations happening around um many other areas of our lives other than
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education. you know, there's still a a mental model that you sit you or delegates sit in a classroom and then
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they get taught by someone who's standing up and the delegates are sitting down and I just I saw the level of stress that people were having um and
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I think you know over co we kept on thinking it was going to improve and I think what we can recognize is that every year the stress is actually
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potentially going to get worse. So therefore we need to manage ourselves better. So in our training leadership
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programs we thought we actually need the venue to be more of a the venue actually needs to be a faculty member not just a
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canvas and the way in which people's uh learn has changed so we do a lot of work in the grad space and we've seen this
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year that the grad's attention span has decreased so I was looking for a venue I went to visit all the hotels and all the
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conference venues in Joberg and I just couldn't find a venue knew that enabled people to move out of that paradigm where you're sitting in a classroom,
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someone's teaching you etc. So, I was looking for something that was had a sports element because one of our programs is called the corporate athlete
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where you bring some of the sports lessons into the business world and I was looking for a sports element and then I wanted to take people out of
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their heads into their bodies and so we've developed some coal plunges and sauners which um in one of the rooms so
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that when people are learning or they're having offsites or strat sessions they can actually go then into the cold plunges and sauners and literally get in better in touch with their bodies.
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That's very interesting. So um mention a little bit about the benefits of doing a cold plunge or a sauna while um I mean
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not while but after uh doing your work or you know having a reset or something or maybe even before starting your work.
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Yeah, we've had we we seeing I mean we've only been open now this is the fourth week. Um but we've seen a lot of people popping in on their way to work.
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So they have a cold plunge of sauna,
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they grab a coffee and then off they go to work. So cold plunges typically a lot of um you know people are doing that in
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Cape Town enormously. People are jumping into the sea and then there are a lot of portable sauners and I think in job we've been a bit frustrated you know
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with not having places to go. But the benefits of cold plunging are twofold. One is it increases your mood by 20%.
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And I can vouch for that cuz when I met you guys I I've been cold plunging typically three times a week. And I can
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tell you you feel a surge of energy, you sleep better and then the second benefit is that you um other than your mood
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increasing by 20% which is quite substantial is you decrease inflammation in your body and that's why a lot of sports people will have um ice baths
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after a sports performance. But I think um you know to know that inflammation is is the enemy because that's where any
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cancers any any disease starts with inflammation. So if you can find a technique that diminishes that inflammation then it's definitely going to benefit your overall health.
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That's very interesting and um I like that. Um yes, you mentioned also that the cold plunge um on the day you
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mentioned that the cold plunge if you can do that if you can put yourself um I think it was was it 2° two to five
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degrees or men? Yeah, typically yeah typically men all our bars have got different so we've got five bars there
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and they all at different temperatures but typically they say men should get in between 2 and 5° and women from 5 to 9°.
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So, so just to give like a benchmark,
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your camps bay, um the sea temperature is typically around 12°.
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So, it's it's it's it's chilly, you know, it um but but you know, you don't need to get in for a long time. The benefits are felt within 3 minutes.
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So, we know we don't let there's some people who want to stay in for longer and we let people stay in for 8 minutes,
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but not longer than that. And you can also go in and out. You know, you could start off with cold. You go into the sauna for a couple of minutes and you
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warm up again and then but ideally if you're going in and out of cold and heat therapy then ideally you need to end on cold and then you go and have a shower.
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Oh, okay. So, you're not supposed to do a cold plunge and then the sauna. You're supposed to end off with a cold plunge.
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Yeah. They they say that the you know those mood and inflammation benefits I was I was talking about are definitely felt better if you end off with cold.
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Okay. So you could go in, you know, a couple of times, but um the the ending off point should be cold. Oh, okay. Um yes. So you mentioned that,
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you know, if you go into this cold plunge, um men at the certain degree and and women at a certain degree, you're
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actually giving yourself the the opportunity to say that if I can do this, I can um achieve anything. Do hard things.
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Yes. That's awesome. So it's mental health awareness month and uh the EDG's slogan is reset, recover and recharge
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and at the launch of the edge you spoke about ways that one could do do those three things in our daily lives. Please could you briefly share with our
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listeners how they can do that in their daily lives.
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So I think that you know bravery I've realized is a muscle. It's you know we all have there's not a set point for
29 minutes, 1 second
bravery. we can become braver and I I think that often we try to go from zero to hero um with bravery and I would say
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if I wanted Michelle Obama arms then I would start going to gym and I would start lifting um dumbbells um and I'd do
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some tricep dips and I'd do some dumbbell curls but I would start off at a lower weight and then I would gradually build up and um and it's the
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same thing with bravery. So, so part of that room having the sauna and the five cold plunges is is not just about the
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physical benefits cuz those are we've spoken about those and those are obvious, but there's a big psychological benefit and this benefits your mental
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health and it's the fact that if um your your physical um being is often the gateway to mental well-being and you
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know I've observed that very powerfully with a lot of our delegates. So you can if you do something hard physically it builds your confidence it builds your
30 minutes
strength and then you think well then I can do anything. So the the slogan of that room is that you can do hard things.
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So the first time you come it may only be that you jump into the cold plunge for 30 seconds or a minute and we've had those people and then they go into the
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sauna they recover a little bit and then they go in and then they go for longer.
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So it you know and then you can do it more often. So I think that um you know you can come into a cold plunge and sit in there eventually for three minutes
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and then two days later leave an abusive relationship or you know a week later leave a job that is no longer serving
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you. So so that cumulative effect of bravery we believe gets catalyzed by the experience of the cold plunge.
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Okay that's amazing. Um Helen at the networking company you assist companies and individuals in various ways. So
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please can you tell us briefly about the mindful resilience masterass?
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So I um have had a journey with master with um mindfulness that really involved
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my journey with burnout. So I am an exac accountant. I'm also an entrepreneur and I'm very driven. I I know what my
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purpose was to be um you know what what I need to fulfill on this earth. So you know it's very difficult sometimes when
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your body almost and your energy levels don't keep up with what you believe you're meant to be doing. And um I burnt
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out twice and the second time I nearly died. So I went on a journey to thought to think you know how can I manage my
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energy better and I actually went on a program in the states called the corporate athlete. There's a Harvard Business Review um article written about
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it and that program fundamentally changed my life and it was largely around stress and recovery and the
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premise is that stress is often um not the bad guy. You know, we often think,
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you know, when we're stressed, uh, you know, it's a bad thing, but stress often forces us into a high performance state.
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It's often where we do our best work.
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And that epiphany for me because I used to always associate recovery with laziness and to realize that I actually
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need to stress myself during a day and then I need to bring my energy down. So almost oscillation that happens every
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day is actually the key. And I I developed a technique where saying around saying that at the end of a day,
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just like we have hard stops for meetings, we need to have hard stops at the end of our our working day because then we need to shift gears. Cuz often
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I've noticed people will maybe have dinner with their their family, but then they're back on their laptop. And I know that that's often when we make mistakes.
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It's where we often do our worst work because our body is actually not designed to be on all the time.
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That's true. That's very true. Um I'm also very interested about your book Networking for Introverts as a fellow introvert myself.
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Um um Helen, one more thing. Um, do you have any advice to young professionals
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or entrepreneurs who feel like they've lost momentum and need to recover their confidence to reach out and you know do
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what they need to do or rebuild their networks and so on.
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So one of the um pieces of research I came uh across during the research for networking for introverts was around
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that the Gen Z's so the younger generation that are coming into the workplace believe that to be successful
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they need to fix their weaknesses and I can tell you as a 55year-old business owner um that to be successful
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you actually need to lean into your strengths and I can understand why they feel like that because I think they're being um brought up on social media,
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they're constantly comparing themselves.
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And so, in other words, they're coming into the workplace thinking that they're never good enough. And my biggest piece of advice is to find out what your
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strengths are first of all, and then lean into them and build your career around your strengths, not your weaknesses. And I I know what I'm good
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at, and I stick to that. And then I've got a network of people and that's where your network does serve you is I've got a network of people around me who
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represent my weaknesses. So they are good at things that I'm I'm not good at.
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And that's when a network functions, you know, where everyone is actually focusing on their their secret source.
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they they know what they're good at cuz often I find people try to be good at too many things and it's very draining
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and we often we that's that's not where we at our best from a both an entrepreneurship perspective or in the corporate world.
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I love that because I also believe that multi-asking is not really a strength.
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It takes you away from um you know doing something properly. That's what I believe. That's amazing stuff. Thank you so much.
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Helen, is there um any way that our listeners can reach you? Um please can you send please can you say the ways
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that they can reach you, they can contact you or they can join a master class or find your books?
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Yeah, absolutely. If if you go into www.helen-nicholson.com um you can order my books and um you can
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be in touch with me and then obviously our business is TNCO the networking company and then um the edge. So, you
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can go to the edge.co.za if you want to try coal plunging or if you want to come and co-work, you know, it's a co-working
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space for about 12 15 people or you want to have an offsite where you want to take people out of their heads into their bodies. So, you can go and check the edge out.
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That is awesome. The edge has such a lovely view as well. I mean, even especially when the the players are not playing the they're not playing cricket
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there, the the greenery and the stadium just actually gives you a bit of a boost. Thank you so much.
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It makes it makes people so happy to be there. I mean, that's what it's it's almost like my third child, you know,
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and I love showing it off because there's something apparently about a horizon view that may that actually decreases our stress response.
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Yes. Exactly. Cuz we're so high up in the air as well. Okay. Well, we're not so high up, but I mean,
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you know, we're quite high from the ground and it was really such an amazing view. Thank you so much for the launch
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of the Edge and thank you so much for joining us and sharing this information with us. We wish you all the best with the Edge and all your ventures. Have a
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wonderful Sunday. Have a good rest of the week. Take care.
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Thank you. Bye bye.
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Yeah, that was amazing stuff. It was very insightful. I think I learned quite a lot in the 10 to 15 minutes that that you spoke to.
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It is very amazing and um I definitely think we should go check out you know those two books networking for introverts and I think mindful excuse me
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mindfulness as well and um yeah the edge issa was there with us. Did you enjoy the edge? Yes I did.
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You did? I um I enjoyed uh most of like the freebies. The freebies,
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but it's not always going to be there. What about the view? Did you like the view? Yeah.
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You went outside. I saw you sitting outside and taking it in. You think you can do your homeschooling there? Yes, definitely.
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Well, there's also um uh there's a musala downstairs as well.
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Yes. Did you know that? Did Did everyone know that? um at DP was what's it DP wanderers cricket stadium there is a
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mala we found one um cuz it was around time and I I saw a sign that said prayer facilities so I said I took Isa with me
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and I said come let's walk for it walk and find it and we found it I think it was um they have male and female facilities and female facilities
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which um number was it was gate five was it gate five wasn't it uh I think it was gate
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We went to gate five and then maybe this was gate three. So I think the edge was at gate five and we went to gate three for the prayer facility afterwards.
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Yeah.
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Yeah. So um we didn't get into this week's news. Okay.
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Um this week we we're back with the global sum flotillaa. Um, a lot has happened in the last two weeks since we spoke to everyone.
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And, um, I think there's a lot still to talk about. Um, if you've been tracking the boats this week, you would have
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seen, um, that all the boats have been intercepted and illegally boarded by the IO, like pirates basically. Um the
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delegates of the flotilla have basically been kidnapped um at sea for defying the siege and they now face imprisonment
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um and they punished just for their solidarity and their courage. It's really sad because they they mentioned and they're showing it's it's on it's on um the cameras that they have the aid.
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They have the aid to give the Palestinians because they said um I read somewhere it said um okay so Israel is
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stopping food stop stopping food from entering Palestine. They they one of our speakers on you know when we did the
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global flow teller um news they uh said it's a humanled starvation.
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So basically it's not famine it's not it's human-led obviously by the Israelis and they um starving them. So now
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outside people international people all over the world are saying okay well if you want to starve them we're coming to help them. And they said they they made
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it known that they're coming to help them with, you know, food, with for baby formula, you know, aid, actual things
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that could help them. And they've been intercepted with that. And but subhan Allah, while they were busy
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trying to stop the flotilla, there were fish. I don't know if you saw that video where the fish actually came up to the shore and they could actually fish cuz
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they denied that simple thing of fishing.
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Sure. And um so they they still got some food. Allah works in mysterious ways.
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Alhamdulillah. But there's another um batch of ships that have left Turkey as well,
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but um the ones that that we are looking at obviously because they've been detained. They were denied legal aid or
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representation. But alhamdulillah um from the over 400, I think 134 have been
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freed. um they've been sent back uh being deported in inverted commas. Um but there's still 328 that we're making
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dua. We need to um obviously what can we do Nabia? We can um so yes, we have to we have to do
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something. So part of resetting also is to also make sure that we aware of um basically ourselves. Okay. but also
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aware of our surroundings and then try and see what we can do what we can do to help. And now a lot of us can't um
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either afford or um have the strength and bravery to go internationally and and and do something. So we can start
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off small. We can do something here. And um I think there's marches around um Yes, Isa. You were showing me there were marches um that were happening. Uh yes.
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Um I can't so um there was one this morning.
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Yeah.
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At uh in in here in Lania. Inia. Okay.
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Um here.
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So so so for for those of you who went to the one in LA, alhamdulillah. And then
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um so you can also go to um other marches around. I think there's some in KZN.
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Yes. Um so uh there's two more in uh how tank. Okay.
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There's one on the 8th of Octo. So today's one was So today's the 5th. Okay.
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So today was 8:00 a.m. Walk for freedom lenia. Um,
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and on the 8th of October from 5 to 6:00 p.m. K PSG Weekly Corner Alum and Albertina.
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That's on the 8th of October. on 12th October uh 2:00 p.m. S A CFP
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March Grace Bible Church um and in KZN on the 7th of October 7 a.m.
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midnight day in secret location. Okay.
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8th October 6:30 p.m. S L uh auditorium
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22 I think that word would be auditorium okay so there's marches right but you
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can also write letters write letters to your government first the write letters to the government to to help the detainees you know those who have been
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detained um those in South Africa those globally because around the world people have left you know their countries Yeah, there's over over 40 countries. Yeah.
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Um there's even one in uh Cape Town as well if Okay. So, all of that can be um seen on
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social media, go to your marches, write letters. Um and I think social media very big. Um if you share posts,
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um like them, save them, share in stories, comment in them, it gives a bigger reach. Apparently, this new
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re-share thing actually drops the engagement. Oh, okay. So, I know it's the easier way, but it actually drops the engagement.
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And you heard it. You have to please comment on them so that it gets a higher reach. Yeah. Even if you comment with a dot. They say even if you com No, seriously,
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even if you comment with a dot, it it changes the algorithm and it it gives it more of a reach. But share it in your stories. It doesn't take not even two
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seconds to just share it in your stories. Like, uh comment, save. Um and it we
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need more people to and I mean the the more it happens alhamdulillah we the
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global sumud flotella has reached the closest point. Sure.
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So at least we we some it's been over 75 years. We have to do something. You
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know, one of the the the detainees was Manda Mandela and then a lot of people I've seen it says um
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Mandela, Nelson Mandela, our president um former president said that we will something about I can't remember the
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exact words but we will not rest until the um or we should not not until the Palestinian is free and um no um
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what was what was the exact words in oh yes in a 1997 7 speech on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, Mandela reaffirmed
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his support for Palestinian rights. We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the
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Palestinians. I mean, for those who I I can't believe there's still a veil over their eyes, but 1997 and this was even
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further. It was even further before um um f sorry Issa wants to write a letter
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also. He just said to me now he'd like to write a letter.
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No. Um no. So I uh saw this thing on
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YouTube cuz I watch this Islamic program. It's called N Kids.
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Okay. And um there has a thing where it
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where you can write a letter to your president of your country
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and like um like say um to do something about this. Yes. Because
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like you said, it's the close the closest we've ever come and it's been more than 75 years. So we have to do something. But alhamdulillah
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um inshallah with every with every step we can make it and um we can make a difference and we should try our best.
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We had such a charact show again.
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Alhamdulillah to Zad behind the scenes for looking after us this afternoon and our dear listeners for joining us on this lovely
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Sunday afternoon where our program helped us prepare for mental health awareness month inshallah helped us to reset amidst our daily stress. There's a
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lot more, but we can find that all on our website.com.
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And you can message us during the week or DM us on uh our social media. You can WhatsApp on Radio Islam um numbers
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that's already been said. And uh remember to take the time out for yourself. No one else is going to do that for you. So you yourself has to be
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the one who takes charge to reset and recover in order for you to be productive as well as a functioning
48 minutes
human being. Join us every Sunday inshallah from 2 to 3:00 p.m. right here on Radio Islam International. From
48 minutes, 8 seconds
myself, Nabiha from Zad Isa. Enjoy your Sunday and we wish you a wonderful week ahead in
48 minutes, 25 seconds
local and international tourist.
