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Rana AskoulRana is the founder of Nara - a space for the collective renewal of the Arab spirit. Her work is rooted in the belief that true transformation happens when we learn to sit with both the seen and the unseen, the ancestral and the emerging, the personal and the collective. At Nara, Rana holds space for this kind of deep work - one that honors the body, the land, and the story.
Her journey began not in a healing room, but in corporate boardrooms and global policy spaces. Rana spent years designing programs and policies to advance gender justice and social equity across the Global South. She advised governments, partnered with global institutions, and led multi-million dollar investments into feminist movements. But her soul was always whispering for an alternative version outside of current structures. |
Born to Palestinian Nakba survivors and raised in exile, Rana carried within her a longing- for belonging, for return, for the kind of liberation that isn’t found in systems but in spirit. Over time, she immersed herself in the spiritual traditions of these lands- from Sufi practices to esoteric teachings of early Christian Gnostics. She 're-membered' how these lineages, often hidden in plain sight, continue to echo through Arab rituals, language, and everyday life. She trained in the world of Eastern traditions of embodied wisdom and liberation, including tantric somatic practices and protocols, yogic tradition, and Reiki - learning to listen more closely to the wisdom of the body and the sacred codes embedded in the region's long cultural traditions.
Nara was born from this convergence — where soul and strategy, power and presence, structures and song meet.
Today, Rana centers her work at Nara as an embodiment guide, trauma-informed somatic practitioner, ritualist and heritage keeper.. She offers one-on-one sessions, circles, and cultural experiences that re-ignite inner knowing and ancestral memory. Her practice draws deeply from regional traditions - from lamentation Mawwals to the poetry of longing, from dabke rhythms to grandmothers' ululations- helping people reconnect to a sense of wholeness. Through her practice, she weaves these threads into healing spaces that awaken divine presence - ancient and emerging, personal and collective. Whether through voice, breath, movement, or ritual, she guides others to remember that the sacred is not separate, but embedded within us, within our stories, and within the land itself.
She is also the founder of Khateera, a digital media house reimagining Arab womanhood and amplifying Arab women narratives to over 1.5 million followers. Across both platforms, Rana’s mission is clear: to support the renewal and liberation of the Arab spirit, not just in theory, but in lived, embodied experience.
At her core, Rana is a weaver - of worlds, of wounds, of wisdom. Through Nara, she offers a path not just for individual renewal, but for the rebirth of something far more ancient: the untamed, sovereign, sacred Arab self.
Nara was born from this convergence — where soul and strategy, power and presence, structures and song meet.
Today, Rana centers her work at Nara as an embodiment guide, trauma-informed somatic practitioner, ritualist and heritage keeper.. She offers one-on-one sessions, circles, and cultural experiences that re-ignite inner knowing and ancestral memory. Her practice draws deeply from regional traditions - from lamentation Mawwals to the poetry of longing, from dabke rhythms to grandmothers' ululations- helping people reconnect to a sense of wholeness. Through her practice, she weaves these threads into healing spaces that awaken divine presence - ancient and emerging, personal and collective. Whether through voice, breath, movement, or ritual, she guides others to remember that the sacred is not separate, but embedded within us, within our stories, and within the land itself.
She is also the founder of Khateera, a digital media house reimagining Arab womanhood and amplifying Arab women narratives to over 1.5 million followers. Across both platforms, Rana’s mission is clear: to support the renewal and liberation of the Arab spirit, not just in theory, but in lived, embodied experience.
At her core, Rana is a weaver - of worlds, of wounds, of wisdom. Through Nara, she offers a path not just for individual renewal, but for the rebirth of something far more ancient: the untamed, sovereign, sacred Arab self.
