On substack
new essay on the long road home
The Geography of Surrender is a memoir essay about travelling deep into the Brazilian Amazon to attend the first women’s retreat hosted by the Yawanawá women in the village of Mutum. Blending travel writing, personal reflection, and cultural encounter, the piece explores feminine leadership, ancestral knowledge, belonging, and the uneasy beauty of surrendering to transformation. The essay also traces the origins of a friendship with Bahar—an Iranian woman whose story of revolution, migration, and homecoming would later become the subject of a podcast interview years after the retreat first brought us together.
On the podcast
New conversation on The Long Road Home
In this episode of The Long Road Home, Yamuna Flaherty speaks with Iranian-born psychotherapist and rewilding advocate Bahar G. about exile, identity, migration, healing, and what it means to build an inner home amidst political upheaval and displacement. Bahar reflects on growing up during the Iranian Revolution, returning to Iran decades later during the Women, Life, Freedom movement, and caring for her aging mother across borders and cultures.
Listen, follow & subscribe.
essays for the curious wanderer
read
a popular photo essay from india
ritual head shaving
Portrait of author in Chennai, India by Jayashree Sahithya
Meet Yamuna Flaherty
WRITER, MOTHER + STORYKEEPER
Yamuna Flaherty is a writer, mother and storykeeper devoted to helping others uncover and tell the stories that matter most. Rooted in two decades of global travel, inner inquiry, and creative practice, Yamuna weaves memoir, ancestral reflection, and soulful expression into everything she offers—from guided storytelling sessions to thoughtful essays and creative tools. Her work invites others to explore identity, voice, and belonging through the transformative power of personal narrative. Whether through one-on-one sessions, workshops, or her Substack, The Long Road Home, Yamuna creates spaces for meaningful connection and self-authored truth.
