The Body Detox built for a Goddess!!!

After a beautiful full moon and with mercury in retrograde, what better to do than a 7 day detox right !!??!(smile)
I have done many variations of detoxing throughout the years and one thing is for certain, my body appreciates the house cleaning and extra love and attention it gets during that time.  A few words on the importance of a detox before I begin. We take in toxins from the food we eat, the air we breathe, the lifestyle choices we make and the activities we participate in on a daily basis. Just like a well built luxury vehicle, your body needs a routine oil change to keep it running smoothly. Sadly, many of us spend more on our cars and outfits than our food. Doing a bi-annual, quarterly or monthly cleanse is essential for ridding the body of unwanted waste and toxins. This will allow us to assimilate our meals better, eliminate waste at a more normal rate and overall make a difference in our internal and external well being. You are your most prized possession and deserve the care and attention to detail that self love brings.
This time I embarked on a herbal detox developed by my beautiful colleague and fellow Holistic Health Consultant, Angela Auset from Goddess Body Detox . She developed a simple to follow routine that includes all the ingredients needed for a 7, 14 or 21 day program. As a tea and herb lover, I found all 3 blends to be beautifully created, and the added bonus of instructions and information made it even more inspiring.
Side Note- The tea brewing process requires planning ahead especially if you are busy, a plus for me as it reminded me to make time for the brewing period and stick to my schedule (lol), especially when life tries to distract with work and duties (sigh)..
As a vegan, it wasn't difficult for me to stick to the recommended fruit and veggie recommendations , and living on an island made it easier to find fresh produce to incorporate on a daily basis. By day 3, I was getting into the routine of waking up to my Spirit Blend ( hands down, my favorite of the 3 blends!) and enjoying the lightness that came with treating my body to healing herbs,fresh fruit and healthy meals.
At the end of the program I must say one thing- next time its 21 days for me for sure!!

For more information on the Goddess Body Detox program and other Holistic Services by Angela Auset, check out www.goddessbodydetox.com.

Love and Blessings

Kemetic Yoga, Yoga of the Pharoahs

I recently attended a bootcamp retreat in Chicago to practice with my teacher Yirser Ra Hotep and members from the Society of Kemetic Yoga. OH MY!!! Let me tell you it was even more about the fact that in the space at House of Hotep, we all were kindred spirits sharing a practice so enriching and so vibrant..and still found time to connect on deeply rooted topics that exist in our own communities. Of all the members that attended the majority came from all over the US, and England ( and of course Trinidad holla!!) to learn from a talented and knowledgeable master teacher who spent decades perfecting the practice as we know it today. I had a wonderful experience and met some new family, but a few things that resonated with me from the experience are:

• As a Yogini, its not just about doing some poses and looking graceful, its about feeling the life force energy running through my body as I flow from one posture to another, in perfect harmony with the breath. Yoga for me is like a peaceful dance between breath and body, balance and control.
• As a Yoga instructor, I will never be able to lead my students to a place I've never been. No yoga book,DVD, youtube video or banter about where yoga really started can top living and breathing the experience of practice, practice and more practice. Even though I haven't been an instructor for long, I will always be a student for this lifetime. Those with more knowledge and experience are there to guide me, but will never be able to take me higher than my own practice. As a Holistic Health pracitioner, this is a service that I will share with all my clients who choose to be open to it.
•  I LOVE Kemetic Yoga! What it does for my energy level,what it builds beyond the yoga mat and for the direct link to a civilization that to this day stands as one of the most respected. Next year I will make my pilgrimage to Egypt ( daydreaming as we speak !!)The Yoga of the Pharaohs indeed.
• What I respect and love about how my teacher taught me, is that we meet our students where they are and work from there. Its not about ego or perfection, but about working within the boundaries of my clients physical realities. I believe this approach to be truly humbling and it gives me so much pride to watch students who started out not being able to touch there toes actually achieve it!! We are trusted to be mindful or our responsibility to self and others and to use our postures to create balance during our sessions. (There is no such thing as a 25 step routine, nor a flow sheet!!!) That makes each of us as Kemetic Yoga instructors own our practice and infuse our own  finesse into practice LOVE IT!!!

On another level,I had the opportunity to reason with some beautiful sisters and brothers, and one thing is for certain we are all in different locations but our experiences and thoughts are all connected. We are all on a journey to awaken our higher self and Yoga Boot camp was just the beginning...OM SHU RA!!!!

Namaste, Alafia, Peace and Blessings!

I am pleased and honoured to welcome you to this blog site for Yoga, Community and Natural Health. I have been blessed to be in a space and time when our communities are seeking alternative ways to discover ourselves and the choices that affect us and our families.

This site will explore traditional methods of healing that have been passed down by our ancestors. Some of these traditions have found their way into mainstream , while others are practiced in smaller settings. I believe it is worth exploring as we seek truth in many ways. I will also identify natural ways that many lifestyle dis-eases can be treated.As a Holistic Health Consultant and Practitioner, my goal is to help other to help themselves. Also, as a certified Kemetic Yoga instructor this is a space to share my practice with you.

UBUNTU- best describes what I hope to relay with this blog- "I am what I am because of who we all are". Desmond Tutu describes it as:

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

In essence, we are more powerful a people when we realise our thoughts and actions are reflections of each other. In Jamaica there is a saying "One han' cyan clap"! Please see this as an extension of mine to you. Fulljoy, fill your cups and leave any pearl of wisdom you would like to share.

Always Love, Light and Peace.