I’m sitting here going through my to-do list, and I’m actually quite in awe of the things that I GET TO DO

Just yesterday, looking at this list, I had to halt my own urgency. During a planning call for the Transformative Leaders for Change fellows retreat, I was reminded that we are in an active state of dismantling the ideals of white supremacy and patriarchy.

It takes incredible attunement, presence, intention, and regard to work in a way that is in right relationship with ourselves, each other, and the planet.

The Urgency Trap

Do you ever get tired and so over the need for urgency? That feeling that you have to get soooo much done, and heaven forbid if it doesn’t happen right now? When you let that feeling overtake you, suddenly you’re dysregulated—grumpy, lethargic, and ultimately ineffective.

As an entrepreneur and leader of a dance and healing arts organization, I’m so happy with the turn my career has taken. This year, I have devoted myself to giving Unwind & Grind™ the life of its times and partnering with just right organizations—those that get it without me having to explain, shrink, or be anything other than my true, true, true self.

The Multi-Faceted Life

I get astonished when I look at my list. Any given week might find me:

• Leading online workshops

• Planning staff wellness experiences

• Writing and editing content

• Meeting up in the world with beloved comrades

• Touring venues

• Traveling to share the werk

• Dreaming up schedules, session flows and playlists

• Writing grants and sharing the load with a beloved team

I love a multipotentialite existence, and it can get overwhelming real quick if I’m not extremely proactive.

What I do not love is multitasking.

I found myself caught in a cycle of urgency this week—briefly. Here are the 5 tools I use to stay in my power and get out of the grind.

✨☮️✨ Tools for The Embodied Revolution

Some reminders to get you through when it feels like life is moving too fast and/or out of your control….

1. Done is Better Than Perfect: Give yourself permission to release your perfectionist tendencies; it will be okay. (A lesson borrowed from my public school teaching life.)

2. Take Time Between Things: Reset. Shake, walk, bathe in the sun, GO OUTSIDE, do breathwork—do something totally different. (Speaking from current personal experience on this one…lol)

3. Set Intentions: In the morning, in the evening, and before you do ANYTHING. One thing that has unlocked so much for me is saying, “I want ______ and I desire ______” about every experience I’m about to have.

4. Sonicscapes: I just pulled the Cultivation card from the Whispers of Lord Ganesha deck. It reminded me of the power of music to wash away worries and bring you back into a state of bliss and reverence.

5. Somatic Scan: Stop. Check in with your body, your breath, and your overall state. Make adjustments. Nothing is worth you being ill, unwell, or chaotic. Nothing.

Remember, as I cheesefully (yes, a made up word) like to always say, “Every day is a gift, that is why we call it the present.” Nothing but NOW matters. Now and now again and again and again.

📣🌌🪘 An Invitation to Embodied Leadership

If you’re craving more tools to help you maintain your peace, grounding, and vivacity—to live a life by your own design that is a big “FUK YOU” to the man... I invite you to join me at our Free Info Session for the Unwind & Grind™ Facilitator Training.

When: Tomorrow, Saturday, May 16th at 11 AM MST Where: Zoom

If you can’t make it live but want the medicine, make sure to RSVP so we can send you the recording.

🌀 RSVP FOR THE FREE INFO SESSION 🌀

📆 UPCOMING SESSIONS

• May 16: FREE Info Session: Unwind & Grind™ Facilitator Training (Zoom)

• June 5: BIPOC Starlight Movement Mass (Boulder, CO)

• June 21: Unwind & Grind™ at Rocky Mountain Equality (Boulder, CO)

• July 5–11: FACILITATOR TRAINING: Our inaugural Pilot residency in Denver. Applications close May 31.

Here is to doing ONE THING AT A TIME, and releasing the GRIND.

Much Love,

Axé Founder, SOL VIDA®

I’ve really been studying how leaky my energy can get when I’m not intentional. As my therapist has helped me highlight recently—I have a tendency toward being an over-giver, feeling over-responsible for a lot of people’s feelings that just aren’t mine.

I’ll never forget some of my first days arriving in the Bay Area after landing from my nomadic journey. I learned so much new language—and still do every time I go. I’m convinced it’s the hot spot for staying on the pulse of cultural, queer, and social-political evolution... anyway... I remember people talking about being “leaky.”

At first, I wondered what that even was, only to recognize that—OMG—I had been sooooo leaky with my energy. Just giving, and giving, and giving.

When we disperse our energy all over locations—running back and forth, going from place to place, task to task—it’s easy for it to end up all over the place and not at the center.

I remember when I learned this practice how much better I felt. Today, I want to share a way that you can do that when you feel spaced out, chaotic, or all over the place.

✨🧘🏾✨ Tools for the Embodied Revolution: Calling Your Energy Home

1. Be Still: Begin by finding a position that you can be still in.

2. Witness: Take notice of your breath—just notice how it’s moving without needing to change it.

3. The Invocation: Say to yourself out loud or in your mind, “I call my energy back to me.” I personally like to repeat this a few times or until I feel complete.

4. Attune: Take notice of your breath and your energy—your essence.

5. Gratitude: Give thanks. As a bonus, you can proceed to moving your body through stretching or dancing.

Calling our energy back gives us:

👁️ Presence: To fully land in our bodies right now.

🌈 Receptivity: To open up and receive more alignment in our lives.

🌳 Grounding: To feel connected to source, rooted, and at peace.

☀️ Connection: To stay in tune with ourselves, our space, and the universe.

Does your body crave more of this energy?

These are the kind of tools we use to move, connect and empower ourselves in our current online series. If you have been feeling leaky, depleted, and craving some invigoration and feeling your spirit, I invite you to join us.

The Unwind & Grind™ Sweatpants Rituals begin THIS TUESDAY, May 5th, and we are going to release our minds, have fun, and get free in the body.

✨🌀JOIN THE MOVEMENT RITUAL SERIES🌀✨

📆UPCOMING SESSIONS

• May 5–26: Unwind & Grind™ Sweatpants Rituals (Virtual)

• June 5: BIPOC Starlight Movement Mass (Boulder, CO)

• June 21: Unwind & Grind™ at Rocky Mountain Equality(Boulder, CO)

• July 5–11: FACILITATOR TRAINING: Our inaugural Pilot residency in Denver. Applications close 5/31.

✨🛠️✨ Bring the Medicine to Your Collective

I am currently booking special appearances, ritual facilitation, and speaking engagements for Summer and Fall 2026. If you are interested in bringing SOL VIDA® to your community or organization, reply to this email or visit the site to connect.

Let’s keep getting free!

☮️ Axé

Content Note: Reflections on trauma recovery, sexual empowerment, and survivorship. ✨

I will never forget the moment I landed at the Starhouse in Boulder. I was 37—ten years ago (shhh)—and I had been invited into a space people simply told me I “needed to be at.” I walked into the most majestic movement space I had ever seen, nestled in nature, and was immediately met by the pulse of the rhythm and nearly 100 bodies moving in a primal, tribal way.

It was my first insight into a dance ritual. Every emotion was alive in that room; people moaned, sighed, stomped, cried, laughed, and smiled. In that space, I learned to shake off my formal dance technique and move from within—following my feelings and trusting my body to do whatever the fuck it needed.

Eventually, this became my home base community, one I fondly refer to as “Dancing and Crying.” But in reality, it was somatics in action. Through my mentor, Melissa Michaels, and the toolkit of the 5Rhythms, I dived deep into transmuting my trauma. I worked through the echoes of being a survivor: abandonment, a toxic marriage, and the heavy navigation of my own life cycles.

My mentor often encouraged us to enjoy the sensuality of the dance—the idea that this experience could actually be orgasmic. I had never been given permission to simply be with myself, to touch my own skin while dancing, or to realize the ecstasy available to me, through me.

For those of us living in “Amerikka,” so much is labeled taboo. Heaven forbid we enjoy our bodies, honor our rhythms, or live in tune with lunar and natural cycles. Instead, the system demands we remain timid, ashamed, disconnected, and numb.

Can you imagine what would happen if we tuned into our intuition? If we stopped, danced, played, got naked, hugged trees, and reclaimed our play?

One of my favorite parts about being Queer is that it serves as an automatic permission slip to be different—to live a lifestyle outside the box. While many in the community wish everyone would “Queer” their lives (an article for another day), I believe being Queer grants a unique license to be wild, deeply rooted in community, and unapologetically full of joy.

As a survivor and a spiritual being, I know my purpose in this lifetime is to heal my sensuality and sexuality—to take my power back from those who abused and misused it. I believe the healing arts, in all their forms, have provided the way.

We have been taught to remain timid, ashamed, and disconnected. I’m here to tell you that your pleasure and your healing belong to YOU.

Below, I’m pulling back the curtain on the unconventional tools I use to stay wild and well in a system designed to keep us numb. I am sharing 5 ways to transmute trauma through the healing arts and an alternative lifestyle. If you’re wondering how to access the catharsis of dancing, crying, stomping, worshipping nature, and enjoying sensual natural pleasures... I’ve got some things for you.

The five gateways I’m about to share—from ‘sauna medicine’ to eco-erotics—are exclusive to the paid subscribers of the Rainbow Light Warriors community. Upgrade your subscription to get access to the tools to shake taboos and join the revolution!

Read more

There’s a piece of me that needs to be surrounded by Blackness. As I sat down to write today, I felt a little blocked. There are so many things I want to talk to you about: decolonizing dance, the power of an Affinity space, the joy of being in rooms of melanated kin, and my practice of channeling ancestors to guide the dance rituals I lead.

In the middle of that block, I looked to my left and saw Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters, edited by Carla Kaplan.

It felt like a nod from the beyond. In 2019, I was invited by a mentor and friend to create a space honoring queer ancestors. It remains one of my favorite projects: Fab Lab, a QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Ecstatic Dance—or what I call a Queer Ancestors Dance. In those containers in San Francisco, California at Counterpulse, I discovered something I hadn’t even imagined was attainable: people of the global majority, representing many cultures and languages, dancing in devotion to a Black ancestor.

Watch this video and feel the energy of what happens when we create a respite where you don't have to explain yourself. This is the lineage we are tapping into for our dance ritual. Axé!

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I remember thinking: This is it. This is my life’s purpose.

Every ancestor acts as a creative catalyst. Some inspire full-blown choreography; others, theatrical arts or chair dances. But they all end with the free-form movement we so frequently crave in Unwind & Grind™, followed by a heart circle—a space akin to Indigenous practice of council where we speak from the heart about what is alive in the moment.

It’s been over five years since I’ve held a space quite like that.

Between late December and early January, I felt myself entering a deep portal. The Kwanzaa ritual shifted something in me. At the same time, I started seeing Zora Neale Hurston everywhere. It was her birthday, and I couldn’t help but feel she wants our attention—that she has something to teach us about the “now.”

So, we’re about a week out from Unwind & Grind™ Wrapped in Rainbows (the title of Zora’s biography by Valerie Boyd). As I sat with her work, I found myself wondering: Was she queer? We talked about this on our Instagram Live with my guest sonic alchemist, DJ Beloved, last week. It’s a fascinating inquiry; there are things that are often understood and don’t need to be said.

I knew in writing this that I wanted to do something different this week—so I’m inviting you to join me on my contemplations of Zora Neale Hurston and what she wants us to know right now. It’s a majestic task to take on ancestral remembrance, and since she came into my field, I’ve opened myself to her teachings.

When I asked the librarian for more books on Zora, he shared his personal tale of reading Barracoon and the profound notion of remembering Africa. Are so many of us always in this condition? Always striving to reclaim our rites, our culture, our liberation?

I believe Zora knew another way to be. As I often say, there is another way to be on this planet—to be in right relationship with ourselves, our bodies, each other, and the earth.

I want to share some of her words that are guiding my movement right now.

✨🧘🏾✨Tools for The Embodied Revolution

On Asking for What We Need 🕯️

“In a letter to Henry Allen Moe, she outlined the costs needed to live as an artist that included “decent sleeping quarters,” the ability to “buy wholesome food,” incidentals, medical care, and transportation…”

She was a renaissance being who owned her body and her choices. She refused to live into the lies of patriarchy, capitalism, and racism. It has taken me so long to learn to ask for my needs as an artist and leader—to realize that negotiating a contract is an inclusive process and we need to include everything we require to be able to make the art or the offering when we’re negotiating contracts.

Decolonizing the Journey: Reflection Questions 📝

• Where do you feel proud of yourself for asking for exactly what you want and need?

• What can you be more explicit and matter-of-fact about?

On the Cosmic Self ✨

“I do not always feel colored. Even now I often achieve the unconscious Zora of Eatonville before the Hegira. I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background…. At certain times I have no race, I am me. When I set my hat at a certain angle and saunter down Seventh Avenue, Harlem City, feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty-Second Street Library, for instance. So far as my feelings are concerned, Peggy Hopkins Joyce on the Boule Mich with her gorgeous raiment, stately carriage, knees knocking together in a most aristocratic manner, has nothing on me. The cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race, nor time, I am the eternal feminine with it’s strings of beads.” — How it Feels to Be Colored Me

Decolonizing the Journey: Reflection Questions 📝

• When do you feel like the cosmic version of yourself—beyond race, time, and the “harness” of expectations?

• Where are the spaces you feel like you get to be all of you without explaining?

On the Delirium of Joy ☀️

“Digging in my garden, painting my house, planting seeds, and things like that … I am very happily located… Living the kind of life for which I was made, strenuous and close to the soil, I am happier than I have been for at least then years. I am up at five oclock and bed around nine every night. I do hope and pary that you and yours and experiencing something like my delirium of joy.” — Letter to Jean Parker Waterbury

I asked my “queer boyfriend” recently: “If you could take a picture of me at my happiest, what would I be doing?” He painted a scene of me on my land project, laying on a blanket, sun-worshipping with delightful snacks. I was astonished. I thought he’d say dancing, but at my core, being in nature is my “joy, joy, joy”—a calmed essence.

Decolonizing the Journey: Reflection Questions 📝

• What does this quote and lifestyle evoke for you?

• How is your connection to nature, the soil and land going, what do you crave?

On the Creative Pregnancy 🌑

“I know that you have decided that I have abused even my ancestral rights and privileges of being trashy. All I can say is that now and then I am attacked by a spell of withdrawal. Something keeps me from communicating with the outside world ... .I have decided that it is a sort of creative pregnancy period that makes me like that.” — Letter to Jean Parker Waterbury

I feel like I’m coming out of one of these spells. Sometimes the world feels like too much and the cocoon is necessary. I’ve trained myself to give myself grace for these moments—to know and accept this is a birthing process. Time takes time, and sometimes that requires deep solitude.

Decolonizing the Journey: Reflection Questions 📝

• I’m curious if you experience these kinds of spells?

• How do you stop yourself from feeling guilty for taking the time and space that you need to “become”?

On the Breaking Point 🌊

“Yesterday I returned from the hospital where I had been since March 24th. A case of that virus influenza, but with complications… It only proves to me how very ill I have been. I tried for over a week to talk myself out of it, but finally came to the place where Sara Lee Creech, not seeing me, came here and found me only half conscious, and rushed me to the hospital. She got the second check out of the Post Office, got my signature at the hospital and paid off my car, income tax, and all the depts [f]for me, since she knew my affairs intimately. She just went ahead. Never have I been so ill since I have grown… I have much more to say to you, but I am so weak and tired right now. Another day or so and I will be back in the harness. Right now, I do not know what day of the week nor month it is.” — Letter to Jean Parker Waterbury

We try to keep going and work through illness until the body—or God—forces us to stop. I suffer from migraines, often an affliction of “doing too much.” This letter has me thinking about how sometimes it feels like we can never stop and if we do, our income and our life will collapse.

Decolonizing the Journey: Reflection Questions 📝

• How can you set yourself up to a) prevent illness b) ask for help when you’re down and c) get out of the cycles of urgency, scarcity, and having to do things when the body absolutely is not able to?

The Map for Your Pocket 📝

(Take screenshots of this section to keep in your journal or on your phone for when you need a moment of ancestral remembrance and personal devotion)

1. Reclaiming Rites & Resources 🕯️

• Where do you feel proud of yourself for asking for exactly what you want and need?

• What can you be more explicit and matter-of-fact about?

2. The Cosmic Self ✨

• When do you feel like the cosmic version of yourself—beyond race, time, and the “harness” of expectations?

• Where are the spaces you feel like you get to be all of you without the labor of explaining?

3. The Delirium of Joy ☀️

• What does this quote and lifestyle evoke for you?

• How is your connection to nature, the soil and land going? What do you crave

4. Creative Pregnancy & Portals 🌑

• How do you stop yourself from feeling guilty for the “spells of withdrawal” your soul requires?

• What circumstances support you in birthing your own creations?

5. Breaking the Cycles 🌊

• How can you set yourself up to ask for help before you reach a breaking point?

• How can you practice stopping and resting as a deliberate act of resistance to urgency?

The Calling & Invitation

Zora is calling us, showing us through her life what it means to be an audacious artist, a liberated spirit who cares about Blackness. She reminds me of myself. I didn’t know she was such a traveler, finding solace in that hands-in-the-earth energy.

I think this is the calling: our creations are necessary. Our resistance, proclamations, culture, and our audacity are crucial. I’m excited to see what she brings out in us at our dance next Saturday in Denver.

SOL VIDA® is about this embodied reclamation. Will you move with me?

✨Ways to Move with SOL VIDA® ✨

• In Person: Join us for Unwind & Grind™ dance rituals in Denver. Our next portal, Wrapped in Rainbows, is Saturday, Feb 21. We need a minimum of folks to sign up by Tuesday, Feb 17 to secure the container. If your heart is calling you to be there, please claim your spot now to ensure we can hold this space together.

Secure Your Spot in the Dance Ritual

• Virtually: You can still join us from anywhere for the Sweatpants Rituals. Our 3-week series passes are available now—secure yours by this Thursday to enter the container.

Register for Sweatpants Rituals

• Deep Dive: Bring the medicine to your collective. I am available for bookings, speaking, and ritual facilitation.

Bring me to your community

✨🦄✨ THE RAINBOW LIGHT WARRIORS CALENDAR:

• Thursday, Feb 12: Last call for Sweatpants Rituals Series.

• Tuesday, Feb 17: THE THRESHOLD. Minimum sign-ups needed to secure the Denver container.

• Saturday, Feb 21: We dance!

✨🌀✨ UNWIND & GRIND™ was pure magic in Denver this past Saturday.

Landing in our new holy space brought out such a deep communion with the Divine. Between the “astral travel” lighting and our movement map, it felt like we were connected to something so much bigger. 🌌🙌🏾

It blows me away every time we move through this practice. It’s not a formal dance class or pure ecstatic dance—it’s a sanctuary to attune, move how it feels good, and be in beloved movement community.

The goal of our movement map is always to help you ✨🌀✨ Get Free.

At the end of our dance this past week, several people asked for a movement map they could use at home to access that freedom. I’m currently cooking up our upcoming morning rituals and Get Free sessions for our February series, which will utilize this exact 5-element flow. I thought I’d share a “movement menu” here so you can get a taste of the medicine.

✨🧘🏾✨Tools for The Embodied Revolution

Unwind & Grind™ — Get Free: A DIY Guided Movement Map

Pull these songs up on your platform of choice. Read the prompt, hit play, and let your body respond. There is no right or wrong—only what feels soothing and authentic as you find your way to Get Free.

• 🌊 (WATER) Play (Aleway) – Hip circles, torso isolations, body rolls, figure 8s, and deep fluid breath.

• 🌳 (EARTH) Flip Ya Lid (Nightmares on Wax) – Shake, bounce, walk, heavy steps, push energy away, be bold, exhale, be the warrior.

• 🔥 (FIRE) Counting (Hamdi ft. Princess Superstar) – Krump, grind, shake out, twerk, pulse, release. (Fun with a wall or prop!)

• 🍃 (AIR) Kick It (B4SH) – Sway, jump, fly, house footwork, jack, repetitive flow, catching the wind, deep inhalations.

• ✨ (SPIRIT/YOU) Sinnatuumait (Dreams) (Elisapie) – Groundedness, surrender, melt, stretch, listen to the silence within the sound, find your personal rhythm.

Does your body crave more of this? ✨🌀✨

If moving through these elements is giving you an embodied yes or a spark of life, I’d love to invite you into our February containers.

Upcoming UNWIND & GRIND™ Sessions:

✨💭✨Sweatpants Rituals (Online) A 4-week global movement series for Femmes, Theys, & Thems. We start Feb 5. Early Bird Pricing ends 2/2

✨🌈🤎🌈✨Wrapped in Rainbows (Denver) An in-person BIPOC Queer Ancestor Sanctuary on Feb 21. Early Bird Pricing ends 2/17

Both spaces are designed to help you release your mind, have fun and get free in your body and life!✨🌀✨ Get Free in your body and life.

✨LEARN MORE ✨

Let’s keep getting free,

Axé

Founder, SOL VIDA®

P.S. Everything is better with your dance fam! A $77 dance fam pass is available for both our Online and Denver containers—bring a friend and let’s dance in resistance together. ✨🌀✨

✨🥷🏾✨

It feels like there’s been a real test to not succumb to the grind—to continue to create protection, hold boundaries, and be hella consistent with deep self-care. I’m getting a real sense that many of us need to slow the fuck down, shake off the BS, and remember who we really are and why we’re doing what we are doing.

I don’t know about you, but it feels like suddenly… It’s 2026. And let me be real honest: I’m not “ready.” I want my personal rest revolution back, and I want it for all of us.

This year has already tested me with overwhelm, stress, and anxiety—really testing my personal resolve.

Do you ever experience not being able to STOP, yet needing to sooooo badly?

I have been through this spell one too many times.

I had a wake-up call this week. “The Grind” came for me. As much as I strive to defeat the pressures of time and society, my monkey mind somehow got me to believe that “I had to do so many things.” FF to a couple of migraines later, I stopped and asked myself:

• What is this for?

• Why am I even letting this energy back in?

• How have I sacrificed my personal wellness to this extent?

• For faaaacking what?

For those of you who have followed along the journey, you know I’ve been on a hiatus, living a Personal Rest Revolution, claiming a soft and slow way of being—and always aiming to shift normalcy and break free from all the systems of oppression.

Lately, I got caught up in the chaos. I felt overwhelmed. And the one that got me the most—I lost my sense of PRESENCE. Of course I did 😭.

I can chuckle about it now; I nearly bragged to my therapist just about a week ago, “I pride myself on my presence and gratitude practice.”

Sure enough, I got tested—and hard. I saw a meme that said we’re not starting 2026 until the Spring Equinox, and that hella got me! I’ve been enjoying the idea of “starting a new year” with the Lunar New Year and was like: bet… that sounds nice and slow.

I got swirled up in the chaos and I had to take a huge halt. I had to recover and remember who I really am, what I’m doing, and why.

For me, that looked like:

💧 Focusing on hydration (tracking my intake).

🛌🏾 Prioritizing deep sleep and resuming a predictable morning ritual.

🌞 Sun worshipping and meditating to quiet the disharmony.

🧘🏾 Attuning to my body through yoga and movement.

🆘 Acupuncture and literally taking a chill pill.

🚶🏿Walking it out to get some fresh air, perspective and tree hugging in.

📖 Visioning what I actually want my January to feel like—I got a new planner and it’s making me feel so grounded and happy.

I had to let go of very unrealistic expectations that I’ve self-imposed. Oooofff, taking time to just stop, listen, and reclaim presence has been a practice and required some effort. Just the act of listening to the sounds around me, tracking my water consumption, or doing ONE THING AT A TIME. I’m afraid for myself and for you when we go too far into that “other world” that burns us with chaos, distrust, and the feeling that it’s impossible to stop. It requires great internal power, tools, rituals, and resources to stop that part of the program.

✨🔥✨

Before the year “ended,” I taught an Unwind & Grind™ workshop at Ohana Barre & Yoga in Denver. I was blown away that when we got to the Staccato/Earth part of the warm-up, everyone in the room seemed so ready for a Rage Release. It started with a simple calling in of earth energy and the invitation to push energy out and away from you—and just like that, Spirit was like: We’re doing a full-blown Rage Release moment right now.

Whew. It was powerful and a clear affirmation for me to continue to devote my energy to creating more spaces for rest and rage release.

Yeah, it’s 2026, and I’m processing and dealing with a lot of feelings. I’m facing things I actually don’t want to, but I know it’s part of my healing journey. IYKYKYK.

If you share this in common with me, I just want to invite you to STOP, attune, and reclaim your personal rhythm. Release force, and bring back presence and gratitude into your every moment.

✨🧘🏾✨Tools for The Embodied Revolution

If you’re feeling the pressure of “The Grind” or the chaos of the world right now, I invite you to pick just one of these rituals to come back to yourself this week. No pressure, no perfection—just presence.

✨Take a Moment of Presence: Choose one mundane task today (drinking water, washing a dish, walking to the car) and do it with 100% of your attention. No multitasking, no podcasts—just the sensation of being there.

✨Earth/Staccato Release: If you feel tension in your jaw or chest, take 2 minutes to put on a heavy-beat track. Stand firm, feel the floor, and use your arms to literally “push” the energy away from your body. Exhale loudly; let there be organic sound. Let the rage move through you so it doesn’t stay in you.

✨Gratitude: Change your mood by counting five mundane things that you’re grateful for—the sun is shining, trees abound, you enjoy your outfit, warm beverages. Let it be a simple remembrance.

✨Invest in your self-care: This isn’t about spending money—it’s an investment of your time and priority. Go over the top with how you lavish yourself with self-love and care practices. Choose the simple things you know will bring you back to yourself, no matter fucking what.

✨Breathe Bb—Just breathe intentionally for one moment, some long moments, keep coming back to that no matter what! Bonus… track your sensations… just notice what’s alive and breathe it out.

✨👣✨

Movement is medicine. Dance is resistance.

Let’s keep unwinding from the grind and reclaiming our true, wild, and embodied free essence. We are gonna do this very thing on Saturday, January 24, in Denver, Colorado. Let’s slow the fuck down, shake off the BS and devote time to together to being in our presence and pleasure!🌈

Let’s stay wild and weird together,

💜Axé (ah-shay) I feel the spirit, it is so!

I know I said I wouldn’t be in your inbox until Wednesday, but I am bursting with inspiration! I felt a clear call to share these rituals with you now as a comprehensive guide: 365 Days of Kwanzaa: A Ritual Guide for Embodied Liberation and Energy Reclamation. 🕯️✨

I want us to utilize these rituals as a map to stay grounded in our power throughout the entire year and in every area of our lives. ☮️

ACCESS YOUR RITUAL GUIDE HERE

Please feel free to share, print, and utilize this as Spirit calls you. 🕊️

Since we last met, I have been in awe of how many souls are gathering in this space—both here in Denver and all over the world. 🗺️ Witnessing this deep hunger for somatic freedom has inspired me to expand our container. I am officially moving in service to our collective liberation, body remembrance, and the intentional release of the “weight of the world.” ❤️‍🔥

As promised, I’ll be sharing the full details this Wednesday on how you can join the Unwind & Grind™ movement rituals—both in-person in Denver 🌇 and through our new “Anywhere on Earth” Global Series. 🌍

I am so deeply excited to open these brave spaces for uninhibited expression. They are going to be soooooo good. ✨🍑✨

Love you so,

Axé 🪘✨

Imani!

It’s Day Seven of our Kwanzaa Ritual—and while it’s technically the end of Kwanzaa, a big reason I wanted to share all of these practices is for us to embody them in our life everyday…

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

We may be at my second favorite day of Kwanzaa…. Imani/Faith. 🕯️✨

Oooh chile, there is nothing like this in the world.

Nothing like faith to test you, remind you, inspire you, and get you on your feet asking for help. The thing about faith is that it is the best friend of the unknown who we want to know. Imani says that we already know. You gotta listen to your heart. You gotta pray, ask, and forgive. You gotta keep going—there are so many reasons to be here and live.

Imani says that you matter and that there is a way to change these ways. Imani says keep going; follow the drinking gourd as Harriet Tubman did. Black folx have had our faith tested and tested and tested again. With a world of systemic oppression clouding every part of our being—frequently without us even realizing it—we need something to get us through these days that push to shut us down, make us sad, or leave us feeling at a loss as we empathize with all the pain on the planet.

This world will test you no matter what skin you are in—but we have to take a moment to realize how many backs and shoulders we stand on. So many have battled hard, so hard, for all of us to be in this place of freedom and of grace.

Imani is also a way to give thanks. It asks for reverence. It asks us to release blame, guilt, and shame.

More than any other principle of Kwanzaa, Imani supports the fact that there is another way. There is another way to be here together on this planet. It is time for critical consciousness. Take action on your highest pursuits—Imani will be there for you.

Your Imani Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

1. 🕯️ Light a candle. There is something about the flicker of a flame that is absolutely hope-inducing. It is constant, enduring, and serves as a gentle reminder that you are not alone and that your prayers, dreams, and hopes are heard. Light a candle—everything will be alright. I recommend this reverence every morning, or at the new and full moons.

2. 📔 Dream days exercise. Take a moment with your journal and free-write about what a dream day includes and feels like for you. Does it include morning rituals, time in nature, or connecting with chosen people? Really allow yourself to seep in the feelings you love. This exercise will help you create even more of these days in your life.

3. 🧘🏾‍♀️ Meditate, chant, pray. The fastest way to get to source is to shut your mind down and listen at your highest frequency. If sitting still is hard, meditation through movement is a great way to commune with the unknown. If those don’t connect, try good old-fashioned prayer. Talk to the Great Spirit, the Unknown, or Divine—use their names and give thanks.

4. ☀️ Go outside. The fastest way to lose faith is by cramming yourself into one environment. You have to switch it up to keep your energy and channels for faith clear. No matter the weather, go outside (use your intuition and stay safe) to reconnect with the world beyond your walls, even if it’s only a few minutes.

5. 🌅 Create a morning ritual/practice. There is something about having things we can count on to ground us. Giving yourself intentional time each morning is a gift of consistent Imani. Whether you carve out 5 minutes or an hour, give yourself time to be in the spirit world consciously as you start your day.

6. 🌬️ Breathe and believe. Practice intentional breathing. Take a moment to simply be with your breath. Allow each inhale to be filled with positive thoughts, affirmations, and light.

7. 🌊 Surrender. It is a true art to surrender to presence and beingness. We spend so much life forcing things and meeting deadlines. Stop. Trust your personal rhythm. Taking frequent breaks to honor what your body, mind, heart and spirit need. Trust.

It blows my mind that after one sleep, it’s a new year. 🌬️✨

I’m feeling into the vibes today—moving slow and ready to integrate all these teachings and principles. I spent the morning chanting for global peace and the ability for us to all live our wildest dreams. 🌍🙏🏾🧘🏾‍♀️

Yesterday we talked about Kuumba—the fire of creation. Today, we let that fire settle into a steady glow. 🔥🕯️ We don’t need to rush out and “conquer” the year today, or figure it all out. Let’s take our time.

I am holding faith for this community. I am holding faith for the healing, the sweat, and the radical joy we are going to cultivate together in the first season of Unwind & Grind!

The Portal Opens Soon ✨🌀✨

I am honoring the rhythm of the spirit over the rhythm of the clock. 🕰️ Let’s be spacious, breathe and integrate all of these practices.

We will be returning to our weekly Wednesday cadence for new articles starting next week. ✨🗓️✨

This means the invite-only registration for Unwind & Grind Denver officially opens on our first Wednesday back: January 7th. 🦄🌀

To my Rainbow Light Warriors: You have done the work. You have walked the Kwanzaa path with me. This week, simply rest in the knowing that your spot is waiting, the vision is clear, and the magic is already in motion. 🌊🌬️

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Thank you for being part of this 7-day ritual. It has been an honor to breathe and dream with you. 🕊️🙌🏾

Let’s be who we came here to be with rest, play, pleasure, joy, and lots of dancing!!!! 🦄✨🌈💃🏾🔥

Happy 2026!

Axé

Kuumba!

It’s Day Six of our Kwanzaa ritual and the final hours of 2025. I hope creativity is touching your life in all the best ways as we cross this threshold.

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

Well, this is going to be fun! Creativity is where it’s at when you really want to see your life playing out—because play is an absolute part of life that often goes neglected. So, what sparks your fire? How do you like to get your creativity out?

I tend to whip up a vision board or vision book around this part of Kwanzaa, and I have to tell you, the manifesting results are typically quite powerful. There is nothing like seeing your dreams put together in a way that you can feel, see, touch, and be.

I love the concept of making our world better and more beautiful than we discovered it. I love seeing art in the streets, creations being shared via social media, and commitments to live creative lives.

You deserve beauty and creation in your life.

Your Kuumba Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

1. 📔 Vision book / vision board. There are many ways to do this. My greatest recommendation is to go with whatever your heart wants, whether or not it makes sense. Say a prayer, cut out images that speak to your heart, and make sense of them before or after you glue them down. You can also create a digital board if that delights you. Dedicate pages to different aspects and energies of your life. ✨

2. 🖍️ Coloring books. Best grown-ass folks hack ever. Using color and metallic gel pens is the most soothing, meditative magic. Let yourself go there. It is not a waste of time. You need this non-thinking, color-making time—I promise you will reap rewards from giving yourself this. 🎨

3. 💄 Make an affirmation. We’ve talked about getting a positive message on repeat; this is the moment to bring it to In Living Color. Use a postcard, cardboard, or even lipstick on your mirror! Write the words you need to hear again and again to remind you of who you really are. ✍🏾

4. 🎤 Sing. Allow the reverence and preciousness of your deep soul voice to come out and saaaang. It doesn't have to be perfect—let it be croaky, let it be raw. Hum to nature, sing to your ancestors, or practice the anthems that move your spirit. You’d be surprised how many songs want to come out of you when you simply start. Hack: You know you’ve spent a good amount of time outside when you naturally start humming and singing to the world around you. Explore this. 🎶

5. 💃🏾 Dance. I’m always going to say dance for everything! When was the last time you made up choreo for the fun of it, filmed a freestyle, or even dry-humped a kitchen table to the beat?! Go for it, do the thing, and do it boldly! 👟🔥

6. 🤸🏾‍♂️ Play. Why do we always gotta be so serious? If you have forgotten how to play, study the children. They are constantly jumping, smiling, laughing, and tumbling. Allow yourself time to shout, scream, hide, seek, and say YES. Give yourself a safe, consensual, happy-go-lucky-don’t-gotta-worry-about-a-thing way to play. Okaaaaaaaay!!!! 🎊

7. 🏫 Workshops / Learn / Train. Spark your creativity by doing something new. What experiences are happening around you? Events? Retreats? Put yourself in environments that force you to explore your edges and discover new things and people. 💡

Folks! How is it even December 31? ✨

Maybe you’re reading this later… but all I know is I have been dreaming of my creations all day long. I made a list of all the dance and movement experiences that have allowed me to connect to the Divine—the ones I have loved throughout my life—and seeing them all together, that energy of the Axé is what I am calling in for you and me. 🌀🕯️

I’m moving with intention as we enter 2026. 🕊️

That old friend, “Go Slow to Go Fast” is calling me!

I’ve decided to give us all a moment to breathe and integrate these Kwanzaa blessings. I’m not rushing the portal. I want us to sit with our visions, our vision books, and our awakenings before we choose our new year commitments.

We don’t want to get caught up in the pressures of the Gregorian calendar—the Lunar New Year isn’t until February! We have time to create what we want, and I want our commitment to this season to be rooted in that spaciousness and energy of rest.

✨✨✨The invite-only registration for our first season of Unwind & Grind in Denver will officially open on Wednesday, January 7th.✨✨✨

To my Rainbow Light Warriors: Check your inbox tomorrow for the final principle, Imani (Faith). I’ll be sharing a special New Year’s transmission to keep your spirit lit as we claim what’s been meant for us all along.

Let’s make some rainbow healing light magic. 🦄✨

Ayyyyyiiii!

Axé.

Nia!

It’s Day Five of Kwanzaa. Please take this whole guide in at your own pace. There is no rush; what I’m sharing is a lifetime practice. Breathe. Be at the rhythm you need to be to discover this principle.

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

What a gift and what a curse, this purpose thing, am I right? 🕊️🌀

On one hand, we have the vision of choice and freedom; on the other, it can feel like we are burdened with responsibility and have to sell our souls to conditions and people that don’t feel good.

I have gone after many pursuits in the name of life purpose, and time and time again, when I am not living in my highest purpose for the greatest good, things seem to feel really hard. Things can get really confusing.

So when digging into your purpose, dharma, passion, and life’s work, you have to figure out where your center of axis is within your body and your way. Only you will know what is inherently correct for you to say yes and no to. Only you will know which path brings you to your highest truth.

It’s easy to go up all kinds of roads that will all lead to the same thing. Some of them will get you there quicker; some of them will be more beautiful or difficult along the way. Follow your energy, follow your aliveness dear one.

Below, you will discover many empowering ways to begin to discern your truth, power, passion, and purpose. Enjoy this ride.

Nia is Life.

Your Nia Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

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1. Celebrate the Evidence 🥣✨: Take inventory of what you’ve done that you can celebrate. Make a gratitude journal or a prosperity list. Review photos and emails that affirm your work and yourself, whether big or small. Give thanks for the hardships and the fire alike. Everything counts. 📝

2. Write the Longing ✍🏾: Borrowed from The Artist’s Way, write three pages of stream-of-consciousness every morning. Write about YOU. Write about your heart’s longings, without judgment or filter. Dream it all into existence—especially the things which feel unattainable. 🌊💭

3. Affirm the “Crazy” 🌌: Explore your astrology, human design, and oracle cards. Sometimes we just need affirmation for our “crazy” ideas. Seeing that there is a design or a chart can help you feel less alone in the great unknown. I have to remind you right now: You are a superstar. 🌟🧘🏾‍♀️

4. Listen to the Mirror 🗣️: Ask for feedback. It can be hard to see yourself through all the subjectivity. Ask friends or mentors to reflect upon you. You don’t have to realize it all on your own! Pay attention to the themes that make your blood boil or where you feel sensations. Frequently, others bring out our greatest qualities. ❤️‍🔥

5. Vision Walk 🌲: Want some insight? Go outside and get quiet. Determine a beginning threshold and ask an open-ended question: “What do I need to know about my life purpose?” Walk through and LISTEN. Pay attention to the movement of the trees, the sounds, and the signs. Turn around, bow, and give thanks at the end. 🌬️👣

6. Dance for Answers 💃🏾: The body holds all the stories. If you can walk, you can dance. Organic movement will either take you out of your mind or sharpen it. Allow yourself to dance through to your destiny. 🥁🌀

7. Change the Environment ✈️: Travel. Go somewhere. It can be an hour away or three planes away. Prioritize new places to receive new inputs. There is nothing like being an “outsider” to show you so clearly what is inside of you. 🗺️🧭

   ---

Claiming My Devotion 🦄📿

Rainbow Light Warriors... Nia calls us into the truth of why we came here.

I’ve spent much of today getting the guts to share mine. I am preparing on the back end to open a portal so you can experience who I came here to be: A space holder for body remembrance, healthy sensuality, radical self-expression, and embodied liberation, devoted to the 2SLGBTQIA+ / BIPOC experience.

For the past several years, I looked down a lot of other paths—I turned away from my gift, that was channeled exactly 20 years ago! People keep calling me back. They’ve begged—literally cried—for more of these dances.

There is truly something so magic about it.

Unwind & Grind (U & G) isn’t just a “dance class.” It’s a movement ritual that always helps us unravel the layers the world put on us, remember the truth of our being, and reclaim who we really are at our core. 🌀✨

Amber aka @theladygodiva (fierce, rainbow warrior, power house) shared this with me:

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for the beautiful experience. That was my first time doing any sort of ecstatic dance, my first introduction into 5 Rhythms, and I loved it so much! I normally get pretty nervous with choreographed things; sometimes, if they move too fast and I can’t keep up visually, it feels hard. But your facilitation was so, so perfect. It was so perfect and light and sweet and fun and energetic, and it was such a great and beautiful release for me. I’m so grateful for your kindness, your love, your heart. Your facilitation style feels so accessible. I’m really excited to invite all my friends with different needs to your events because it feels so inclusive and beautiful. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for creating such a fabulous space.”

2026 is the year I claim my stewardship to U & G and my devotion to growing it.

New Year’s Eve is tomorrow, and the principle is Kuumba (Creativity). I want to inspire you to find your own creative fire before the year closes. Then, on the final day of Kwanzaa (Jan 1st), I will open registration for you to be a part of our next season.

Heads up: We are limiting the space to hold intimacy, connection, and deeper transformation.

Thank you to all of you who have asked this of me and helped me see the realest me.

Let’s keep aligning with the Divine.

Much love,

Axé. 💜

UJAMAA!

Holy moly! It is Day Four of our Kwanzaa Ritual and I feel like I’ve entered a portal. It’s why I love honoring this time so much. I’m really taking the time to think, intend, plan, and create from a space of heart, spirit and intuitive based decision making. I’m so thankful.

What is it feeling like for you? I'd love to hear how you're moving through this portal.

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

Here is what we are getting into, dear one… Conscious Spending. Conscious Consumerism. Conscious Choices. 💸✨

I have to tell you, I feel extremely overwhelmed when I go into a chain grocery store and see all of the options. I frequently end up going up and down, up and down, questioning my choices: Am I going to get a better bargain here? Maybe I need two or three of those since they are on sale…

The sad thing about shopping at these corporations is that they are continually working to upsell—making us believe we need more, more, more, and more.

Here’s what I do to combat this… I learned this by living in places like Spain: Buy only what you need. Get only what you need for one meal or one day. Have a list. Stick to your list. Shop at places that are not chains or corporations. 🇪🇸🧺

I will admit, I frequently go to different markets for different things—I like spending my money on local businesses. I particularly find joy in spending my money in local businesses run by people of color. ✊🏾🤎

The thing that we are missing the mark on—that can have such a great impact in cooperative economics—is to actually “go out of our way” and buy from Black and Brown owned businesses. Where you spend your money actually contributes to the garbage in the world and/or lifts up a community and families, allowing people to thrive in the power of entrepreneurship.

It’s such a more satisfying experience to go to the Himalayan market to stock up on lentils and rice, head to the Indian market for naan, soap, and incense, or to drive 30 minutes out to go to H-Mart! It is even more pleasurable to support the local co-op of Black farmers who are growing organic food in your local neighborhood. 🥬🍎

I challenge you to look at your spending habits: How can you be more resourceful and go out of your way sometimes to support smaller businesses run by people of color?

Because the way our world has been created, it does require great intentionality to live these practices and ways of life. This is how we shift the stories of money and power. Take our money out of corporations and give it back to the people. ✊🏾💵

Can you imagine living in a world based on the collective upliftment of each other—to live in a fair and a just society that values people’s talents and skills?

Your Ujamaa Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

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1. ✊🏾 Buy from Black-owned businesses. It is amazing, fun, and so worth your time. I love the Black experience because it makes me feel like I’m human again. Much of our buying experiences in the U.S. are stale and lifeless, but when you buy from a Black-owned business, it is different. There is a general sense of care and camaraderie passed down in our culture. It isn’t about how fast we can get something, but an opportunity to share stories, slow down, and get a pulse on the community. 🤎✨

2. 🛑 Slow down. Let’s face it—we are living in a program. Some call it the matrix; I call it brainwashing and media bullshit. We have been mistakenly taught that status, ego, convenience, and mass production are values. I have a sad newsflash: this shit ain’t gonna work for very much longer. Break past these programs. Do things not for the sake of convenience, but in the awareness of preservation, sustainability, and consciousness. 🧘🏾‍♀️🌿

3. 🏪 Support small businesses. Every single time you can buy local—do it. Support the local coffee shop vs. Starbucks; go to the family market vs. the mega-store. Purchase from street vendors or the person selling water at a game. There are simple, small changes you can do almost every day when you bring conscious spending to the forefront of your life. 🧺☕

4. 🍯 Earth-based, natural products. Having natural, home-made beauty and ritual goods is so soothing to the soul and body. If you don’t have time to make your own, find local festivals or fairs that carry lines from queer folx and BIPOC creators. 🧼✨

5. 🎓 Services of Black folks. When was the last time you had a Black or Brown teacher or leader in your world? When have you learned something from someone that doesn’t look like you? What work do you need help with that may be cool to hire a Black or Brown artist, writer, advisor, or coach for? 🎨

6. 🚗 Leave your neighborhood. Yo. Go out of your own neighborhood if you don’t see any markets or stores to support. Many places just require you to leave your normalcy and head out into uncharted yet close-in-proximity adventures. Where I’m from, you can drive to experience Mexican, Ethiopian, and multi-Asian life depending on what side of town you are on. 🌍📍

7. 🔄 Practice Creative Exchange, Gift Economy, and Trade. Who says money exchange has to be the way we’ve been taught in Western society? Let’s break the system. Can we take it a step further and say that money does not even have to be the exchange? Can we start exchanging currency in our services and personal possessions? Let’s get off the grid and back to each other. 🌀

Whew, yes Ujamaa—it hits me so deep. It’s one of the main values I’ve ingrained at SOL VIDA. I really believe in circling our funds within the community. Creative exchange actually delights me and fills me up when it gets to happen!

Today, for Ujamaa, I’m visiting some of the smaller African markets in Aurora to secure beauty products and doing my work from a local coffee shop.

The truth is, we applied for several grants this past Autumn and haven’t received one yet. Our Ujamaa fund allows us to support our team of BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA program assistants who help us produce all the magic we bring you. It is absolutely draining for me to attempt this alone, and right now, our support fund is dry.

Our goal is to reach $500/month to sustain our support team and pay our guest artists fairly. Every $25 covers one hour of support for our amazing team. To give you a pulse on the circulation we’ve maintained this year:

• 100% of SOL VIDA guest artists in 2025 were QT/BIPOC creators.

• We invested in a QT/BIPOC media team to amplify our mission.

• We mentored and employed two BIPOC teenage interns, investing in the next generation of leaders.

• We sustained a support staff of one LGBTQ+ assistant and two BIPOC & LGBTQ+ program assistants.

These are the last few days to ensure your donation is tax-deductible for 2025! If the spirit moves you to support this Black-owned business, I truly appreciate your reciprocity.

✨ DONATE TO THE SOL VIDA UJAMAA FUND✨

Let’s keep taking care of our village together. Ujamaa reminds me that my success is tied to your success—that there is space and resources for all of us. Our collective abundance is a choice we make with every dollar and trade.

Whether you choose to donate, shop BIPOC and local today, or barter your gifts with a friend—know that this is an act of resistance. It is getting us closer and closer to weaving a new world, together.

In the spirit of breaking free from corporations and capitalism, let’s keep the energy moving. 🌀✨

Axé 💜

Ujima!

It’s Day Three of our Kwanzaa Ritual and it feels amazing to be in connection with you here. I’m loving the comments and invite you to share your journey and takeaways as we move through these days together.

Let’s get into today’s principle….

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

Oh honey, you better go tell it on a mountain—we have work to do. And a lot of work to do together.

First of all, we have to dismantle the patriarchy, the fascism, and the colonized ways of being that exist in this world. ✊🏾 You know we are not meant to do it alone. Our planet is in grave danger and we can all make choices that have a gentler impact on our environment. It is time to radicalize our way of showing up and practicing the insight of “collective consciousness.”

There is no more time to turn and look the other way or wait for a savior business. We have SIMPLE, SMALL, and RADICAL shifts to make for the health and continuity of all of our people in this world. 🌏✨

Changing the world can feel quite daunting, and it’s often challenging to know where to begin. I have a very deep belief that healing is actually a very simple thing. Frequently, it is the small and consistent actions that change lives, energy fields, and ways of being.

Your Ujima Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

1. 🆘 Ask for help / Self-care = world progress. If many of us weren’t so busy being programmed, we may be ahead of the big shift. In a world filled with trauma, drama, screens, fake news, and progress—we have a lot to negotiate and set boundaries around. Support is not weakness. Support is good. It is how people really want to serve at their core. Simple ways to explore asking for help: make an appointment with a healer, counselor, or specialist. I’m always going to say DANCE/MOVE YOUR BODY to move your emotions through.

2. ❤️ What can you do for friends or family? Is there anything you can do to make their lives a little bit easier? Whether it’s Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, or Physical Touch—let your loved ones know that you are with them. It is the great practice of selfless reciprocity.

3. 😊 How can you add value to someone else’s life? Think about the grander scale of things, and the most intimate people, too. What can you do to make someone genuinely smile, to feel held, encouraged, or listened to? I love random acts of kindness—they go a long way.

4. 💜Mentorship. Being around people who can see the best in you is a wonderful thing. Having outside influences that are positive and help improve you overall—seek that. Again, you don’t have to do this alone. And vice versa: what can you give back to those coming up under you—advice, time, money, energy?

5. 🗣️ Speak your voice. Stop pretending that things are okay when they are not okay. Speak what needs to be said. Stand up for others. We all need to help hold each other and this world accountable. When you hear people veering towards offensive, see if you can veer them back in and get them to look at how they are affecting others.

6. 🌎 Hello, carbon footprint. We’ve got a lot of fish to fry in our society. What is one small thing you can do to impact conscious change? Minimize your plastic consumption, turn your phone completely off at night, and use only what you need. Be a steward of the earth and practice: Leave No Trace.

7. 🎁 What can you give back? Giving back to others is greatly rewarding. It uplifts others and it will uplift you. When we are less stingy with our time and resources, we will find that our lives get richer and abundant. The magic and synchronicities score all over the place when we choose to share our resources with others. It feels good. Let’s take care of the village. We are the village. Let us all be well with each other.

🌍 🏛️ ✨ 🙌🏾 🧱 ⚖️ 🌿 📜 🗝️ ✨ 💎 🏙️ 🌍

Collective Work and Responsibility can feel heavy, especially when we feel depleted. I’m stepping into Ujima energy today by thinking about how I want to embody this principle in the New Year.

Personally, I’m leaning into #1 and #2 this week. I’m super excited to have scored a new therapist, and I feel dedicated to honoring the balance in my family systems through presence and support.

I think one of our responsibilities is to live into our gifts and share them. I have a keen fondness for working across all generations—my background as a dance and performing arts educator has allowed me to be a mentor to emerging leaders and has fueled my deep desire to share my knowledge in Diasporic arts and free-form movement with all ages.

I am excited to bring these offerings to communities and organizations across the world in 2026.

This year, I am opening my calendar for partnerships with Colleges, Studios, Organizations, and Institutions to bring the work of Unwind & Grind and The Embodied Revolution as a vital antidote to the grind and burnout.

I provide a curated space for leaders, creatives, and fellow artivists to release the mind, find authentic joy, and make meaning of the world through radical self-expression.

If you are a leader who holds space for others—whether in a corporate office, a university campus, or a retreat setting—I am ready to connect with you. I am currently booking for 2026 residencies, staff wellness intensives, and keynote movement experiences worldwide. If the spirit is moving you to bring this embodied liberation to your collective, let’s talk.

Book a “Let’s Connect” Call or simply reply to this email to start the conversation.

In the spirit of our collective liberation,

💜Axé

Kujichagulia / Self-Determination

IIt’s Day Two of our Kwanzaa activation and I’m feeling you all from afar. Today is one of my favorite principles to hold on to every day—it’s the principle that fuels my flame. While we definitely need each other, there is nothing like the energy of going after your dreams and holding steadfast to your beliefs.

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I don’t know about you, but for me—that time right after all the holidays that basically begin with Halloween—life can feel like it moves at the speed of light. You take on habits that aren’t always in your best interest, and a renewed determination to set oneself right for the new year begins to ensue.

This is why I be lovin me some Kujichagulia. In fact, it’s the principle I carry with me throughout most of the year. Honey gurrrlll, you know we gotta “keep it together,” and for me that means going WITH and IN… taking a moment to review my harvests, celebrations, challenges, obstacles, visions, and ideals.

The beautiful thing about life is that we are continually getting an opportunity to choose. It’s also the thing that has stumped me tremendously.

This is the moment to call in what you want, think about, and feel the way and energy you want to invite into your life. You are actually so in control of how your life goes. Some things are absolutely out of our control; for those which we do have, may you look at these 7 rituals and go full-blown authentic, radical, warrior-wild self mode.

Your Kujichagulia Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

1. 📝 Review your life and goals—take inventory. Literally. Start from the beginning of the year—make a list of the big moments (good/not so great). How did you honestly feel during each of them? What are the experiences that stand out? What are you most proud of, excited about, worried about, loving? What do you want to create more time for? Is there anything that you want to continue and bring with you into the new cycle, season, and year?

2. 🧭 Do something that allows you to come back to your true authentic nature. A most excellent moment to make time for an Artist’s Date, borrowed from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Take yourself out, go away, have an escapade all to yourself—whether it is a day or several nights—go to a place where YOU CAN DO YOU and ONLY YOU. What are the activities that remind you of who you essentially are? The feeling of lightness in your belly and heart; what makes you feel playful and curious, and perhaps a tiny bit scared? Exploring your sacred sensuality? For me, it’s things like kayaking, dancing, hugging trees.

3. ✨ Set intentions. It is very likely that I will preach this for the rest of my life. Ask. Believe. (Work for it) Receive. “You have the power to create, change, and shape your reality,” says Dr. Karenga. If you don’t ask for it—first of all, who will know? You have to put your heart’s desires out into the world; this can be through the written word, prayer, song, or channeling. LISTEN. LISTEN. LISTEN. When you give yourself that moment to come back to your authentic self, then the channels become clear and you can truly hear and listen to what needs to be the object of your mind’s eye. Attempt it... It is a most excellent manifestation tool. ASK. BELIEVE. RECEIVE.

4. 🏃🏾‍♀️ Take action. You’ve said it. So now, how are you going to accomplish it? What do you need to do to bring your goals and intentions to fruition? What actual physical real human life steps will be necessary for this to become self-actualized? Break it down. Do one thing at a time. Do one thing at a time. Go slow to go fast.

5. ⚡ Do something that scares you. There is no better way to prove to yourself that you are effing-fucking-amazing and awesome than by doing something that scares you and actually overcoming it. I do this a lot to myself on most days—they don’t have to be big risks—things like crossing a tree branch over a creek (my personal freak out zone for some reason), eating alone, going to a new town, new class, hanging out with new people, saying what you really want… get it?! And the big ones... invest in yourself, go somewhere or do something that makes your heart beat or gives you tingles, a somatic sensation…. mmmhmm.

6. 🗣️ Get a positive message on repeat—Create an affirmation/mantra. All right now! Now that you’ve got your life all dreamed and mapped out, it’s time to get some words going in your mind so that you don’t forget just how important these feats will be. Having a positive message on repeat—something that reminds you to believe, to release, to trust, have faith, and stay awake—will do the soul good for keeping the faith. Some of my fav’s: “I am capable of anything. I am well. My creations are necessary.”

7. 👑 Name it / Claim it / Become it / You Are It. So now it is time! You remembered, you said what you wanted, prayed, and meditated on it—so be about it. Act as if. This is my favorite theatre-inspired rule of life. It is already yours—who can really tell you that it isn’t? It’s not all for somebody else. This world is for you. It needs you, wants, and craves you in your truest you form. So thank you for taking the time to get yourself right by honing in on your personal self-determination so that you can show up more clear, conscious, creative, and concise.

❤️‍🔥 🕊️ ✨ 🌊 🥁 🐚 🕯️ 👣 ✨ 🕊️ ❤️‍🔥

❤️‍🔥 🕊️ ✨ 🌊 🥁 🐚 🕯️ 👣 ✨ 🕊️ ❤️‍🔥

So many of these rituals hit me… I recently channeled that my 2026 anthem is LOVE & EMOTIONS. I want to keep feeling into the sense of limitless love in all of its forms, and as per usual, I’m willing to feel all the feelings.

Many moons (years ago) I set the intention to create a movement collective. Coming off 2025, my message on repeat was “Time takes time.” It seems so trivial and obvious, but it’s been good medicine for someone who lives as a visionary and wants to offer so much to the world… and now it’s time!

With that said, I’m going to share some of my heart’s desires with you right now… which admittedly feels scary and I gotta practice what I preach:

For a long time I have wanted to pass on my lineage of movement, embodiment, and healing justice. This summer, I am finally doing that in the form of a Pilot Practitioner Training in Denver. It’s a comprehensive training that will weave together technical dance foundations—from Ballet and Horton to the Symbology of the Orixas—with choreography and integrative healing arts like somatic healing, yoga, and the entrepreneurial soul-work required to lead dance as a radical act of resistance.

And… my determination to listen to this community has led me to being so ready to commit to a monthly movement ritual home right here in Denver.

SAVE THE DATES: 🗓️

✔ January 24: Our first Unwind & Grind ritual in Denver.

✔ July 1–14: Pilot Practitioner Training in Denver.

That’s my Kujichagulia practice for today... naming the space and claiming what I want.

Stay Close Rainbow Light Warrior—over the next few days, I’ll be sharing more about how you can join the SOL VIDA MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE—whether you’re here with me in Denver or ready to bring these rituals to your own city, campus, or organization. More opportunities to move together are coming.

Curious how Kujichagulia is showing up for you today?!

In steadfast softness,

Axé 💜

Umoja!

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

Welcome to Day 1 of our 7-day Kwanzaa journey. These next 7 days are about getting back in tune with who we really are and how we want to show up in the world, as we move into 2026.

How many times is it easy for you to choose connection or disconnection? Going out or staying in? Traveling or retreating? Doing something new vs. doing the same things?

There are so many times in my life where I feel like I’d much rather be in my own very special cave, hole, or retreat vs. actually going out there in the world and being with people.

Social anxiety can be real. The idea of presenting oneself to the world—being accomplished, being enough, not being enough, being too much... being fixated on personal gain or being apathetic and tuning out—are all things I have experienced when I think about hanging out with other souls.

The thing is that every time I choose to actually go somewhere (imagine that), I always—pretty much every time, no freaking fail—end up experiencing a beautiful connection, meeting the right person, seeing the very thing that my soul needs, and generally feeling quite jovial, no matter how closed off I thought I may have been feeling prior to actually saying yes to going out and being with people in the world.

So here is the charge: one of the best things that we can continually do for ourselves and the world is to show the fuck up. Go places. Say yes to friends. Say yes to connection. Do something out of the ordinary that puts you in space with kindred souls. Create ritual around connection. Create your own traditions with people that make you happy.

One of my favorite parts of Kwanzaa is connecting with people in the community—seeing the growth of everyone year after year, singing songs, remembering the words of the Black National Anthem, and marching down the street with djembe drums, marching bands, and the beautiful black rainbow that represents our people in its myriad of colors and expressions. I also love that I have allies who show up and support and show curiosity in our lineage and culture.

The first evening of lighting the kinara can be such a beautiful thing. There is something so special about coming together with others through tradition, music, storytelling, and ritual.

Your Umoja Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

1. 🕺🏿 Dance. Because it’s Kwanzaa, I’ll first recommend trying out an African or Hip Hop dance class led by a person of color. If that’s not available, I encourage you to check out a dance performance that highlights dances of the African diaspora—dance videos that feature African, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Afrobeat’s, Hip Hop, Modern, and/or Jazz dance. Study the Black Modern Dance greats, like Katherine Dunham, Lester Horton, and José Limón.

2. 🌍 Seek events by People of Color/BIPOC. Different cultures hold space in different ways. Do yourself a favor and seek out a Black experience—anything from Sunday Brunch at a jazz venue to a Baptist church service, an Orixá ceremony, a poetry slam, or supporting Black and Brown farmers. Experience spaces where people of color are the dominant culture.

3. 🎵 Music. Listen to Black music. I love that we are the originators of Jazz and Hip Hop—and so much more when we open up the global lens. Give yourself a day of just tuning your dial to the sounds of Blackness (that’s an actual group you can listen to). I recommend Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Afrobeats, Afro-house, and Highlife. A great way to discover the history and culture is through local radio shows.

4. 📖 Share stories. One of my favorite parts of attending the Kwanzaa celebration in my hometown of Denver, Colorado, is the stories that get told on stage. What if you dedicated a moment to simply listening, telling, and supporting your friends and loved ones through simple storytelling? What celebrations and hardships need to be acknowledged or released?

5. 🍞 Break bread. Share food with others. Come together with people. Simply create connection points.

6. 🕯️ Remember the ancestors. My other favorite part about our Kwanzaa celebration is the pouring of libations. This is an act of pouring water in reverence of the people who have come before us. In African Diasporic culture, we have a saying, “Sankofa,” which means to go back to your root. It is essential that we remember where we came from and the fights that were fought before our time. Who made it possible for you to be you?

7. 🫂 Hold hands, hug, and meet people in the eye. There is nothing like the power of human touch; we all need it. Whether you know someone or not, acknowledge people on the street. Look them in the eyes and acknowledge them regardless of their color, class, or appearance. Be genuine. Be giving. Tell people how much you appreciate them. Of course, consent is always at the forefront—it’s important to ask if someone wants to receive affection.

✨🌱🌑🔥🕯️🌈🙌🏾✨

Whether you are new here or have been around for all the seasons of SOL VIDA, I want you to know: we’ve been spending this last part of the year dreaming up major movement portals for you.

Stay tuned as we begin to unveil all the ways you can become a part of the budding SOL VIDA MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE. Monthly Unwind & Grind movement rituals and The Embodied Revolution movement labs are on the horizon…

The seeds have been more than planted… the roots are taking hold… we are ready to break through… the Collective is coming.

Can you feel the light?

Are you ready to move with us? Are you coming through? Keep an eye on your inbox—this revolution is just beginning.

Before we close the ritual for today… I’m wondering how you’re connecting tothe spirit of Umoja. For me, it’s been calling in our collective energy.

Whether it was a quiet moment of internal alignment, being out at a Kwanzaa celebration, or a deep connection with your kin, I’d love to hear from you. Drop a word in the comments and let’s be together in this sacred haven❤️‍🔥

---

Umoja!

❤️‍🔥✨🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️✨❤️‍🔥

Welcome to Day 1 of our 7-day Kwanzaa journey. These next 7 days are about getting back in tune with who we really are and how we want to show up in the world, as we move into 2026.

How many times is it easy for you to choose connection or disconnection? Going out or staying in? Traveling or retreating? Doing something new vs. doing the same things?

There are so many times in my life where I feel like I’d much rather be in my own very special cave, hole, or retreat vs. actually going out there in the world and being with people.

Social anxiety can be real. The idea of presenting oneself to the world—being accomplished, being enough, not being enough, being too much... being fixated on personal gain or being apathetic and tuning out—are all things I have experienced when I think about hanging out with other souls.

The thing is that every time I choose to actually go somewhere (imagine that), I always—pretty much every time, no freaking fail—end up experiencing a beautiful connection, meeting the right person, seeing the very thing that my soul needs, and generally feeling quite jovial, no matter how closed off I thought I may have been feeling prior to actually saying yes to going out and being with people in the world.

So here is the charge: one of the best things that we can continually do for ourselves and the world is to show the fuck up. Go places. Say yes to friends. Say yes to connection. Do something out of the ordinary that puts you in space with kindred souls. Create ritual around connection. Create your own traditions with people that make you happy.

One of my favorite parts of Kwanzaa is connecting with people in the community—seeing the growth of everyone year after year, singing songs, remembering the words of the Black National Anthem, and marching down the street with djembe drums, marching bands, and the beautiful black rainbow that represents our people in its myriad of colors and expressions. I also love that I have allies who show up and support and show curiosity in our lineage and culture.

The first evening of lighting the kinara can be such a beautiful thing. There is something so special about coming together with others through tradition, music, storytelling, and ritual.

Your Umoja Ritual Guide— 7 practices to do now or as the spirit moves you:

1. 🕺🏿 Dance. Because it’s Kwanzaa, I’ll first recommend trying out an African or Hip Hop dance class led by a person of color. If that’s not available, I encourage you to check out a dance performance that highlights dances of the African diaspora—dance videos that feature African, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Afrobeat’s, Hip Hop, Modern, and/or Jazz dance. Study the Black Modern Dance greats, like Katherine Dunham, Lester Horton, and José Limón.

2. 🌍 Seek events by People of Color/BIPOC. Different cultures hold space in different ways. Do yourself a favor and seek out a Black experience—anything from Sunday Brunch at a jazz venue to a Baptist church service, an Orixá ceremony, a poetry slam, or supporting Black and Brown farmers. Experience spaces where people of color are the dominant culture.

3. 🎵 Music. Listen to Black music. I love that we are the originators of Jazz and Hip Hop—and so much more when we open up the global lens. Give yourself a day of just tuning your dial to the sounds of Blackness (that’s an actual group you can listen to). I recommend Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Afrobeats, Afro-house, and Highlife. A great way to discover the history and culture is through local radio shows.

4. 📖 Share stories. One of my favorite parts of attending the Kwanzaa celebration in my hometown of Denver, Colorado, is the stories that get told on stage. What if you dedicated a moment to simply listening, telling, and supporting your friends and loved ones through simple storytelling? What celebrations and hardships need to be acknowledged or released?

5. 🍞 Break bread. Share food with others. Come together with people. Simply create connection points.

6. 🕯️ Remember the ancestors. My other favorite part about our Kwanzaa celebration is the pouring of libations. This is an act of pouring water in reverence of the people who have come before us. In African Diasporic culture, we have a saying, “Sankofa,” which means to go back to your root. It is essential that we remember where we came from and the fights that were fought before our time. Who made it possible for you to be you?

7. 🫂 Hold hands, hug, and meet people in the eye. There is nothing like the power of human touch; we all need it. Whether you know someone or not, acknowledge people on the street. Look them in the eyes and acknowledge them regardless of their color, class, or appearance. Be genuine. Be giving. Tell people how much you appreciate them. Of course, consent is always at the forefront—it’s important to ask if someone wants to receive affection.

✨🌱🌑🔥🕯️🌈🙌🏾✨

Whether you are new here or have been around for all the seasons of SOL VIDA, I want you to know: we’ve been spending this last part of the year dreaming up major movement portals for you.

Stay tuned as we begin to unveil all the ways you can become a part of the budding SOL VIDA MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE. Monthly Unwind & Grind movement rituals and The Embodied Revolution movement labs are on the horizon…

The seeds have been more than planted… the roots are taking hold… we are ready to break through… the Collective is coming.

Can you feel the light?

Are you ready to move with us? Are you coming through? Keep an eye on your inbox—this revolution is just beginning.

Before we close the ritual for today… I’m wondering how you’re connecting to the spirit of Umoja. For me, it’s been calling in our collective energy.

Whether it was a quiet moment of internal alignment, being out at a Kwanzaa celebration, or a deep connection with your kin, I’d love to hear from you. Drop a word in the comments and let’s be together in this sacred haven❤️‍🔥

Ya’ll, we have done this.

It’s a good time to call it. You’ve done enough. You’ve been enough. You gave enough.

It is enough. ❤️‍🔥

If you’re anything like me, I know you poured your heart into your projects, your people, and your forms of protest during this Gregorian calendar year. But let’s be real: the world is sick. It’s so easy to get programmed and distracted from being in tune with nature and our bodies. It’s a set up.

Surely you’ve felt the spiritual, psychic, and physical toll of being drained from Fascism and the daily grind of trying to make this world better. On a global level, it feels like a frequent attempt to soul-suck our energy. Whether it’s the workings of capitalism, the weight of patriarchy, or the systems of oppression within our own organizations—it is all a form of distraction from what we know to be true and pure.

We get caught up in the mind, and when we get away from the body, there is a fundamental dysfunction. We lose presence. We suffer. We hurt.❤️‍🩹

I sit with one question: What does it mean to decolonize? Specifically, what does it mean to decolonize our bodies and the way we live in relation to ourselves, each other, and this beautiful, hurting planet?

Choosing Softness Over the Grind ✨

How can we remember and reclaim what actually matters? When we get away from the body and get caught up in the mind, there’s a fundamental dysfunction—we lose presence, we suffer, and oftentimes we can hurt physically and emotionally.

It’s Christmas Eve as I write this, and I’m proud of myself. I chose to commit to my daily ritual—which has included journaling, breakfast, “werking out,” and sun reverence. Because of that, I feel calm, grounded, and unrushed. I’m choosing softness, slowness, nourishment, and time outdoors. 🌿

I don’t believe in going crazy for capitalism and Christmas. Instead, I keep my eyes on the prize for what I know is coming in just two days… Kwanzaa. 🕯️

Just this morning at my rec center, there was a sweet setup for people to write intentions and wishes for the season on a wishing tree. Without hesitation, I wrote:

“FOR EVERYONE TO PRACTICE THE PRINCIPLES OF KWANZAA EVERYDAY!” ❤️‍🔥

I have deep Black Pride, and I looooove that Kwanzaa was made for us, by us. And yet, I truly wish for everyone to embrace these principles—they are such essential practices for life. There is a tension there, right? The holiday is made by and for Black folks—but EVERYBODY needs this medicine; it’s a true remedy and antidote.

I don’t want to gatekeep it, nor appropriate it. Our world is complicated like that. Just think for a moment—we know that so many people of the global majority, the Indigenous, and the African Diaspora hold the keys to living in right relation with the Earth, the body, and each other.

We as an entire society need this.

As a bridgebuilder and a multidimensional being of mixed cultures, I just feel compelled to share. These principles inform my lifelong values because they offer a way out of the grind that is life and back into our truest, most Divine selves. ✨

Let’s Go From Burnt Out to Vital 🪴

I want you to Unwind from your Grind—whether it’s work, family, or the political weight that has you caught up. I know there is a better, more joyful, slow, and soft way to be in the world. I want to give you the space to offer yourself grace and gratitude for everything you’ve survived this year. 🌿

I believe embodying the principles of Kwanzaa is the best way to spend the last seven days of the year. I practice every single year, and starting December 26th, I want to share my tried-and-true ways of reclaiming all that you are.

You’re officially invited to join me from December 26-January 1 for…🥁🥁🥁

7 Days of Kwanzaa: A Ritual Guide to Embodied Liberation & Energy Reclamation.

✨❤️‍🔥🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️❤️‍🔥✨

This is a free ritual guide and collection of tools—incorporating dance, writing, visioning, and conscious consumerism—to move through as the spirit leads you.

When I say “movement,” I mean it in every sense of the word: the way we move our physical bodies and the way we move together politically to change the world. This is a space intended for movement seekers and artivists who are ready to shake off the grind and reclaim rooted, ancestral joy. ❤️‍🔥

These practices will show up in your inbox vs. social media when you subscribe… and that feels delightful to me.

Subscribe now

No matter what you do, I hope you take the time to ask, believe, and receive everything that is yours and have a chance to slow the fuck down, breathe, and be.

Let’s go from “hella tired” to vital.

Let’s choose to reclaim and remember who we really are. 🌿A Rainbow Light Warrior and Super Magical Shiny Super Star 💫

P.S. If you’re already subscribed, all you gotta do is receive these messages. ✨

This was exactly the case during my last trip to Costa Rica, where I served as an embodiment guide at The Sensual Selves Retreat. 🌿🌴

I arrived a day early at a small boutique hotel near the airport before commuting to our coastal, ceiba-filled oasis. I hadn’t anticipated talking with anyone, let alone learning a ritual that would become an integral part of my life.

The owner of the hotel was a bona fide, self-proclaimed SUN WORSHIPPER! ☀️🙌🏾☀️

What a delight to hear an elder proclaim this identity! It was a powerful reminder that I am not alone in this way of being. He spoke of sun-gazing and sun-basking as ancient practices used across cultures to connect with divinity, magic, and spirit.

This charismatic man challenged me: “Raise your hands to the sky and let the rays of the sun permeate your being every single day for 40 days.” He also encouraged me to go barefoot while doing it. He promised me it would change my life. ✨👣✨

So, I began. But I decided to add my own twist. 🌀

Earlier that year, while training to become a teacher through the Satya BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training, I learned a complementary practice—a way to clear negative energy and supercharge the physical and ethereal body with the sun’s potent frequency. 🧘🏾‍♀️⚡️

I want to share this fused ritual with you now.

I’ve taken this practice with me from the ceiba trees of Costa Rica to the golden hills of California. Below is a video of me moving through the ritual—feel free to follow along with my movements as you find your own rhythm.” 🧘🏾‍♀️🎬✨

In a world that thrives on our disconnection—addicting us to phones, excess, and chaos—we must counteract the noise with personal devotion. Regardless of where you are in the world, taking time to be with the sun is a powerful grounding activation.

✨🤲🏾 The Ritual 🤲🏾✨

I personally perform this ritual in the morning to clear my slate and set an intention for the day. 🕊️

1. Ground Yourself 👣: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Feel yourself rooted. Lift through your spine with your palms open at your sides.

2. Receive 🤲🏾: Raise both hands above your head, palms facing the sun. Sense the sun activating your palms with rainbow light energy, traveling through your entire being. 🌈✨

3. Root 🌳: Bring your hands down, facing both palms toward the earth. Imagine the mineral-rich soil rising through your hands, giving you the force of the earth and a sense of rootedness. 🪵

4. Listen 👂🏾: Place both hands on your belly—your center. In this space of stillness, listen to what your intuitive center is feeling. 🌊

5. Release 👋🏾: Raise your palms again. Take one hand and brush the opposite arm—from the palm, down the forearm, to the heart. As you do this, imagine releasing anything weighing on you and “flick” it back to the earth. Repeat on the other side. 🌬️🍃

6. Bathe ☀️: Raise your hands back to the sun. Imagine bathing yourself in rainbow healing light. Caress your body with this light from the crown of your head down the front of your body. Repeat this for the back of your body.

7. Offer 🙏🏾: Raise your hands one last time, then bring them into a cupped position in front of your heart. Close your eyes and speak a prayer.

SOL VIDA™ Tip: For an extra activation, perform these same steps on your ethereal body by making the gestures a few inches away from your physical skin. ✨ I like to dedicate the final prayer to the collective—envisioning healing for the planet and its people. 🌏🤎

This practice has deep roots and a sacred lineage, and while I prefer to let the movement speak for itself rather than a formal name, it is a real-deal practice that must be honored for its source. I feel it is a gift to be able to fuse the hotel owner’s raw sun-worship with the intentionality of this yogic flow. 🧘🏾‍♀️☀️🧘🏾‍♀️☀️

What if you did this for 40 days?

How might your life and your presence change? 💭✨

🤎 Join the Revolution🤎

Loved this ritual? There’s more coming. ✨🧘🏾‍♀️✨

Starting December 26 – January 1, I’m dropping a free journey right here on Substack:

7 Days of Kwanzaa: A Culturally Rooted Guide to Embodied Liberation ♥️💚💛🖤

This is for the Sun-Devotees, the “Shady” Peeps, Artivists, and Dance Lovers! You don’t have to do a thing but watch your inbox starting the morning of the 26th.

Not a subscriber?

Join us now so you don’t miss Day 1: Umoja… which means Unity! 👇🏾

I spent a great deal of the last two years working in public education as a high school Performing Arts Teacher. I always said I loved the kids, and I detested the system.

Into my second year, my body started sending clear, painful messages about my aversion to grind culture. This manifested in migraines 🤕—so severe I would be violently ill in the bathroom. I leaned hard into spiritual protection: covering my head, saying protection spells, and mandating a highly structured life. This included rigid meal planning with high protein and forcing myself to go outside while the majority of other staff stayed indoors. I also had such a difficult time attending to my basic biological needs—I often joked with a fellow perimenopausal teacher that we needed at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted time just to take an effing SHIT. Lol.

It got so bad that I took FMLA, spending the near end of my teaching year on a four-week hiatus to reclaim my energy.

I was absolutely clear this was going to be my last year teaching in this way. The only reason I had said yes to the job in the first place was that in the summer of 2023, I hit zero—an all-time low of no funds, a thick stack of debt, and a lack of conviction to place all my bets on self-employment. A former colleague contacted me, offering a chance to make the biggest salary of my life, and there was something incredibly soothing about that stability at the time. 💰

I spent a great deal of the beginning of 2025 creating what I called my “Bridge to Freedom.”

I paid off all my debts, mapped out a potential business plan, landed contracts for the summer, and created a savings account set to last me at least three months. I also established a new financial “zero” of $5K so as to never repeat the circumstances that landed me here in the first place. 🗺️

Alas, the end of the school year came, followed by proper farewells and a month of musical theatre camps. Then came August.

This is when the grief spell arrived.I dreamed of all the youth I left behind–feeling guilty and sad that their dear Performing Arts class and teacher went M.I.A. 😭

This is when my personal Rest Revolution began. ✨🙇🏾✨

The idea of Rest as Resistance is a major movement I’ve followed for years, created by Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry. One of my favorite quotes from her is, “We Will Rest.” It’s become a motto and serves as powerful permission to “lay yo ass down” 💭

I’ve actually always been a napper, but grind culture got in the way of that. Many cultures and countries understand this concept—from the midday siesta to those who value a whole holiday from June to October, as I experienced on the coast of Spain in the summer of 2017 (which you’ll learn more about when I start releasing these chapters from The Unschooling Chronicles). 🏖️

Rest is a right. Rest is essential.

I took my “Bridge to Freedom” and fully embraced my “Freedom Life,” which included A LOT of sleep. After weeks of rest, I realized just how much the system and grind culture had sapped my vital energy. There were days when I truly felt I couldn’t do anything. And there was a persistent voice trying to combat me—saying I was lazy, asking if I wasn’t going to do something productive. But my inner wisdom knew better: I knew that no matter how long this rest spell lasted, it was going to have an incredible ROI (Return on Investment). 📈

And I was right. After a month of resting, being, and doing whatever the $\text{fuck}$ I wanted, a new energy started to emerge—I felt I had capacity. Now I was able to move on to daydreaming, visioning, and doing the thing I love, which is creating the life of my dreams. 💭

Did you know there are many types of rest that don’t just involve sleep?

This was crucial information for me to know that rest can be creative rest, social rest, physical rest, mental rest, and more. I did it all. And I continue to do it all.

My Favorite Rest Revolution Rituals ✨🧘🏾✨

For me, some of my favorite rest rituals look like:

• ☀️🌲Earth & Sun Worshipping: Laying a blanket down on the ground to do a combo of earth and sun grounding.

• 🛌🏾Physical: Taking naps, going to bed hella early, Yoga Nidra practice.

• ^🕺🏾Social/Creative: Going out dancing with friends, phoning a friend, taking a vision walk.

• 🪞🧴Self-Sensuality: Self-love in the form of touch, beautification, and counting gratitudes. 🙏

One of the main lessons I’ve learned from embracing my personal Rest Revolution is: GO SLOW TO GO FAST. (Say that again and again.)

Every time I get amped up, anxious, or feel like I’m on some supercharged timeline—it’s a signal to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN. 😵‍💫

Since prioritizing rest and slowness, my nervous system is so much more regulated—it truly surprises me how calm and grounded I remain. Friends and comrades have commented that I look lighter and my energy has changed. Ultimately, I have a lot less anxiety, less physical discomfort, and I get to listen and honor my body every single day without limitation. 🕊️

5️⃣ Rest Revolution Rituals for You to Enjoy at Ease

• Read–at least five minutes, and can you indulge for longer or more frequently?

• Yoga Nidra–almost immediate nervous system reset if you have 5-30 minutes

• Daydream–la,la, la, la, la… what’s in the clouds? What’s in your 3rd eye?

• Cacoon—yes shut down the world and create your own rest nest.

• Nature Bath–yes love, go outside, please, this is the ultimate remedy. Feel the sun, hug the trees, put your feet in the earth.

☎️Heeding the Call

This revolution isn’t just for me. If you’ve found yourself going against your will, experiencing anxiety or having a hard time stopping (the werk)--may I recommend taking your own personal Rest Revolution.

✨🔛✨ The Calling: Choose a Rest Revolution Ritual from above and practice it as many times as you can this week. Which ritual do you automatically feel attracted or resistance to—do that one!

Next time, I’ll share one of my favorite embodiment practices for immediately connecting to the light, your body, spirit, and feeling the Axé (ah-shay)💫

Guess what’s coming December 26-January 1?!

♥️💚💛🖤

7 Days of Kwanzaa: A Culturally Rooted Guide to Embodied Liberation

For Culturally Rooted Movement Seekers, Artivists, and Creative Changemakers.

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