Spiritually Speaking

Examine and challenge your own racial biases, prejudices and conditioning. Identify any bias you may need to unpack and let go of. This is a process and if you are doing it truthfully it will be uncomfortable.

Spring breathes new life into the world around us, it is the perfect time for awakening. No winter lasts forever, blossom by blossom, spring begins.

The yogic principle, brahmacharya or non-excess, reminds us to let go of distractions and excess, and instead to rest and recharge. The avoidance of excess and extremes, especially in our behavior, will lead to a more joyful life.

White Ally: A Guide to Cultivating a Deeply Spiritual AntiRacism Practice is available now on Amazon. 

This is a book about a deepened yoga practice, a spiritual practice, of intense self-inquiry, of examining who you are and your racial identity. Below is a preview from the book.

 I'm excited to share with you that my first book will be published soon! 

White Ally: A Guide to Cultivating a Deeply Spiritual AntiRacism Practice

You can pre-order the ebook here and paperback will be available August 1st. 

I have always loved books and began writing as a way of healing when I was twelve years old. It's been a dream of mine to write a book. However, this is not the book I had in mind. The way babies choose their parents, this book chose me in so many ways. 

7 Ways to Reduce Your “Racism Footprint”

EARTH DAY, an annual event which began on April 22, 1970, will be celebrated next week. It is a day to celebrate the planet’s environment, and raise public awareness about pollution and climate change. We have been warned of climate change and the effects are now upon us with heat waves, fires, flooding, and droughts.

Healing Internalized Racism

As people of color are targeted, discriminated against, oppressed, or victimized by racism over a period of time, we sometimes internalize it. We develop beliefs, actions, and behaviors that support or collude with racism. 

Internalized racism is when members of oppressed or marginalized groups hold an oppressive view toward their own group, or they start to affirm negative stereotypes of themselves. The person may feel a sense of inferiority and turn the experience of oppression inward. It is both a conscious and unconscious acceptance of the racial hierarchy that states whites are superior to people of color. 

Internalized racism has its own reality and consequences in communities of color. There is a system that expands the power of white people and at the same time undermines the power of people of color. 

Photo of Jean Marie Moore, Co-founder of Anasa Yoga. Photo taken in front of Anasa Yoga Studio in Oakland, California

The Benefits of Yoga for Women of Color:

15 Reasons Why I Practice Yoga

The practice of yoga originated in India with the intention of preparing the body as a foundation for unity with the spirit. Yoga is a system that is much more than practicing asanas or yoga postures. The physical postures are just a small part of the practice. It is a way of living designed to heighten our awareness of how we move through the world, how we interact with others, and to deepen our experience of oneness of mind, body and soul. Yoga teaches us how to live skillfully in the world. You practice the skills to not just survive, but thrive and live fully in the now. Through the practice of yoga, you may begin to deeply heal and transform your life. As you attain deeper states of awareness, you may experience a kind of freedom or wholeness called samadhi or liberation.

Anxiety is the leading psychological challenge for black women in the United States. Many Black women have turned to yoga to improve their over-all health. The practice is used to reduce illness from cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke that plague Black women. International Journal of Yoga and PubMed journals routinely conclude that yoga's health benefits include a decrease in several types of anxiety and depressive conditions. Sisters, Sadie and Bessie Delany, both lived over 100 years; they credited four decades of daily yoga as a main variable in their longevity.

Understanding Race: 20 Things Everyone Should Know About Race and Racism

By now we know that race isn’t real, but it still remains our deepest divide. It is time to take a closer look at race, begin redemptive conversations, cultivate deep healing and choose right or compassionate action.

It is important to understand the difference between racial bias and systemic and institutional racism. Racial bias, whether conscious or unconscious, often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity. Xenophobia and anti-immigration are examples of prejudice, bias and hate, but systemic racism is something different.