YOGA BEAUTY WELLNESS

on this day, exactly eleven years ago today, my mother entered the Baptist for her second mastectomy. the cancer was vicious, relentless, and evidently insatiably hungry for the life of my mother. She had already had the other breast removed and she went into this surgery confident that it would be best.  i remember her strength and her faith most vividly during this week. i also remember her strongly rejecting my request for funds to purchase a new shirt for the pastor's appreciation that was coming up that Friday. i'm not sure if my mother knew this was her last week on earth. there were no "final conversations" or any discussion of what was next for our lives without her.  she would leave behind her four children, her dreams, and ultimately, a life well-lived that same night of the pastor's appreciation, which also happened to be All Saints Day. my mother's life, her struggle with breast cancer, and her early demise at thirty-three helps def...

When I see this picture of Josh, I am reminded of his days at Tougaloo and the light that he so easily exuded. He was a giant; not only in stature, but in heart and soul. Seeing him go after his dreams inspired me personally to know that all things are possible to a willing heart if one is ready to dream big, take risks, and put in the work. His life had merit because he was not afraid. The sky, although he could reach it better than most, was not too distant-- the unreachable attainable.  Josh represented the best of who we are and what we can become. When I learned of his sudden departure from the classroom of life last Friday, my heart was overwhelmed. Surely, this dreamer still dreamed and had plans for continuing the great work he had begun. I was perplexed, and more precisely, devastated. Sitting under the stars that night, and sipping hot cinnamon tea, I gave thanks for the chance to know him. I gave thanks for his life. I cried for his mother and those who loved him. I c...

at the dojo of my meditation teacher, BeBe Wolfe as of late, i have been reading a lot about the ego from such metaphysical authors as Marianne Williamson and U.S Anderson. because i have been reading this type of material for a while now, i thought i had moved beyond my ego... i was confident that i had it in check. "of course, i don't have an ego problem... i'm on a spiritual path", i would tell myself. but that was just the ego's way of entering the house from the back door.  you see, the ego is the part of us that we believe in. it's our story. whoever you think you are and whatever you do makes up the egoic myth. it limits us to our own irrational thinking and blocks us from the miracles that occur naturally as a part of the divine order. i love how Dr. Wayne Dyer defines it as Edging God Out. so whenever we are absorbed in our thinking or trying to solve our own problems, even the most minute ones, we are coming from our limited, fear-based p...