I Love Myself When I Am Laughing...And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: Women of Color Yoga Retreat

"I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive" -Zora Neale Hurston

First and foremost, I must give a major shout out to my Dear sister-friend and co-creator of "Self Care for Brown Girls" Satta Jallah, for inviting me to the Women of Color Yoga Retreat founded and hosted by Mama Maya Breuer who is the Godmother of Black Yogi Goddesses. I had this retreat on my mind, spirit, and heart since relocating back to New England five years ago and never took the time out to attend due to life happenings. Life always happens right! This year, I said to myself that I must attend this retreat regardless of what is going down because it was something that my FLY Holistic self-needed. Chile... this yoga retreat was and is everything!

When I arrived at Kripalu, which is in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, I had the calming and serene spirit come over me. Despite the ride being long and grueling due to being on the Mass Pike a few hours battling traffic, people's reckless driving, and many shortcuts later, I have made it to Kripalu. Kripalu is a holistic healing retreat facility that sits on top of this beautiful mountainous hill that is filled with nothing but green space, pastures, and picturesque scenery just like the brochure captured it. I am a huge fan of green space because it reminds me of studying abroad in Jamaica and the green space gives you that feel of slowing life down and being thankful for the simple things.

I was in awe because I was able to unwind and unplug because something I feel as though I am the Guru of Go and Guru of Problem-Solving so I had no problem with not using my phone, being in social media, answering emails or being productive. I had a chance to relax, take in the sacred space and get in tune with what my body needed and wanted. Let's talk about the non-GMO and organic food that was provided for dinner. Wo (man) listen, I am already in this lifestyle transition in which I a consuming more fruits, veggies, and yumminess without inducing meat and fish. I guess you can consider me a Flexitarian in which I totally made up this word or I have borrowed this word from somewhere. I enjoyed my dinner, but we still had an evening of the program to attend and enjoy.

Friday's night programming was filled with an unapologetic meet and greet of the attendees and presenters of the weekend. I looked around and was among all types of Black women from various parts of the US, various body types, curves, life experiences, and just overall Sistahs who were also in need of holistic healing and a break from what reality dishes out to Black women from day today. I truly enjoyed sitting in our sacred Sistah circle, I appreciate dancing to Janelle Monae's 'Tightrope" song in which we all dance in unison and had just been liberated to move our Black Beautiful Bodies the way we wanted to without heat and judgment. We worked up a great sweat until.... we had to go back to our rooms and get ready for Soul Yoga at 6am. Yes, 6am, ladies and gents and your girl is not a morning person, but I took a few for the team lol.

I truly appreciate Soul Yoga because we were able to tap into our "Black Star Power" in which I reference it. After all, it helps you to become mindful and present to breathe, releasing, and not being hard on self. We all were wiping the sleep from our eyes and sat in silence because we were like "Damn, I just went to bed a few hours ago and now I have to do movement" LOL! Gotta love it. Another intriguing part of this retreat happened to be during silent breakfast in which you must use non-verbal communication in silence lol. You also have the option of going outside and talk to your heart is satisfied. I choose option 2 because I just needed to release my Soul Yoga experience to someone in our retreat who wanted to share their experience as well. I met a fellow Brown Girl From Boston who shared her experience of being an exam school alumnae, fellow life coach, and a woman who just was overall FLY. She was very unapologetic about switching her careers from being this high power attorney to transition to being this sincere, nurturing and loving life coach who just got a life. We were dropping gems on one another, but I did more of the listening because she was my elder and I have a tendency of taking mental notes and using the knowledge later on in my life work.

After breakfast, we all shook our heads because we were in for an afternoon filled with self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-actualization. During the afternoon session, this weird and stagnant filled the room in which we didn't focus on Metaphysical and Holistic Healing. Maybe our bodies' collective said "Nah" and just rejected the teaching to the extreme that our presenter notices the energy and just shifted her lesson by kindly and judgment-free telling us to get our mats and lay corpse style for 25 minutes. Chile... 25 minutes felt like 25 hours because I have tapped into my "Black Star Power" and beyond through yoga Nidra, meditation, and just allowing my body to melt into my mat. I remember being snapped out of the meditation and looking at one of my new found sister-friends asked her about the Yoga Nidra experience. She looked at me and she too tapped into this unknown place that felt good for the body. You had to be there to experience it. Our presenter went ahead and continued to drop more knowledge after that 25-minute meditative experience. We also went into depth with grief and loss in which we had no other choice but to let our guard down and fully be present and vulnerable with our own loss and the grieving process. Losing someone, something, or being lost is something we don't reflect on because we don't want to re-experience the hurt, pain, shame, disappointment, or other sentiments that come across grieving and loss.

We had the opportunity to tap into our inner child and play because they knew we needed more play in our life. We just needed to blow bubbles, chew bubble gum, eat candy, and laugh because as women of color we are constantly on a tightrope and the folks waiting for us to fall off. Nah. I truly appreciate the playtime because we think it is childish and immature to play while our inner child is balled up into this ball waiting to be released and awaiting a fun time.

On Sunday, we created a holistic, self-care roadmap to bring back with us when times get tough. What I loved about creating a roadmap was the simplicity of how we can incorporate things we have learned at the retreat but break them down to something simple. We often complicate things by adding unnecessary things to our plate. To eat watermelon, you must cut and eat one piece at a time instead of the entire thing. Let's stop complicating our lives and suffering in silence because we want to accomplish everything in one day while wearing our full suit of armor. No, ma'am, take things one breath, one assignment, one activity at a time.

With the Sistahs after our walk around the Labyrinth

I am glad that I was able to attend this beautiful retreat because I needed to unplug, tap into my Black Star Power, meditate long term, go into Yoga Nidra, challenge myself, meet beautiful women of color in which we are all interconnected and different while embracing it. It felt great to be in the mountains, overlooking the water, while eating organic, homegrown food and indulging in high-frequency conversations filled with substances and unlimited wealth of knowledge.

My favorite part of the retreat beside the yoga, dance, meditations was walking in the Labyrinth, which is the meditative walk surrounded by plants, flowers, and earth. This part of my retreat experience helped me to expand my experience because I love being surrounded by silence, beauty, and nature. I love doing this while the sun is kissing my skin and receiving the Vitamin D. I also enjoyed laying in the sun with my sistah-friend while discussing life, social justice, purpose, and passion. I don't take the time to really just intake and appreciate green spaces while having meaningful conversations with folks who are on the same frequency.

In conclusion, I believe all women of color should attend the Women of Color, Yoga Retreat. If you are shy, introverted, extroverted or whatever, please sign up for this retreat. It is such a sacred and non-judgmental experience in which we all need in this cold and cruel world. You don't need yoga experience because all levels are welcome and remember yoga is a non-judgmental, positive mindset that focuses on the breath, mental and physical health. No worries. No body shaming. No exercise shame. You will be guided by the best presenter and Sistahs! I will definitely attend this retreat again. Kripalu is such a beautiful and serene to get away and become grounded again. Western Massachusetts definitely possesses some hidden gems that people from all over the world have tapped into. I want to again thank all the presenters and Sistahs for sharing sacred space with me and everyone.

If you are a woman of color and you are interested in this retreat, please check out http://www.mayabreuer.com/ Maya Breuer's website and Kripalu's website: http://www.kripalu.org/
You will find information on the next women of a color yoga retreat and other things going on for women of color, yoga retreats, workshops and more.

Get ready to tap into your Brown/Black Star Power! If you have any further questions about my experience, the programming, or just want to drop a line if you participated in the Women of Color Yoga Retreat because of comment below. Please

Brown Girl From Boston Celebrating 2 Years of FLYness

"We ain't gotta wait It's a toast to you and me
Bills ain't so bad, celebrate that
Party in the yard 'til the lights come on
Ain't nobody crying
We've come so far, been climbing
Now the clouds they passed us by
C'mon and raise your glass up high"- Common, Celebrate

On May 14, 2016, Brown Girl From Boston officially celebrated two years of being a blogger and business owner. Most startup businesses usually fail or business owners quit their businesses around this time. Many are not supported, they go into business for the wrong reasons and intentions of becoming a billionaire and making a profit from people. Yes, you want to profit from your business because it will be your main livelihood one day. If you are going into business to make money off the rip, you need to review your intention of starting a startup because the money will not fall from the sky in abundance. The clients are not going to kick down your doors waiting to buy your services and business. You will fail over and over because you may not find your formula yet, you don't have someone to mentor you and guide you, and you don't give things a try.

I am thankful that Brown Girl From Boston is still going strong because I wanted to quit Brown Girl From Boston every day. Things got tough, I wanted to quit. I had writer's block, I wanted to quit. I got taken advantage of by some people who wasn't part of my tribe, I wanted to quit. I didn't have any structured order and formula, I wanted to quit. I was alone, vulnerable, and stuck, I wanted to quit. Every time, I wanted to quit, I had my village especially my husband pushing me to keep moving forward. Each time, I thought about quitting, blessings and opportunities came all the way through and I am thankful to God for that.

Let's talk about Celebrating FLYness:

Hunti, I work hard, I play hard, I love, hard, and I coach hard. The grind is too real and I am about the grinding life. I had to slow down on the grind to celebrate a milestone. I was working so hard the first year, I didn't have time to celebrate and embrace Brown Girl From Boston. I love telling my story of Brown Girl From Boston's beginnings. I always make people laugh when I tell folks that I used to work for the Devil Wears Polyester, not Prada. Despite leaving my job as a Director, I did learn a lot about myself and managing folks from various walks of life, personality traits, and character. I need to go through that experience to know how to effective run my business, attract my clients, and press forward when times got rough and tough.

Everyone should celebrate their greatness and FLYness because, in the society we live in, folks are on autopilot. Folks forget to celebrate milestones, accomplishments, and thriving in life. I know there is plenty of work to do but you still don't want to rush through life and forgot to celebrate the small and large victories. Celebrate your life and your life work.

I wanted to celebrate in Providence first because I started BGFB here, I build partnerships and tribe members here, and I just wanted to give back and kick back and enjoy the Brown Girl Tribe. I wanted to celebrated and enjoy one another company and network because we need one another. Also, there isn't a lot of events that celebrate women's FLYness in Rhode Island and other areas. We had women from all walks of life who came out and showed love to BGFB. We have the twenty-something year old to the young and vibrant baby boomers. BGFB definitely bring out best of both worlds and women in between. This celebration was laid back, fun-loving, positive, and open. I stated whatever happens in Brooklyn Coffee Teahouse will stay here. No, I will not share our intimate conversations but know that it was live and plenty of aha moments appeared. Thank you, sistahs, for being so open to share.

I want to share a few blessings that occurred before the celebration to help it become magical:

1. I have to give a major S/O to Diana who is a Brown Girl From Boston, my husband's former high school classmate who was so gracious enough to give and sponsor three deserving women to attend this event.

2. We had a few connections and reconnection during the FLYness celebration. My Mattapan FLY Girls came through and two of them reconnected after not seeing one another since the 6th grade at Thompson Middle School. It was awesome to see the reconnection. We also had two women who connected because they knew the same person. That person was one person's brother and he was the other FLY girls supervisor. Life is crazy.

3. While we were talking about balancing life, business, and intimate relationships; Mr. Imafidon rolled through (LOL). My face was priceless because I wasn't expecting him. Thank goodness I was bad-mouthing him. That is a no-no anyways.

4. We had the perfect amount of women, the perfect energy, and synergy in the room. Each woman was different, similar, came from various walks of life and connected through BGFB. How beautiful! Check out the photo above. No one was domineering, no one was shaming folks, no one bashing folks, and no one brought heat or judgment to the FLY Girl Sistah circle. We all brought our shine and FLYness to support one another.v

5. We were bummed that it had to come to an end. We were vibing, laughing, and enjoying one another's company.

To end this blog post, I have to say this, no copy and paste Brown Girl From Boston because there is only one me. No this isn't an arrogant statement nor a boastful statement. Being Brown Girl From Boston, running Brown Girl From Boston blog and coaching services may look FLY and easy but it is not. I had to find my voice, find my FLYness own my power, and refine Andrea. Brown Girl From Boston isn't going anywhere because we are just getting started. For those who rock with Brown Girl From Boston, I love you, I love how you let your FLYness shine, and I appreciate and see you, FLYness! Thank you for allowing me to be kind, FLY, honest, authentic, funny, Hip Hop Brainiac, brainy, brown, and the FLYest Brown Girl that you know thus far.

Thank you all for the love, support, readership, and well wishes throughout the two years of Brown Girl From Boston! I thought I told you that we won't stop, we are just getting started, Baby!

Peace, Love, and FLYness

Drea

Brown Girl From Boston