Kickin' It with Mao
Full Moon Reflections
Welcome to the 1st Full Moon Newsletter!
What to expect every full moon:
Honestly, iono… I started this newsletter as another avenue to connect and share in community our journey in surviving capitalism and reclaim our TIME and SELF. Some days are harder than others to unplug from the productivity matrix. So… to avoid putting myself in a creative box and vicious cycle of overthinking, it will definitely look different every time!
I am heavily inspired by Dr. Ayesha Khan and Dr. Nedra Glover Tawwab’s writings that differ greatly from one another. Dr. Khan’s writings are beautiful, insightful, curated pieces that engulf me in abolition, community care, and decolonized healing whereas Dr. Tawaab’s offer concise, equally beautiful, curated nuggets of knowledge and insight. So, 1. Follow them, por favor. 2. My writings will probably be an in-between of the two with the recurring topic themes you see below. 3. I’m so excited because writing was always a creative outlet for me but I have forgotten it for so many years so thank you for being here for the my return.
Why the full Moon cycle?
The Moon’s importance transcends cultures, traditions, practices and peoples. Spiritually and agriculturally, the full Moon with its position in the lunar phases cycles, provides illumination, an invitation to pause and notice the moment, the abundance, and the fruit of your labor. I hope to cultivate a space for creativeness, awakening, and illuminosity for all of parts of us, especially the ones that need most care and love. Because in darkness and shadow, there is light.
Music is Medicine
How music got me through Texas military technical training in 2007
I longed to leave my hometown of Lynn, MA as a free-spirited, deeply lost 19-year old so I enlisted into the Air Force because YOLO? I couldn’t have said "PEACE” faster but once the dust settled literally and figuratively, I felt homesick for Lynn, Boston, my friends, and my roots. Nights became extremely lonely and mornings dreadful (didn’t help that we had to wake up at 0430hrs to pretend to clean the dorms.) My job was to clean the outer area of our building but we didn’t broom so I literally kicked leaves around for weeks. That’s the military for you. Anyway... I digress.
I was sad and too stubborn to recognize it and come to think of it, I could of and should have called my friends more. I had access to a cellphone even back in 2007. I lacked all kinds of “coping skills” but music was ALWAYS my go-to since as early as I could remember.
As I reflect back, community still supported me during this time because my friend lent me his portable DVD player (he was fancy and from Texas) and another friend lent me his Bob Marley and the Wailer’s CD. I WORE OUT The Sun is Shining.
The vibrations of melodies and words transported and grounded me at the same to remind me…
“When the morning gathers the rainbow, want you to know I'm a rainbow too, so to the rescue, here I am.”
*Follow my “Music is Medicine” playlist on Spotify for healing vibes*
I completed a 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Susanna Barkataki with no Lululemon pants in sight
“Yoga has always been a science of liberation.” Susanna Barkataki, Embrace Yoga's Roots
As many Americans, yoga was introduced to me via exclusive feeling yoga studios and the pretense of it being a good workout. At the ripe age of 19, I couldn’t be bothered by any type of exercise that didn’t make me almost die or vomit (hello, military training brain-washing) so I found a hot yoga studio in Albuquerque, NM in 2010 and crammed in with minimum 25 bodies and 25 pairs of judging pair of eyes. It was an intense workout sprinkled with Sanskrit words and pose shaming but to my surprise the hardest part was the Savasana (corpse pose) and meditation where I had to quiet my thoughts and return to the present moment.
I was IN and tried to practice consistently but couldn’t quite ever fit into the “yogi” aesthetic that I was seeing around me. Why???? BECAUSE THOSE SPACES WEREN’T FOR MY BROWN ASS. Those spaces were for thin, middle-upper class White woman that wanted to namaslay all day and only superficially “practice” yoga when it was convenient. In all fairness, I was not practicing it correctly and I felt it.
Fast forward to 2022, Susanna LITERALLY pops up into my Instagram feed calling out Headspace app owner for his colonizing and white supremacy “reasonings” about why he doesn’t have more Black, Brown, and Indigenous meditation teachers. Susanna was it for me because she EMBODIES Yoga’s roots and the art of liberation, hence why she wrote her dope book Embody Yoga Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Practice.
This is where I learned that there are NO such thing as “yoga pants” because you can practice yoga in anything and that there are EIGHT limbs to the sacred yoga practice and tradition. True story! The yoga classes we attended are most likely only teaching ONE limb, Asana.
Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter where I dig deeper into the 8 limbs of Yoga.
Currently Reading
Fiction
Y’all… I haven’t finished books at this pace since I was a CHILD with all the time in the world to read. I finished theses two series from the talented Octavia E. Butler.
Non-Fiction
A recommendation for those interested in starting their journey in decolonizing healing.
Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice Rupa Marya, Raj Patel
Radical Self-Care Reflection
I was hella grumpy by the end of the week and realized that I didn’t go outside and touch the actual ground for DAYS. I wasn’t TOO busy to go outside or working non-stop. I honestly forget to go outside. I’m lucky AF and live on the beach so visually I see the coconut trees and beach outside my window and it feels ALMOST the same. IT’S NOT. I learned that I NEED to touch my feet on the ground so…
Here’s your reminder, touch your bare feet outside. You’re welcome, bestie!
Let me know below if you did it!
Hold Up, Wait A Minute Podcast
First Episode of the series dropping on April 19, 2023 EST.
Make sure you follow or subscribe now to catch the episode where I talk about how self-help may be harming you more than helping.