My love of travel began with road trips to Virginia, Gary, Indiana and Washington D.C. in our orange Cougar XR-7 with my family, the car filled with the music of Gary Byrd, The Brothers Johnson and Parliament Funkadelic, the smell of freshly fried chicken and Wise potato chips and me lying across the Popeye-themed sheet strewn across the backseat so we didn’t make a mess. High class and first class? Probably not. An environment that encouraged memories that not only last a lifetime but are so strong, the need to replicate these experiences with my own children is strongly ingrained? Most definitely. Vacations, via airplane, to places like Disney-world and Aruba came later (cue “The Jefferson’s” theme song, y’all!) and poured huge amounts of lighter fluid on my already smoldering flame of love for travel.
During this same time my love for dance was growing by leaps and bounds with my mom “famously” forcing me to dance every weekend with La Rocque Bey’s children’s dance group and taking classes whenever I could. From that studio, to STEPS on Broadway to Broadway Dance and Millennium Dance Complex and, of course, dance floors from here to Hot-lanta, GA, my love of dance was “solid as rock”. As an adult, yoga became another form of movement and freedom for me. Yes, free your mind and the body will follow!
It’s only fitting that I want to offer yoga, dance and travel all at once. My love, study and pursuit of all 3 happen in my life simultaneously, anyway. It’s not overwhelming. For real, it’s a shitload of fun. I’m about to make all that happen for all of you.
Internationally, I have taught in Aruba, Panama, Costa Rica and Peter Island, BVI. I have lead retreats in Costa Rica and Panama. I am now more confident to head up a bunch or retreats and adventures every single year. Why, you ask? I attended and graduated from a 50 Hour Business of Retreats Teacher Training in Morocco to learn how to better provide an amazing, empowering, life-affirming and memorable experience for every participant.
Let me tell you, Morocco was amazing for me. This baby girl had the time of her LIFE!! The training was ridiculously informative (my bonus: I get to support and learn from the 2 incredible female entrepreneurs who hosted this training: Marina De Lima and Anayra Calderon) and the nearly 3 hours of daily yoga was….well, ouch. My experience was filled with beautiful views, lovely people, delicious food, awesome shopping and excursions that allowed me to see the beauty of my surroundings. The sights and aromas of Morocco are something I will never forget. Get ready for my Morocco retreat in September 2019 to build your own memories.
Other retreats to look forward to with empowerfit Wellness Retreats: Vermont, the Maldives, Nigeria, Haiti, Greece, Bermuda and West Virginia. Trips will be domestic and international, day excursions, weekend trips or 8-day adventures and will generally feature a service component through the empowerGive branch of my company, where you are able to donate time to help progress a local cause and enrich the lives of people in that immediate area. In other words, get ready to have the time of your lives.
I flew across the world to the motherland to follow my dreams and invested a lot of money into this experience because I believe in my vision and in the greatness God has in store for me. I invested in me and, in turn, invested in you. This investment in myself in not solely about me. It is about: my love and commitment to the community I serve; making yoga and dance accessible, fun and freeing for everybody and every body; showing little girls who look like me that they mustn’t let anyone’s perception of them hinder their views of how beautiful, worthy and exquisite they are; keeping up my mission of promoting and encouraging optimal health and wellness; encouraging, empowering and motivating women; the legacy of the ancestors who have come before and the fought the good fight so I can do what I do now; being an example to my son to be true to who he is and give himself permission to live life to the fullest; and, opening up the world to those who never believed the world was accessible and theirs to enjoy and explore. And, at the base of it all, I want peeps to have a good time. For real! Explore, meet new people, make friends out of strangers and live life!!!!!
#muchlove #yoga #dance #travel #experience #love #explore #adventure #chill #wholebody