What’s more powerful than you? The only limit you have is the one you set for yourself. You have the power to make change. You are the creator and the world is your canvas. I know that money (or the lack of) is holding a lot of talented people back. I came here to tell you today, to let that detail go and believe in yourself. You have to be intentional about what you do. Be steadfast and dedicated to your vision. The resources you already have are more than enough. Invest in yourself, use your money and time wisely. We’re in an age of entrepreneurship because people are tired of capitalism. The integrity of business has declined drastically due to people losing track of who they are and what they come from. We’re not happy in our 9-5 jobs, we let money determine our self worth. Although money is necessary, shift the perspective to work in your favor. In reality, it’s printed and we’re in trillions of dollars of debt as a nation. So, take money off the pedestal you’ve set it on and think of it as something that comes and goes. What’s in between is what is important; things/resources. I believe personally, trade is the most humble way of business, but we’ve progressed into a systematic strategy in order to separate the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. I imagine money being a result of that mentality. We all have qualities and we’re made to create from the inside out to represent ourselves. We’ve progressed so far into a consumer perspective, we’ve lost touch with our creative and innovative nature. Be mindful of this and start training your mind to be more of a creator than a consumer. We support each other. Be knowledgeable about where you spend your money and how. We’ve been inadvertently supporting child labor, communism, capitalism, low wages, etc. This is imperative to understand because there’s enough money to go around. We don’t have to depend on specific brands to provide for us when their integrity is compromised. It’s all connected, If you support them, your integrity is compromised as well. We have the power to control what succeeds in society based off how we spend our time and money. Invest in yourself, make room for your gifts and your gifts will make room for you!
There’s 1 million different ways to get to the same place. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. Our habits make us complacent due to comfortability. If/When we reflect, we’re justifying ourselves with illusions. We’re not completely honest with ourselves, which will create a disconnect from the being within. This disconnect will result in mental illness, physical sickness, and emotional turmoil due to our toxic cycles. So many of us are spaced out and disconnected from the world. We’re insecure about ourselves and our lives and have no idea why. We change jobs, find new people to be around, different things to do and still feel stuck in life. If you can relate, your root chakra is out of balance and you are not grounded in the right things. The sad thing about this common issue, is that we are not in tune with our instinctive energy that was manifested in the womb to the age of one year old. This gives you an idea of how early the pollution of our bodies and minds begin.
Many circumstances and variables of life will give and take energy from this chakra at any moment. An energetic blockage at the muladhra chakra can be caused by anything that instills panic, fright or extreme worry, including being homeless, losing your job or the divorce of your parents when you were too young to understand. Life-threatening situations obstruct the flow of energy. If you feel disconnected from your body, live in a fantasy world craving constant change and frequently resorting to escapist activities, then your Muladhara energy is deficient. If you feel preoccupied with routine and fear change, stuck in life and think in terms of black-and-white; you see others as being with you or against you, are frequently depressed and/or obsessed with physical security, then your Muladhara energy is excessive.
The Muladhara chakra is located at the base of your body and governs your skeletal and auto-immune systems, as well as your bowels and teeth. Along with the universe, our body is constantly telling us what is wrong. When this energy is out of balance you may find that you suffer from frequent problems with your; legs feet, knees, base of spine, butt and sciatica. Working with this chakra will allow you to connect with your body again and enhance your ability to eliminate what you no longer need or want in your life. Reflecting on ourselves and our lives is beneficial because we find solutions within our problems. If we get past the uncomfortability that we feel, we will create and use the necessary energy to rearrange our thoughts in a more effective manner. Be honest with yourself about the things you’ve normalized that are not beneficial to your growth. This includes but is not limited to; people, thought processes, actions, substances and ideologies. Our foundation needs to be re-evaluated constantly, otherwise we will resort back to the same things that limited us in the first place. Along with specific yoga and meditation practices, reflecting is the strongest way to connect with inner knowledge. Your brain and body are designed to work in your favor. If you continue to poison what you are made of, what you create will continue to be tainted. To ground yourself with meditation, mentally repeat the following affirmations while planting your feet firmly on the ground:
-I am exactly where I need to be
-I am nurtured by the energy of the earth
-My body supports me with its strength.
This will begin to surface, expel and utilize the necessary energy to reveal the answers you seek regarding your imbalances. Consistency is vitally important. You absolutely have to manifest the correct energy to start seeing the correspondence it has within the universe. if you return to bad habits, you’ll continue to see the same results, inevitably.
Work Cited:
Saradananda, Swami. The Essential Guide to Chakras. Watkins Publishing Limited, 2011. Print
The Women’s Convention held at the Cobo center in Detroit, Michigan this year was a compelling event bringing awareness to the Trump administration agenda. The sessions held at the convention contained a lot of information and perspective from a citizen point of view as well as those of power and influence. From the comfortability of old information, to the future of our water systems and the decline of the importance of education, women from all over the world came to talk about it together! People on the panels for discussion explained the policies and laws trying to be passed through Congress and the progressive impact these will have on society in the coming years. The conversations held at The Women’s Convention were uncomfortable, yet necessary and exhilarating.
Tarana Burke, Founder of #METOO Campaign, photo credit: elleuk.com
Speakers like Tarana Burke, who originally founded the #metoo campaign dealing with sexual assault and violence, brought awareness to neglect of victims and prosecution of offenders. Mayor Karen Weaver attended to continue awareness and involvement of communities pertaining to clean water and the Flint water crisis. Congresswoman Maxine Waters empowered the crowd with a very inspirational and informational speech in relation to the Trump administration and how their positions in office have crippled the nation. The Women’s Convention was a declaration of the power in unity. The protests of thousands of women who came together resulted in a movement that represents us all. Everyone was encouraged to take their rightful places and bring the conversations back to their communities to ensure change.
Mayor Karen Weaver (left), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (right) photocredit: google.com
The reality of the issues at hand is that they’re not being dealt with. Trump continues to neglect issues that hit home for everyone in the nation while securing the necessary policies and connections to advance his own agenda. Puerto Rico, whom we colonized, is still in ruins til this day from the destruction caused by hurricane Maria, when we have the necessary resources to help them. Supplies and resources are being withheld solely because of a paperwork issue they feel is necessary in order to save lives. Our President and his administration are coming together, spending valuable time on things like; gaining access to drill pipelines into our oceans, declining access to affordable healthcare, promoting the oppression of the people they govern, encouraging and igniting civil warfare, and degrading and discrediting the importance of women who birthed the people of this nation. Ultimately, we are being conspired against and our ignorance will allow the dismantling of us all. We are the people and the people have power. That power lies within unity, knowledge and awareness of issues affecting our communities and electing people who have already been a part of the solutions, on the front-line, fighting for us. Be sure to get out there and vote for your local officials at general election, Nov. 7th! The fight starts at home!!
As the years go by we have more of an external influence, than an internal influence with our youth about sexual intercourse/health. Everywhere you look there is a subliminal message seeping into our subconscious influencing us sexually, while our peers are too uncomfortable to relay the proper messages directly. We have an increase of activity within our estrogen receptors thanks to the processed foods and the materials we eat those foods in, causing hormones to spiral rapidly at younger ages than usual. Needless to say we are bombarded with the idea of acting on such hormones without sufficient education to be aware of the risks, (i.e. STDS). In 2016, Americans were infected with more than 2 million new cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, the highest number of these sexually transmitted diseases ever reported according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Beside those three, along with HIV cases which are required to be reported to the CDC each year, they’ve estimated that there are more than 20 million new cases of STDs in the US. At least half occur in young people ages 15-24.
Courtesy of The Daily Mail
Chlamydia is one the most common diseases easily transmitted through all forms of sexual activity; vaginal, oral, and anal—as well as through childbirth. Most people have no symptoms, meaning it usually goes untreated, ultimately causing a pelvic inflammatory disease that can scar and affect fertility in women. In men, it can cause testicular pain and swelling. Gonorrhea can also be a silent infection but usually is accompanied with burning during urination and vaginal or penile discharge. If caught anally, it can create itching, bleeding and painful bowel movements. If not treated, gonorrhea can cause severe and permanent health problems, including long-term pain and infertility. Although Syphilis was once less prevalent in our country, it has now become once again a harmful, potentially deadly disease on the rise. It can easily be mistaken for other disease due to its wide range of symptoms which include rashes and chancres, or sores, fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, headaches, muscles aches and fatigue. As the disease progresses, the symptoms go away, and progress silently to it’s most deadly stage.
What makes matters worse is that sexual education is on a decline in the US, according to an analysis of survey data from 2006 to 2013. “The declines in formal sex education we observed since 2006 are distressing, but unfortunately are part of a longer term retreat from sex education, especially instruction about birth control methods,” said lead study author Laura Duberstein Lindberg of The Guttmacher Institute in New York. The researchers used interviews taken from nationwide household surveys administered continuously between 2006 and 2010 and between 2011 and 2013, focusing on respondents aged 15 to 19 years. The analysis included responses from about 2,000 teen boys and 1,000 teen girls in each wave of surveys.In the 2006 to 2010 surveys, 70 percent of girls and 61 percent of boys said they had received formal instruction about birth control, which dropped to 60 percent and 55 percent, respectively, in the 2011 to 2013 surveys.Girls also reported less formal education on STDs, HIV and AIDS prevention, and saying no to sex over time. Both girls and boys reported more formal education in saying no to sex without instruction about birth control in the second survey wave, the researchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health. As of 2013, fewer than 5% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students aged 13–21 reported that their health classes had included positive representations of LGBT-related topics.
We have an increase in sexual interest and activity due to many reasons, yet we also have funding cutbacks for prevention, education and healthcare programs, and an overwhelming amount of social media influence that have all contributed to the rise. Young adults are not only less educated on the topic, but more influenced by it, causing an increase of vulnerability. Adults on the other hand, should learn to be more pro-active when it comes to their own indulgence and advocate for their offsprings’ sexual health as well. It’s time to start having the conversation and being more conscious about who we lay down with so that we can start utilizing prevention methods.
Featured photo credit: medicaldaily.com
Flint, I can’t wait to come home & kick off this DOPE Project!! If You are an Artist from Flint & YOU ARE DOPE….Meet Us Saturday Feburary 27th 5 pm Flint Local 432 124 W. First St. Flint, Michigan 48502. Come READY to showcase your talent!! Professionalism is a MUST #Leggo
Greetings Beautiful People!!
Friday March 18th 7:00 pm meet me at Oxygen Lounge & help me CELEBRATE my 40th B~Day Bash 10 S Calvert St, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 ……SEE YOU THERE!! XOXO