for so long, i thought my value lived inside of productivity. i’ve always felt like i had to do something to be someone. i filled every quiet moment with noise, every pocket of time with scrolling, always responding to texts very quickly, a task, a distraction, it was always something. i started misunderstanding the difference between being tired and being overstimulated.
i didn’t realize how long i’d long i’ve been performing. they say that some years are questions and some years are answers. this year was an answer: telling me to stop shrinking myself into role i never even auditioned for.
lately, i’ve been seeing a lot of ‘personal curriculums’ and all of these challenges to be better towards the end of the year so we can start 2026 on top. it’s easy to feel like what do i need to fix today? i need to change my habits, my eating, my morning routine, my workouts, my journaling practice, my emotions. everything feels like it’s under constant surveillance.
wellness has been shaped into this phenomenon that makes us feel like we need to buy more, do more, engage with more. but i’m realizing more than ever that wellness and peace is not something you can buy. it’s something you create. it’s about building it.
i don’t know who needs to hear this but wellness when you’re broke looks very different. it’s not matcha lattes, pilates studios and fancy journals. it’s sitting in silence before your day starts. it’s meditation. it’s EFT tapping. it’s prayer. it’s taking deep breaths and actually feeling your feet on the ground.
listen to your body’s whispers before it starts to scream. it says things like ‘slow down,’ ‘go to bed earlier,’ ‘drink some water before that next coffee’. when we ignore those cues, they don’t disappear. they turn into fatigue, anxiety, bloating, and brain fog.
most people don’t realize how exhausting their daily habits are for their gut. skipping breakfast because you’re “not hungry yet.” drinking coffee before water. eating lunch in front of a screen while replying to emails. grabbing something fast between calls. rushing through dinner. sleeping late, waking up tired, doing it all over again. we move so fast that our body never gets the signal: it’s safe to rest, to digest, to breathe. when your nervous system is in constant fight-or-flight, your digestion follows meaning you may feel tight, sluggish, overworked.
sometimes chaos feels like home. the rushing. the overthinking. the need to fix, to control, to plan. it’s the stimulation that keeps my mind moving so fast i never have to sit still long enough to feel. it’s sneaky. this addiction to movement. because it looks like productivity. it looks like discipline. it looks like i have it all together. but really, it’s survival dressed up as ambition.
most people think gut health is just about food. it goes beyond that as everything is a part of our diet. gut health both what you eat and what you don’t eat. it’s rhythm. it’s pace. it’s what you do before and after meals. it’s how you start and end your day. your gut doesn’t just digest food; it digests life. and if life feels rushed, scattered, inconsistent.. your gut will too.
i’ve been a holistic nutritionist long enough (6 years) to know this: motivation comes and goes but systems and rituals carry us. it’s not about building discipline for the sake of feeling like you’re getting something done. discipline without alignment is force. what truly holds us together are the daily rituals.
i recently celebrated 1 year living in mexico city and i was so excited! i posted it on twitter with a series of 4 pictures of me smiling and exploring the city. somehow it made it’s way to mexican twitter and it took such a nasty turn. what i thought was a moment of celebration and joy turned into a massive amount of hate.
never lose hope. just re-direct it. maybe our hope in this season doesn’t live in the idea that someone else will treat us better. maybe we hope for other things. we hope to find the strength to move on. we put the hope into our dreams, our goals, our ambitions.
Less is always more. Focusing on multiple wellness goals at the same time can prevent us from making intentional, lasting progress. So this year, I recommend starting with just 1-2 very specific wellness goals for the next 12 weeks. Keep it simple and focused.
Feelings are just information. They are just telling us what we need more of. They let us know what our unmet needs are. Whether that’s more intimacy, connection, adventure or purpose in our daily lives
Lately I’ve been redefining my identity, my relationship with social media, my purpose. In the beginning of October, I was feeling like I had more questions than answers and now that it is over, I’m realizing some questions are answers. I feel more emotionally sober. I feel more clear. I feel like this is the beginning of getting back to myself.
The leaves are beginning to change, we can feel the transitions happening in real time. Many of us start to feel a shift in our mood and energy level, often leading to fatigue, mood swings, and an overall sense of disconnection.
In today's hyper-connected world, social media can feel like a double-edged sword. While it offers connection and inspiration, it can also lead to overwhelm, comparison, and self-doubt. Recently, I found myself in need of a break
Sometimes we’re not hungry. We’re bored. We’re lonely, sad, frustrated, anxious, unfulfilled. Sometimes we’re really just craving a good laugh or a better job or a really long and warm hug. There’s feeding your body and then there’s feeding your life. We want to do both.
how to start creating better habits. we start by shifting our perspective on it. no longer moving from a space of what i need to get rid of and instead stepping into a space of what i need to add more. always more, never less.
Our bodies love a good balanced amount of omega 3, 6, and 9s. The best ratio is 2-1-1. If this all sounds like mumbo jumbo to you, Forest Remedies makes this a lot easier! They have plant-based supplements with the right combination of all three omegas. This is exactly what our bodies need.
My top two must have omega supplements from Forest Remedies are the Ahiflower Oil Multi-Omega and the Elderberry Immune Multi-Omega.
After a whirlwind of a year in 2020, many of us are looking for a positive and fresh start to the year - and a great way to do this is by making your home a place of zen. It’s likely that we’ll be spending plenty of time at home still, whether it’s because of remote working, virtual schooling, or you’ve just gained a new-found love for your home. So, it’s more important than ever to make your home a place of zen.
While I was hospitalized in Paris by myself, I started thinking about what I was doing to myself, who I wanted to be and how I wanted to show up in the world. I knew I wanted to be someone who inspired people, who showed people another way, who changed the quality of peoples’ lives. I knew I was into fitness. I worked out 2-3x a day for modeling at the time, so I started there. I started researching physiology and exercising. Then I started studying to be a personal trainer through the NASM certification program.
Diets do not work because they don’t teach you how to listen to your body. Even the best diets don’t work. Over 65% of people who go on diets gain the weight back within a year later. They are good for the temporary win only. So yes, you may lose the weight at first but it will come back. They go against intuitively connecting with your body and learning what works best for you. The key to sustainable healthy weight-loss is changing your lifestyle habits.
Whoooo said fitness couldn’t be fun? It’s just about finding a workout that you love. So switch shit up. Try a workout you’ve never tried before. Working out does not have to be boring… or stagnant. Adding some excitement to your exercise regimen will more likely keep you motivated to staying consistent with it. Change your perception of fitness from chore to chance. A chance to get one step closer to your body goals. And it won’t feel like a chore anymore.
Having a morning routine that mentally, physically and spiritually fulfills you is one of the best things you can do for yourself. When you make more time for yourself you have more control over creating the life you deserve. Changing my morning routine changed my life. Studies prove that when you start your day off immediately looking at your phone it increases stress and leaves you feeling overwhelmed. This is why having a self-care morning routine is so powerful.
Social media anxiety is real. It has this interesting way of making us feel like we need to strive for perfection. Things will trend, things will fall off, then something else will trend, and something else will fall off. It’s a vicious cycle. And this cycles affects me because I tend to get discouraged when it comes to posting for this very reason. Talk about applying pressure. Solution: Focusing on my purpose and how I can actually help people inspires me to stay motivated to post.
Primary Food is the nourishment we get outside of our plates. It’s the “food” that really feeds your soul. It’s having a self-care routine, having a fulfilling career, having nutritious relationships. It’s how we feed our mind, body, soul. Our lifestyle is our primary food and actual meals are our secondary food. The more primary food we receive the less we depend on secondary foods to fulfill our needs. And vice versa, the more we depend on secondary food the less we receive primary food.
Cartagena, Colombia was truly magical. This was my first time ever traveling with a group of friends (I’m always traveling solo) and I couldn’t have asked for better company. It was 5 of us: Mell, Kim, Manda, Cymone and myself. I highly suggest traveling with a group of solid, reliable, genuine friends. They made the trip and my birthday was divine and special and til this day I’m so grateful to have meaningful friends. Being surrounded by love and light was all I could ask for bringing in my new year.
Last Saturday, Afropunk has Brooklyn on tilt. As always it was unapologetically Black and unapologetically lit and I wish I could relive the moment all over again. There was so much to see, so much to do, so much to eat. Every year I look forward to it because I know I’m going to be around power, around love, around soul. There is so much diversity in Black people and the magic was magic everywhere. Black girl magic, black boy magic, non-binary, queer magic, all types of beautiful infectious energy going around.
spring isn’t just a season. t’s a biological invitation. things that were dormant start moving again. so if Q1 felt abnormally heavy, slow, scattered and overwhelming, that’s winter doing exactly what winter does and this is the beginning of you finding your footing for this year. Q2 is where things turn up a bit.