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One of my sisters always says "if you never expect anything from anyone, you'll never be disappointed." In today's episode, we're exploring that mentality from a different perspective and also how we can build/ work on our own boundaries, standards, and expectations.

Let's talk about being the squeaky wheel. Closed mouths don't get fed and no one is just going to hand you anything or what you deserved, unless of course you're one of the privileged and protected in which case lucky you! For the rest of us, this episode is a compilation of 3 tips I can offer you having over 3 decades of being the squeaky wheel under my belt. In this episode, you'll learn how to speak up and advocate for yourself smartly to get what you want out of life. Not only what you want but what you deserve. Let's get right on into it honeyyy! 

Ya girl is a Lululemon Ambassador! To say I am honored, excited, still somewhat shocked, grateful, proud, and humbled all at the same time would be an understatement. This has been a journey that's been 6 years in the making. As I reflect on this time in the fitness industry, the highs, the lows, being the squeaky wheel, and rebuilding during a pandemic, one thing that stands out is remembering your WHY and letting that guide your goals, vision, and motivations. Trust in the timing of your life, what's for you will never pass you so if it's meant for you, it's going to happen. Let's talk about it!

Burnout! What is it? What does it look like? How do you address and begin to fix it? That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode as I come off a spell of burnout. It took me a minute to recognize what was going on and if you’re experiencing the same, I’m here to help you approach it from a mindfulness perspective. Let’s get into it!

Happy Black History Month! I wanted to wait until the end of the month to share my thoughts on Black History Month - ranging from pride, joy, and excitement to frustration, disappointment, feeling drained, and ultimately disappointed. This starts off in childhood as often the only or one of few Black kids in class through experiencing life as balancing two identifies - a 1st generation Nigerian American and culturally being raised as such, one foot in that world, while also a Black American with my other foot in that world dealing with all the stereotypes, discrimination, prejudice, and racism that comes with that. Black History Month has become a lot less complicated growing up and understanding both of my identities. With the understanding of age also comes awareness and ultimately at times disappointment in society as a whole with how Black History Month has become little more than performance theater during February. So yeah, complicated feelings I wanted to wait until the end of the month to share in hopes that we can stop the performance of Black History Month that’s so often present when celebrating and be more intentional year-round.

In my last episode I talked about being your own goals and how important being aligned with your why will help you achieve your goals however about 15 minutes into the episode I realized that was kind of like putting the cart before the horse. None of it will make no sense if you don’t know what your why is. If you don’t even know how to find it. So today’s episode is a two-parter and actually should’ve been the first episode but here we are. In this episode we'll cover: what is your “why”, how to find your why, and how leading with your why will change your thoughts, which will change your actions, your habits, and ultimately change your life. Good stuff so grab a journal, a piece of paper, get ready to get uncomfortable, and let's dive in!

Nearly a month into the new year, how are your resolutions and goals coming along? Keyword - YOUR! If not so good, maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board and reflect on why that is and dig a little bit deeper as it pertains to your motivations and intentions behind this goal. A lot of us without knowing it take on goals the goals of others thinking that if we do what they do or have what they have then that'll get us where we want to be in life or who we want to be however that couldn't be further from the truth. Yes it's alright to be inspired by others however if your goals and resolutions are not in line with your personal 'why", then your actions won't line up because you're misaligned. Let's talk about it and the importance of being your own goals! 

"It's just a preference." Right? Wrong. How many times have you heard that tired phrase that has been used to normalize, dismiss, and downplay racism, prejudice, and bias, particularly when it comes to Black women? It's time to have an honest conversation about how this "preference" excuse is over 500 years of conditioning. Conditioning that has a certain aesthetic and group at the top and another at the bottom of some racialized hierarchy of beauty. Misogynoir is as American as apple pie and when I hear people dismiss their racism and disgust of Black women as a "preference", it goes to show just how little people understand how much they've been conditioned by westernized/ European beauty standards and white supremacy. Let's talk about it!

Happy New Year! There’s all of this energy around this time of year as people are setting their goals and resolutions for the year. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or comparing your goals against someone else, this episode is for you! Challenge yourself to taking a new approach to goal setting this year. Instead of just thinking about what you want to achieve- think about how you want to feel then make those goals. Listen to the episode to see how and happy goal-setting!

The idea of women “having it all”, newly reframed as “balance” is nothing new but a recent interview my friend sent me of Gabrielle Union on vehemently rejecting this lie, this myth, this toxic notion had me like YASSSSS! In today’s episode, let’s talk about why this myth still exists and how we as women can stop it and reframe what “all” looks like/ means for us, individually.

6 years ago I got certified as a spinning instructor and have been teaching since 2016. The rest is history! Well not history but the present. It’s been 5 years of fun, realizations, connections, tears, highs, lows, yeses, and nos so I’d say a look back is in order. Let’s get into it!

In last week’s episode we discussed internal self-awareness. Because none of us exists in a vacuum, we need to be mindful of the ripple effects our behavior has on others which begs the question in the title - am I choosing to be a blessing for others? Today we’re talking external self-awareness which boils down to being aware of the impact our words, actions, and energy is felt by others. Understanding this essentially comes down to mindfulness - being present in the moment and possessing a certain amount of internal self-awareness.

Self-awareness is at an all time low but it doesn’t have to be the case for you. In this episode, we’re talking about how to establish self-awareness, what self-awareness means when it comes to finding your why, and using both to ultimately become the person you want to be to get to where you want to be.

I've talked about this before in a previous podcast, probably about a year ago at this point, this idea of "returning to normal". Normal wasn't working and I genuinely think the desire to run back to broken systems, burnout, unhealthy behaviors, stressful situations, and toxic environments is a missed opportunity to reflect and act upon everything we learned during this panini and ensuing quarantine that has changed everything. It's a sign that the devil we know is better than the we don't however how can we know better, or that it will even be a devil, if we don't give it a try? We reacted and were forced to put new systems in place but should we be quick to throw those solutions that arose from the quarantine out just because we want to go back to things as they were before? No, I don't think so. Let's talk about it and continue to interrogate why we are so wanting to run back to certain things.

It's been a minute. More like 4 whole months, wow! In this episode I'm talking all things SoulCycle, where I've been, what I've been up to the past four months, and changes! I've never been a fan of change however this has felt like a season of change that doesn't show a single sign of stopping any time soon. Let's talk about it! 

Remember the days we hoped, prayed, manifested, and wished for what we have now? How quickly we forget about those days. In a society that puts so much energy and attention toward constant consumption and materialism, it is so important for us to be mindful to practice gratitude every single day and appreciation what we have here and now. Tomorrow is not promised or guaranteed yet in the pursuit of happiness, we forget this and forget to live in the present. We think that if we *just* have this one thing, if we just lose xyz pounds, or whatever else we're coveting, that everything will all of a sudden be better and we'll be happier. True happiness is appreciating what you have in the moment, no matter how big or small. Let's talk about!

We spend so much of our day prioritizing others, moving from task to task, and checking off items on our to-do list. What sometimes gets lost in this shuffle is making time to take care of ourselves. For our 8 meditation today, I offer you this practice as a moment to prioritize your own self-care and make time for you.

Took a little break but I’m back and excited to share the launch of my workshop - thoughts on my From Scarcity to Abundance Workshop: Diversity & Inclusion in the Fitness Industry. This workshop is scheduled for April 14, 2021 at 6 PM EST via Zoom & you can purchase tickets via the link in my Instagram bio. This was months in the making, truly a labor of love born out of a desire to create and improve health, wellness, and fitness spaces that are diverse, equitable, inclusive, and representative of BIPOC. In the podcast today, I talk about how I infuse mindfulness practices and mindset into this training to confront discrimination, racism, prejudice, inequality, lack of opportunity, and other ills born out of scarcity within our society that bleed into the fitness and wellness industry.

Take some time out of your day to show yourself some kindness. What would happen if the kindness and empathy we so freely give to others we showed to ourselves? No journaling for today's meditation, just you and an open heart ready to show yourself love and kindness. 

It’s nothing new that white privilege runs rampant in many spaces including work environments which makes them very toxic environments for Black people and BIPOC however it’s very rare to witness as explicit of an example as we did last week. On March 11, 2021’s episode of The Talk, Sharon Osbourne thought it was a good idea to cuss out and verbally berate her coworker Sheryl Underwood on national television. The show is currently on hiatus pending an investigation but if the shoe had been on the other foot and Sheryl Underwood as a black woman did the same thing Sharon Osbourne did, there would be no investigation. Underwood would have lost her job. Nearly every Black person in the work place has a story involving a coworker of this nature. I know I do. Let’s talk about!