296: Diversity in the Wellness Space with Koya Webb

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place to discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. If you are new here, welcome. What a beautiful time to enter this journey with us, the Spiritual awakening, as we continue to navigate the ups and downs and the growth that comes along with all of it of 2020. You know, when I created this podcast three years ago and began blogging 10 years ago, I was talking about the spiritual awakening, the new paradigm. And now people are starting to see it. We are seeing that all illusions have been swept from under our feet. Whether it is the illusion that we're never going to die, the illusion of separation, the systemic racism and oppression, and all of the systems that have existed in this country that are based off of injustice and bringing all of that to surface to be transmuted into light.

But that shit ain't easy. It ain't quick.

It comes with suffering, with pain. Because when you have been existing in a specific paradigm for so long, you think it is normal. You know, we think that a homeless person on the streets of every city is normal. We think that struggling to pay your rent every single month is normal. We think that not being able to do what you love for a living is normal. Or never being happy in your relationship, being depressed, being on tons of prescription medications, drinking yourself until oblivion just to have fun, living your entire life in fear. The list goes on. We think is normal. I hate my job. I hate my life. I hate this. I hate that's normal. But not anymore. Because normal does not mean healthy. It means it has been normalized. But a lot of unhealthy things had been normalized. And we are the people who have chosen to incarnate at this time, because we are part of the cleanup crew. We are the volunteers who have come here to look at all of the systems of brutality and injustice and oppression and patriarchy and homophobia that do not serve anyone. Look them in the eye and be like, yo, you out, you out, and we're coming for you. So Black Lives Matter. It is a global movement at this point, and regardless of whatever conspiracy you want to put on it, the fact is black people are hurting. They wouldn't be so loud if they weren't hurting. In fact, it is such spiritual bypass to pretend that, oh, well, this is all just a plan of the deep state. Because, you know, they're just. It is disrespectful to our black brothers and sisters to not honor the suffering that they are in. And look at the Systemic racism that most of us have played a part in, whether knowingly or unknowingly, whether it was going to school and there was a black kid and you just never really said anything to them because you.

Know they weren't cool.

Or maybe you were ashamed of them, maybe you didn't want to be around them.

Maybe it was every time you saw.

A black person, you clutch your bag. Maybe it was thinking that black people are dangerous, angry. Whatever the prejudice is, it's not your fault. It's part of the media. It's part of our school system. We're never taught the kings and queens that reigned from Africa were never taught the true history of what happened. We're never taught about the massive genocide in the Congo. We weren't taught these things. So people are waking up right now to the white privilege that they inherently have. Not saying that their lives are not difficult as well. But the fact that your skin is white in this country especially gives you a certain amount of safety, of privilege, of being able to be pulled over by a cop and not only not.

Be afraid for your life, but even.

Be pissed off at them. Black people. As, as Marco shared on the podcast last week, I highly recommend listening to that. And all month we are interviewing our black brothers and sisters to highlight their voices. But he shared some really eye opening stories that I honestly had never even thought about of just his experiences of being a black man. So the oppression is real. People would not be so upset and going to the streets if there wasn't a really big problem. So we get to not bypass over it. We get to not think we're more woke and we actually know the real cause and this and that. And let's listen, let's sit back and say, you know what, I don't know the answers. And the truth is no one knows the answers right now. But what we can do is open up our ears and listen. So in this conversation, I brought along my dear friend, Koya Webb. She is an author, a yoga instructor, a spiritual educator, and I've her for the past five years or so. And what I love about Koya is she has been working in the yoga and wellness sphere. Many of you guys probably follow her. She has beautiful yoga pictures on her Instagram and has been such a huge active voice in that yoga community. But what she has been really awakening into is the dire need for us to talk about politics, especially in the.

Spiritual and wellness world.

How we try to say, oh, I don't want to talk about politics, I don't do politics. And it's this like, you know, taboo thing that no one talks about. But your political views are how you see the world. And if we don't talk about it.

Especially as spiritual people, well, then the.

People who are going to go out and talk about it are often the ones who haven't done as much self inquiry and work that many of us have. The fact that you're even listening to Highest Self podcast shows that you are a person that really wants to dig deep and do the work.

But maybe you have been afraid of.

Politics because in the past it has been divisive. It has been that topic on the Thanksgiving table that gets everyone arguing or because.

Because you just haven't done a research and you don't know and you're afraid.

Of saying the wrong thing. So the first thing we get to do is admit. Admit where we are at, admit why we may have bypassed. I myself growing up as an activist, you know, starting the first Amnesty International chapter, doing all of this NGO work. When I turned 23 and really went through my spiritual awakening, I started to spiritual bypass 100. And I will own up to that because I was so overwhelmed by the problems of the world that I wasn't even sure what I would be able to do about it. And I felt like I had all of this healing work I had to do within myself. So I took a couple years off from being as hardcore as an activist as I was growing up. So all of us, I think, before 2020, haven't been fully playing as big as we could have. And we can own up to that. And now that we can see everything coming to surface from the injustices happening to the gay community, right, whose rights are being taken away by this president, to the police brutality, to the children held in cages at the border with Mexico by ICE, and many injustices in between. We get to be loud. We get to support each other. We get to not only care about our causes, but also care about other causes and join together. And we can see how beautiful it has been with this Black Lives Matter movement that we could all come together, whether we are black or not, and say, I see you and I support your cause. And then we can go, after we fix this issue, we can go to the next one and go to the next one and actually change everything in our society. But that's going to require us being okay with. With everything that comes with that, with people, people not understanding us, people maybe angry at us, whatever it is. So this is what we talk about today in this conversation with coia. Webb how to feel more comfortable. Why are we so afraid of talking about politics and then the right now in the allyship conversation, how can we be strong allies to our black sisters and brothers? How can we look at our own privilege that we have and use it in a way that can be constructive for all people? Because when one group of people in society suffers, we are all suffering. And right now it is our black brothers and sisters. So we get to use our voices, we get to speak up, we get to learn and we get to listen. So without further ado, let's welcome Koya Webb to the Highest Self podcast. And before we get started, I'd love to share with you this special offer. Are you ready to channel your full embodied goddess to work that spiritual activism to stand up for the causes you truly believe in and embody your your highest self? Well, if this is calling your name, I invite you to join us in my membership community Rose Gold Goddesses, the sacred sisterhood collective all about embodying the Goddess within. This month we are working with Sekhmet, the lioness goddess who is all about transformation and using that sacred anger towards change. We are drumming, we are dancing. We have my full four hour healing and embodiment workshop available for you, teaching you how to use your body as an instrument for healing, for transformation in a divine feminine way. We also have so many other workshops and master classes available for you, from my Awaken your powers masterclass with Shaman Durek to my Sex Money Magic masterclass with Alexandra Rock. So my Discover your Dharma 10 day audio course and dozens of other workshops including many from guests on the Highest Self podcast and member led workshop. So if this is calling your name and you'd like to join a community of 2000 plus spiritual soul sisters on our very own app where we're talking about all things spiritual, we're sharing what we're moving through at this moment and really supporting each other. Then I invite you to join us at Rose gold goddesses. It is rosegoldgoddesses.com the link is in the show notes and I'm so excited to meet you inside.

Welcome quite to the Highest Self podcast. It's so great to have you here.

Oh it's so great to be here Sahara. This is a very, very special time.

Such a special time and so long overdue in the perfect timing when everyone is just waking up to so much of the undercurrents of what has been happening in society and humanity and we are remembering why we incarnated right now. So I'm so excited to dive in with you today. And the first question I'd love to ask you is, what makes you your highest self?

Such a juicy question. What makes me my highest self? I would have to say love. Love makes me my highest self. And a lot of people ask, what is love? Love is compassion. Love is understanding. Love is education. Right now, love is all of those things that connect us and bring unity. And I feel like that's when I'm vibrating in that frequency of love. I am my highest self, and I'm not always there, by the way.

Well, you embody it so beautifully. I know when we did our IG.

Live, everyone's like, you guys are just.

Glowing, and you really do have that glow. And when we're together, we're like, glowing, but also like, oh, shit, let's tell.

It like it is.

And that's why I'm so excited to have you on this episode. So you are someone who is a spiritual educator. You are an author who really has dove in deep into your own fears and sharing them. Holistic wellness coach, sound healer, all of the things. And really what you are stepping into and encouraging others to step into is more of their activist side and their political side. So a lot of us have had this, you know, things said to us since we were kids. Don't talk about politics. The three things you should never talk about are like, politics, religion, and, I don't know, money. You know, so as a community, we've dove into the money, the abundance, that stuff. We've dove into spirituality, religion. But politics is still something that we're so afraid of. We're so afraid of the controversy that it creates. We don't want to be taken as incorrect or wrong. How can we as spiritual people bring politics into our conversation more without also this fear of losing ourselves in the controversy?

I think it's fear. The reason we don't want to get into it is fear. It's fear that we don't know enough. It's fear that we might say the wrong thing. It's fear that we might be on the wrong side. But what is the right side? The right side is a side. And it's like we have to take this social responsibility and realize that we are part of it. We are part of the love. We are part of the fear. We are part of all of it. And as soon as we try to step away from it, we step out of alignment with who we truly are, which is unity, which is oneness. We're all one. And so if we want to take a piece off, then that's actually the piece that needs the most attention. That part that we try to separate from is the part that we need to dive in. And for me, for so long, I was so scared, like, oh, I don't know and I'm not sure. Well, I had to educate myself and I had to. And when I educated myself, I realized that, oh, this is why it matters. If you speak up, look at all these people that follow you and that listen to you, that will get themselves educated because you told them to. And that is my social responsibility and living in alignment with love is to first educate myself and then pass the education on to my family, my community, and anyone else in the world that's open to listen.

I love that.

And you nailed it. It's our fear. And I think that when we bring up politics, it's not just like a one off, passing comment. You're not like, oh, I believe in this. And it's like gone. It's like it opens up a can of worms. Because under our political views are our life experiences. What our parents taught us, what our societ society told us, what our media told us, what our friend circles are telling us, who are we following? This all creates our political view. And most people have this sentiment that if you change your mind, if you change your mind on a topic, then you're a failure. So people, even in a conversation, if there is a good point being made, they're just so wanting to prove whatever viewpoint they have, right, that they're not really listening. So how can we open up a conversation about politics? And guys, when we say politics, we're talking about life, right? Like our basic life, our ability to just be safe, to have access to education, clean water, like these are all our politics. So how can we open up this conversation and also hold the energy that comes back to us of the fears, of the projections of everything that people shoot at you back, right?

I think we have to release, release judgment on ourselves and release the fear of being wrong. You know, I think that's the biggest one. It's like, you know, you might say something that is harmful to another, but just know, saying nothing is also harmful. It's actually more harmful because if you say something that is harmful and you get called out, or someone says, hey, you know, this is very toxic, then you've learned. But if you say nothing but you're thinking that anyway, then you're moving forward in a toxic pattern. But no one knows. And that's the thing with, you know, us talking about, you know, white supremacy. People are moving in these ways, and they have no clue. But you have no clue because you're not saying anything, and no one's talking about it, and you're not educated on it. But now that we're talking about being like, oh, my goodness, this was wrong, and I didn't even know it. Bingo. That's what I am so grateful for right now, is that we're talking about it and people are saying, you know what? I did say this, and I actually didn't know that was offensive. And now, because I don't want to, if anyone. I'm not. I'm going to move differently. I'm going to put different policies in my company. I'm going to speak differently with my friends because the awareness is there. But if you're scared, first of all, if you're scared to ever speak and say something, that's one thing. And also, if you're scared, the person being offended, because me, I was the scared person who was being offended. But I didn't want to rock the boat. I didn't want to be looked at as being divisive. Because when I did speak up, those are the things that came back. You're dividing the group. You're playing the race card. Da, da, da. And I never wanted to. That wasn't the point. It was like, no, this is really disrespectful. And so now that all of these things are coming out, the people that I spoke to are coming back to me and saying, coya, I'm so sorry. Like, I didn't even realize this. And I appreciate that because it's so hard in an industry, especially as a black woman in mostly white spaces. The microaggressions that I experience every single day is unbearable by most people. And I feel like a lot of, you know, black people and people of color endure this on a regular basis so much that it's actually normalized. So if we stop being scared to say the wrong thing, and if we are willing to be wrong, we can all heal together, the oppressed and the oppressor.

What I see happen a lot is just friend groups being oftentimes people who look like each other, like groups of white friends and even groups of black friends. And, you know, what I noticed is sometimes when you're a minority, you do want to be around people who look like you. There's something refreshing to be around people of your color, et cetera.

But what I feel like is really.

Missing is really diverse spaces where there is, like, everyone and everything. And we're all coming together.

How do you think we can have.

More diverse spaces from yoga classes to retreats to wellness events? So it's not just, this is a black event. This is a white event. This is an everyone event.

I think from experience, it's an issue of safety. I think people have to feel safe. And I feel like, you know, as a black woman, if, you know, and especially as a black woman growing up in mostly white spaces, being from the South, I feel that again, all these microaggressions, I didn't even know anything else. Like, it was very normalized in me that, okay, like, I might be here, but I'm not gonna get invited to the party. I might be here, but I might not be asked to speak. I might be here, but I'm probably gonna be less. I might be here, but I'm gonna get paid less. So that stuff is something that, yeah, this is happening and I'm moving through it, and I'm upset by it, but I just accepted it as, you know, I gotta stick it out to make a way for myself and to make a way for people to come and pave the way for people that come after me. And I think when I first started experiencing all black spaces through one of my alumni who came through my yoga school, Lauren Ashe, who has the community black girl in Om, I was like, oh, my goodness. I feel so held. I feel so nurtured. I can breathe like, oh, my God, it felt so good. So I think there's to feel safe that you can express and that you can be and that you can, you know, express even some of the microaggressions you might have experienced in other spaces is important, especially for black women and women of color. And I feel like that is so important. And I think, unfortunately, in the white spaces that sometimes a black woman is a threat. So that's another safety thing. On the other, it shouldn't be like that, which is why people are getting educated on why you shouldn't be scared of me for no reason, you know? But I think it's fear. At the end of the day, it all comes down to fear and love. And so I think that when we can start understanding each other and learning each other and holding each other's fears and listening to one another and saying, okay, I have this fear, and let's talk about it. And I think what we're doing now with the conversation is a way that we can dispel the fear and have people know there's nothing to be afraid of. And there Are systems of oppression that are important for everyone to know about. And that's what I'm hopeful about right now. Because people are understanding there are systems of oppression that are happening on a regular basis. And they have been taught to all of us, of all races. And unless we dismantle those systems, then black people are going to continue to be oppressed. And what I love is that people are educating themselves about those systems so we can change those systems so that I don't have to live in fear that just because of the color of my skin, I'm going to be disrespected, disregarded and put down, because that is not right and that is not fair. And that is what has happened my entire life, and I'm so sick of it.

I love that.

And 100%, I agree that there is this feeling of familiarity, safety when you are around people who've had similar life experiences to you. And being black is a life experience in the United States. It comes with a set of traumas collectively that specifically black people have experienced by being the most oppressed group in this country. And I think that a lot of times white people don't understand that. They don't understand the history. They don't understand how alienated a lot of black people have felt. So they're saying, well, why are you complaining? Or why are you so angry? Or why are you making yourself a victim? Why are you pulling the victim card? I'm sure you've heard all of these things. What do you have to say as someone who deeply understands spirituality, psychology, what playing the victim actually means in your life? When people say black people are playing the victim card right now, they're talking about the past instead of thinking about the future. What do you have to say to that?

I have a lot to say. I have a whole chapter in my book devoted to this subject. I am not a victim. I am a creator. And what I'm creating right now is education for people to understand systems of oppression. Read it up, do the homework, and make sure you're not a part of the problem. So I'm not a victim. But I will talk about how I've been victimized. Because just because someone's been victimized does not mean they're playing the victim. I'm a creator. I'm creating a life for myself. I've created a business for myself. I've created a company, a community. So I am a creator. But I have been a victim of white supremacy and systematic oppression and racism and all the things, all the isms Colorisms, sexism, like, all of them. Right. And so it's just conversation. Again, it's not a judgment. I'm not judging anyone. And I still love every person that I talk to. I don't have any less love for someone. It's just like, again, it's holding something space. So we can have a conversation now. If you don't want to have a conversation, you want to run around, run away, or be silent, then we don't have anything to talk about. Then don't talk about me, about doing something for your company. Talk about to me about being on my podcast. Because if you don't want to have a conversation about the elephant in the room, if you don't want to have a conversation about what's wrong with the systems, then we are really not having a holistic conversation. And I don't want to waste time if you're going to tiptoe around what the world is talking about. And I have so many friends that reach out to me, and they're like, hey, let's do this and let's do that. I was like, wait a minute. Are you aware of what's going on right now? And this is something that I want to talk about. And if my friends aren't willing to talk about it, then I'm at a point in my life that I'm not going to tolerate the spiritual bypassing, which I know you've been talking a lot about recently. I'm not going to tolerate spiritual bypassing. I'm not going to tolerate you wanting to be my friend, but not talking about what's been causing me pain in the last three decades of my life. And I just don't have any space for it anymore. I tolerate it for much too long. And it's like, this is the pain that I'm uncovering right now. This is what I'm educating. This is how I'm being a creator. So if you would like me to create with you, I would also like you to create with me. Create a more just world, Create a more fair world. And if we don't want to create together, that's fine, too. No love lost. But I'm not going to waste energy with you bypassing my pain so that I can promote you and do what it is you want me to do.

Definitely.

And let's talk more about spiritual bypass, because we see it a lot happening, and we know that, yes, we are all one. That is true from the highest level and absolute truth. Yes, we are all one. Yes, all of our souls have no color, etc. But a lot of people are using this as like this card to not get involved, to not do the work, to not listen to people that are in pain. I mean, if a lot of people weren't in pain, there wouldn't be all of these people, you know, coming forth with their stories. And another spiritual bypass that I see is to try to put like a conspiracy theory around it. Again, not saying that all conspiracy theories are false, A lot of them are true. But it's another way for people to just not listen to the pain that black people of color are in right now and just put the spiritual cloak around it. So can you share with me what you see around the topic of spiritual bypass?

Absolutely. I just feel that people are scared and they don't want to face themselves. They don't want to face the dark. And I face my dark. And I feel like we all have to be take responsibility for facing the dark or facing places where we're ignorant like you're ignorant until you know. And so I have places where I'm learning too. Like, I'm not just telling everybody to read me and white supremacy. I'm reading it too. I'm reading it with you. So I know one, how to become aware of what is happening to me and the community. I'm reading about politics. I'm studying up on the different things that I'm talking about. And so I feel like once you take that responsibility, not just to say this doesn't apply to me. And I think a lot of times, especially when it comes to politics like we were talking about earlier, well, I'm going to stay in my lane. I'm going to do my fitness and my yoga and my wellness. I'm going to let politics do politics. Well, that would be great if we weren't affected by the politics. But again, we're all one, so we're all affected. And oneness is not just about we all bleed the same blood. Oneness is about if one person is hurting anywhere, we are all hurting everywhere. And we have to cause the least amount of harm in the world. And in doing that, we then become concerned about equality. You're not really practicing yoga and unity anyway if you're spiritually bypassing the pain in the world. To me, yoga is not just asana. Meditation is not just closing your eyes and going for a hum. It is really addressing the darkness within so that we can address the darkness in the world. And if you're not willing to look at your own darkness, you're probably not going to be willing to look at the darkness in the world. And that is spiritual bypass.

So good.

And I think a lot of people learn about Law of Attraction in this.

Very basic way, and they think, well, if I think about something, it's going to show up in my life. So if I don't think about the darkness, then I won't have any darkness in my life. And they're using it as a form of spiritual bypass, you know, because Marianne Williamson was on the podcast and she was like, so if my next door neighbor was beating up their kid, and I knew about it, but I decided I'm not going to pay attention to it, does that make my neighbor stop beating up their kid? And it's just, I think a lot of us don't want to take the responsibility, you know, the responsibility of if there's something wrong, then I. If I am the universe, then I am one of the people that has to be involved in solving these issues. You know, I think people think, well, the universe is going to take care of it. That's you. That's you, Boo. So we're waiting for politics to handle it. Whoever who, who's a politician, it's a human being like me and you, and we are the people that get to create that change. But I think people run away from how heavy it makes them feel and how bombarding they feel. So what do you recommend for someone who, they want to dive into shadow work, but they're like, I don't even know where to start.

I like the quote, if you know better, do better. You know, and, and just know that if, when you dive into that shadow work, you're not just doing it for yourself, you're doing it. You're becoming an ancestor, and you're doing it for your lineage, you're doing it for your community, you're doing it for the world. I had to dive into my shadow because I was having PTSD because three cops drunk my brother when I was 8 years old. And like, I started having. Seeing my brother and George Floyd, like, changing places, and I was just like, having a really hard time and I was crying and I was like, I was seeing very, very. I don't even want to repeat it, but I was having very, very dark thoughts. And I was like, okay, this needs to be addressed. Any fear, any anger, any depression, any visions, pts, things like that, it is a sign that you have reached your level, a level of toxicity and unwellness that needs to be. To be addressed. And I can talk about other people all the time. But I think if we can talk more about ourselves and bring it home and take personal responsibility to our own shadows, darkness and traumas, then we will be able to hold space for others when it's scary for them to do the same. And so for me, I knew I had to do breath work, meditation, free riding, water therapy. I swear I took every ritual that I share with people in my book, and I did it. And after, I felt so much stronger because first I couldn't even say the story without crying. So I know I processed the pain. I've been holding on to that pain since I was 8 years old. It's been affecting my relationships since I was 8 years old. And so we all have things like that. We have traumas. And it's like if we don't talk about them, they're still within us, they're still in our DNA. They're still affecting us society. It doesn't just depend on if you want to address it or not. Someone's going to address it. If you don't address it now, then your children are going to address it. Then your children's children are going to address it. So you might as well do the best you can to unpack your pain and live in alignment with love. And that's what living in alignment and love is about. It's about unpacking your pain and realize that it's going to be messy and it's going to hurt. And shadow work is the deepest, darkest, because you got to let yourself go there. You got to write down what you feel, what you want to say, but you don't want anyone to hear. No one would ever hear you say these things. You got to get it out of your system because it's in you. It's in you because it needs to come out. And it might be in you because of trauma, it might be in you because of what someone said, but don't feel like you're a bad person and don't attach to those thoughts. Don't attach it. Maybe you're angry because all this stuff is going on and you said something or you felt something in your heart that was really dark and just sit with it and be like, okay, that is not me. You don't have to attach to it. That is not me. But I need to process this pain. I need to process this guilt and this shame. I need to process this fear. And I feel like if we own the fact that we are not, we are not our feelings and thoughts or emotions. We are love. We are all divinely Loved. Even though people are not well and people are functioning in toxicity. I truly believe that we all have the capacity to operate at a love frequency. But the more we pile toxic, emotion, trauma on top of trauma, that's what we see playing out. All this we're seeing is a co creation and we're a part of it. You and I and every person listening. When we take responsibility to do our own shadow work and start unpacking that pain by our own work, we are affecting those around us because they're going to see us doing the work. Maybe they do the work too. Maybe we're posting about it. Maybe other people do the work. And guess what? We all start to heal collectively. Now we're breaking down systems of oppression. Why? Because everyone's doing the work and they're posting about it and they're sharing it and it's catching on. And love is just as contagious as fear. But we have to be willing to go deep. We have to be willing to dig deep.

I love that.

So meditation, journaling, what's the water therapy that you're doing?

Oh, so water is one of my most healing elements. I think it's one of the most healing elements for any person. And so water, like when we're born, we're born in this sack, right? And it has a very purified quality, like everything in the world is energy. And nature has the vibration to heal us because it's at this natural vibrational state of love, right? And so when we douse ourselves in water or we can be purified by earth as well, water is my favorite element. And so when I do that, I'm releasing some of that trauma, some of the acidity that lives in my body by submerging myself in alkaline. So I drink a lot of water, which alkalizes my body from the inside. And I take a bath with Epsom salts. I actually have a paddleboard. So I actually went out to the ocean and bathed myself in the sun in that good old vitamin D. And I just waited in the middle of the ocean. And that was. I have. Luckily I had that, but that was very healing for me. And so whenever we get in nature, it can balance our energies. And because I watch way too many videos and I took in way too much toxicity and I started recounting this pain that wanted to come out. I then had to balance it out with what positive prana is, what we say, you know, in yoga. And that negative prana is all the videos, all the police brutality, all of this, the hate Speech and all that stuff and seeing all that, it's like bringing it up and it's okay to bring it up and then cleansing it out. And so that's what I did and just writing out my feelings. Because again, we are love beings. But just because we're love being doesn't mean we can't hold pain. And once we start practicing holding pain and bringing it in, we can actually help our communities and others process it. So now I'm helping other people. Okay, let's educate. And when the pain comes up, let's do our meditation, let's do the breath work. Because when you see toxic death and anger and violence, it produces acid in the body. And I'm always talking to people about keeping the body alkaline. So we see all that you get in arguments with your friends, you get in arguments with your family. Acid in the body. You're getting a headache, you're breaking your immune system down. Well, you have to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, alkalize the body, get in some water, alkalize the body, drink water, alkalize the body. And when you do that, you start to balance it out. So it's not like you have to be so alkaline all the time that nothing can touch you because then you're not addressing the pain in the world again. So a little bit of understanding and absorbing some of the pain that's happening on a world level will actually help you deal with it and help other people deal with. So it's not about being in this airy fairy high all the time, see state. It's about actually tipping in and seeing, you know, why are these children putting cages at the border? Why is this happening here? Why is it happening and getting enough, caring enough that you do something about it? And if you don't acknowledge the pain that's going outside around you, then it's going to be hard to say, okay, I want world peace. How can you want world peace if you're not willing to look at the.

Pain and not willing to take the steps to get there? You know, it's so easy for us to be like, I want peace. What are you doing to make the peace? I think it's another way that we deflect our responsibility. I don't want to get involved in politics. Peace.

Where is the peace going to come from?

The peace, the war is there because of politics. So the peace can only be there if we change the laws, if we change who's in power. Like, I think a lot of people just, just are so overwhelmed by the system and the corruption of the system. I get it. I feel like that all the time, too. But we can't be in our bubbles and be like, I believe in peace and let the world fight. Because what's going to happen are the people who don't have the best of intentions, who aren't doing this kind of work, who are for sure not doing water therapy in their free time, are going to be the ones who are like, hey, you know what, maybe I'll run for office. Hey, you know what, maybe I'll create this movement. And they're the ones who have, have never looked within themselves. So, you know, the only example of a spiritual person I've really seen completely step into politics is Marianne Williamson.

Oh, yeah, she's stepping in there and it's not easy. Like, you've seen how it's taken a toll on her. And I honestly, I feel like she needs more support because know that if you are a spiritual person, you are dipping in that pain and it has to be a balance. And so you need support. And I honestly, I love her, I adore her. And you know, I recently reached out to her because I see her, but she definitely needs way more support, especially from the spiritual community, because again, just like when I went on my toxic journey and my shadow work, I had to have enough support to get me out. So when someone is going into office and they battling with all those politics and all those fools, you need a lot of spiritual support. You need community, you need resources. She need healers on deck. No one can go in there just like, oh, I'm going to run for office. And honestly, I'm just going to be honest, she just needs way more support and I'm down for helping her get the support she needs. I know you would be down for that. But I feel like if someone that is spiritual, because you already know how it feels to be high and have this, be in this vibration of spirituality, it's going to be easy to want to stay there, but then you have to keep dipping into the pain because that's how we're going to heal humanity. But if you have a support system that are dipping in and helping you and healing with you and providing you comfort and resources and we're in this together, you'll stand a chance. But without that, it's hard, sis. It's hard.

So well said. Well, we know that we will definitely support her. And what she even said, said was when she was running, a lot of people were not willing to post about her you know, other spiritual people, et cetera, because they didn't want to divide their audience. They didn't want to get their Republican friends pissed off because she was running as a Democrat. So I think a lot of people still have this fear of, well, if I support a candidate, then the people who don't support this candidate are. And people do do this. I'm unfollowing you, you know, because we want to get into this echo chamber that for some reason, we only want to learn from people who think exactly like we do. Fireworks are shooting right? As I say this, it's like, so. So what do you think we can do? If you're someone, let's say you're a small business owner, you're a coach, et cetera, and you're like, I really want to post about issues I believe in, but I am afraid that people aren't gonna wanna do business with me anymore.

I mean, you know what? I've been. I've had that fear. And at the end of the day, that doesn't make the world go round. You know, at the end of the day, like, oneness is not saying, like, I don't see color and I don't think differently. It's actually seeing color, Seeing our different cultural differences, our differences in colors and honoring them. Seeing our difference in politics and honoring them and coming together, saying, okay, what do you think? What do you think now? What's going to be the best for all of us? So it's really about us coming together and actually sharing ideas. And they're not all going to be the same. But if we don't have respect for each other and if we're scared to speak up and speak out, because if we're afraid of what we're going to lose, then we can never win. We have to listen to our brothers and sisters that speak differently, that look differently, that have different practices all over the world. Because until we start to respect and see one another, we're not going to be able to become one and have this unity because we're not acknowledging our differences, and we're not acknowledging the beauty in our differences. You know, we acknowledge the sky, we acknowledge the trees. We don't try to make the sky the tree or the tree the sky. They don't try to be the same thing. Nothing in nature is trying to be like something else. But we as people, we all are trying to have this one look, or we want to all be the superior, right? And it's like, that's never gonna work because we're Meant to be beautifully different and layered and complex and respected. And once we start respecting our own uniqueness and not being afraid, and I have to combat this fear and look this fear in the face every single day, the more that I embrace my own fear, the more that I'm able to embrace fears in others, the more that I embrace my own uniqueness, my own unique way to love, the more I can respect others. Unique way to love. But we're all born into this box. We're all trying to fit in this box and be loved and get all the likes and be perfect. And I know because I've tried to fit in that box, but now I'm like, forget that box. Get the box out of the way. I hate the box. I don't want the box. I've been living inside the box way too long. I'm over the box. Get rid of the box. So we need to kick the box to the curb. We need to celebrate our uniqueness and we need to celebrate the uniqueness of others. We need to stop living in fear and realize we're gonna say the wrong things sometimes. We're gonna offend people sometimes and not be afraid to apologize, not be afraid to say I'm sorry, not be afraid to say that I was wrong. Not be afraid to learn, like, who in the world knows it all? All these politicians do stuff wrong all the time, half the time on purpose, you know, so it's like, what are we afraid of? You know, and we're gonna mess up. And so I think that there's this illusion of perfection, like, we gotta be perfect. This is a journey, this is a process. And we stop trying to be perfect and just realize that realness is being authentically you being vulnerable, saying what you feel, even when it's messy, getting in there and doing the work. And if more of us, it's especially spiritual and wellness people are willing to be messy and get into the politics and support who you believe in. Support. Who has helped you get the lifestyle. Marianne Williams, Helped you live your lifestyle. Support her. She helped you get the life you're living right now, you know, and so I think we just need to kind of do that on personal work and see within ourselves, where are we holding back? Where are we afraid to be authentically ourselves. And once we do that personal work, that personal digging is going to have a ripple effect in our family, in our community, in our world.

Yes, yes, yes. So, well, so we get to throw that box the hell away. I was just imagining Kalima, the goddess of destruction, and Creation. And that's what we're really embodying right now. Goddess Sekhmet, the lioness, all of the dark goddesses, you know, and like even reframing what darkness means, it's not a negative thing. Like the dark is the bad and the light is the good, but the darkness is actually the place of like pure potential where everything arises from it is the cosmic womb. So let's step into that darkness and rip off all of the shadows. And when you were saying how holding yourself back, I was imagining if you were going on a date and you were holding back core aspects of who you are, your beliefs, what you stand for, your life, like life mission statement, to be liked by this other person. Well, your relationship is going to fail because that person is only with you without really knowing you. And I think that right now we get to deepen our relationship with our friends, with our social media, with whoever it is, of, hey, you thought, you know me, I have this whole other side to me here. My beliefs hear my experiences. And if they don't match with you, it doesn't mean that we can't jive on this level. We might agree here and we might not agree here. I think what people are so quick to to do is when we're not a 10 out of 10 agreement on everything, they're like, fuck you, Bye. So, and maybe we're doing that with other people too. But to see that we might agree on everything and maybe it's like pro choice or something that we have a disagreement on instead of that letting that be the total deal breaker, we can understand that person's perspective and not make it trigger our own. And really look at also the people pleaser in all of us, especially as women. Like, that was really what was coming up up for me. And I think that you are feeling it too. Of like, we want to please everyone, we want to make everyone around us happy. And if we share that, I have this belief in police brutality or whatever it is that you might not agree with and people being triggered by it, we're so afraid of triggering one person that we're not willing to step up into our full truth.

Right. And I feel like once we release that fear, we realized that it was nothing to be afraid of. And until we release that fear is going to harbor inside of us and it's going to fester inside of us and it's again growing that toxic emotion until it all bubbles up to the surface. So what we're seeing now is a bubbling up of a problem that's just been covered up for way too long. And so now it's bubbled up to the surface within all of us and we're addressing it. And so I'm so grateful and I'm hopeful because I feel like a lot of people are addressing this issue and some people might say, oh, it's just all a hoax and getting people riled up. I see massive change. So if it is part of some bigger scheme, I don't care. All I care about is massive change, you know, and if there's an underlying agenda behind it, well, I do think the highest agenda is love. And so that's what I'm pushing for. And I have faith that if I go forward in that direction, uncovering the dark, not afraid of the pain, that's going to lead me personally in the right direction. That is what I have faith in. So no matter, because people will come with you. Like you said, with these conspiracy theories and all this like that, it's like at the end of the day, whatever theory, my theory is love consciousness. My theory is how can we get back to that and not love consciousness without unpacking the pain and unpacking the fear? But let's look at it and let's see. Because you can give theories all the day, but at the end of the day, I'm going to say, what's happening in front of me? What am I seeing? What am I feeling? What is my personal experience? And I feel like if we all go with that, then we're going to be guided in the right direction. Because everyone has their purpose on the planet right now, and every single purpose is different. So who am I to know where you're going to be in your journey, what you're doing? That's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to live my life in love consciousness, to address my own personal fears and share that with others. If someone receives it, great. If they don't, that's fine. I don't know, maybe they'll come back next week and receive it, you know, But I can't worry about if someone is receiving it or not. We just have to keep giving it. And I feel like if we all take the responsibility to do our own personal work and keep sharing that work with whoever wants to be a part of it, we are going to make massive change and we are going to see massive change in the world.

So well said. And we just get to keep moving forward. And the same thing with these different theories, we can't negate the fact that we're having conversations like this. That positive laws are being passed, that companies are for the first time diversifying, that a lot of people try to make it. Oh, the protesters, they're all rioters. It's all violence. Well, if you look historically, whenever an actual movement happened, whether it was the civil rights, whether it was the Civil War, all of these different things, we had to kind of shake shit up to get people to realize. And, yes, I do. I am a peace activist. Right. I believe in love. I believe in all of these things. But also we get to realize that, you know, that football player, he kneeled on one knee about Black Lives Matter. I didn't see any laws being changed. I didn't see conferences and all these things. I didn't see conversations like this happen. They've done how many rap songs, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, many hashtags. They did how many smaller protests, how many of these things? And the changes weren't made. So sometimes it needs to be a gigantic movement, even though it feels chaotic for us to finally listen. And I think a lot of people are trying to make black people wrong in being angry and black people wrong in protesting, even though positive changes being made because of it.

Yeah. And the beautiful thing is it's just not. It's not just black people. The beautiful thing is it's like a lot of people getting out there protesting, because if it was just black people, it wouldn't be as massive as it is. You know, even in the time of Dr. Martin Luther King, it was more than just black people out there. It's gonna take black people, Asian people, white people, like, everyone pushing for systematic change. And I think that's what we're seeing, and that's what makes this time so beautiful, is because, you know, like Colin Kaepernick said, like, there's a problem and we need to address it. So he was a catalyst for change. Like, everyone has this catalyst, right? But like you said, sometimes you have to get loud. Like, I am definitely a Martin Luther King girl, but I respect Malcolm X. I respect his fierceness. I respect people that went to war. I'm not happy with guns. I want to ban all the guns, but you better believe that I'm grateful that my grandfather fought In World War II, you know what I'm saying? So it's like, I have to respect those that lay down their lives so that I can breathe, so that I can eat, so that I can live, you know, and so we can't ever shame someone for the way they choose to stand up for what they believe in. Because a lot of us wouldn't even be here if some people didn't lay down their lives, if some people didn't fight. I mean, we've had wars, years and years of wars. So, you know, who am I? Just because I am a peacemaker, who am I to shame someone who's going to war when I know going to war is the only reason I have any taste of freedom? That is ridiculous. To shame anyone ever for going to war, for what they believe in, it is a slap in the face to my life.

Yes, I think it's like we all want peace. We all want things to happen really easily. But when the systems are so firmly held and they don't want to change because they've been this way for so long, it takes a mass awakening to happen for finally that last straw on the camel's back to be broken. And I think people are trying to deflect the conversation. Oh, well, George Floyd wasn't a great guy or this or that. It's not about any individual. It's about the fact that. That the moment this happened, so many people took the streets, which means so many people have been feeling this. So let's look at this undercurrent that people have been feeling oppressed of all colors and have been seeing that there are injustices happening. This isn't made up. No one's forcing everyone to do this. The fact that we are now having this conversation, even though it feels dark, is a movement towards the light, 100%.

And, oh, my goodness, it's just like when people want to, like, take one piece of the puzzle and just focus on someone's character, it's like it is not about just one person's character. Like you said, it is about the movement. And people are sick because police brutality keeps happening. And these police are here to protect, you know, and it's like they want to bring up black on black crime and all this stuff. It's just like there is crime all over the world happening all the time. But when. When your government, first of all, wants to brutally manipulate and harm, that's a problem. When police, the people that you're supposed to be trusting, want to brutally harm someone for no reason, that is a scary place. Because you do expect your government, police, teachers to have some form of dignity, that they wouldn't be racist, that they wouldn't be oppressive, that they wouldn't be toxic, you know, and it's just like, that's why you go through training. That's why you go through, you know, saying an Oath that you'll treat people fairly and equally. And so when that's happening time and time and time again, people are sick of it. And I am so happy because I am sick of it. I remember I was driving to Malibu, and I was sleepy because I had worked all day, and I was seeing my last client of the day, and I guess I swerved a little bit because I was sleepy. Cop, pull me over. What are you doing out here? Not where am I going. Not mlk. What are you doing out here? I'm like, I'm going to a client's house, Officer. Let me see your driver's license. Ask me for. Get out of the car. This man put me in the back of his police car for being sleepy. Have you been drinking? No. Didn't give me a breath test or anything. Put me in the back of his. I was mortified. I was like, what is happening? Went through my trunk, went through my car, went through everything. And it was the most just, like, ridiculous thing that ever happened to me in my life. And I'm like, what is this? And then gave me a ticket for reckless. I'm in tears. I mean, I'm balling my heart. I'm like, what is this? This. This crazy. What is he doing with, like, what is happening? Like. And he gives me a ticket for reconciliation, and this drives off, and I'm like, didn't even care. If you're really caring about me being sleepy, you probably should have made sure I got to where I was going if I was such a reckless driver. But you slapped me with a reckless driving tip after tossing my car upside down, and I was just devastated. And so when you experience things like that and you realize people just have this hatred towards you just because it's inside of me, and it's like, how could I even go this long and not share that story? Because it was so hurtful. And I want to pretend like I want it to go away, but guess what? It's not gonna go away. Because if that cop did it to you, that cops gonna do it to someone else. And if that cop killed this person. We saw it on video. Guess how many cops are killing people that we're not seeing on video. So if we don't say something about all of these toxic things that are happening in the world, these gruesome, these disgusting things that our community, that our government, that our elected officials are doing, then it's just gonna get worse and worse and worse and worse until we address the problem and do something about it, not just on A government level, but on a personal level, in our communities, in our homes and our schools, in our health care. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting things are happening. Oppressive, oppressive, oppressive things are happening. And we have to address them, we have to acknowledge them and we have to eradicate them, Period.

Thank you for sharing that. And for the people listening, like, oh well, who knows, maybe the cop was just doing their job. Go YouTube the videos of cops with some crazy ass white people who are like punching them like, like running away from them. I'm sure you've seen these videos, Koya. These people are apeshit. So disrespectful to the cops and the cops are putting up with them. I mean even it is crazy. But when people, kids have done school shootings who are happen to be white, most of the time the way that the cops even get to those kids is in such a different way. They're never of assaulting them, they're never super aggressive. But then a black person does the most simple thing and the way that they respond. I just was seeing this protest. There was a black and white woman, both sitting on the floor right next to each other. Same position, same spot, same police officers. The white woman, they picked her up and they had her step away. The black woman, they kicked her and they took her away and arrested her. The same thing I saw, I don't know if you've seen this, this picture. It's this young black boy and a young white boy. They are the same age. They've committed the same crime on the same day with the same judge. Okay? Now all variables are taken. The only difference, the same exact crime. And I'm not saying crime is right at all. People should not commit crimes. But let's just see how the judge reacted, right? So the white boy gets two years in prison, which, you know, one day will become a really maybe a story for him. I spent two years in prison, I turned my life around. Maybe he won't even spend the two years in prison. The black boy gets 27, six years. That's his life. His life has been taken away from him. Not only his life, but the life of his mother, the life of his siblings, the life of anyone that has ever known him or loved him has just been taken away. And if we think about generational trauma, you know, what does that create? So when we say, oh well, you shouldn't be committing crimes, look at how those crimes are treated when the only variable is color, right?

And people have to watch 13th is a free documentary on YouTube and understand like, you know, even the Police system was set up to specifically target black men. And that's why it's so much of a just ridiculous system, because you have, as you were saying, the same white people doing the same crime at a high level and just chilling out in Malibu somewhere. And so, yeah, it's ridiculous. It's absurd, and it just needs. Things need to change. You can look up the prison pipeline. You can just research. I think people just really need to educate themselves at this time. Not even just listen to us, but really educate yourself. Look at the videos, read me. And white supremacy. Understand what's going on. Don't just let this blow by. Don't even just listen to this podcast, but start doing research. I'm educating myself. I'm following my girl Rachel Cargill and Leila Saad, and I'm just, like, educating myself in every way that I can so that I have a very minimalist community. And I want to educate my community so we can all heal together. And so I just think it's really about us taking personal responsibility, just like I did with that cop. Like, I went to my client's house, I told them what happened, and they just comforted me. I couldn't stop crying. And I ended up going to court and fighting the ticket and getting it let off. But I could have sued him. It was defamation of character. Like, I'm out there and that's where my clients are, and they see me in the back of a police car. Like, it's very, you know, one row pch. Everyone's driving by. You know, that's disrespectful. So, yeah, I ended up getting out of it. But still, the trauma. The trauma lasts. You know, anytime I go out, like, I'm scared. Like, if I remember, I was with a friend and a cop car was close, and they turned their sirens on, and I jump. It's just like, you know, so you don't understand, like, the lifelong pain that happens. This one guy went to prison, and he was there, I think, 26 years before he got off. And when he got off, he ended up committing suicide a month later. Because the trauma you experience when you're in some place like that is so bad. And it showed him getting in the fights, and it showed him going through all this stuff, and then he got out. Sometimes people get out to realize the world is still just as toxic on the outside. And now you have this stamp of being incarcerated. And it's not easy to even live a normal life. So it's not like these traumas just wash away this is ruining people's lives and their children's lives and like you said, their family's lives. So we cannot just turn a blind eye when people are suffering, lifelong sufferings, you know, and it's not going away. And so I'm happy that we're having this conversation. I'm happy we're addressing the issues because until we address and acknowledge them, we can't change them. They're not just going to go away on their own.

Thank you so much for sharing that. So how can we be allies as non black people and really support our black sisters that are moving through this right now?

Well, I mean, I think that's a great question because I think a lot of my friends are scared. And I think again, the point is to acknowledge and affirm. You know, just acknowledge. Like, this is really bad. Like what's happening is not right. Just acknowledge. Instead of just saying, how are you? Like, I mean, really. I mean, I'm not. Well, I can say I'm okay, but like, it's a lot that we're unpacking right now. So just acknowledge. Like, I know there's a lot going on. How can I support? How can. In specific. Cause every support for everyone is gonna the way I would like support might be different than how someone else might like support. So I think just asking your friends as an ally, asking the black women in your community, how can I support you at this time, and just acknowledging their greatness and amplifying their voices. I think a lot of people are amplifying black voices online, realizing that, wow, there's a lot of black women in the yoga space, in the wellness space, in the spiritual place that I didn't even know about because I didn't even look. I'm just looking for people to look like me. And so now people are saying, oh, wow, there's this woman and that one. They're really discovering a wealth of women out there, women of color and black women that they didn't even know about before. And so I think, you know, that's been very helpful. And just also posting about it, protesting, getting out the streets again, holding space, holding hands and asking those around you, how can I support you? How do you need to be supported right now? And then just giving them the space to answer and also saying, you don't even have to answer right now. I'm here for you. Whenever you're ready to talk, whenever you need something, I'm here for you. I think that's the best an ally can do. And also donate to different Causes. We're in the middle of a pandemic. So if you have a surplus of funding, giving to those that are in need is really, really crucial right now because, again, we're still going through this recession. So on top of the brutality, on top of the trauma that comes up, when we're actually addressing systematic racism, and also, people are seeing as black people, they're seeing people take sides, people that they thought had their best interest. They're either seeing that spiritually bypass or they're seeing them get on. Either way, it's traumatizing. So even though we're uncovering, it's like when you take a band aid off a wound, it still hurts, you know, and sometimes it hurts more than leaving it on. So some people are getting that band aid ripped off, and it's just like, ouch, I didn't know you didn't care. And it's hurtful when some of the people that you're closer to and you realize they're like, you know what? Nah, the same for me. And so, you know, you have to not take it personally, but it still doesn't take away the pain.

Well, thank you so much for sharing that. I know a lot of people are looking to how they can be the best allies. They don't want to bombard their black friends right now with messages, and they definitely don't want to be asking questions. But I think that this episode will really help them, you know, answer some of the questions that they've had in their mind. The invitations is for you to keep educating yourself. 13th documentary. Amazing. To understand the history of this, your Instagram, you are posting things all the time, so follow Koya, check out what she's up to. What are you going to be running for president, sis?

I'm going to be supporting as much as I could support. And you never know. Like, I have surrendered my life to the divine. Nothing is off the table. All I know is that I'm about supporting love and love consciousness. So wherever that leads me, I surrender to the call. I'm surrendering to a lot right now. I'm stepping in my power right now. So I don't know what's gonna happen with that, but I know that I'm fully surrendered to that. And so wherever that takes me, it is what it is, you know, and I think also for allies to also realize that, you know, it doesn't have to be perfect. I had a friend that was like, well, if I post something, it feels like opportunist, but if I don't Post something. It's racist. Like, which one would you prefer someone to think you are? Opportunist.

Yeah, you can't win. You really can't win.

Right? And so that person was choosing not to post, but it's like, that's not showing solidarity. That's not showing that you care. And so I definitely wouldn't choose that one, you know, because as me, as a person, I don't feel supported. Like, if I, for a company or a friend, had a friend reach out to me today and was just like, oh, can you promote this? And I'm like, okay. At a time where we're amplifying black voices, you asking me to promote a podcast with you and another person that is not a person of color or a black person? Are you missing the narrative that the entire world is talking about or do you just not care? I was bothered and that's what they told me. They were like, well, I feel like that I don't want to be an opportunist and I just want to keep doing what I'm doing. And I'm like, well, it is not business as usual right now, if you hadn't noticed. It is not business as usual. So this is a time to show that you care about people that are in pain. Do not miss this moment. It's like seeing someone on the side of the road. You're gonna just drive by. That's not my problem. You seeing someone bloody out in the middle of the road, you gonna just drive by? Are you gonna help? Oh, you're gonna be considered a good Samaritan. So are you an opportunist? Take the opportunity, Help the person, be a good Samaritan. Do the work, hold the space.

Mm, I love that. And I think, think we're gonna keep.

Messing up because we're learning. And guys, by the way, there's no one black opinion. There's 50 million black people in the United States. So different people will want different things. You know, they're like, I'm confused because this one black person said, be silent, and then this one says post. And I don't want to be a white savior, but I don't want to be a white silencer. And I think people are overwhelmed by different narratives right now. What do you have?

Well, I want to speak to that because it's not that black and white, so. So silence is a choice. And silence and posting self serving things are two different things. So people that are choosing silence to amplify black voices or to educate themselves or to understand and they're acknowledging like, okay, we're going a heavy time again, it's acknowledgement is what I think most people in the world, black and white, are looking for. Acknowledgement. Okay, we're going through a hard time right now, but if you are silent about the problem, but you're still going on as business as usual, it's like you drive in the car, you might not be the one to help, but at least you stopped your car because there's a problem right here. Maybe you're the one to call 91 1. You see what I'm saying? So it's not like you have to have the right thing, but if you're not acknowledging the problem and you're like going on business as usual when the world is in a crisis and pandemic, that is where I think some people are getting angry because it's like, wait, you're just going on like businesses usually, nothing's going on. And I think that's very different from muting and being silent.

Yes. And I even think the people who didn't say something at the beginning, people were like, so do you not care about the movement? And I know a lot of people are kind of getting a bit of controversy for not speaking soon enough. And in the social media world, we don't get to have a week to think about our press release. We don't get all of this time. It's not like back in the day that you're, like, going to sit and think about it. And I think for some people who like to gather a lot of information before they make a decision, that's difficult. But when something like this happens, you kind of immediately have to respond. And your response, you know, a lot of us did that black picture, and then that ended up not being the right thing. But at least we're, like, trying. So I think it's letting yourself try and mess up and be corrected. And when someone corrects you, don't take it super personally either. It's like we're all learning here. And also I think that keeping in mind that different people are going to want you to show up in different ways, and you're going to have to choose what feels right, right for you. You know, like someone might say, I only want black people to be speaking right now. Like, everyone should meet yourselves. Like, some people might have more of that opinion. Some people might say, white people, use your voices, stand up, get on video. We want to hear you talking about it. So those kind of feel like two contradicting things. So feel what feels Right. For you. If you don't have anything really valuable to add to the table, don't get on video and cry and say, I don't know what to do. That's not the new. You know. So it's like, this is where it takes some discernment. I think a lot of people are like, like, I don't know what to do. And it's like, take discernment. What feels good for you? What feels in alignment for you? Is it amplifying black voices? Is it adding in? Maybe you're doing interviews with people. Like, what feels like your gift, your dharma that you can share and bring to the picture. And if you have nothing to say, that's fine. Just pass it along to people who do have something to say.

Absolutely. It's like, okay, you see somebody injured, you drive by. You're like, oh, I don't know, maybe I'm scared. Maybe I won't help. But then you double back, and maybe they're already being helped. But the fact that you turned around shows consciousness. So, yeah, maybe you waited a long time to speak. But, you know, like, you said, do something. And, you know, we all make mistakes and we all maybe don't. I even admit it. Like, I didn't say stuff when I should have. Like, I'm part of the problem, but now I'm speaking. So am I going to beat myself up for all the time I didn't speak? No, I'm going to acknowledge my fear. I'm going to acknowledge. So we can acknowledge again. That's a conversation. Acknowledge your fear. Acknowledge your hesitation. Acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge. And then we can start processing the pain together. And I like to take people through the five steps of mindfulness. The first step is to acknowledge. The second step is to forgive. The third step is just process the pain. The fourth step is set an intention. And the fifth step is be the change. And so when you take yourself through those five steps, you can really unpack your pain in a healthy way. And you can do it anytime you feel afraid, anytime you feel scared, anytime you have to make a decision. Because none of us are perfect. And we're all going to do things at some time or another that is fear based, that is trauma based, that is judgment based. And if we get used to acknowledging it and forgiving it and processing it and setting an intention to be better and then being better, taking action and being better, then we're part of the solution. But if we don't do that, we're part of the problem.

Thank you so much. I love those five steps. And I think it's like remembering the intention. Like, sometimes we're even fighting against each.

Other and our intention is the same.

We both want a better world, Right? But our different experiences are going to make us come at that situation in a different way. But when we can acknowledge, like, hey, you and I both care about the same thing, we want the same results, we're just speaking a bit of a different language right now, then it drops the defensiveness, it drops the I'm right and you're wrong. And it's more like, hey, I understand why. Maybe you think that Trump is the way to do it, or this is the way to do it, or that is the way to do it. I acknowledge what you really want is a better world. And that just, like, allows you to just come at it with such a higher vibration and not get so triggered. And the last thing I really want to ask you, which I have seen showing up for a lot of white people right now, is feeling like a lot of the educators on this are angry, right? And they feel triggered by the anger. They feel like it's making them wrong and it's kind of preventing them from totally opening up to the message. So what do you have to say? If, you know, there's a Rachel Cargile or someone who's really speaking really passionately and it can feel like she's angry at me and everything I do is wrong, how can we move through that and actually listen to the message that she's saying?

I adore Rachel and I think her message needs to be amplified to the mountains and the hilltops and back. And I believe that when people, and even myself included, when you're triggered by anger and we're triggered by rage, you need to embrace the anger and rage in yourself. Yes. So imagine something happening to your child. Let's see, you just sit there and not say anything and do anything. You know, mothers will lift a freaking car off a child. It's been studies shown you will take a car and toss it if it runs over your child. So you really got to feel the rage in yourself and it. Because unless you acknowledge your own rage, you're always going to be triggered by someone else's anger and rage. And all of us should be angry at what's happening in society. We should all feel that. I felt it. I processed it, but I felt it. You know, I don't know how anyone who cares about people can look at some of those toxic, traumatic videos and not feel it unless we've been Desensitized, which we have been because it's in all of our movies, all this killing, all the video games. We're almost desensitized to death and brutality because it's like we're normalizing it, right? But no, I think that when you feel and when you are triggered by someone else's anger and rage, you need to look within yourself. And what would make you rage, what would make you angry? You need to think about that. You need to feel it. You need to let it come up and then process it. And then when you see someone else in anger, rage, you'd be like, you can understand.

So beautifully said. That is exactly it. We get triggered by anger when we.

Haven'T met the anger inside of ourselves.

And she has been speaking about the subject matter for so long.

You know, it's like when you've been.

Repeating yourself and repeating yourself, repeat, you get frustrated.

Well, she knows her stuff, and she knows it's triggering. And that's the thing. It needs to be triggering in order for people to address it. Because if it's not triggering, then people don't have anything to work on. And that's the thing. But I think that we all have a place, right? And I feel like she is 100% in her dharma. She is 100% living in her purpose. And so she is not responsible for the people getting triggered. But someone like you or me, we can go say, hey, you're triggered because of your own pain and anger that you need to address. You know, and so maybe we go in and, like, help. But she is 100% clear about her purpose and how she wants to say it and what it's going to bring up. And she warns people, this is going to be triggering. And so I think she's doing a fabulous job of speaking her truth and being in her power and letting it bubble up for people. And she's had. She's helped millions of people around the world, as in her voice, in her dialect, in her who she is. She's helped, like, millions of people get it, get the white supremacy, get the systematic oppression, get what needs to be got. So I love her. I adore her. We actually did a breath work and spoken word session together, and it was so powerful. So I think we need more women like her who are not afraid to offend, who are not afraid to be angry, who are not afraid to come off in a certain way. Like, not be all perfect and say what you want to hear. Like, that's me sometimes. I'm always like, censoring myself. Right. I was thinking about a post. I just want to make a post. I am an angry black woman, you know, and I just want to just call it out. Like, I'm hangry, you know, so frustrated and disgusted and angry. Someone's like, oh, I like your peaceful. I was like, I'm not peaceful. I'm angry. I mean, my anger might not come off like anyone else, but you better believe I am actually angry. I'm disgusted. I'm not happy with what's going on. And I want to be the change. And so hats off to people who use their anger and rage and turn it into education and positivity. So hats off to Rachel Cargill. I adore her.

I love that. And thank you so much for sharing because I think a lot of spiritual people think that being spiritual is like, you're only peaceful. You never react to anything. You never have anger. You're always loving everyone. And like, yes, that is definitely a part of it. But it's also like you said, that fierce mother, that Durga energy, that's like, yo, let's slaughter some demons right now. Let's defeat all evil in the world. And that's also a part of. Of the goddess. And one thing that I love that Rachel Cargill posted was white privilege is getting to go to someone else and asking them to explain it to you nicer. You know, and it's like, all the people like, you're too angry. Can you nicer person tell me what that means? And that in itself is a privilege. The fact that you can monitor how you want people to speak to you when black people have not. You haven't been able to monitor how the police, how the judge, how the.

Housing, how all of these things have.

Been speaking to you, showing up for you. So I think people get to take that anger as the medicine that it is. Doesn't mean that you have to, you know, shatter yourself and be in all this white guilt. No one wants you to be guilty. No one wants you to be in this place that you're not taking action, but also be like, okay, that's some anger I see that I feel that that's triggering me. And it's a call forth, right?

I always say, you know, I talk about my fear is feedback. Fear is feedback to places within yourself that needs more love. So triggering that anger is feedback to places in yourself that you need to address your own anger and your rage. Or maybe you need to get some anger and rage about what's going on in the world. So it's Just feedback to places. We need more love. We need more compassion for humanity, more compassion for what's going on. And it will show up. If that's meant to come up for you, it will show up. If you can't seem to find anything that makes you angry or makes you want to raise, then eventually, I think we all experience all of the motions. I think it's a part of the human experience.

I love that. And it's like that thing that makes you the most angry is what you're meant to solve, you know, like, is it as a black woman? Of course, Black rights, women's rights too. You know, we all have that in common. All women. Is it animals? Is it immigrants? Immigration? Is it the environment? Is it the plastics? What is that thing that you're so angry about? Because that anger is meant to be used. It's meant to be channeled. In fact, the reason why we become depressed is because we stop solving problems, you know, so let yourself see this incredibly huge problem that you're like. I have no idea how we're going to unpack all of racism, all of pollution, all of patriarchy, but let that problem give your energy and your creation to solving that problem. And that's actually what fuels you and makes you feel alive.

Absolutely. I know how we're going to solve it. One day at a time, one breath at a time. It doesn't have to. We just have to keep doing the best we can each day. Don't take on too much. I feel like we all just need to pace ourselves and do a little bit each day to move in the right direction and then we'll see change.

I love that so much. Thank you so much for sharing. So where can listeners connect with you? Join your yoga teacher trainings, get your.

Book, all of the things that you offer.

You can find me@koyaweb.com and also on Instagram at K O Y A W E B B koyaweb and also get loved up on Instagram. I'm on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and I also have my own podcast called the Get Loved Up Podcast. And I also want to offer everyone a free digital copy of my book. So if you go to my Instagram bio and click there, you will see how you can get the free book. You'll also see a lot of anti racism resources. You will find links to books and videos and podcasts and all these things. If you want to do the work and be the change you wish to see in the world, you can find that all on my website and my social media channel channels.

Well, thank you so much Koya for showing up, for shining your light, for educating us again and again and really making this world, and especially this yoga and wellness space a more diverse and loving place. We so appreciate you.

Thank you so much, Sahar. I appreciate you and your sisterhood and your love and amplifying my voice right now. I just, it's something to be said about people like yourself who are really authentic and vulnerable and really just diving into all different sides of themselves and not afraid to be who you are. And I just appreciate you for that and thanks for being an inspiration to me.

How amazing is Koya? I just love listening to her speak. I love her voice, I love how grounded she is, but also how she is not afraid to speak up, to channel her anger in a way that is is constructive in a way that will create change. And it really is inspiring for all of us to step into our sacred anger, that thing that maybe we have been sitting on the sidelines for because we want to appear to be the nice girl. Let's bring it out, let's channel it. So if you are curious to tap into this side of yourself this month in Rose Gold Goddesses, my membership community, we are working with Sekhmet, the lioness goddess, working with our sacred anger, our spiritual activism, how to not be afraid to use our voices. We also have incredible workshops coming in from poetry night, Indian fusion, belly dancing, my healing and embodiment workshop and so much more. So come join the community of 2000 plus spiritual soul sisters@rosegoldgoddesses.com that is rosegoldgoddesses plural.com the link is in the show notes. Thank you so much for watching, listening and if you loved this episode I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your mind body type. This is a different book than Eat Feel Fresh, my first book ever which is not released anywhere and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my podcast in the itunes store. So all you got to do is head over to itunes where you may be listening to this podcast and leave a review. Take a screenshot that you've left it and and email it over to me@saharaatfeelfresh.com again that's Sahara S A H A R aattfeelfresh.com and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book Eat right for your mind body type which goes all into Ayurveda Doshas plant based nutrition, body types, all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you. You for free for supporting the podcast. Every single review I personally read. It really helps the podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together. And I am so grateful to have you on this journey. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode. Namaste.

Keep that.