Ode To Latifah

My name is Latifah and I'm a black cat journeying through my 9th life living, loving, and healing. I've created Holistic Healing as another way to hold space for myself to facilitate in my healing process. In this space, I'll be discussing the importance of body, mind, and spirit integration for a well-rounded holistic life. So, of course, this is my blog and all thoughts and opinions are my own, but I hope through sharing my journey and what I've learned it'll inspire and encourage others to hold space for their own healing. And if you find that you're not at the point where you're ready to hold space for self, allow Holistic Healing (ME!) to hold space for you until you're ready to awaken your inner healer. With much peace and love!

[odetolatifah]

Wherever you go, there you are.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

[odetolatifah]

Setting Boundaries during the Holiday Season...and beyond.

We’re midway into the holiday season and Christmas is right around the corner. I seriously hope you all are taking great care of yourselves as daylight becomes shorter. If you’re feeling out of sorts lately I’ve written a blog post addressing seasonal depression and I highly recommend looking at it to get your spirits elevated. 

We’re knee deep in the holiday festivities and I’ve always found it a bit ironic how this season is supposed to inspire merriment and joy, but for many people, including myself, all the festivities can be a vicious breeding ground for overwhelming anxiety. Personally, the anxiety comes about from the stress of being surrounded by huge crowds of holiday shoppers, the capitalistic pressures of purchasing gifts with little expendable income, and family gatherings where questions such as, “What are you doing with yourself? Are you dating anyone? *insert invasive question here*” is bound to be asked. It is of utmost importance especially during this time that we all take the time out to show ourselves a little more TLC than we normally would. A crucial aspect in self-care is learning and enforcing what your boundaries are. 

I remember last year on Christmas while I was eating my feast and minding my business one of my family members thought then would be the opportune time to ask invasive questions about my career/life path and they proceeded to give me unsolicited advice that ultimately made me feel like a fool and a failure. Even though I believe that person’s intentions were good that does not negate the fact that I have a right to dictate what I allow and who I’ll allow it from. I’ve thought about that memory quite a bit and how violated I felt after I allowed that person to cross my boundary. You may ask why did I allow this family member to violate my boundary. Well, truth be told, at the time I wasn’t as familiar with boundaries and their importance. I surely didn’t have any specifics ones to help shield me from negative influences. Also, I’ve been brought up to respect and listen to your elders so keeping that in mind I always find myself not speaking up when I should regarding this family member. But following that moment, I understood the extreme importance of boundaries and how they are beneficial in keeping your energy protected from any toxicity. 

This season I made it a top priority to not only learn what my boundaries are but to enforce them whenever a person begins to encroach upon them. Setting my boundaries was the easy part. I meditated on what I absolutely couldn’t tolerate under any circumstance. This included things that made me upset and caused my spirit to feel unsettled. After I discovered what my boundaries were I moved onto enforcing the boundaries, which for me, was the hard part. I admire people who can easily voice their thoughts and opinions without any inner turmoil, but I’ve found that even the imagining of voicing unpopular thoughts begins to stir my insides. I’m a person who relishes in a harmonious environment and any sign of confrontation tends to throw my energy into chaos. That leaves me in a frazzled state that can lead to me expressing myself in a much more forceful manner than is necessary. 

Each time I visualized enforcing my boundaries I saw myself in a disharmonious state speaking from my ego center. After ruminating on this, I was divinely led to a video on YouTube by Edyn Jacks’s (I highly recommend her YT channel) where she talks about her experience with boundaries. I learned you don’t have to be mean or ugly about it, but you should always move and speak from your heart center. Voicing your boundary can be easy as, “Hey, I don’t feel comfortable with discussing *insert topic here* or I’d actually prefer it if you’d refrain from *insert action here*. The person you’re enforcing that boundary with should immediately back off, if not cut them out of your life because you do not need anybody who doesn’t stop their problematic behavior. 

You have full autonomy over what you allow to penetrate your space.  Be courageous and exercise your autonomy this holiday season and throughout your life. Here’s to us all loving ourselves enough to get rid of everything and everyone that doesn’t encourage living and loving at the highest vibration.

Much light and love! LC <3

[odetolatifah]

A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.

unknown

[odetolatifah]

Progress over Perfection (Defining Success on your Terms)

As the years passed by, many of times I felt ashamed about my perceived lack of progress in life. Constantly bombarded with reminders of my family, friends, and acquaintances accomplishments, there remained an ever-present feeling of not doing enough. There’s much to be said about living in this Western capitalistic society and how it constantly reaffirms that human worth is measured by constant work, productivity, and the pursuit of acquiring more. More followers, more likes, more possessions, more capital, more accomplishments, more, more, more. It’s like a dark pit of never-ending want.

This society sells you a dream of perfection that’s supposed to leave you happy and satisfied. In order to achieve this “ideal life”, you must work tirelessly to achieve every goal. You sacrifice missing out on fun and rest just to clock in a few extra hours of work. Then one day, you did it. You acquire that nice car, big house, banging body, etc. Everything this society spoon fed you to make you believe you needed to have a picture-perfect life. But then you discover that the gaping hole of darkness, that never-ending pit of want that you were striving so hard to fill with all these material possessions and accomplishments is still void. Yeah, at first the newly acquired possessions felt awesome. Then the newness wore off and you find yourself right where you began.

A lot of us fall into this trap that living in a capitalistic society breeds. Often, I found myself comparing my “failures” to someone else’s successes. It wasn’t until I stopped checking for others and focused solely on running my own race did I understand the power in progress over perfection. Attention and approval from family and peers is an intoxicating, addictive feeling. While the validation you receive from appearing as if you have everything together makes you feel like your pit has been filled, it’s a false, fragile validation bound to crumble at the slightest sign of misfortune.

When you strip yourself bare of any material possessions or accomplishments what are you left with? If you feel bare, exposed, and as a seeming failure, it’s because you fed the beast of want (your ego) more than filling the cup of need (your spirit). Your ego wants the attention, validation, constant praise and awards. It’s your spirit that needs the true things of importance in life. It needs love, joy, service, compassion, nurturing, healing, connection, peace, wisdom, purpose, creation. I could go on, but I believe you catch my drift. These are the aspects that make for a fulfilling existence. In this holistic healing journey of mine, those elements are what I’m continuously striving to cultivate within and beyond me. Even when I do get tripped up while running my race by focusing on what could feed my ego a knowing feeling always realigns me to what is truly important. Filling my spirit will always leave me more satisfied than my ego ever can.

To a person looking from the outside, I may not seem successful because I don’t have all the luxuries, possessions, and accolades the next person may have. Then again, I learned to create my own definition of success, which includes being grateful for every little thing that I do possess. Especially this spirit of mine since it is worth more than any amount of gold and riches.

I implore you all to define success on your terms, not society’s. Aim for progress over perfection. And be as adamant about cultivating your spirit just as much as this society tells you to feed your ego.

With all my love and light! -LC

[odetolatifah]

Hey babes! In this video, I share some of my favorite natural products and 3 DIY recipes! Go take a look and make sure to SUBSCRIBE to my channel while you’re at it! <3

[odetolatifah]

It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.

Lena Horne

[odetolatifah]

Refilling Your Cup (Self-Care)

The leaves are changing colors and the temperature is dropping which means fall is here and the advent of winter is slowly approaching. With the seasonal change also comes earlier times for the sun to set so, in turn, it’s getting darker quicker and natural light is scarce. This is the time that Seasonal Affective Disorder (seasonal depression) can rear its ugly head. If you feel that your mood tends to darken dramatically towards a depressive state during the late fall and early winter, but ultimately goes away during the spring and summer then you may have seasonal depression.

Look out for symptoms including having low energy, feeling depressed nearly all day, having difficulty concentrating, overeating/ craving carbs, social withdrawal, anxiety, and oversleeping. Of course, that’s not an exhaustive list, but it gives you an idea of what to look for. During these months, it is imperative that we treat ourselves with a little more tender love and care than we normally would. That’s where self-care comes in. I’ve mentioned briefly in a few previous posts about self-care and the importance of it, but in this post, I’m going to share with you all some of my favorite ways to indulge so that I can manage the looming threat of seasonal depression.

Go outside and take a walk/jog. Yes, I’m well aware of the dropping temperature and the last thing you want to do is suffer the cold, but it really is a mood booster. Not only will the physical activity release feel-good endorphins, but the exposure to sunlight will aid in brightening your mood.

Plan a self-care day extravaganza. This is exactly what it sounds like. Pick a day that is strictly reserved for catering to all your needs. I like to include a manicure, pedicure, face mask, lip scrub, Netflix binge, adult coloring, social media detox, my favorite meal… I think you catch my drift. The point of this day is to remind yourself of how much you love you. Treat yourself!

Talk to a therapist or confidante. During these months, it’s easy to become a recluse and shut out the world, but opening up and talking about how you’re feeling can be of major relief. If you have access to therapy, by all means, take advantage of it. If not, hopefully, you have someone close to you who wouldn’t mind having a listening, compassionate ear. If that’s not the case, I’m always here to listen and help.

I hope those ideas help in managing your seasonal depression if you believe you may suffer from it. If not, I still encourage you all to try them out, just to keep yourself in high spirits. 

Until next time, I love y’all dearly! –LC!

[odetolatifah]

This video is my very first pick a card reading that reveals to you your best qualities! Go take a look and put your intuition to the test! 

[odetolatifah]

healing comes in waves and maybe today the wave hits the rocks and that's okay, that's okay, darling you are still healing you are still healing.

Ijeoma Umebinyuo, be gentle with yourself 

[odetolatifah]

Don’t Believe the Hype (True Healing)

Trigger Warning: Potentially distressing material as there is mention of abuse and assault.

Don’t believe the hype. Healing isn’t all self-care days featuring face masks, mani’s and pedi’s with a side of binge-watching your favorite show. Of course, self-care days are beneficial and dare I say, essential to a healing practice, but true healing far exceeds the shiny, pretty bits we constantly see.

Healing hurts. True healing can be downright sucky and painful. Imagine unearthing years, decades, even generations of unhealed pain and trauma. That’s what you’re trying to heal. The traumas of abandonment, neglect, sexual, emotional, or physical abuse, even inner child issues. The list of traumas goes on and they all are a searing pain to heal.

The hurt can show itself in a myriad of ways. In my personal experience, the hurt presented itself in the saddest most pitiful form of an emotional episode complete with heavy heaving, a steady flow of tears, a runny, snotty nose and often times I’m curled into a ball rocking myself to some shred of normalcy. But that visceral, cutting feeling of pain is needed because after the pain comes the release. It’s necessary to go through the ugly moments to purge those even uglier parts from your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies.

Admittedly, after the big release you do feel somewhat better, but even then the trauma isn’t fully healed. There are levels to this and the release is just one layer of the trauma. Healing isn’t linear nor is it quick. Healing traumas can take years and holistic healing is a lifelong process. That’s not to say that complete healing is unattainable, but it is a journey and not one to be taken lightly.

So while healing looks fun and relaxing from the surface, when you actually start taking healing seriously and you delve into the shadowy sides it’s not a pretty place. But that’s where true healing is. It’s located in the shadow side where we hide every piece of ourselves we refuse to take a real look at. It’s where we hide our deep-rooted pain in being touched in places we shouldn’t have been touched. It’s where we keep the shame and unworthiness from being abandoned or neglected by a family member.

I know I’m giving heavy examples of traumas people face, but do not think for a second that because you seemingly have had a happy childhood and overall life that you’re exempt from any heavy healing. Especially in our childhood years, the psyche is extremely sensitive and reacts to situations that we would shake off as an adult in a completely irrational way. I unearthed a trauma from my childhood I didn’t know existed, although my subconscious did give me a sneaking suspicion. It wasn’t until I began to shine a light on my shadow side that my conscious brain allowed what I subconsciously knew to break through and be purged.

I’m not telling you all this to scare anybody away or intimidate them from healing. I truly believe healing is necessary for everybody. We all have some hurt that needs to be purged and sometimes it isn’t even yours (i.e. generational trauma). I’m writing this to give you all a real, personal account of what healing is. And while there are many days of self-care you also must account for the days of ripping pain and immobility in body, spirit, and mind. Those days are just as essential and that’s where you’ll ultimately discover your true healing.

With all the peace and love I have! -LC    

[odetolatifah]

Moving with Grace

There’s a preconceived notion that because a person is meditating, exercising, practicing yoga, and manifesting life through affirmations that every day must be sweet as cherry pie. Looking from the outside in everything is perfect, right? Wrong. We should all know by now that everything isn’t what it seems and that’s especially true in the case of social media. Healers, yogis, new age spiritualists, etc. deal with just as much strife as the next person. The difference is all in how you react to the uncomfortable situation(s).

Every day I’m working on moving through this world with grace. I don’t want my gratefulness to be limited to when life is seemingly going smooth. Where’s the challenge in that. The true test of character is when you’re having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad month and you continue to remain centered. Personally speaking, most days are great, but on those occasions where nothing seems to be going in my favor, I remind myself to move with grace.

When I reference moving with grace, I mean staying grateful in the midst of strife. Mastering grace through tough circumstances is no easy feat. It seems that our knee-jerk reaction in dealing with stressful times is to get upset, sulk, and wish terrible on the world. Lowering your frequency to those negative vibrations will only attract more chaos in your life. That’s why it is necessary to work on continuously moving through each day with a sense of grace and inner peace.

To help facilitate in the process of cultivating grace, I like to begin by reminding myself that unfavorable circumstances are catalysts for growth. My belief is if you’re not evolving in life you’re not truly living to your fullest potential. Simply shifting your perspective on a “bad day” signifying the world is out to get you to the world is presenting you with an opportunity for growth greatly enhances your mindset.  

Then I rely on my meditation practice and my holding space techniques. Make the time to breathe and center yourself in your heart space. Opening your heart to love and compassion is sure to ease you in the direction of gratefulness. I also make it a point to center my awareness on positivity. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is, I take the time out to say thank you to the universe for that blessing.

    I woke up this morning. Thank you universe. I’m in good health. Thank you universe. My breath flows easily throughout my body. Thank you universe. I have a loving support system. Thank you universe.

Doing that exercise in gratefulness reminds me that every day I am blessed and highly favored. Centering yourself in the space of gratefulness is exactly where you need to be to move through this world with grace. Not only will it make you feel better, but the universe will also respond to the high-frequency energy of gratefulness you’re sending out and you’re likely to receive abundance and blessings you never expected.

I hope you all realize how incredibly blessed we are and to remain grateful. Attempt to move through this life with as much grace as possible. You’ll be happier and the world will benefit greatly from it.

As always, much light and love to y’all! -LC

[odetolatifah]

There’s never a time you shouldn’t reconnect to your center, to your breath, to your spirit. 

[odetolatifah]

The sun is a daily reminder that we too can rise again from the darkness, that we too can shine our own light.

s. ajna

[odetolatifah]

What I Eat in a Day #2! Take a look and get some healthy, easy, delicious ideas to try on your holistic healing journey! 

[odetolatifah]

If you’re interested in seeing what I eat in a day take a look at my video! I walk you through an entire day of eating while intermittent fasting!

Love and light! <3

[odetolatifah]

to heal you have to get to the root of the wound and kiss it all the way up

rupi kaur

[odetolatifah]

Crystal Healing 101

There’s a lot of attraction around crystals. They are, after all, majestic stones to marvel at and beautiful decorative pieces. Aside from crystals exterior appeal, they offer wonderful healing properties.

Crystal healing is an ancient practice that can be traced back to the Ancient Sumerians and Egyptians. Modern crystal healing is based on the philosophies borrowed from the Chinese concept of life-energy or chi as well as the Hindu or Buddhist concept of chakras. Crystal healing is a popular alternative holistic practice in which various crystals are aligned on your body and major chakra points in correspondence to blockages or ailments. Each stone is assigned different properties that can help facilitate healing.

There’s a slew of crystals to choose from each with varying purposes. At first, it can seem a daunting task to select the crystal you need. One of the best ways to find the crystal you need is to go to a shop with a selection of stones and see what you are innately drawn to. Let your intuition do all the hard work. In most situations, your body already knows what it needs and it’ll subconsciously take you to the perfect stone without your conscious knowledge.

I’ve personally tried this technique and was amazed at the results. At the time, I thought I was purchasing the crystals I chose based solely on physical attributes: color, feel, shape, luster.

Little did I know, my citrine crystal was to boost my confidence and creativity by balancing my solar plexus chakra. That’s just one example of how the crystals I bought that day were connected to what I needed to heal.

After you’ve chosen your crystals, it would behoove you to cleanse the stone(s) of any lingering energies. Crystal cleansing is simple, albeit extremely important. Depending on the stone, past lingering energies could be negative and toxic. In particular, black grounding stones are known to absorb negative energies. An initial cleanse and a regular weekly cleanse is good practice for successful crystal healing.

There are various ways to cleanse crystals. You can let the smoke from sage or palo santo envelop the stones. Sitting crystals out in the sunlight or moonlight for a few hours is another way to recharge and cleanse crystal energy. The options are endless and a quick google search will surely expose you to even more cleansing alternatives.

After you’ve cleansed your stones(s), I would carve out time in meditation or any free time where you can connect with and exchange energies. This connection helps to personalize the crystal’s frequency to your own. Setting intentions during this time is an excellent idea. Intentions are a powerful tool that let the crystal know exactly what it is programmed for.

For example, rose quartz is known for properties relating to the broad arena of love and compassion. Programming a specific intention when working with a particular stone increases the effectiveness. Instead of simply leaving the rose quartz blank with no intention, I’d set it to connect me with my heart chakra and foster radiant feelings of self-love. You can be as simplistic or creative with your intention. Just make sure to do it.

So far, we’ve:

Chosen crystals

Cleansed past energies

Programmed intentions

It’s time to start healing. Like setting intentions, your crystal healing should be personalized. Take time to make it as simple or layered as you please. If you’re just starting out you may want to sleep with amethyst and/ or selenite under a pillow or near you to encourage peaceful sleep. Walking around with a pocket or bra full of crystals is quite a fun experience. Personally, I like stuffing green jade in my bra close to my heart. Also, lounging around the house holding a few or lying on the bed with surrounding stones is another easy way to take advantage of the healing effects. If you’re interested in crystal healing in relation to the chakras, place chosen crystals on targeted chakras and let them work their magic by balancing any deficient or overactive chakras.

That’s the basics of crystal healing. Make sure to cleanse and program your crystals regularly. Trust that they are working for your ultimate health.

Until next time! Love and light! -LC