I don’t know if anyone is wondering the questions the way I asked them in the title, but they’re fair game nonetheless, so let’s roll with it.

If you don’t already know, I’m enrolled in a 3-month trauma-informed training program with Adria at The School of Radical Healing (SORH) and our first session begins THIS Saturday. [Learn more about The School of Radical Healing]

For me, this training is an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of what trauma actually is and what it means to be trauma-informed as both a human and service-based entrepreneur who gives a fuck about the whole of who people are and not just the parts that feel convenient or profitable.

I started learning from Adria in 2020 when a mutual friend put me on to how she was using her Instagram platform to offer yoga, breath work, and meditation sessions at the beginning of the pandemic.

I eventually bought her meditation album, DFTB: Don’t Forget To Breathe, and it was a major catalyst on my journey of self-awareness, well-being, and mindful living.

Later, I took yoga, breathwork, and meditation classes with her and that allowed me to witness and experience the power of the body and how urgent it is that we prioritize our care and healing in whatever ways we can.

And so I applied for a scholarship to the SORH last winter and soon after was blissed to be a recipient for the Fall ‘22 cohort.

When I originally applied for the scholarship, I had my salon clientele in mind, but now that I’ve retired from Curl Artistry, I’m reimagining how what I learn over the next 3 months would like to be integrated and expressed in my work moving forward.

Over this last year working in the salon, I was having conversations with clients about trauma and exhaustion and healing and had even started incorporating breathwork into the appointments.

It’s not something I planned, it was an organic overflow from the work I was doing in my own life that naturally spilled over into the salon space.

And we needed it badly.

It was a really dope co-creation and fuel for my transition out of the salon and into this expansive season of deep grounding, nurturing, slowing down, and receiving.

I’m now enjoying the hiatus I’ve needed for a really long time.

Which brings me to FIVE REASONS why I’m taking this training:

Because my body, mind, and spirit said so. As I practice returning to my Knowing, there’s a lot of things that “don’t make sense” to my logical mind until after I’ve trusted my body and spirit. I don’t know all the ways this adventure will bear fruit, but I do know I’m exactly where I need to be right now and the rest will reveal itself in time.

Because I’m reuniting the parts of myself that trauma has fragmented and reclaiming my wholeness. I want a deeper understanding of how trauma impacts us and what medicine, tools, and beliefs we can use to support our healing and recovery. I want that for all of us, so I’m going first. I only want to preach what I practice and speak from an embodied place and not just a theoretical one. Theory without practice is dead.

Because I want to affirm + be affirmed. I’ve spent a lot of time in environments that made me doubt myself and what I knew to be true. I’ve spent most of my life holding my breath and now I’m intentionally going into an environment where I can exhale. I am, in fact, not crazy and I deepen my self-trust by choosing to be around people who get it—the vision for a different kind of world than the one we see now. I’m also a lovely amen corner, so I want to share that with my cohort too.

Because I want to deepen my capacity to nurture, connect, and collaborate. Whether it’s with my family, friends, or clients—my relationships and interactions are sacred and I want to be able to show up feeling like myself. I believe being able to add a trauma-informed lens to my world and work holds a sweet kind of liberation for not just me, but all of us. This is radical healing for me, my ancestors, and my future generations. It’s for you too. Because you’re here. I know what it’s like to relate from an emotionally disconnected place and that does not feel good for me, so I’m continuing to open to love so I can continue to spread it.

Because I’m a dreamer at heart and I love to imagine. I’ve learned that our ability to dream up new worlds and ways of being is directly connected to how safe we feel. The last couple of months before I separated from my ex-husband, my anxiety was really intense and my functional medicine doctor at the time told me my adrenals were shot. I was always on edge and always on the defense—until I moved out. Feeling safe in my own place created space, the very thing we need to explore our creativity and ideas. Similarly, the more space I can make in my body, the more I can play. Safety within, safety without. 🤞🏾

I am SO thankful to be in this place in my life and on this journey with you and I’m thankful for the ways my community has shown up to support me and this work.

✨Thank you to Michelle C., Cherese, and my baby V for gifting me books from my list. Thank you to Roni for sending me a love offering. To Dayka and Lex for being soul family and baddie homegirls. Y’all are a major part of what is to come and truly, what is already here. 

I’ll share updates here on the blog as I go through the training and if you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you’ll be the first to know everything.

Thank you for being here.

Stay curious,

Andra

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Want to support me + this work?

✨HERE’S 3 WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT✨

Check my list.

I’ve got books and other fun stuff you can gift me here if you feel so led. I take pride in being community-made and would love for you to be a part.

Buy a ride.

If you know you know, Detroit’s public transportation system (or lack thereof) is hot garbage, so sending ya girl a LYFT GIFT CARD would be mad helpful too. I’ve already started connecting with local businesses like D-TOWN FARM here and want to be able to do even more of that stress-free.

Send some cash.

As I’m practicing unraveling from hyper-individualism, I’m open to financial support. Imagining a different world and bringing a vision to life is a whole lot more fun when money isn’t a worry.

CASH APP: $AndraRenee

ZELLE: haircousin@gmail.com