My Personal Healing Story

Peace, Love & Light,

Today in honor of International Women’s day I'd like to reintroduce myself and tell you a little bit about how I got here. My name is Keke, I am well into my 30s, I am a Virginia native. I am also a mother, life partner, daughter, sister, cousin, friend, activist, contortionist and the Lead Practitioner at Twisted Yogi.

I started practicing yoga consistently 9 years ago after I had my fourth child. I had completely lost myself and felt I was navigating a maze everyday; I was unhappy and experiencing a dark side of depression. My marriage was headed for divorce and I couldn’t seem to catch my breathe. As an addition to my declining mental health, I had gained well over 80 pounds which was met with aches, pains, mysterious illnesses, low self esteem and anxiety. I spent thousands of dollars seeking medical help from specialists, doctors, and chiropractors only to not find what my body needed.

Mother of Four

Never enjoyed exercising-yoga never felt like that to me. It was peace, time just for me without expectation.

It was not until I begin noticing beautiful men and women of color doing yoga on Instagram that I knew I had to give it a try. I quickly realized that I simply could not do what I had been witnessing on social media. I could not touch my toes, I could not breathe properly, I damn sure couldn’t stand on my head. So, I committed to mastering a headstand because apparently I like to be challenged…which quickly consumed me; I was obsessed. Learning to do a headstand took my mind off of my mental health and open my eyes to see beyond what I was currently seeing. I started to find hope.

I decided to purchase a few yoga books and I began trying different yoga poses with no real rhyme or reason. I had no idea that a few yoga poses each day would turn into a journey that would change the trajectory of my life. I was well on my way to rediscovering life through movement and meditation and I had no clue; I was just moving my body everyday - it felt good.

Yoga transformed my mind, body, and my entire life. I worked hard to remove some of my fears, undo conditions and beliefs that didn’t belong to me, and unlearn some habits while recognizing some hard truths. With yoga, I lost over 80 pounds, I gained control of my blood pressure, I have the A1c of a person without diabetes, my skin is clear and I am glowing, my panic attacks are controllable, and my mental health is no longer getting in my way.

What I have learned along the way - Trauma is real. It hurts and it sticks with you until you begin to unpack the box instead of putting it away. I held onto so much stored trauma that it was stagnant in my body. It showed in my weight, my skin, my mood, my aura. I was not all love and light to be around. I was miserable and emitted that energy out unintentionally. Ever heard the term “hurt people hurt people”?

I am now and Full Time Yoga Practitioner. I offer people, like me, the opportunity to experience and feel good inside their bodies. I used my education and experience along with my passion and skills to create a life that allows me to be of service through servant leadership. As a Black Yogi, representation matters in a world that likes to create conditions that tell us what we can and can’t do. My unique approach dismissing this myth and shows that all bodies, all races, all religions, all classes of people can experience the liberation of the mind through yoga and meditation.

My Mantra "Guide me and heal me, so that I may guide and heal others?".