I’m trying to do better this year with all things health and wellness. This past week I experimented with making some DIY deodorant. It only included 5 simple ingredients. And, I love the scent! 💜Comment below if you want the recipe.
Naan Bread (Plant Based) Recipe
Wet Ingredients
Mix 2/3 cup lukewarm water with
2 tsp of cane sugar then add
2 tsp of active dry yeast
Mix with fork (you will see it foam up)
Set aside for 10-15 minutes until
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Mix frothy yeast with flour mixture plus
1 tbsp of avocado oil. Use fork to mix, then knead with hands.
Place dough in bowl. Cover with towel and set inside oven with light on for 1.5 hours until the dough rises.
Take out of oven, knead. Divide into 8 sections and roll and set aside for another 10 minutes.
Roll out the dough and fry in butter of choicel Flip over when it starts to bubble. After fried, you can top with chopped garlic, oil and cilantro.
Enjoy🌱
I love a good trip to a health inspired shop. It doesn’t matter if it’s a visit to a spa, tea shop, beauty and wellness center or a gym, I love and appreciate the space to center myself. This helps relieve anxiety and stress. What are some ways that you prioritize you?
Lately I have started to dislike going out to eat or buying certain grocery items like bread because the food or ingredients seems like really low quality or full of fillers or harmful stuff. I am now interested in making my own bread. It’s a newfound labor of love.💛
Those that know me know that I don’t typically like to put any products on my face (including makeup) but I recently purchased a few items from this shop and I must say, my skin is a fan. The scrub and butter feels very nourishing and soothing to my face. My soul is happy.
Y’all check out her products and thank me later.
Peace
Love
Light
There’s something really freeing about wearing your natural hair in its natural state!
As someone who loves to wear all sorts of hairstyles, I must say that there is a newfound confidence that I feel when I just simply let my hair do what it does naturally.
I’mma just let it do what it’s gonna do baby…lol!! Can anyone else relate?
As I was planning my solo trip to Portugal, I kept telling myself, girl, you’re crazy! I talked myself out of going a million times. The voice inside my head screamed “think practically Tyesha, save your money!”
Does any of this sound familiar to you? These are the stories that we tell ourselves when we are trying to talk ourselves out of doing the thing that keeps calling us. It’s that pull that you feel that will just not go away.
I don’t know if I will ever fully understand what ultimately made me decide to book the trip but one thing I do know for sure is that we can all benefit from being a bit more delusional every now and then, especially when you are feeling guided and protected by your calling.
Being delusional is defined as holding false beliefs about reality. Yet, I believe that the lens through which we perceive our reality is often shaped by some beliefs that were never truly ours to begin with so we must challenge that inner voice that could be holding us back from living.
The sweet spot in life comes when we allow our minds to hold space for an imaginary world and a more positive or inflated view of our own capabilities. Now, I’m not saying that we should put ourselves into any precarious situations, but I am saying that when we allow ourselves to reimagine life, we can open the doors for expansion, and getting there might require us to become a bit more “delusional”.
Peace, Love & Light
One of the best things about solo travel is meeting amazing souls.
I had the pleasure of meeting this beautiful young woman Celeste while at the bus stop in Portugal. Celeste was accompanied by her grandmother and mother. There was this beautiful spirit that filled the air as they approached. Both of the elders looked at Celeste in great admiration and gestured for her to speak with me in English once they learned that I was American.
With the most captivating smile, Celeste asked me where I was from and I replied that I was originally from The Bronx, New York. Her face immediately brightened even more and she said many people in her community dream of visiting New York and that they all love its culture - she said this with such excitement. I then explained to Celeste how I was actually visiting her neighborhood of Quinta Do Mocho and how impressed I was to see all of the intriguing artwork there. The vivid colors and images on the buildings are truly captivating. She responded saying how the art helped to transform the once crime ridden community. As she put it, “I live in an art gallery now”.
My conversation with Celeste extended for about another 30 minutes. I watched her as she hugged both her mom and grandmother before they got onto their bus. You could see the strong bond that they shared and how proud they were of Celeste. She later helped me find the proper bus and even got on the bus with me and asked the driver to ensure that I got off at the right stop, speaking fluently in her native tongue, Portuguese. During our conversation, Celeste shared with me her career dreams and I provided words of encouragement to her.
There was a familial energy that I felt throughout this entire interaction, despite having just met all three women. This experience served as a gentle reminder of how we each have the power to touch each other in a profound way, no matter how brief or lengthy the interaction. We can use our words to encourage, uplift and help one another. Love is truly a universal language.
Photo 1 - Celeste and I while waiting at the 2790 bus stop
Photo 2 & 3 - Quinta do Mocho Art Gallery
Immediately I felt an overwhelming sense of connection as I stepped onto the plaza. I could not place the feeling but it felt like a familiar yet distant and eerie place. Amidst the large crowds snapping photos with their families, with faces of glee and contentment, sipping on fresh pineapple juice from the nearby fruit stands, I stood there bewildered.
Later that evening I went on to research the history behind the Praça do Comércio, translated from Portuguese as The Square of Commerce. But, what sort of commerce took place here? After having visited several monuments in Portugal, this one felt different. A quick Google search will tell you that it’s the most magnificent plaza in Lisbon, and one of the highlights of the city. But I knew there had to be something far more dark and troubling behind its veil.
I finally came across a paper titled Looking back at Lisbon: resisting disappearance in the face of colonial nostalgia. This is a great read and provides an insightful summary of Portugal and its historical ties to colonialism and slavery. I went on to discover that Praça do Comércio was central to the Portuguese slave trade. The article details how the two pillars shown in the photo would have been amongst the first sights my ancestors saw while crossing the Rio Tejo.
This discovery later led me to the street Rua do Poço do Negros, literally translating to ‘street of the pit of blacks’ which was established as a site for the mass burial of neglected unclaimed enslaved humans.
I now have an even greater thirst for uncovering more truths as I explore on my journey. I know that God is pushing me to see and do more and to move beyond the false narratives.
