Zen Day 2018: Power to the Community

Zen Day, the first ever wellness conference for communities of color took place on May 19th at the sacred grounds of Weeksville Heritage Center and hosted 150+ women of color for an epic day of sisterhood, reclaiming our zen and tapping into the power of community.

Zen Day is a collaboration between I See You Wellness bringing Self Love and Self Care to communities of color and GrillzandGranola, bringing movement through Trap Aerobics. Together, we co-created a unique experience and space for communities of color to heal, grow, rise and thrive together.

What happened at Zen Day goes beyond words, you had to be there to receive the energy and transmissions of the collective. Together we (staff, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, attendees, speakers... all of us) created an energy vortex by bringing the best of ourselves with the intention to heal and expand as individuals and as a collective. 

While this post cannot do justice to the powerful shifts and revelations that took place that day, please allow me to share some of Zen Day's best lessons:

1- The Sisterhood 

The power of sisterhood is REAL. Surrounding yourself with people who see you, get you and love you unconditionally is a crucial step to your growth and expansion. At Zen Day, we were surrounded by a tribe of powerful beings who held space for us to be our best self and live our best life. Magic happens when we gather and we all felt it deeply.

Lesson: Gather with your sisters. Often.

2- Mindful Consuming

We learned that Self Care starts with the individual but true change happens when we help each other rise. At the Zen Day Marketplace, we met people of color owned businesses and practitioners who are dedicated to serving their community with products and services that are holistic, natural and designed for people of color. In fact, everything at Zen Day was powered by people of color owned businesses, from our Reiki-Infused Lunch (Coolinary Arts + I See You Wellness) to the Chakra Opening Mocktails (Casa Finca). We are powerful when we invest in each other. 

Lesson: Use your money power and put it back into your community. Shop Mindfully.

3- Remembering who we are

The day's rituals, activities and Zen Talks were all geared to help us remember who we are. Our journeys to wellness may all look different but they all start by us acknowledging our own inner power. It's crucial to never underestimate our power and use it mindfully to benefit us and the people around us. We are all magical beings capable of creating as much impact as we set our minds too. We are here, we are loved, we are guided, we are powerful, we are determined—nothing can stop us. Let's remember to put our crowns on every. single. day.

Lesson: We must continuously come back to our power using tools, rituals, practices and modalities that bring us joy, peace and clarity and help us ground back into ourselves so we can NEVER forget who we are.

4- A Community of Powerful Individuals

Being in a space filled with powerful and beautiful women (and men) of all colors is absolutely magical. Everyone at Zen Day brought something uniquely theirs to share with the community: their joy, their smile, their hugs, their energy, their service, their creation... it was a beautiful demonstration of what our reality could be when we gather with our tribe and bring our best selves along. As you walked into the conference space, you could feel the powerful vibrations and can't help but raise your own to meet the community. That's the power of our collective: when one rises, we ALL rise.

Lesson: Surrounding yourself with a tribe that helps you RISE is a mindful and intentional act of self care and self love.

5- The shift is here. We are the shift.

We've been experiencing some major shifts lately, we all feel it deeply and have been experiencing it in many different ways but one thing is undeniable: the shift is here and its power is propelling us to dig deeper, do better and RISE. You see, WE ARE THE SHIFT, the shift is US, we created this shift by raising our vibrations, by changing our consciousness, by breaking the norms and deviating from the existing systems that don't work for us. As we all go through this shift, it's important to know that this isn't "happening to us", we are the ones creating the shift, we are the leaders with different powers coming together to create greater change. We are the leaders coming together to rise and thrive and fulfill our soul mission. We are here, we are powerful, we ARE the shift.

Lesson: Remember that you are not alone in this process. Remember that you are a leader amongst many other leaders who are ready to RISE. We're in this together.

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Huge thank you to everyone who helped make Zen Day possible:

My sister partners who co-created this vision with me.

Our amazing inaugural speakers: Angela Wildflower, Dr. Miguelina Rodriguez, Vida Valdes and Liana Naima.

Sponsors & Partners: Weeksville Heritage Center, Under Armour Women, Healthade Kombucha, Crown Jewel Beverages, CRWN Magazine, Herschel, Bai, Coolinary Kitchen,  Essentia, Nokia Health.

Vendors + Practitioners: Sunkiss Organics, Digital Kente, Earthly Jewelry, Crownlight Candles, Holistic Athletic Care, The Lovely You, The Perez Sisters, Casa Finca, Readings by Vida, Massages @ Tiffany's, Yoga Via Natalie, Balvina Maitri.

Countless volunteers, friends and family who donated their time, talent and energy to the community. A million thank you to all of you. 

And finally, we're grateful to all those of you who heard the call, bought a ticket and showed up for themselves and their community. We see you. We honor you. We cheer for you. 

Thank you for making Zen Day 2018 better than our wildest intentions.

Until next time,

Mariam