Nurturing NOLA

Immunized! 💉🦠 Incredibly thankful for science and my first dose of the Moderna 🎉 My arm is sore, and my mind is busy thinking of all that has gone into the creation of this vaccine.

Since it's and so many of our "medical advancements" have been the results of non consensual, racist, tortuous experimentation and "practice" on black and brown bodies, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge this. To note I continue to benefit from a system that does not act with transparency and fairness. I hope to continue to hold this system accountable and to rectify some of these wrongs. Without the harvesting of cells from this type of RNA advancement wouldn't be possible.

For those of you that don't know her story I encourage your to read or watch The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I've also linked a Nature article in my bio I encourage you to take a gander at 👀📚📖

"Last month marked 100 years since Lacks’s birth. She died in 1951, aged 31, of an aggressive cervical cancer. Months earlier, doctors at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, had taken samples of her cancerous cells while diagnosing and treating the disease. They gave some of that tissue to a researcher without Lacks’s knowledge or consent. In the laboratory, her cells turned out to have an extraordinary capacity to survive and reproduce; they were, in essence, immortal. The researcher shared them widely with other scientists, and they became a workhorse of biological research. Today, work done with HeLa cells underpins much of modern medicine; they have been involved in key discoveries in many fields, including cancer, immunology and infectious disease. One of their most recent applications has been in research for vaccines against COVID-19."

"All it took in the birthing room was good sense, the good sense that a thing hanging ought to fall, the way swollen apples brought their branches low before the apples plopped down to the ground. Shouldn't it be the same with a baby? Let them hang low in the mama when it was time to fall, the mama being the branch near snapping."
Afia Atakora

Studies show we tend to absorb information better if learned through story. In Conjure Women Afia Atakora tells an amazing story of civil war era America, through her powerful narrative you'll learn the wisdom, magic, faith and traditions which contributed to the survival of the black community as they transition from slavery to "freedom." The generational ties and obligations, the mystery alive in the everyday mundane, the horrors and resiliency, the healing, the malice, every page is deeply moving. Plus her depictions of birth and the fragility held within such a powerful process gave my brain chills.

Happy reading.

Epiphany and the Celebration of New Orleans Patron Saint Joan of Arc is usually the beginning of our carnival season and a day of reflection for myself. This year, carnival will be... Different.. and my epiphan is that it's a good thing. We aren't in a safe place to celebrate and dance in the streets and as much as we'd all love that sweet release it isn't our highest priority right now.
We need to do what is right for the greater good. To sacrifice and listen to our inner voice for guidance on how to cope. We need to be like Joan, the young french present girl who changed the world. Joan's story has enamored me since my first hearing many moons ago.

Joan convinced Charles VII to let her fight in and lead the French army in his name, leading to the liberation of Orleans and other victories in the hundred year war with the English. Unfortunately, in May 1430 she was captured and jailed for over a year then put to trial on charges of heresy, witchcraft and violating divine law for dressing like a man.

By the beginning of her trial she was infamous! Notorious! As the opening of the trial record noted, "The report has now become well known in many places that this woman, utterly disregarding what is honourable in the female s*x, breaking the bounds of modesty, and forgetting all female decency, has disgracefully put on the clothing of the male s*x, a striking and vile monstrosity. And what is more, her presumption went so far that she dared to do, say and disseminate many things beyond and contrary to the Catholic faith and injurious to the articles of its orthodox belief."

So this year, let's rethink things. Let's think of those subversive and bold things we can do to celebrate, uplift and challenge the norms we know we need to continue to change. Let's be the witchiest saints out there.

Also prior to consuming my first King Cake tomorrow I'll be teaching via zoom at 6pm, you definitely don't have to be pre or postnatal to practice with us register via

Or take 's Rainbow flow for some healthy inclusive yoga without the baby factor and a true incarnation of Joan's spirit!
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"But the world I wanted wasn't the world I lived in, and if I would do nothing until I could repair every terrible thing at once, I would do nothing forever."

It's hibernation season, time to reflect on the changes I want and ones I've made. There is so much to say about this year, the hard things, the victories, the lessons, the failures, this season, the planets, the stars and the moon, and maybe eventually I'll find them. Instead of a long jumbled attempt I thought I'd point you in the direction of a word expert

inspired me to do some book reviews/recommendations and I think the works of Naomi Novik are a great place to start. Her imagination, thoughtful world creation and engaging characters have been essential in finding escape, hope, faith, and beauty this year. The magic in Spinning Silver and Uprooted is tangible and transport you to other times and places. The epic adventure of Temeraire challenges you to imagine the world from an entirely different perspective, plus the most lovable dragons you have ever met.

My love of the is bottomless, without their ebooks I would have no money and no shelf space and I urge you all to support them if you can. There are few other institutions that contain so many wonders.

Happy reading, happy hibernating, happy holidays.

Beautiful, powerful, strong and bold. Incredibly grateful for community and excited for more collaboration and work ahead. Some of y'all may have noticed a lull in my Thursday and Friday pre and Postnatal yoga classes, but it's in the name of something new and fun to come! We know y'all are starting to feel zoomed out (so are we) but also that we want to stay safe as we continue to contend with the Covid Pandemic. We are creating a prerecorded series to allow you to practice at your convenience and have fewer technical issues with zooming in and dealing with links and all that awkward stuff. Hopefully it will also be a prelude to some more in person options as vaccines roll out and we can find solutions that are engaging and safe for everyone! Thank you for your patience, dedication and showing up one way or another this year. 2020 has been a doozy in so many ways, I have no idea how I would have made it through without my practice and community.

You can still practice with me "live" via zoom for two classes a week if you want!

Monday Vinyasa and Yin 6pm CST
Wednesdays 6pm CST this class is also a phenomenal postpartum option!

"Maybe Eve was never meant to be our warning. Maybe she was meant to be our model.
Own your wanting.
Eat the apple.
Let it burn."

If you haven't read Untamed, what are you waiting for? Lives up to the hype.


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You Should Avoid Young Children

Because they fill their diapers
with reliable ease, sitting on your lap
or spread out on your best mattress.
Guilt is as foreign to them as vichyssoise.
Because they spread sticky fingers
over the piano keys, looking for you
to hoist them onto your lap. They slam
the ivories for the racket they can make.
Re-think your nap.
Because they are blank slates
on which so much waits to be written,
their eyes opened wide to take everything in,
including the lines around your eyes,
the pouches under your chin.
Because they manipulate the controls
on the TV, finger the holes in the electric socket,
stomp the cat’s switching tail only to smile
and gaze at you as if you held the keys to joy.
Because you can embrace them, but
you can’t bind them. Because they have nothing
to give you—and everything. Because
something loosens when they come around.
Something opens you didn’t know was shut.
Claire Keynes

I've been having a hard time finding the right words to share, hope to give, lessons learned and how I'm coping recently. Fortunately poets exist.
Kids today are developing in a world we've never seen before. They will inherit so many problems they are not responsible for creating, they won't have the chance to see a lot of magical creatures and places, the list goes on. My work, my hope, my inspiration right now is that they will be able to meet these challenges with grace, love, patience and understanding because these are the examples I am working on setting for them. We have the power to shape the world when we care for children, let's try to be the people we want them to be when they grow up.

You are not your age, nor the size of clothes you wear,
You are not a weight, or the color of your hair.
You are not your name, or the dimples in your cheeks.
You are all the books you read, and all the words you speak.
You are your croaky morning voice, and the smiles you try to hide.
You’re the sweetness in your laughter, and every tear you’ve cried.
You’re the songs you sing so loudly when you know you’re all alone.
You’re the places that you’ve been to, and the one that you call home.
You’re the things that you believe in, and the people whom you love.
You’re the photos in your bedroom, and the future you dream of.
You’re made of so much beauty, but it seems that you forgot
When you decided that you were defined by all the things you’re not.

NOT by amazing poet

Oh hi! Slowly immerging to the human world after a brief hiatus seeking only the company of cats. Between Hurricane Zeta, a tough birth, election anxiety and a myriad of life things I needed to turn in for a bit. Working towards healing and acceptance a lot this week (and forever) and getting back to routines that serve me.

I'll be back on the mat to lead you through some zoom yoga,
Prenatal Yoga Wednesdays 6pm
Prenatal Yoga Thursdays at noon
due to calendar conflicts Fridays are cancelled through the rest of the month so be sure to catch me one of my other days!

Nonpregnant folks can join me for Vinyasa and Yin class on Monday evenings 6pm

Havin' trouble with the newly livin'? You tired of havin' your belly and personal space violated? Wanna get rid of them pesky aches and pains while your body is inhabitanted? Well come on down and see me folks, I'm the best doula and perinatal yoga teacher around! Yes siree! So come on down, and I'll tell ya, I'll do anything. I'll stretch ya real good. Have ya take some lomg cleansing breathes! Hell, I'll even do some poses myself!

Halloween frivolity to bring you a chuckle or a cringe. In all seriousness though I am accepting 2021 doula clients (in New Orleans and virtually) and have multiple virtual perinatal yoga classes throughout the week to keep you moving, connected and safe.

Register via the studio links or Mindbody app

Wednesdays 6pm
Thursdays noon- 45 minute
Friday 10:30am Mama Baby/BYOB (bring your own bump/baby)


Also, very important, few things in life being me more joy than animals and babies in costume. Due to social distancing I won't see nearly enough in person this year, so please DM or tag me in all of those!