Women In Wellness: Abiola Abrams of Womanifesting On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Declutter, declutter, declutter. Even minimalists may have a lot of clutter in their lives. Physical clutter is only one kind of clutter. There is digital clutter, relationship clutter and even emotional clutter. Allow yourself to be free of what no longer serves you.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Abiola Abrams.
Abiola Abrams is an award-winning author of African Goddess Initiation: Sacred Rituals for Self-Love, Prosperity and Joy, intuitive coach, oracle deck creator — including the African Goddess Rising Oracle deck — transformational speaker, and international retreat leader. Abiola is the first-generation American daughter of multi-generational healers, seers, and farmers in Guyana, South America, who are descended from several West African nations. The founder of the Womanifesting self-love empowerment platform, podcast, and Goddess Temple Circle, Abiola studied sociology at Sarah Lawrence College.
Learn more about Abiola on her website: Womanifesting.com
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I am a New Yorker, born and raised, and the first person in my family born in the United States. My family is from Guyana, South America. I grew up, like many immigrant kids, as a bit of an outsider. I had very low self-esteem growing up. But I feel like everything I experienced gave me the foundation for my work today.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
A couple of years ago I did an underwear commercial for the Gap as a self-love ambassador. This was such an empowering experience, as a dark skinned Black woman in my 40s, with kinky hair and African features. Each and every one of us is our own kind of beautiful. I am living proof that you may be shy, introverted or maybe even a bit anxious and can still put your voice in the world. Your voice matters.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Thank you so much for this question. I don’t really believe in mistakes because our missteps are often our greatest teachers. I believe in failing forward. And my biggest error starting out was being afraid to be genuinely myself and put myself out there. I thought I had to fit into a box and please other people. What I have learned since then is that you are the niche. And your relationship with your soulmate clients or customers is a sacred one. It is all divine, it is all spiritual.
So for example, I was taught that it is not spiritual, feminine or creative to be in business, so sell your work. And it is the exact opposite. You have a sacred duty to put your magic in the world. Your voice matters. If you have medicine that could change someone’s life, you are honor-bound to share it. The way we share it in our culture includes making sales and putting your voice into the arena. We need you! I created several courses for Spiritpreneurs ® because approaching your business from this point of view is life changing for you and for those you serve.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
My current work focuses on our spiritual evolution and self-love rooted in the divine feminine gifts of global African culture. I am so thrilled to be finally able to do this work. Mother Africa has many rich, transformational gifts to help us to develop good character, raise our consciousness and tap into our inner power, but African culture has been demonized. It is my honor to be able to do this work. The subtitle for my book, African Goddess Initiation is “Sacred Rituals for Self-Love, Prosperity and Joy.” For each self-love, manifesting and self-care ritual I share that you can do in your home, I share an ancient ritual. When we, African people, were trafficked into the so-called new world, we hid our spiritual practices, rituals and deities in stories, tall tales, saints, and other practices.
There is no one African spiritual practice. Africa is the 54 plus countries on the continent plus all of us throughout the African diaspora in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and the United States. There truly is no other book like this and I am so proud to share the gifts of our cultures. We deserve to have the tools of our ancestors for personal evolution and healing.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
This is a great question, because change can be made with incremental shifts.
- Journaling is a tool that has been transformational throughout my life. A simple practice to incorporate is morning pages. I first learned about this practice in the book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
- Meditation will change everything for everyone. The great thing is that there are many kinds of meditation from transcendental to walking meditations. I have several guided meditation albums because guided meditation and visualization is my favorite approach. My newest meditation album, Enter Your Goddess Temple, is set to binaural beats to help listeners go deeper and shift their consciousness.
- Card practice. I love inspirational decks, and although it seems obvious that I might say that as the creator of four decks, I was a card lover for many years before creating my own. An easy daily practice that I invite people to do with my newest deck African Goddess Rising Oracle Cards or the deck of your choice is just pull a daily card for guidance. You can journal on the intuitive message you receive, the card’s mantra from the guidebook, or even pair it with the related positive goddess self-love ritual from the book, African Goddess Initiation. This practice will also strengthen your intuition.
- Declutter, declutter, declutter. Even minimalists may have a lot of clutter in their lives. Physical clutter is only one kind of clutter. There is digital clutter, relationship clutter and even emotional clutter. Allow yourself to be free of what no longer serves you.
- Eating Habits. Every meal is an opportunity for us to practice mindfulness. Instead of watching TV or listening to a podcast while you eat, practice eating in silence. See how it feels to engage all of your senses and be in full gratitude for your meal. Allow each meal to become a prayer.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I did — and for me it is a movement of revolutionary self-love, your beautiful life, your beautiful way. We were all told to love ourselves but no one told us how. Self-love begins with complete and radical self-acceptance. And self-acceptance begins with looking at the shadow, unloved parts of yourself. There is a self-love solution for every problem.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Oooh. I love this question. The 5 things I wish someone told me before I started are:
- It is safe for you to choose your own path.
- You are not in competition with anyone else in life. You get to run your own race.
- You have nothing to prove.
- You deserve to be happy.
- Have FUN!
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health is incredibly important to me. I am a part of several communities where mental health wellness is not addressed as well as it could be. This year, a family member of mine took their own life. So I would like to say, if you you are having mental health challenges, it is wonderful to have spiritual and/ or religious support. However it is critical that you get support from a licensed expert in mental health. You don’t have to figure it out alone.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. My website, Womanifesting.com, which has everything from how to work with me one-on-one, come with me on an empowerment retreat, find tons of free videos, podcasts and blogs, or find my book, African Goddess Initiation or my card deck, African Goddess Rising Oracle Cards. Your readers can find me throughout social media @abiolaTV, where the TV stands for transformation and victory.
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Abiola Abrams of Womanifesting On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.