I have just recently returned from sunny Atlanta, and I had such a great time. I always have a great time with my boyfriend and his family, but this time was super relaxing. While I was down in Atlanta I tried to be a productive YouTuber and upload videos, but that backfired, and I wasn’t able to upload. This empties video is what I planned to upload in ATL, but it is going up now. Hopefully, I will be back on my schedule of two videos a week for the rest of the summer (fingers crossed)
I am currently taking summer school classes. Despite summer school, I have many exciting things planned for Zen HairLife this summer including ZIYs, Art projects, home decor, gardening, and I will be doing several new hair videos!
I can’t wait for all of the new things it is going to be awesome! STAY TUNED
I am currently sending a huge spring welcome back to all of your lovely faces. Today is such a beautiful day, and I am happy to say that I can enjoy it because spring semester is finally over! This semester has been one of the hardest semesters of my college career. This year started out with a bang in the worst way possible, two major deaths in the family. I was also taking one of the most important classes in my major program, and I literally couldn’t deal. The stress consumed me and every day was like climbing Mount Everest.
So I know you are thinking “this is a super sad and depressing story when is the sun coming out” lol. Well, I thought the same thing and it took a lot longer than I expected. Yoga Teacher Training was something that I had already decided to do before all of the devastation happened. The way everything has played out I believe that God, the universe, the force put this teacher training into my life to change it forever. This training has helped me so much with the grieving process, the stress of school, and realizing that my life is in my hands, and I do have the power to change.
In this training, I quickly learned that becoming a yoga teacher and going through the ytt process is so much more than just learning to teach people yoga poses. Knowing that you never stop learning is something that keeps me so excited for the future. Being surrounded by such amazing and supportive people has been such a blessing! Now that spring is here and the sun is coming out I feel the same way about my life (or possibly due to the surge of sun sourced vitamin D I’ve been getting ). I have become super-connected to the seasons, the moon, and the natural energy around me. That is totally due to the increase of meditation, yoga, and mindfulness in my life. I am a firm believer that when you remove yourself from the artificial life cycle and put yourself back into the natural swing of being you are much more balanced and grounded in life.
Needless to say, ytt has been a blessing so far, and I can’t wait to see what is to come 🙂
Check Out The Video For Some Different Info About How YTT Has Been 🙂
Hey, guys, I hope everyone is doing great! So I have some great news! I have started my eight months long Hatha RYT (registered yoga teacher) Training! This program is something that I have wanted to do for a while, and I am making a goal come true. The program started at the end of February, so I have already completed two sessions, and I have six months left. I thought it would be a great idea to document the entire process to see how much I grow. The program is an alignment based hatha yoga training, we have learned so much already I can’t believe it. We started practice teaching on day one, so we didn’t waste any time getting the ball rolling. It is proacticive that we started practice teaching early on because we get more comfortable teaching and with each other. The people in my training are awesome and very sweet, and our instructor Naomi is amazing and extremely knowledgeable. I hope you guys follow me on my journey to becoming a yoga teacher; it should be an exciting ride.
I talk a little more about my feelings about the program and other things in the video. Let me know if any of you guys are yogis or are in teacher training, I would love to know.
Wow, today is Christmas Eve, and I really can’t believe it. This year has been an excellent one I must say. I have grown and learned a lot, but I will talk more about the year in my New Years post. I have finally gotten to the age where Christmas is more about giving than worrying about getting stuff. I have been having a lot of fun buying and making gifts for friends and family. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, it is nice to have the little time to spend time with friends and family. After this incredibly stressful semester (probably one of my most stressful ever) it’s great to be able to sleep and chill. Filming my winter curly hair routine is a video I have been planning on shooting for a while now, and I finally had the time. I had a lot of fun filming and editing this video, and it is my little gift to you guys☺.
For my winter curly hair routine, I like to keep things extra moisturized and simple. As always I deep condition, wash, and detangle/condition before I do any styling. I typically like to style my hair under running water in the shower; my hair turns out best when styled soaking wet. Giovanni direct leave-in conditioner is so great for wintertime because it is the perfect thickness. Then I like to apply oil on top of the leave in, although it’s winter I still like to use a light oil (apricot has been nice but I love Argan right now). After that the last step is to apply my styler, you guys know that I like gel and jelly kind of products. I am in love with kinky curly curling custard, and it is great for the winter because it doesn’t have too much hold, but it holds in moisture. Anywho let me know what you guys think of my routine and I hope everyone is enjoying your time off and time with your family.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS ☺
Hey, There Friends hope you are doing well. I am now in the third week of school already I can’t believe it! I already have papers, tests, and quizzes that I should be working on now, but I am writing this blog post lol. On the bright side of things my 21st birthday is coming up in three weeks and I am pretty excited. I am also doing a mini hair challenge keeping my hair up in a bun to decrease on the tangling and dryness. I am not sure how long I am going to do this for, but I will let you guys know. So I know a lot of you are super excited about my new video because many of you have highly requested cooking videos so I gracefully and happily obliged. Tofu scramble is something that I enjoy especially as a plant-based eater. I was never really an egg person before I became plant based except for eggs Benedict I loved eggs Benedict (with salmon I never really did pork). Nevertheless, tofu scramble is something that I enjoy; my favorite one is from a place called Flying Biscuit in Atlanta, Ga it is amazing! I decided to make the version of tofu scramble that I make at home that I adapted from bonappetit.com and put my spin on it. I hope that you guys enjoy, send me pictures if you decided to make it yourself with the hashtag #zenhairlifetofuscramble.
Ingredients:
One block of extra firm Tofu
Two tablespoons vegetable oil
One small onion, chopped
One small green bell pepper, finely chopped
Handful of mushrooms, Sliced
Small bunch of Red Kale, Chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
One teaspoons ground turmeric
One can of black beans, rinsed, drained
2 Teaspoons of Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Salt and pepper To Taste
Hey, Zen lifers how’s it going? I am officially back in school my 4th year of university. For quite some time, I have wanted to do a juice fast. I have done juice fasts in the past but never completed them the way I wanted to, or I didn’t exactly complete it at all. The week prior to the first week of school I thought would be a great time to do it. For me, fasting or cleansing is never about losing weight. It is always about mentally and physically detoxifying myself. Fasting is not an easy thing to do, we have such an attachment to the act of eating not just food. I realized while I was fasting the agony and hunger you feel the first few days is not because you are deprived of food but because you are removed from the act of eating. Fasting takes a lot of willpower and discipline, and those are things you need to not only be successful but influential in life. The fast brought me closer to myself and helped me realize that appreciating the present is important, but it’s imperative not to dwell on the minutia and push toward your goal. If you have never done a fast, you may not understand how drinking fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies for five days can teach me all of this. I challenge you to fast for just one day and see how you feel. Acknowledge how you feel in the end and what you have learned. I feel that fasting is a physical meditation, and it does so much more for you than cleansing your system. To make a long story short I had a great time on this fast, and I am very proud of myself for completing it. About a week later now and I still feel great, I have been meditating every day. Day 3 of school and I already have lots of work to do, but it will get done with my 100% efforts. If you are interested in what I was drinking through the week and how I was feeling on the days, watch my video! I hope you enjoy 🙂
LIVE A ZEN LIFE
So I have quickly realized this summer that a solid nighttime routine is crucial to make your hair last throughout the week. Ever since I started doing the pineapple method, my hair lasts much longer, and it reduces shrinkage. It’s seriously the most simple and efficient way out there. It is much easier if your hair is a medium length, but there are videos on youtube of ladies doing the pineapple with short hair.
Also, I am doing a juice cleanse this week before school starts to center myself before the stress comes. I just wanted to fill you guys in on that, but I’m going to do a post today and talk about that in more detail. Let me know what your nighttime routine is and how it works for you.
LIVE A ZEN LIFE
Hello friends. Sadly my summer is coming to an end and I thought I would show you some of the products I have loved. Even though this is a July favorites I have been using all of these products religiously throughout the entire summer. I have had such a great summer with family and friends hanging by the pool going on adventures and just enjoying the moment. I know this school year is going to be amazing but a lot of work and diligence at the same time. There are so many exciting things coming for my YouTube and blog I cant wait to clue you guys in on those things. Another super exciting thing that is coming up is my BIRTHDAY!!!! On September 29th. My 21st to be exact I am very excited as you can imagine. Anywho all of my favorites all have a theme of moisture for the most part. Skin by Ann Webb Face and Body Cream is my new favorite face moisturizer. What I love about it is that even though it is very thick it just melts into my skin. It leave no greasy of clogged feeling which is always great! My new favorite fragrance is the Zara chocolate scent. I have had this really awesome idea to take my favorite perfumes and recreate the scents with natural oils and fragrances. Let me know what you guys think of that and if you have any tips to help me accomplish this project of if you think it’s a good idea! Anywho those were just a couple of the things I’ve loved this summer and there are a lot of other cool things that I talk about in the video. I hope you guys have had an amazing summer and that you finish it off with a bang.
LIVE A ZEN LIFE
Hola friends hope your summer has been hot and fun! So I am really excited about uploading on my YouTube channel twice a week and I hope you guys have been enjoying the consistency. I do need to be a lot more consistent on the blog but I’m getting there. Anywho I finally filmed my favorite products for my natural curly hair and now I have the curly hair routine to go with it. The last time I did a curly hair routine my hair was so much shorter, I’m pretty sure it was like 6 months ago! This routine I really like and I love the way my hair turns out. The main contributors to achieve the big fluffyness are the light hold gel (Kiss My Face Upper Management Gel) and the pineapple method for nighttime. Honestly the pineapple method has completely changed my hair’s life. My routine is really pretty simple though I only use three products and up until a few weeks ago I was only using two (the leave in conditioner and gel). I really like incorporating the Aloe Vera juice as a sealant because it provides extra moisture, lots of shine, and it does a good job of sealing which is the purpose of a sealant lol. In the winter I might switch over to a light oil like argan or grapeseed but I’m really loving aloe vera juice for my hair. Really aloe vera anything my hair loves I must find more products with aloe it’s a miracle plant. I have a lot of new hair videos that I think you guys will enjoy and a lot of cool food and mind-body type videos coming so be excited cause I’m excited! Talk to you guys later!
LIVE A ZEN LIFE
Hey there!
Hope everyone is doing awesome, so I am really excited to be doing this post because it’s all about the book club I just launched on my YouTube channel! As I am writing this I got the idea that I might incorporate the blog into the book club a little more than I thought I was going to. Would you guys would be interested in doing only a slightly more in depth talk on here about the books or would you like me to greatly expound on the chapters here? Please let me know! So I know some of you are wondering what exactly am I talking about and I am just about to tell you. For a long time now I have been thinking of ways to make my channel and blog more of a place for me to document my life and things I am interested in. At the beginning of my YouTube life my channel quickly became a natural hair channel which is fine but that’s not all I am. So I decided on top of my ZIYs, vegetarian video, and more to come I would add a book club. Yes a book club! There is something about a book club that always intrigued me, but I was never a part of one. I figured I would bring the age-old concept to the digital world so there you have it; a virtual interactive book club. Now I’m sure I’m not the first person in the world to think of this but I think it’s a great idea. I decided to choose 3 books from three different genres to give everyone an option. The beauty of it is that you can read as many or as few of the books as you want and tune in for the updates. My favorite part of this is that I am making this very interactive by having you guys use #ZENBOOKCLUB whenever you post a question, a comment, a discussion topic, or whatever to twitter, intagram, tumblr (or wherever I am) so that I can compile them and use them in the next update video! I will be updating one video per book each week. To make it simple so that everyone is on the same page (pun intented lol) for whatever book you read you take the number of chapters and divide that by 4 (that will be the number of chapters to keep up with each week) since the session will last a 4 week period. The three books, Parable of the Sower, MWF Seeking BFF, Unthink and their descriptions are discussed in my video. I really hope you join me for the book club, if you are not interested in these there will be many more sessions to come and I’m always taking suggestions for new books and authors. Give me lots of feedback please
LIVE A ZEN LIFE.
Zen HairLife 