I talk some major truth in this podcast episode about a topic the universe has been reminding me to bring up.. the dire need to make wellness accessible to ALL. Part of being spiritual beings is care about the rest of the world. We can’t ignore our brothers and sisters all across the country and planet who don’t have access to the most basic health needs. In this pretty fiery podcast episode, I discuss my personal experience as a volunteer teaching nutrition at A Place Called Home in South Central Los Angeles and how wellness education AND resource allocation is more needed than ever.

Volunteer in YOUR local community by searching on volunteermatch.org

As always, we take the discussion to the Mind-Body Balancers Facebook Group.]

Connect with me on Instagram @IAmSaharaRose

Discover your Dharma with my free quiz at https://iamsahararose.com/

 

Transcription

Episode 032 – The Need For Diversity and Affordability in Wellness

By Sahara Rose

Namaste. It’s Sahara Rose, and welcome back to the “Highest Self” podcast. A place where we discuss what makes you your soul’s highest evolvement. This is going to be a little bonus episode this week because it’s a topic I’m feeling very fiery about. And judging how last week’s topic about the ancestral wounds—well two weeks ago now—and that has been such a favorite of so many of you, and it’s something that just came up, that now I’m kind of recognizing that when something comes in my mind and I’m feeling really passionate about it in this moment, I almost feel like a boxer who’s about to get into the boxing ring. And I’m like, “Come on, let’s do it. Let’s do this.” I’m like still chewing my food, I’m like, “I need to get on the mic, I need to get on the mic. Come on. I need to talk about this thing. Go!”

And it’s like this idea that I haven’t even quite formulated yet because I want to formulate it with you on the podcast, and that’s when I know this is a topic that I need to talk about. And not just I need to talk about it, the world needs to talk about it right now. And this topic is diversity, and the need for diversity more than ever right now, particularly in the wellness space. So this came up for me last night as a question at my book launch. Last night was my very first book launch event at Unplugged Meditation, and it was so amazing to see so many of you come and support me, and it really means the world to me that you guys were there, and spending your Friday nights with me.

So the book launch went just so beautifully and so wonderfully, and someone asked me about just the need for education in lower income areas, and how can we bring this voice, this health/wellness movement to areas that don’t see the light of day? There’s no green smoothies going on, on the other side of LAX, which is the airport here. You know, people aren’t doing panchakarmas in the hood, and this is where that stuff is needed. And she just asked me, she’s like, “What are your thoughts on that?” And I have a lot of thoughts on that.

So I wanted to do a podcast episode to just talk with you about this. And this isn’t me teaching you, this is us having a discussion, and I hope that this dialogue can just help open up some blocked channels that we are having as a society of just overlooking these stick issues, because they hurt. And it’s really, really tough to look at things that you don’t know quite the answer to, such as how are we going to fix, you know, racial, and sexual, and all of these different discriminations that we have. But the thing is if we keep on ignoring it, they’re going to continue to exist.

And why am I talking about this? Because this is a huge block for us all becoming our highest selves. When we don’t feel comfortable in, you know, in the wellness community, how are we going to begin picking up on all of the things that they’re recommending when we feel like we don’t have a place here? So it’s a really important dialogue to open up because some of us who are in the wellness world, and we fit the bubble, we don’t realize that we are excluding a lot of people with just the way that we word things, and the price points, and things like that. And then people who are on the outside of the bubble, they’re like, “Yeah, you guys are just waking up to this? Like of course.”

So there’s obviously a barrier here that we need to break down, and how do we do this? Through dialogue. I have found that the wellness space is growing, and it’s so beautiful, and I am so happy to be a part of it. And it’s also something that has been in division more than ever before. It seems to be that the wellness tips and rituals that we’re being taught by, you know, different websites, or magazines, or social media influencers that we follow all kind of follow a set guideline. And probably like right now what’s trending is, you know, you have your cauliflower smoothies, and you have your collagen protein powder, and all of these adaptogens, and you know, you’re eating at a low FODMAP diet, and they’re trends, they’re for sure trends going on.

Of course, you know, there’s some people who are paleo, some people who are vegan, but we have a general space of where the wellness world is right now, which is this kind of like very specialized niche. You’re taking all these different supplements, all these different herbs, you’re not eating anything that, you know, normal person grew up eating, you’re eating crazy, crazy foods, which can be really good for you, but when you look at the Whole Foods bills, or the Thrive Market, or wherever you’re buying that stuff, it’s a lot of money.

And a lot of the wellness magazines and blogs that we’re reading this stuff for is very elitist. I’m just going to say it right now. It’s super elitist. And it’s almost made it that for you to become well, you have to be a white, educated, upper middle class, man or woman. In wellness, it’s particularly geared for women. Who has enough free time to take baths with rose petals in it, and can buy all of the most expensive potions and tonics in the world. And brand label protein powders, and two refrigerators to fit all of this fresh produce they’re getting at the farmer’s market, and everything’s organic. You know, it’s not the dirty dozen, it’s everything’s dirty. So everything must be organic.

I get it. Trust me. I do this stuff all the time, and that’s why I’m talking about it. But if you are a single black mom, with two jobs, who can’t even find enough time to wash your hair, how are you going to be able to do all of these things? And the way that it’s depicted is that if you’re not doing everything that is considered healthy, is considered wellness, then you’re way behind. So what that paints a picture of is if you don’t have the income, you don’t have the time, you don’t have these things, and you’re out of the club.

And that’s not what wellness is all about. Wellness is about making all of us feel better. Wellness is giving all of us the tools and the pretense that we need for us to become our highest selves. Wellness is a birthright. It’s something that we all deserve. But, it’s turn into something that has a price tag. And that’s not fair. Now when you look at a lot of these places where we get wellness information from, or you even look at who are the popular bloggers, influencers, this and that. You can see a lot of parallels. You know, they’re going to Erewhon, which is the most expensive grocery store known to man. It’s in Los Angeles, it’s insane. And they’re buying, you know, $200, $300 worth of groceries in a day. And how know if that’s even what’s going to last them for the week. It’s like three lunches.

And then they’re going to get their body stretched by a stretch master, and then they’re getting cupping with a cupping master, and they have a functional medicine doctor, and they have an acupuncturist, and they have a team of people whose dedication is just to make that person healthy. And if you have that, good for you. You’re lucky, you’re blessed. And there’s definitely no hatred or anything towards that. That’s amazing.

But what happens is if those people are just going out loud saying, “Wow, I’m so healthy because I have this whole squad of people that I’m paying thousands of dollars to every month to keep me well,” how does that make everyone else who probably doesn’t even make that much money from what that person’s just spending on wellness a month, you know. A lot of people, I mean most families in the U.S. I’m not sure what the average income is, but I heard it was like $27,000. I’m not even sure. A lot of people spend more than that a year on wellness.

So we need to talk about this. We need to talk about why wellness has become so expensive. Why it’s become so elitist. Why going to certain wellness conferences costs you over $1,000 for a few hours. How did we get here? Now, of course, there’s economics, and the rules of economics are when something has more of a demand, the prices go up. And of course, as more of us become more educated, and we become aware of all of these illnesses and disorders, the demand is growing, and we’re willing to do anything to get healthier.

But it’s almost like we as a community of wellness have been taken advantage of by—I don’t even know if it’s the companies or it’s the economics behind it. Because of course, these products do cost a lot. But these products, these wellness things used to be affordable for everyone, you know. Like turmeric was something that in India, and still today, everyone has. Turmeric is not expensive in India, it’s so cheap. It costs you a few dollars for a kilo.

And now it’s turned into there’s supplements that you’re paying like $50 for a month’s supply. So somewhere—and I don’t know the answer to how this happened—it’s these products have become so inflated in their prices. That the average person cannot afford it. And what’s that say is, is that the average person’s not able to afford wellness, and that’s not fair.

So, we need to start opening up the conversation about first of all, how we can achieve wellness and make it affordable to all. From a personal perspective, but also from a global perspective. Because we are all interconnected, and when such a huge percentage of this population doesn’t even have health insurance, we can’t just get stuck in our bubbles and not talk about it.

So I teach in South Central Los Angeles, which you may have heard in rap songs before, and I teach health, and nutrition, and wellness to lower income high school children, middle school children, and I teach their moms as well. It’s an amazing organization called A Place Called Home. I recommend you guys checking it out if you want to volunteer in L.A., and there’s many other places. You can go on volunteermatch.com, or .org, and that’s what I did my whole life. I would just find places to volunteer since I was 15 years old.

So I volunteer at this place in South Central, and the most recent time I was there, about a month ago, I was teaching a lecture to these kids, you may have watched it on my Instagram story, about health and wellness. And they were asking me tons of questions. They were so curious and so eager to learn, which is amazing to see. Cause when I walked in there, they were all falling asleep. And I got them really excited about being healthier, and you know, we were talking about poop, and like what does your poop mean. And you know, they didn’t know just so many basic things that like we grow up learning. Like eat vegetables, they’re like a lot of this stuff was just never taught to them.

So I was telling them about these things, they were getting really hyped about it, and they all felt so motivated to make a lifestyle change. Every single one of them, they realized that they had different dosha imbalances, and a lot of them had mucus, and phlegm, and coughs, and lots of kapha imbalances going on just because of the amount of sugar and dairy that they’re being fed. So my lecture’s over, and it’s lunchtime, and in comes the trays of food that are pasta filled with cream and cheese that has just been microwaved because it’s been frozen for god knows how long with a carton of milk.

After we just went into along discussion about how dairy causes mucus, and all of these issues. And so many of them realize that they were lactose intolerant, and decided they didn’t want to eat dairy anymore. And then in comes lunch, and the only option is frozen mac and cheese with milk. Okay? One boy got so distraught about it, that he picked up the food and slammed it against the wall. There’s macaroni flying everywhere, milk all over the floor, and he starts cursing, and he’s like “Get me the F out of here. Y’all are effing poisoning me. Eff y’all. Y’all want me to die.” And he storms out of school and walks right on the street.

You can only imagine what the energy suddenly had become in that room. From motivated, excited, I want to change my life, to oh damn, maybe he’s right. And suddenly, I felt like oh shit, well, maybe me coming in here and teaching them all about wellness and stuff is opening up a can of worms that I can’t finish. And am I making it better or am I making it worse? Because, right now, they know how bad this stuff is for them. But it’s the only food that they’re being given.

So what do they do now? In the workshop, I had them all have partners and go through what they eat on a daily basis. And then, their partner shares—according to the things we talked about—ways that they can improve their diet. So they’re in their partners, sharing what they ate, and I was going around checking in. What did you guys eat? What did you eat for dinner, et cetera. One kid in this class of 40 children, one girl, had a home-cooked meal by her mom. No one else did. Do you want to know what the most common dinner was in that room? Chips and cookies. The second most common? I didn’t eat dinner.

About half of these kids were black, and half were Mexican. A lot of them whose moms—or grandmothers—are undocumented workers. Some of them probably crossing the border by themselves, living in a home with strangers. The meals that they get at school are the only meals that they receive. They go home and no one’s there waiting for the home-cooked meal for them. No one’s there asking them how is school? How do you feel?

So, me coming in there telling them eat this, eat that, this is good for you, that’s bad for you, and them being 15-year-olds with no resources isn’t truly helping. And I share this with you because it’s a dialogue that needs to be started, you know? And awareness is the first step, because all of us have different things that we can share. Some of us can come in with education, but we need the people coming in who can teach these kids hey, how can you grow your own garden so you can grow your own food and become sustainable?

We need the companies coming in. Saying hey, we have so many leftover ingredients all the time. Let’s donate them to these schools. We need the teachers coming in demanding the public school systems feed the children better food. And it’s not on the teachers, either. We need the system to change. It doesn’t make sense that it’s cheaper to eat beef at McDonald’s than it is to buy kale to make a smoothie. It doesn’t make sense. And what it is, is it’s subsidization. It’s that these big companies are working with the school industries, and they’re giving them money to make sure that these kids are fed dairy every single day. Because dairy industry wants to survive. And, I don’t mean to burst a hole in your bubble, but if we can’t look at these topics and say, “Hey, yes, I’m willing to step in.” If our auras are too fragile that talking about this gets us off our high, then we need to revisit our own truth.

Because the most important part of being an enlightened individual is to serve. And what happens is we get stuck in our bubbles where everything is perfect and everything is fine, and we have all of the smoothies and adaptogens, and all of the things, and don’t worry about what’s going on anywhere else because you know, I’m living in the present. But when we don’t open our eyes to what’s going on around us, that’s how this disparity continues to grow.

So we can’t say, well, you know, these kids, they need to just figure it out on their own. It’s our dharma to help. And whatever you’re good at, whatever comes naturally to you, whatever resources you have available to you, are the tools that you’ve been given to serve. Maybe you’re amazing at connecting one-on-one with people. And signing up for a Big Brother/Big Sister mentorship program is the best way for you to serve. Maybe you work for a bank that has a certain amount of money each yeah they have to give away to charities. And you can step in and say, “Hey, a lot of people living five blocks away from us go to sleep hungry every night. So let’s talk about that.”

We need to be the ones who start the conversation. Because if we don’t, the spiritual people, the do-gooders, then no one else will. Of course, stay healthy, do the work, do whatever it takes, but don’t forget about what’s going on in the outside world. And it’s so important that we make these things accessible for people. Because if I’m looking through whatever wellness blog, and all I’m seeing are picture-perfect white people with expensive products, and I’m a lower income person who lives in an area like South Central, I’m going to say wellness isn’t for me. What a horrible thought that wellness is for certain people and not for others. It’s a universal right.

So it’s up to us to start this conversation and do whatever we can. If you have time, volunteer. If you have money, donate. If you have friends, start a fundraiser. So, when I was volunteering teaching the mothers, which was really interesting experience. So in the afterschool program afterwards around 8:00 at night, once a week they have a program that the moms of these kids can come in and do a cooking class. And the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market was kind enough to donate leftover produce from the farmer’s market to gift these mothers.

So, you know, they are vegetables. Most of them are not even the mothers, they’re the grandmothers because a lot of the mothers aren’t in the picture. It’s the elderly grandmother who’s taking care of the grandkids, and the next door neighbor whose mom might not also be there. So it’s a lot of elderly women who are still working two to three jobs, coming home 8:00 at night, how am I going to feed these eight kids? Of course they’re going to feed them frozen and canned food. That’s just what makes sense.

So we are providing them with baskets of farmer market fresh ingredients. And we were teaching them how to cook with it. And it was such a beautiful experience. A lot of these moms come from Central America, so they had to recognize these ingredients from back home, and hadn’t seen them for years because they don’t have grocery stores in a lot of these areas. They’re food deserts. Food desert is like when there’s no grocery store in a certain radius of miles, because basically super markets don’t want to set up shop there because people there don’t have a lot of money, so most of the produce is bought as frozen goods, canned goods, and the grocery store is the gas station or the convenience store. Look up food deserts. They’re all over the country and world.

So these grandmothers were learning, oh my god, (speaking Spanish). Like remembering the times they would cook with this when they were a kid, and we taught them how to make hummus with peanut butter, canned chickpeas, peanut butter, a little bit of olive oil. They loved it. We taught them all sorts of things, and it was so amazing, and for me, this was an a-ha moment because these grandmothers are the ones who are feeding the kids. These kids are going to eat whatever is on the table. And if there isn’t anything on the table, they’re going to eat chips and cookies.

So we need to be educating the parents on how they can cook, how important it is. We can educate the kids, and we should be, but we’ve put so much emphasis on oh, well these kids don’t know what’s good and bad for them. When they’re fed these things, they’re just going to eat whatever they can to survive. So we need to look out and take a bigger picture view. And on top of that, you know, a lot of these moms and grandmas don’t have time, and that’s why they’re not cooking. So we need to demand places like McDonald’s, and Burger King, and KFC where they get a lot of their meals have healthier options.

And I know, they’re corporations, and I don’t want to fund them. But as of now, it’s where most of these kids are getting their calories. And I know McDonald’s has salads and stuff now. But they’re like $8, $9, which is way too much for someone who doesn’t even have an income who’s living off food stamps to afford. We need to open up the conversation about what you can buy on food stamps, too. Ways you can be healthy on food stamps, and that’s possible.

But if these people don’t know how, they don’t know what can I even get on this food stamp, of course, if this is a meal that’s already prepared versus buying all of these ingredients they have to come home and cook, they’re going to choose the frozen meal. So it’s sharing with them how can you prepare these dishes super easily. So, my favorite way that I recommend for everyone is get some beans, beans are super inexpensive. Instead of canned beans, if you just buy dried beans, it’s even cheaper than canned beans actually. It’s much cheaper than them, but by scale. Get some beans, cook a batch, once or twice a week, get some rice, or whatever kind of grain you want, cook that once or twice a week, and whatever veggies you can find. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy. If you can just find some carrots, eat the carrots. If you can find some cucumbers, eat the cucumbers. Just find some vegetables somewhere.

And now with food stamps, a lot of places you’re able to get fresh vegetables. And put together: rice, beans, veggies. The simplest food, but also the most healthy. And when I shared this with them, they were like, “Yeah, like that’s what I used to eat when I used to live in Mexico.” Or, “Oh, that’s what my abuela, my grandma eats.” And it’s something that exists in every culture, every part of the world, there’s just a starch and a legume. In Africa it’s a lot of root vegetables, in Asia it’s just like lots of rice with things. It’s just so simple, so basic, and so affordable.

So let’s consider these super foods. Why do super foods have to be something that cost me $30 for a tiny bag? Why can’t rice and beans be super foods? They’re keeping a lot of people really super. So it’s changing the conversation. It’s letting people know that wellness is not this elusive thing, but it’s something that can be attainable for anyone. Yes, it takes time, and that is a huge luxury that I wish I had the solution for of how they can find more time in their day to even prepare the rice and beans. I know it’s so hard when you’re working multiple jobs. But that’s when the just doing it for yourself really comes in. Because at the end of the day, it actually would probably take you more time just waiting in the line at McDonald’s, than it takes to once or twice a week, just boil those rice and beans. You don’t have to do anything else.

If you don’t have an oven, a lot of these people don’t have ovens. You can just cook it right on the stove. You could even eat it raw, eat it however you want. Opening up the conversation about just how simple it really needs to be. You don’t need everything to practice wellness. You don’t need to memorize my book, or any other book. Just start somewhere. And as people who are into wellness, when we’re talking to our friends and family, and people, the Uber driver, whoever we meet who’s like, huh? It’s up to us to make it approachable and friendly to people so they’ll say, “Wow, you know what? Maybe, maybe I could do it, too.”

Cause if we’re saying, “Oh god, you’re drinking pasteurized coconut water? Forget about it.” They’re going to be like, “Wow, I thought this was like the one thing I was doing good for myself.” Everyone’s on their journey, you know? Drinking pasteurized coconut water is better than drinking Coke. So let’s just give that person an applause for even just making that change. We have to be so gentle in this process, because there’s been so much just animosity, and blaming, and this is the right way to eat, and that’s the wrong way, and this is wellness, and if you’re not well, you’re a fatso.

Shows you’re the biggest loser, it has to look like this. Plastic surgery so you can look like that. And then when people don’t fit the frame, they give up. So if you have a friend, a family, a parent who is honestly just confused and overwhelmed. Because at the end of the day, everyone wants to be well. Everyone wants to feel good. And the reason that they’re not doing it, is because they have given up on themselves. And that’s something that we have to come to with so much compassion.

Don’t say, “Ugh, you’re doing everything wrong. What are you eating in a day? You have to eat this. No, no, no.” Start with the yes. “Yes, I’m so happy that you walked from, you know, a further spot in the parking lot today to the store. Do you think maybe tomorrow you could park even further away? Oh, yes, you know, actually, it is better for you to have rice than to have that bread. Maybe want to cook some together tomorrow? Oh, yes, I love that salad dressing, too. Here, let me share with you how to make it.” There are so many little ways that we can make wellness more inclusive to people. And let everyone know they have a seat at the table. Regardless of where they’re at.

So I hope this inspires you to know that you have so much power to change the scope of all things. And with that power comes that responsibility. Sometimes we don’t want to go there, we don’t want to go to those icky, dark, hard places. But it’s in those places that we grow. So even if you’ve done the work, and you said, “Hey, I’ve had to clean my diet up. I’ve had to clean my life up. I’m up here operating at this vibration.” And you can see that your dad, your mom, someone close to you is struggling, see that person as an extension of you. See yourself as, you know, part of me is still hurting when that person’s hurting, and I can do something to make them better. By me being my highest self, I naturally want to share ways to help others do the same, you know.

There’s this kind of this belief in the spiritual world that’s like, well me being at my highest vibration is like enough. It’s enough because when you are at your highest vibration, you want to serve. And if you don’t want to serve, you’re not at your highest vibration. If a part of you listening to this podcast is not feeling empowered, is not feeling ready to take it on, and hasn’t gone on volunteermatch.org.com yet– .org.com—hasn’t felt this passion that is so needed in the world, then part of you still needs to evolve.

And how do we evolve? By getting there. By serving, by stepping up in front of that classroom of kids who don’t want to listen to you. And making them excited about eating healthy. That’s going to increase your vibration, trust me, than probably any meditation ever will. It’s service. It’s karma yoga.

So, I’m really excited to see what you guys come up with. I’ve shared that I am donating $100 a month of my own money to different charities. This month I doubled it up because of all of the atrocities going on with the earthquake in Mexico, and the hurricane in the Caribbean. Last month was to teach orphans in India. And next month, I think let’s do something about teaching wellness to inner city kids. So, I have on my website, iamsaharose.com, when you look at the top menu, you can click on the bottom. Or if you’re on the desktop, it’ll say “More.” And it says “Giving Back.” That’s the name of the menu page, “Giving Back.” And that’s where I share the crowdfunders that I make every month, and that’s how you can donate.

And I’d love to open up this topic of discussion and hear where you’re at. You know, how did this podcast strike a chord with you, and where are you in your wellness world, and have you ever served, and what did that look like? So let’s open up the discussion in the “Mind Body Balancers” Facebook group, and use it to inspire one another, you know. Because this is something that of course, part of us is like ugh, this sucks that this still exists. But let’s not feed that “it sucks” part. Let’s feed the “it exists,  and we’re going to change it.” Because if me talking in front of a microphone can change all of you guys and make all of you inspired, you guys have the exact same power that I have, and more, and more, and more, and it’s going to create a ripple effect.

So let’s talk about this. The next person you meet, talk about it. Be like, “Hey, how do you feel about diversity in wellness? Do you feel like it’s accessible to people in all different incomes and all different colors? Let’s have this discussion because that’s how the world shifts. It’s through awareness first, because we have to be aware about something first, in order to take action, but action is really where it happens. So let’s start taking the action, let’s start getting the ball moving, okay? There are organizations all around the country and all around the world teaching wellness, health.

I was teaching in India for two years, health and sanitation in the slums of Delhi. This is a place where people are pooping on the floor, okay. So if I can bring that light there, you can bring it anywhere. Even if you think, you know what? In my community, people are not into this stuff. You would be surprised that if you’re the person who strikes up the topic of conversation, people say, “I’ve actually been reading about that. I’ve actually wanted to know more about it.” Because it’s on everyone’s mind right now, regardless of where you’re from, we’re in this epidemic, a health crisis. That we have no choice but to look to alternative approaches because this health system, this drug system, this sick system has failed us.

And thank God for it, because it wasn’t working. So let’s say bye, and let’s move on, to what has been working for thousands of years. Which is coming back to the earth, and eating the things that come naturally to us, and tuning in, and regaining the sense of community around food. If you know someone who eats dinner alone everything, and so do you, hey, invite them over. Because the vibration, the energy you have when eating that food is just as important as the actual nutrients within it.

So however you can help, whether it’s hosting a dinner party. I went to this amazing, really fun dinner party. I’ll have the girl come on the podcast and they got all of these amazing produce from Imperfect Produce, which is an incredible organization that basically buys all of the ugly produce from the farms that can’t sell them to supermarkets. Like carrots that have a bruise on it, or cucumbers that don’t look picture perfect, or things like that are actual reasons that supermarkets don’t buy things. And I don’t know the exact percentage, but I’ve heard about 50% of food that’s grown is thrown away.

So it’s not that there’s not enough food for everyone, there’s more than enough food for everyone. It’s how it’s being allocated. So let that be an inspiration for you. Because we can feed every single person on this world. We just have to make sure it’s going to them. It’s us who has to say, “Hey, you know what? I’ll take that ugly carrot. And let me teach people how to work with the ugly carrot.” So in this dinner party, there was Imperfect Produce, there was a table of produce, and we’re split up into groups, and we create our own rendition of a dinner. Same produce, five different groups, and we all came up with totally different dinners, and then we all shared them together as a community.

It’s called Femme Appetit, it was a very beautiful experience. It’s in Los Angeles, they do it every month. And it was just an amazing reminder of just how something as simple as produce can just bring communities back together again. Because we are an extension of the earth, and we have been uprooted from the very soil that we have grown up in and walked barefoot in, and come to maturity in. And now we’ve been uprooted. And there’s buildings, and rubber soles, and concrete, and cement that’s keeping us from earth.

So when we get our hands in that dirt, we touch a turnip that still has the roots on it. It’s a reminder to this deeper sense within us, this deeper knowingness that says, “Hey, this is where I’m from.” And it’s such a healing process having your fingers touch the food, touch the dirt, form that food into something that’s edible that you then share. This is the longest ritual known to mankind in every country and culture in the world. Because without it, we would literally die.

Is there any part of the world where people just find their own food and eat it by themselves? Have you ever seen that? So let’s remember. Remember the ancestors, remember the earth, remember where we come from. And know that there’s a huge problem in front of us, but through connecting back in with the earth, and sharing with those children those mothers, those lower income communities that all you have to do is reconnect with this mother that you have. Even if your biological mother is not there for you, you have this mother named Earth, and she always has your back. And just that showing these kids, hey, you know food comes from the ground. Most of them were never taught that. Reminding them of who they are is the most beautiful process that you can facilitate.

So I hope you take these words as encouragement, as inspiration, and as empowerment to be a change maker. And as always, we’ll bring the discussion to the “Mind Body Balancers” Facebook group, which you can find in the podcast show notes. My website is iamsahararose.com, and that’s also my Instagram. I’ll be sharing quotes from this on my Instagram, I Instagram story a lot of stuff, and would be awesome if a lot of us could get together and do an amazing volunteer work. And please, please, please, even if you have five dollars to spare, donate to any cause. If it’s not this cause, find a cause. Because words help, but money is what gets the job done. So whatever you can afford, putting it at a place where you feel it’s going to grow, is the biggest investment that you can give. Not just to your future, but the future of the world. So thank you so much for tuning in. Namaste.

Episode 032 – The Need For Diversity and Affordability in Wellness