I have learned so much by interviewing other people over the years, so a few weeks ago I had an idea to invite one of my listeners onto the podcast to interview ME to spice things up a little. So, I posted a Reel on Instagram asking my followers who’d like to come to LA to interview me and in order to enter to share what the interview would be about + share the name of the podcast title!
Enter Nina Elaine – the moment I read her comment and saw her energy it was an instant full-body YES to have her join me on the podcast. I even realized after choosing her that we had connected on TikTok 4 years ago! Just goes to show the ripple effect you can create when you put yourself out there.
In this unique interview, Nina asks me about…
– My embodiment journey and how I got to where I am today
– What first initiated my journey and how I balance my business and my spiritual practices
– How I have healed my relationships with the masculine after my divorce
– My relationship with my sexuality and how it has evolved
– My perception of beauty, fashion, and art internally and externally
– My journey with various plant medicines
– How to tune into our womb space/intuition
– Where I am headed next in life
– And SO much more that I have not shared publicly yet!
I am so excited to be sharing more about myself with you through this fun and powerful episode with Nina! It is such an honor to share Highest Self Podcast with all of you who tune in to this beautiful growing community. Let me know on my Instagram post if you’d like to see more episodes like this one!
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Transcript
Episode #512: My Embodiment Journey – How I Got To This Expression with Nina Elaine
By Sahara Rose
[00:00] Sahara
Everything is sacred. Like, anything that you do, can be sacred, or toxic, depending on how you do it. Look at sex. Sex can create life, it can take you to God, it can take you to portals, and it, also, can be used for rape, and pillage, and war. It’s the lightest light and the lightest dark right there.
And in fact, the things that can take us to the highest levels of light, have been demonized the most. A woman’s body, of course they’re going to call belly dancing, twerking, salsa, any kind of hip movement, dirty and shameful, because that is how the feminine is empowered. And of course, the patriarchal forces don’t want that, they don’t want us to be connected to our wombs and root centers, because that’s our life force. So, they’re going to, you know, I mean, look at historically, the colonizers would come to different parts of the world and take the spiritual practices, earth-based wisdom, and call them barbaric, and instead, force their religion upon them for control. It was about politics, it was never about actually the belief of God, it’s was used and coerced against us to make us afraid of ourselves.
________________________
[01:25] Sahara
Welcome back to The Highest Self Podcast, my name is Sahara Rose, and this Podcast is all about taking spirituality and making it fun, modern, grounded and relatable, so it can actually serve the needs of today’s people.
[01:39] Sahara
I’ve been doing this Podcast for over 7 years, and it’s really grown and transformed as I have. It started as a place, for myself, to have the conversations that I deeply wanted to have. I felt like the spiritual space was very white-washed, it was very focused on leaving the body, and aliens, and astral travel, and hella expensive for most people, and I wanted to talk about earth wisdom, and the divine feminine, and embodiment, and the things that really called me.
So, what began as me on my $15 microphone that I used for many, many years, just staring out the window, having conversations, getting on Zoom, talking to people, over years has become this beautiful movement with people who listen to the Podcast, like yourself, and lives that have been transformed, people who have had beautiful awakenings and experiences, and connected with teachers that have supported them on the path, and so much more.
And really, what this Podcast stands for is a diverse, grounded, rich, feminine, sacred, earth-based wisdom view of spirituality that integrates the whole. So, I am not alone in this movement.
[02:46] Sahara
And actually, a few weeks ago, I had this idea that came through, that said to me “Wouldn’t it be so cool if you had someone who listens to the Podcast interview you?”, because, you know, I learned so much about interviewing other people, and you never to get to hear me being interviewed on this Podcast. So, I did a little story and then I shared it as a reel and I said “Who wants to interview me on the Podcast? Share with me what the conversation would be about, and then, like the other ones that you would love to see”. And this beautiful queen, Nina, commented, and I absolutely loved, just instantly, when I saw her energy, I was like “She is a full body yes to me”, and then I felt like I recognized her from somewhere too, and I wasn’t sure from where, and I recognized that, on 2019, when I first got on TikTok, we had followed each other then, so, this is 4 years ago, and I remember loving her content then. And her brand has shifted, she had a totally different TikTok name, but just seeing her face, that it, like, stayed in my subconscious, so, then when I saw it again, I was like “She is the person”.
So, you never know, full circle, by putting yourself out there, the ripple it may have, even years down the line.
[03:54] Sahara
So, today, she’s going to be interviewing me on the Podcast. I have no idea what she’s going to ask me, we’ll see where this conversation goes. We’ve just been listening to some Pretty Ricky and Chingy, so, we on a motherfucking vibe right now!
[04:04] Sahara
And without further ado, let’s welcome Nina, to the Podcast!
[04:08] Nina
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m so excited! And yes, that soul resonance from 4 years, lifetimes, whatever ago, just, like, it’s all vibes. I’m really happy to be here, and to ask you some juicy questions.
And I know this Episode is probably going to be, like, a super fan favorite, because, who doesn’t want to interview you, like, who doesn’t want to ask the host, the juicy questions.
[04:29] Sahara
Oh, you better ask them, I’m ready for it!
[04:32] Nina
Ready? So, I really want to start with just talking about your journey and talking about how you cultivated this life that you live out loud? Like, being in the media, living out loud, living in purpose, being in the spotlight really, and doing that while maintaining, like, your spiritual practices, maintaining your integrity, maintaining your sense of self, your courage, your confidence. Like, what are the ways that you create your life as a ceremony?
[05:02] Sahara
You want me to give my life story, my ancestral story, my birth chart, where are we taking this, baby, there’s a lot!
[05:09] Nina
I would say, let’s start with, like, what was that moment in your life that initiated you onto this path? Like, what was that deep moment that you were like “I need to get on this path, I need to share this with other people”, and it brought you to where you’re at now?
[05:26] Sahara
For me, it wasn’t one moment, it’s a series of awakenings that unraveled day after day. And there were just periods of my life that were more around transformation, and periods of my life that were more about acting on that transformation. Because we can have an awareness that something needs to shift, but then we don’t do it, right?
So, I would say, you know, the first, maybe, rendezvous, that I had with this, was when I was a very young child and I was spiritual, and I would see spirits, and I would, you know, tell my brother “There’s a ghost here”, and I would talk about this all the time, and my parents were like “You’re crazy”, you know.
So, as a child, I was very tuned into this. And then, when I was 4th grade, a bunch of kids threw me down a hill and I got a concussion because they said I was a witch and they needed to burn me at the stake. So, that was my first realization that it is not safe for me to be magical.
Then, years later, I started practicing yoga and then getting very into raw veganism, which eventually led to my body becoming very malnourished, eventually losing my period for 2 years having amenorrhea. And when you lose your period, your body goes into perimenopause, and I was 21 years old.
So, navigating those health challenges, and then discovering Ayurveda, was the next series of awakenings, which was really around my physical health, which, I really think, is where it all starts.
Then, healing my body through Ayurveda, desiring to share this wisdom with other people, but not knowing how I was ever going to write a book, make money out of it, my parents thinking I’m crazy and all of the friction with my family and I, specifically this one fight with my dad where he disowned me, was the next initiation of it, of who am I outside of gaining the approval of my family.
And then, of course, the process of writing my first book, and second book and third book, and, you know, creating all of these things, which, many initiations along there.
Then my divorce, the most recent one, which was like, really catalyzed me into deeper levels of embodiment and liberation that I was not allowing myself to fully access.
So, I would say that Spirit has, in my lifetime, has assigned me to certain obstacles that, once I transmute them, become what I share with other people.
Right now, it’s a lot around relationships, and love, and intimacy, and things like that. And I know that my next book, potentially multiple, will be around this. But it’s almost like I have to sit in the seat of fire first. Because it’s like, you’re bever really going to study something unless it’s pertinent to you, so, God is like “Okay, we’re going to give you some health problems so can really dive in; some dharma problems so you can really dive in; now some love problems so you can really dive in. Here you go bitch, good luck!”
[08:06] Nina
I love that! So, it’s like embodiment, it’s like being fully embodied in whatever it is you’re teaching. And I think that’s one of the things I admire the most about you and your work, because, like, for me, it’s the same thing. Like, being embodied in it, I don’t want to teach something that I had not done for myself, it doesn’t make sense to me, you know. And you can feel when it’s authentic, and you can fell that your path has been authentic and that you transmuted a lot of things and it’s still showing up as joy in your life. And I think that’s what’s so beautiful about your path and why so many people are drawn to you.
I, kind of, want to go back, though, a little bit, because you talked about your dad and this thing that happened with you where he disowned you, and you recently went through this divorce, how has the divine masculine, how was that energy within you and without, like, how has that shown up for you lately, or what are you feeling around that now? Because, I mean, that’s a really, really deep wound, right, like, if your father disowns you? And I share that wound with you, so I understand, but for you specifically, like, how has that, with the divorce that you just went through recently, how has that, then, played into your life, this divine masculine energy?
[09:11] Sahara
It has been my biggest work right now because I have always been around women, very easy for me to have friends, my wounds have never really been around the feminine so much. But growing up, my dad was very strong and authoritative, so I always had a little bit of fear, but also really wanted his love, and attention, and validation. So, that set me up as a child of, how do I be the trophy daughter, you know, how do I get good grades and be perfect and say the right thing and ask the right question, which I think is why I podcast.
I learned, my dad was very narcissistic, I learned how to be very interested in someone else’s life, I learned I only have five minutes of his time right now until he goes to the office and closes the door, how do I get his attention and make it the most captivating as possible.
Again, a lot of these things have turned into my gift. I think that’s why I’m such a good speaker and why I’m able to connect with anyone and make them feel important, but it came from my trauma, which, I believe, my soul chose.
And I actually, you know, more recently, sat in a medicine ceremony and it absolutely showed me how it is all connected. But then, you know, facing this divorce, it is very easy to go into the ‘all men’ story, all men are this, all men are that. So, I actually, I knew instantly, this divorce could either cause me to close my heart or blast it the wide the fuck open, and I’m going to choose, and I’m going to choose, making this, allowed me to receive more love than I ever have before, and that’s what has happened.
Like, before, if you told me “What are your core values?”, I’d be like “Truth, you know, joy, this…”, but I wouldn’t have said love, it just wasn’t on my mind, I didn’t even identify as someone who had, like, you know, everyone’s always talking about, like, they have love problems, I was like, love is really easy for me because I was with him since I was 24 years old, you know, so I never really had – I met him, we started dating, there was no – we actually had a very peaceful relationship, it was not toxic at all, we just really grew apart.
So, for me, I never identified as that, so I didn’t do the work around it, you know. So, then, later on, now being 32 years old, I’m like “Okay, what was I not looking at?”, but I went into “Well, who are men that I do really trust?”. So, I started a list on my phone of like “Who are men that I really trust”, and I recognized there are so many beautiful, heart-centered, open men around me, I’m just in a relationship with them.
[11:27] Nina
They’re in the friend zone.
[11:29] Sahara
Yeah, but working on that one – no! But it showed me that, just like if we had a bad encounter with a woman, we can’t say all women re bad, a bad encounter with a black person, we can’t say all black are bad, or a Hispanic, a Persian, we can’t say all. So, it’s so easy for us to create these generalizations that are not true.
And now, I’m so interested in the wounding of the masculine, you know, because it actually really showed me how men are deeply hurting right now, because the feminine, we support each other, we talk, we hold space, we listen. The masculine doesn’t, they suffer alone and in silence. So, it’s actually made me a lot more compassionate and really just, like, in my Quan Yin energy of like understanding, you know, why men are carrying so much shame and suppression, and they’re not certain about the roles in society.
And what I desire in partnership is someone who has really doven into the depths of their consciousness so I can worship them as an embodiment of the divine.
[12:28] Nina
Oh, you’re preaching, you’re preaching!
[12:30] Sahara
Yeah, because I think it’s like, if you don’t see God in that person, don’t be with them, you know, because that’s really what love and that’s really what sex is.
And having that awareness now, of like, I worship the divine masculine, it doesn’t mean every man I meet, you know, but it means holding that frequency of knowing that there are men on this level. And the more that we can honor them and acknowledge them when they’re there, the more they will rise up.
[12:57] Nina
Yeah. Oh my gosh, like, everything you’re saying, totally resonates. And I think, being on that tantric path that you’re on – I’ve been on my own, and I had a relationship just like that, where it was peaceful, right, there was nothing technically wrong, but we grew apart.
And I think, to people outside, they don’t understand and they’re like “Well, why? Everything was fine, you guys looked great together on the outside and you know, you dressed well together, you looked well together, but like, what happened?”, and how do you explain that, right? Because that was something too, that I was coming to terms with at that time, and this was years ago, now it’s like, how do I explain that my soul is bursting through my body and this person doesn’t have the tools yet to be that container for me.
I kind of want to pivot a little bit, because you talked about love and your expansion of love in this new season. And it can be easy to focus on the things that went wrong in the divorce, but I kind of want to pivot to the love that you’ve been able to feel now, for yourself, and the way that you’ve been able to deepen your self-expression and your movement as medicine, and how that’s been healing for you through this process and every other thing that’s going on in your life.
But tell me a little bit more about how your relationship with movement has changed, because I know that you’ve always had one, that’s how we connected, because movement, for me, is literally everything. But after this, how has that changed, like, how has that deepened, how has that evolved since all of this?
[14:25] Sahara
Yeah. So, I feel like I had put this veil upon myself, of these expectations of “Well, because I’m a wife, I can’t show myself in this way. My in-laws are watching my Instagram, I don’t want to make him jealous, or what will people think”, or, like, all of these things that we do upon ourselves, and we carry this role all of a sudden. And because of that, like, I would dance, but not like, fully. And I still think there are, I know, there are deeper levels of expression within myself that I will be continuing to access for the rest of my life.
So, I feel when something…when you experience a heartbreak, it’s like this massive reset that happens that it’s like, all of your beliefs come crumbling down, especially when it’s a very big and traumatic one like mine was.
So, with that, I started to really ask myself, like “What do I want in this lifetime? Like, how do I want to show up?”, and I realized how much of my mental energy went into what will people think – self-imposed, I mean. Because it’s like, as a child, again, growing up Persian, it was very much around “Don’t dress like that, people will think this”, “Don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t do that”, so it’s like, you don’t even know what you think because it’s all around the performance, the reputation, what they’ll say about our family. And then, also, a lot of this good-girl conditioning that I grew up with, of “Oh, well, men won’t marry you if you dress up like that, they’ll think you’re a slut”, you know, if you carry…
And I remember, like, my cousin, she grew up in Iran, and I was roommates with her in, like, high school and in college, and so, we were friends with a lot of Arab people, mostly. And there were so many rules around like “Okay, always, definitely, never wear anything short”, we would go to these clubs, but, like, you couldn’t get alcohol from them, you always had to get it for yourself, you couldn’t make eye contact, you couldn’t this, you couldn’t that, it was like, all these rules. I grew up in the US, but I, like, learned through her because I was very interested in learning more about my Middle Eastern culture, but that really programmed me to be like “A man’s role in your life is whether he’s going to be your husband or not”. So, it’s like, if he’s going to be your husband, you need to show yourself as this, like, trophy wife. Again, like the trophy daughter, now you’re the trophy life, and if you don’t, if you dress a little too this, or a little too flirty, God forbid, or something, you’re going to be a hoe, and you’re never going to get married, and your reputation is going to be ruined, and game over for you, which, you know, in Middle Eastern culture back then, was rooted in survival, right? If you don’t have anyone marry you, you won’t survive.
So, I was very fascinated how a lot of this conditioning was still living in me, now, many years later. So, I feel like, after this divorce, I mean, the place I went was Trinidad Carnival, which, I was planning to go to before that, but I think I played on a whole other level of just like, give me frontline baby, girl, and I was just so free! I’ve never felt the level of liberation that I felt in a motherfucking thong, on that street, behind that thing, of like, speakers everywhere and everyone is just…like, especially on Juvey, which is the festival of colors, just throwing the colors and the mud, I mean, just laughing and dancing. And sexuality is so playful there, it just, it doesn’t mean anything, there’s no story around, it doesn’t mean we’re going to get married and date and this, it’s just like, someone comes up, winds up behind you and then just leaves, there’s no, you don’t even need to talk. You might smile at each other, a little high five and just go on, and I was like “Oh my god, like, this is what I’ve been missing”.
And honestly, what I’ve wanted more than anything in my life is, like, a partner to dance with, and something I’ve never had. Like, none of my exes liked to dance, ever. And it showed me, in Trinidad, I will never be with someone who I can’t dance with again because it’s such a huge part of who I am, and to have that connection with someone, where you’re dancing together.
And a huge realization I had was like, dance, for me, growing up, I was a competitive dancer on, like, a hip hop team, I would perform on the Celtics half-time show, it was like, that was my whole childhood, right? But it was all about performance, all about it looking good for the other person, and that was a performative element to how I was showing up in relationship, of it being the performance, the role of the wife, the wedding, etc.
And so, now my practice of what I’m seeking what to call in is more partner dancing like kizomba dancing, bachata dancing, even salsa dancing, but I really am drawn to the ones that have less choreography, like kizomba, which is very much just in the movement, because then you’re not dancing for someone, you’re dancing with someone, you’re being together, not being watched.
And I think a lot of us, with more feminine, we do have this, like, desire “Look at me, watch me”, which is, like, as a child, you know, you’re like “Hey, mom, look, I’m doing this, I’m doing that, look, look at me”, and it’s like, that little girl in us is still often activated, but it’s like, do you want someone to watch you or do you want someone who’s right there with you.
And I think having a partner who can dance with you will just, to such a greater level, increase your polarity, increase your non-verbal conversation, and it gives you a practice that you do, that builds together.
So, I’m so grateful for all of this because, one day, I’ll have someone to dance with. [Sahara sings]
[19:52] Nina
It’s okay.
[19:53] Sahara
Yeah.
[19:53] Nina
Oh my gosh, that, you said so many things that I want to touch on. So, first of all, like I said, I’m Jamaican, so carnival is a big part of our culture too. And you know, like, that, being what I grew up with, and knowing that it’s not inherently, like, dirty or anything like that, what a lot of other cultures see it as, I feel like that was so freeing for me as a young child. And being, like, an adult now, and coming into this space of just awareness of our own sensuality and sexuality as women, and divine feminine beings, it’s just been so beautiful to watch, like, cultures being embraced, because there are things that I love about Arab cultures and there are things I love about my culture, and American culture, and all of that. So, I love that you got to experience that, shout out to our Trinidadians, like I said. But that just warms my heart, that just makes me really, really, really, really happy, so, we’re going to have to go carnival together, at some point.
[20:44] Sahara
[sings]. Yes, it is, like, to me, like, people are like “Burning man”, I’m like “No, carnival, that’s where it’s at”, I wanted to go to the Jamaican one, no would go with me, so, let’s go. I want to go to the Notting Hill one, all of them! It is the most joyful thing I’ve ever experienced.
[20:58] Nina
Yeah, so much embodied joy. And I loved when you talked about, like, partner dancing and that partner being with you, and the word that came up for you was, like, experiencing you and experiencing this with you, rather than just observing you perform, and it takes both people out of their head, you know, it’s, both people are able to do that dance and be embodied. And just the polarity, it’s insane, it’s insane! So, I, personally, love salsa, it’s so much fun!
Alright, so, let’s go into a little bit of adornment, let’s go into a little bit of that because, one, you look beautiful today, in your orange is very much sacral. What has this tantric path taught you? what has that taught you?
[21:39] Sahara
I feel like, stage one of feminine adornment is “What do I dress to look good for men?”, you know, it’s “How do I wear…?”, remember, like, back in college, it was, like, the tight little, like high-waisted skirt with, like, the loose top with a long necklace, it was like a freaking, like, uniform we all had on, and different trends in different times.
And then, you go into the stage two of the spiritual journey which is like “I don’t care about my looks at all, I’m only going to wear white, loose clothes, I’m not going to wear makeup because I’m not my looks”, and it’s important, I think, to release ourselves from this expectation of like “My looks are everything”, to “It’s not about my looks, it’s about my soul”. But then, I feel like there’s the stage three, which is, like, feminine integration of, beauty is a spiritual path and beauty has always been the pathway of the goddess. In any culture you go to, the way that the goddess is looked at, is with such sacred reverence, she’s bedazzled in gold, and sequins, and gemstones, and crystals, and she has her flowing long hair and her sacred tools, whether it’s beautiful fans or a sword, or whatever else, and every single one of her, it’s like we can see through the art of adornment, she is really representing her energy and what she stands for. And this doesn’t mean “Oh, she’s materialistic” in any way. I mean, go to Thailand, go to India, look at the amount of gold in these temples, because that is how we give back to the beauty that is the divine, that is God.
So, I started to, you know, and it was a gradual thing, I totally went through my all-white stage. If you go back to this Podcast, my first photo shoot was all white, I mean, I always glammed it up a little bit because beauty is a very big part of Persian culture, we are – it’s very about, like, dressing well and beauty in your home, but I had to go through that stage.
Now, for me, I love fashion as a way of expression, like, I go through different moods in my life, different time periods. Like, I had my little dark goddess phase, so, I was doing all black. Now, I’m in my neon, Afrobeats, because of Aftonation, I went to one last month, I’m going to another, I DJ a lot of Afrobeats in my music, so, I’m in my, like, very inspired by those prints there. So, I love, like, allowing my outer reflection to embody my inner reflection, because, of course, I don’t it. My voice, my tone, my aura, these things are all sharing who I am, but I love to add on that layer because it gives, even me, extra-sensory feedback of like “Now, I’m wearing this orange, shiny jumpsuit”, like, I’m in an orange shiny jumpsuit mode, you know. I played Pretty Ricky and Cheney before this, you don’t have to get up in that vibe. If I was wearing a beautiful silk dress, I would’ve maybe played some Sabrina Claudio and been on that vibe.
So, I feel like all of these art forms really are a way for us to play with energy, and express, and share it with other people, and then get inspired by them, and like…I get inspired, like, I’ll see “Oh, someone wore this”, I’m like…for example, I’ve very into seashells, and seashells are huge. I also found out my great grandma was from Ethiopia, and so, in a lot of Ethiopian culture there’s lots of seashells, so, I always love looking at new ways to incorporate that, like, a little head piece, earrings, a bralette. So, sometimes, I find…and then, of course, in carnival, I didn’t even choose my costume, which one did I get assigned to? The seashell one.
It’s like, so, even Source speaks to us back in art, and it’s always been a part of the spiritual pathway.
[25:14] Nina
Yeah. Oh, I love that “Source speaks to us back in art”. And that embodiment, that expression, of what you’re feeling, and I feel like that’s such a beautiful way of honoring the divine feminine, is, whatever it is that’s going on for you that day, that season, allowing yourself to honor it always, including what you show up as in the world and how you look, and that being a direct reflection of the energy of whatever goddess it might be that you’re working with, or that you may not even know that you’re working with, but you are, or embodying.
So, like, right now, like, you said you’re in this very Afrobeats, like, I could tell, looking at you, like, I would just think Cheney, I would just think, like, 90s.
[25:52] Sahara
I appreciate that, thank you, I’ve always wanted to look like Cheney – [song].
[26:02] Nina
That was so on point, I love it.
[26:04] Sahara
Great, great conversation.
[26:05] Nina
And yeah, I love that. And I’ve been feeling very much, and when you mention Quan Yin, very much in my Quan Yin latterly, right, and very much in that, like, compassion energy. And it’s so beautiful how we go through these phases and seasons.
And you mentioned a few things that made me think about intuition. And a lot of people ask this question, I know you get this all the time, I’m pretty sure, I’ve gotten a lot to, is, how do you learn to honor the divine feminine, how do you learn to honor your intuition even deeper than you ever have before? Because there are levels to it, right, where, 10 years ago, you were honoring it in a totally different way. But now, where you’re at in your life, it’s a totally different ballgame. So, what does that look like for you today, how do you honor your intuition? Whether it comes to how you dress, how you dance, how you move, how you speak, how are you honoring the divine feminine?
[26:52] Sahara
The biggest thing for me is giving myself space and patience, because I’m a very quick person, right, and because of that, I can be like “Okay, what am I supposed to do?”, and I want the answer really quick. And I know, when I’m coming from that space of trying to force, trying to be like “What do I do?”, and then I go into my analyzation, and my pro and con list, and writing it down, and the moment I go into voice-noting all of friends about what to do, I know I’ve already lost it, you know.
And it’s hard because, especially as women, we have been taught that form of bonding is bringing our questions to the table. And I do think there is a time and space for that, but ultimately, the answer must come within you, because no friend will know the total answer, they don’t know everything going on in any situation, they don’t know how you really feel, they don’t know your past lives and your…it’s only you.
So, I found, for myself, giving myself that container and that space of waiting for the pause, and in that pause of really sitting with something, my voice of clarity comes through.
So, some of the tools that have supported me – so, right after I went through my divorce, cold plunging was a really big thing for me, which, I never was into before, I was always like “Cole? Hell no!”, and also, in Ayurveda, it’s very, like, anti-cold. So, I was trained, like, never have the woman’s body be cold, the woman’s body must always be warm, oiled, nurtured, so I was very, kind of, like, that’s more masculine. However, the medicine that I was needing in that initial stage was that I can overcome painful things and that this too shall pass and that it’s just a sensation. So, that was like my practice because I was in a very painful space in my life. But then, I didn’t need that medicine anymore, and then, actually, in Trinidad, the medicine of Santa Maria, of marijuana, came in, and I was never a weed smoker in my life before, the time I would try, it would make me very anxious, but it came, and it was Rasta culture there, so it was like, really where it comes from, and that really gave me very deep meditations to sit with things that like, I wouldn’t have probably thought about as fully, without that medicine. So, I’m very, deeply, grateful for cannabis because of the way that it allows you to just sit with something long enough to find your own realization for it. And then, after a while, that tool wasn’t, I’m just not drawn to it anymore as much. I think there’s beauty to it, it’s just, it’s not calling to me right now.
And then, more recently, a few months ago, two months ago, my friend introduced me to Hapè, which we spoke about, which is a South American, sacred tobacco. And the first time that I sat with it, I felt all of this tension in my shoulders just dissolve, and I meditated for like an hour. And every time I sit with it, for me, it really drops me into very deep meditations, and from these meditations, I’m able to feel into the truth of how I feel. And you know, that has been the current medicine that has been resonating with me.
So, I find these tools can serve us, and ultimately, it’s about what the plant is telling you, it’s about you sitting with yourself, long enough, and that plant is supporting that.
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[31:24] Nina
Yeah, I think that’s a beautiful way to talk about plant medicine, it’s been a huge part of my journey as well. And Hapè is one of my favorite plant medicines of all time, and it really does bring you into this, like, really grounded space in your body where you’re not operating in the mental anymore. And I feel like, for someone like me, who’s very Vata, and I think you might have some of that too, is, we can be quick, like you said, and fast, and want things to just kind of come, it’s very airy, very light. And allowing ourselves to just sit and be for that long, it’s a beautiful, beautiful supportive practice.
So, my question for you, when it comes to cannabis, I know there’s a lot of stigma around it, and even though it’s being destigmatized now, there is a lot of stigma around it now, even within the spiritual community, you know, there’s tons of stigma around it. How did you, being in the public eye, how did you face that? Did you have any backlash, did you have anyone, kind of, judging you for it, or anything like that?
[32:21] Sahara
I don’t know, they didn’t tell me. No, I mean, I didn’t, like, make a public declaration like “Guys, I’m starting to smoke now, like or dislike”, you know, like, I didn’t… I think, sometimes, we ask, we think we need approval from other people, like, we don’t. It showed up in my field and I started to sit with it and it really supported me. And, you know, and I would say the internal shame probably came from myself, because I realized I had carried this shame around, how I viewed, you know, we say these words “Someone’s a pothead”, it’s like a negative thing, or, you know, if I saw people smoke pot, I’m like “They’re escapists”, it was just very much not my path before, right? But then I started to realize there is such beauty to it.
Now, again, you can take any medicine and use it in a really medicinal way, or you can use it as an escapism, it really depends on your intention, it depends on the state of consciousness that you are at.
For me, it’s not something I would ever do publicly, at parties, at events, it’s a meditative tool for me. But you know, the last time I even tried it, I just was too in my head, actually, about it, that it was actually like, it was no longer serving me anymore, and I feel like my relationship right now, is kind of done with it, at this point, maybe it’ll come back, maybe it won’t. So, I just feel like these tools come into our lives as certain teachers.
Another plant medicine for me was Ayahuasca. It was something that I had never…I was deeply scared of actually and had my own judgment around because I would…you know, I think when we’re afraid of something, we find the extreme examples of it, so I would be like “You know, all these people are just doing Ayahuasca every weekend, their lives aren’t changing, they’re spiritual bypassing, I don’t need it, everything we need is here in our reality”, it’s all true, that does exist, everything is here in our reality. And I had done so much healing work on myself, and then, having done that ceremony, I’m so grateful I had done that work because it took me to just deeper levels of it and it showed me connections that I just wouldn’t have probably seen, or would have taken me longer to see. I can see why someone, after an experience like that, would be like “What else do I not know, I need to do another ceremony I need to do another ceremony”, but that’s why the integration is actually even more important than the ceremony. And I believe that these things take months, really months, to probably a whole year, you’re still continuing to integrate it because it’s in your field and it’s in your frequency that, you know, I feel very complete with that. I’m sure, at some point in my life, it will come back. But I was even very clear about, the only way I would sit with Ayahuasca is if it was a circle of all Persian women, because I wanted to go into the ancestral trauma in my family of forced child marriage, which has been passed on intergenerationally. And of course, I end up in a ceremony with the facilitator being a Persian woman and two other Persian women, and like one random British girl, it was just like, probably realized, like where am I, like, you’re the colonizer here, welcome. Like, we’re going to replay our family constellations here.
No, but it was so… and we had so many other, you know… I believe these medicines actually work to put you together with the right people, to be mirrors for each other, because, yeah, we all mirrored each other in, like, different ways, like light and shadow. And I believe, these medicines, if we really listen and tune to them, they will call us when we’re ready for it, show us those things, but it’s not mean to be a crutch, it’s meant to be something, it’s medicine, right? You take it as medicine and then you go on and live your life.
So, after doing that medicine, I felt like, very complete with really focusing so much of my attention on, like, the healing and the this and the that, of just like, I just want to live my life, you know, and being in joy, being in pleasure, being in light, being in community, in relationship, these things are our ultimate healers, and that’s what it’s there for.
So, actually, the opposite thing happened to me of like, I didn’t become addicted to the healing, but I actually was like “Thank God for the healing because it allows us to live more fully”.
[36:19] Nina
Yeah, oh my gosh, I love that. The fully embodied version of you that came through after that, because it does happen quite a bit, that it’ll be a crutch for people. And like you said, you can use anything, I mean, food is medicine, but you can also use food as a crutch when you emotionally eat, so, it all has a place to play in.
You know, for me, Ayahuasca was very healing and it was beautiful, but it was the same as you. I was like “I’m good, like, I got what I needed”, and it helped me to ground even deeper into who I am, and it didn’t feel like I would probably sit with it ever again. If it happens and it called me, wonderful, but it literally called me for years before I sat with it.
So, with that, like, and bringing in that intuition conversation, for people that are struggling right now with their intuition, what is the one tip that you could give them that would help them to just drop in?
[37:10] Sahara
So, for me, it’s my embodiment practice. So, the first thing that I do in the morning is, I just play a song. Often, I just go into my, like, liked on Spotify and I’m like “Spirit, play me the song that’s, like, the vibration of the day”, so, it’s a little oracle moment. And I will even, just in bed, be, like, rolling my shoulders, and my back and my neck, and sometimes it’s, like, self-touch of touching my arms and my face, and it’s very sensuous; other times it’s more like dancing and, like, moving; sometimes it’s more stretching. But just having one song before getting on your phone, before even doing the breathwork and the meditation stuff, just one song to let your body move, just one song. If you just do that, I promise you, the voice of your intuition will become so much louder, and it feels so good. And then, from that place, because our intuition has different octaves and frequencies too. I mean, and there’s a difference between the voice of your anxiety and fear in your intuition, which is, often, we’re listening to the anxiety and fear and we think it’s our intuition.
Yeah, so, I think a lot of us are listening to the voice of our fear and anxiety, and thinking that it’s intuition.
So, coming back to your body, another thing is just taking a walk. I find just taking a walk really balances the left and right hemispheres of your brain, when you’re stepping with your right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg, and that, to me, the first minutes of my walk is like, I’m very in my head, I’m kind of clearing out the debris, and then, afterwards, I start to see more clearly. So, taking a walk, stretching, being in nature, just taking some space away from the thing, the problem that you’re trying to solve and doing something that’s, like, completely different, creates that, again, frequency that we step into, that, all of a sudden, we’re on a higher level of this elevator and we can see perspectives that we wouldn’t have seen before.
[38:56] Nina
Yeah. I love that! It’s, again, just getting into your beingness and not in your head so much. And walking meditations are, honestly, probably one of my favorite ways to meditate, it’s so simple and it, like you said, balances out the hemispheres of the brain. But it’s beautiful to just be out, getting air, looking at trees, maybe even touching a tree, hugging a tree, uhm, just hearing the birds, seeing even the colors, right, in the sky, that changes so much, like color therapy and using that, because they all have their own vibration. Just like the orange you’re wearing, it’s all beautiful, and it all plays a part.
Oh man, so, I have a phrase that’s been coming to me lately, and I want to hear your take on it – It is 100% human, yet 100% divine. And it’s a take on Mother Mary, it’s actually a card in a deck that has that on it, and I sat with that a while and I really thought about the path of joy, the path of expression and how, to some, it may seem like that it’s not spiritual, it’s like, well, how could that be, it seems so earthy-based, you know, like having fun, dancing, twerking, all of these things, beauty, embodiment, makeup, all those things, it could seem like it’s not spiritual.
What, for you, would you say to someone that wants to get on a journey like that, right, and that’s interested in those things, but maybe feels some inner judgment about it, or maybe other judgment about it? Somebody that sees you and is like “I want to get on a pathway like that. I feel that, I resonate with her. But how can I do that, like, where do I start, what do I do?”
[40:31] Sahara
Well, first of all, everything is sacred. Like, anything that you do, can be sacred, or toxic, depending on how you do it. Look at sex. Sex can create life, it can take you to God, it can take you to portals, and it, also, can be used for rape, and pillage, and war. It’s the lightest light and the lightest dark right there.
And in fact, the things that can take us to the highest levels of light, have been demonized the most. A woman’s body, of course they’re going to call belly dancing, twerking, salsa, any kind of hip movement, dirty and shameful, because that is how the feminine is empowered. And of course, the patriarchal forces don’t want that, they don’t want us to be connected to our wombs and root centers, because that’s our life force. So, they’re going to, you know, I mean, look at historically, the colonizers would come to different parts of the world and take the spiritual practices, earth-based wisdom, and call them barbaric, and instead, force their religion upon them for control. It was about politics, it was never about actually the belief of God, it’s was used and coerced against us to make us afraid of ourselves.
So, when you see that this is actually a systemic issue and a lot of reasons why we carry this judgment is used for us to be gaslight by ourselves and our own intuition. And there are systems that benefit from this, because if you’re confused around “Oh my god, is my body shameful or is it holy? No, no, no, it’s shameful”, of course I’m not going to listen to my body. If I don’t listen to my body, I’m going to listen to the priest, the mayor, the president, the whoever the fuck, because then I have no internal compass. So, this is like a major gaslight programming that’s been happening for many generations now, that we are now remembering back into. And this is why it’s so important to go back to the earth-based wisdom, which, by the way, existed in all parts of the world, including Europe, you know. It’s, we often still just see it intact in indigenous cultures because they were in the Amazon and in jungles, that they were not pillaged as much, they were still able to hide in these sanctuaries from these different colonizers, so it’s still intact, like the Yawanawa and all these different tribes.
However, Europe was actually the first you know, there are many pagan, you know, Celtic cultures, Slavic cultures, these are all…the word shaman is actually an ancient Russian word.
So, often times people think “Oh, well, you know, my family has just been, like, Catholic, I don’t have an indigenous…”, we’re all indigenous to earth. Every single culture worshipped the elements, and every single culture looked at the seasons and the cycles, the stars, the herbs, the plants, and found medicine in all of those things. So, when we can go back to the natural ways that we have all always been as human, of course we have a time with our intuition, we’re not in our natural habitats, we’re not listening to the stars, we don’t even see the stars anymore, we’re fed food that is, like, homogenous. I’m actually shocked we’re doing as well as we are.
[43:40] Nina
Honestly!
[43:42] Sahara
Like, kudos to us!
[43:44] Nina
Yeah.
[43:45] Sahara
But you go to Hawaii for like 2 days and, all of a sudden, you’re, like, sleeping at 7:00pm, because you’re like “I didn’t see bright lights anywhere at night”, and it shows us how quickly our bodies can come back into balance, if we just give them a change.
[43:57] Nina
Yeah. So, I loved everything that you shared and it really brought out something for me, it’s a phrase that’s been coming through, and it’s about activating your holy fire. Within all women, there is fire, right? We have this fire in our belly, our wombs are this creation portal and it’s been suppressed for so long. And as women, how can we begin to activate that fire and use it and channel it so that we can do good on this earth, and that we can wake up, and our wombs can be empowered, and we can feel really, really, just feminine and divine?
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[45:40] Sahara
I mean, it starts with tuning into your own womb spaces and dropping the guilt, dropping the shame, dropping the conditioning that this part of us is wrong, or this part of us exists merely to satisfy another person. A lot of us don’t actually feel like we own our vaginas, we’re afraid of the word, you know. You can say vagina, you can say pussy, you could say yoni, you can say whatever you want it call it, we need to be more comfortable with just speaking about it, first of all. Speaking about it, feeling into it – I mean, my Podcast has basically just become a sexuality podcast at this point, because I just share what I’m working with and what I’m interested in.
And I feel like, the sexuality wound is the biggest wound in our time.
[46:21] Nina
Yes, absolutely.
[46:23] Sahara
Again, from…we can go so many different ways with it, but it’s just starting our own relationship with our womb, because our womb is the earth, and it’s the mother, and it’s our reflection with nature, it’s our reflection with the feminine, it’s our reflection of all of these things.
So, so, really just starting there and, you know, having your own, maybe, a yoni mapping practice, a self-pleasure practice, yoni steaming, even just hip circles, tuning into your…like, I love when I’m just sitting, I just do hip circles and I just start feeling, I bring in my energy and my focus down there. Shaking, just, like, literally shimmying and shaking your body. I love having a standing desk, I always say work and twerk, I’m, like, standing and I do a little twerk right there.
[47:07] Nina
Work and twerk.
[47:07] Sahara
Yeah.
[47:08] Nina
I love it.
[47:08] Sahara
Even the word twerk, which comes from the Nola bounce scene, the origin of the work is to work, and it’s like, work. And even that, which has origins in different styles of African dancing, I mean, every single form of dance has a hip movement to it, you know, hula dancing, Tahitian dancing, uhm, yeah, different forms of belly dancing, salsa, bachata, I mean, the list goes on. And then, a lot of the styles of dancing that we see now used to have hips, but was taken out. So, a lot of the traditional temple dancing used to have a lot more of the hips, but then, with the modern patriarchal view of religion, it was taken out because it was seen as shameful.
So, I would be curious what this world looked like before this programming, you know. There’s so many interesting stories of, like, you know, the British went to these different islands in, like, Papua New Guinea, and the women had their breasts out, and they were like “Oh my god, this is disgusting and shameful, she must cover”, so the women took…the next day, they came back and they had their breasts covered, but they took off their bottoms, and the guys were like “What?! All these women’s vaginas are out”, but to them, they were like “But you said you didn’t like our breasts”, they didn’t have shame around their body. What would this earth look like if we didn’t have shame around parts of our bodies?
Like, two weeks ago, when I had my Highest Self weekend, uhm, the day after, my friend Mia Magik and I, we went into this beautiful, like, Austin, like, nature, it was like this river and, like, no one was there. And so, we went and we were, like, sitting and meditated, and we took our tops off to be in nature, but there was someone, like, really, really far away, and I felt, instantly, my fear programming like, what if they see me with my shirt off, like, oh my god, like, I won’t be safe. And it was, like, even the thought of someone from, like, a mile away, maybe seeing my fucking nipple, sent me into this fear response of I won’t be safe. That’s how deep this wound runs because, for so long, women have been like “If I show my body, I might arouse a man and get raped”, and that fear is living in us, so, it’s like, let’s stop blaming, it’s not your fault that you’re afraid of being sensual, it’s not your fault that you’re afraid of self-pleasure, it’s not your fault, it hasn’t been safe for the feminine.
So, this rage makes sense, you know, it makes sense that we’re angry, we could even be angrier, there’s a lot more anger that we can tap into. I think we’re deeply afraid of our anger because society says “An angry woman, stay away from her”, you know, we have all this stigma. What do they say, “Angry black woman”, you know, to clear away women from stepping into their power. Oh, you can be a sexy black woman, you can’t be an angry black woman. Angry woman, she’s a haggard, she’s a witch, she’s a this, she’s a that. We actually get to channel our sacred anger and propel it towards change. However, if we just sit with this anger and let it just eat away our bodies, it will make us sick. And that’s why there’s so much auto-immune disease, it’s literally our bodies fighting against themselves. You don’t need to hold onto all of this anger deep with yourself.
That’s a huge thing these medicines have brought on me, this like deep, sacred anger that’s like grandmothers’ deep, for all of the abuse that has happened in my lineage, for all the ways the womb has been abandoned and used as a commodity, and you know, it runs deep. So, we can’t bypass it.
Sometimes it’s easy for me, I know, to go into my Quan Yin of like “It’s all sacred and it’s all good”. And sometimes, in my work, is, I need to go into my Kali and let that anger be felt, but not doing it in a way that it’s, like, pointed at someone, it’s not like that man’s fault, it’s not any one person’s fault, it’s the collective rage, it’s the collective anger.
So, for me, what that looks like is, you know, if I go into my rage practice, I will punch my pillows, I will scream into them, I will, especially in my car, I get to be super loud in there, I’ll play, like, a tribe called Red, I’ll go into, like, my rage practice. And the thing is, like, it never lasts for more than a few minutes, you know. Like, after, you’re just, like, you’re good and you feel so light and free from a genuine space, not like when you’re anxious all day and, like, something’s off, you just let yourself have, like, three minutes of rage, you would’ve just felt so much better for the rest of your day.
And I always say, the angriest people are the ones who never felt their anger, right? Because they’re the ones who are always, like, snapping at people, it’s like, this little teapot that wants to, like, come out, a little simmer, a little simmer, a little steam, a little steam. Instead, just let the fucking pot, puff, let the steam out, don’t point it at anyone, but let it out, and then you’re released from it and you don’t have to hold onto it any longer.
[51:43] Nina
Oh, that’s such a beautiful analogy, the teapot. I just, it feels like it’s just bubbling under the surface, this anger, and it does come out in micro things, micro aggressions. And if you’re aware enough, you can catch yourself doing those things and then realize that “Okay, I need to be doing more of my sacred rage practice”, or something like that. So, developing your intuition to be able to do that, I think is something that the listeners can take from this as well, is, if you do find that you’re easily irritated, maybe it’s a time when you can go into your sacred rage practice, or you can do some self-pleasure, whatever it is that works for you. But having those practices in your toolbelt, I think is, like, a huge part of this feminine, just reclaiming what is ours, and it’s okay to be angry.
I think that’s one of the things, for women, that we don’t feel. We don’t feel that it’s okay to be angry, we think that it’s wrong, and then there’s this, like, this fight within us, and I think that’s where the auto-immune comes in, those diseases come in.
Have you had any bouts with any health things, speaking of auto-immune, that maybe you haven’t shared yet, or you feel comfortable sharing, that may help someone?
[52:52] Sahara
Since I was 21, and I healed that, I honestly barely even gotten a cold.
[52:57] Nina
Yeah.
[52:58] Sahara
I mean, I did get parasites in Bali, but that was a blessing because it caused to me to into this deep parasite cleanse and stuff, but I never get sick. And that used to not…I mean, I have always had a great immune system, I think, but I would travel a lot as a child, so I’d be exposed to different bacteria, and that really helped. But yeah, once I started to really attune to my body, and you know, I’m grateful that I went through those health challenges earlier in my life, because now, I can feel if my Vata is off, when my Pitta is off, and stuff, very quickly, that I don’t go through those health challenges.
I will say, just coming back to the anger piece, you know, a lot of this work has been my healing work through, you know, going through my divorce, and even before that, there was just a lot in my lineage around the abuse of the patriarchy. And that’s what led me to creating my Embodiment Certification and this EEE Embodied Method, which is Emote, Embody and Express. And this is exactly what healed me in my darkest hour, of, emote – feeling the feeling, you know, feeling the rage, the anger, the sadness, the grief, the longing. We must feel and purify those things from our being, but you’re not going to be able to just do a joy practice when you’re, like, really fucking angry, it’s like, you’ve got to just give it its microphone, give it center stage, let it talk its talk, and then, from there, embody. You know, and also, in the practice, I say, where do you feel it in your body, what color is it, what texture is it, is it moving? Talk to it, let’s take it out of your body, what story does it have for you? And then, from there, bring into your body the sensation that you do desire, if it’s more flow, how can I move my shoulders and my neck? If it’s more peace, how can I embody more peace, embody more surrender?
And then express, actually expressing that out into the world, whether it is through dance, poetry, improv has been a huge practice of mine, I do, like, shadow work improv that I teach my students, of like acting out the different shadows within you.
And to me, this threefold method has been the greatest game-changer for myself. And I see my students who have had lifelong traumas that have analyzed in their heads, for years, right? And then, when they emote, embody and express, it’s gone. And this is actually the work that, out of everything I’ve done, I’m the proudest of, because I have seen miracles happen. Like, in one session, people resolve, like, lifelong trauma, from sexual abuse that has happened, you know, really heavy things, or just, like, crippling anxiety, or whatever the thing is. And it’s so beautiful because I feel I’m at this place because I have really gone into the depths of my soul, that I can trust that Source will let you feel what you need to feel, and I’m not responsible for telling you what to say, or what to do, or for even healing you at all. All I can do is hold a container of safety for you to go through your process yourself. And when we let our bodies just guide us to emote, to sound, to express, to move in the ways that they want to move, it’s like they rewire themselves and reorient themselves that, all of a sudden, you’re doing this weird, like, neck twitch thing, and it’s like buhh, that thing is gone and it’s out of your being. It’s like when you see an animal and it’s, like, doing some weird movement and then it’s, like, the nervous system resets that way. We have stopped doing that because, again, we have become so hand-sanitized in our society and we’re, like, rigid, and we’re in our desks, and even when we’re by ourselves, we don’t want to be, like, weird.
We have such a thing like…even, sometimes, when I do something weird, I’m like “If someone walked into my room right now, like, what would they think about what I’m doing?”, I’m like “Why am I thinking about that?”, because even when we’re alone, it’s like we’re being… I’ve witnessed how the mind is perceiving itself and I think a lot of that is from social media as well, of like, we’re almost like on all the time, even when we’re not on, because we’re so used to being watched and performing.
So, from witnessing that it’s like, so, what are the feelings and sensations that we’re not allowing ourselves to experience because of the self-judgment? And those very things are probably the things that would create the greatest breakthrough in your life.
[57:04] Nina
Yeah. Oh my god, that’s so beautiful. I want to just move into one last thing, where are you headed now? Like, what’s next for you? Because you’ve done all this amazing work, you have your students, you have your academy, you have all these wonderful things going, you’re in this new phase in your life, like, what’s next? Like, what’s the next level for Sahara?
[57:30] Sahara
Honestly, it’s music, for me, because that is the thing that makes me just come alive. Like, when I am listening to music, I’m just hearing it at such a deeper level, that I actually received the download that, in the future, I’m actually not going to write books, I’m going to create albums, and those albums are going to be around the message. So, an album on surrender, or sacred sensuality, or whatever it is, and the album is going to be a transmission. Because, when I read a book and I’m reading that word, I’m actually reading it from my perspective and my point of view, I’m not…there’s zero embodiment in that whatsoever. On top of that, writing a book, you have to write that thing three years before it actually comes out, it’s like, a year of writing, a year of editing and then a whole year, it’s just on the shelf before it comes out, plus, how many years it takes that person to read it, like, you’re just such a different person by then. And I’m changing all the time, and the process of writing a book is very masculine. I’m good at writing books, I’ve written like five of them now, but I don’t feel called to it anymore. I feel called to creating transmissions through frequency, which is, I believe, where our society is heading in general.
So, diving deeper into my production abilities, to be able to actually produce these transmissions and take different samples of global beats. You know, I want to make Persian twerk music.
[58:49] Nina
Yeah, I’m here for that.
[58:49] Sahara
Yes, and I’m very inspired by dance hall. Like, dance hall was, growing up, my friends were all like Jamaican, Antiguan, Barbadian, so, I’ve been very inspired by Caribbean culture, uhm, you know, Afrobeats, all of those things, so I want to learn more about production, I want to continue DJ-ing.
So, I started DJ-ing at festivals, it’s like, now, almost two years ago, and now, just this summer, I’m DJ-ing in Estonia, and Mykonos, and Quebec, and like, all these places now. So, I want to cont…but it’s hard because I love, like, 2000s hip hop and all of that, but the lyrics are not great, like, you know, yeah, like, some of them are quite empowering, I think My Neck, My Back, I’m like, you girl, you can claim what you want in life, I like that. But then, other ones aren’t, right? So, that’s why I want to learn how to produce music so I can create music that has that same, like, synergy into it, without the…it’s like lyrics that I would want into my consciousness. And, uhm, more spoken word as well. I’ve always loved poetry, and this year I’ve been doing a lot more spoken word pieces and doing visual art with it, so I feel like my artist archetype is just…and before, I felt like, you know, growing up in immigrant family, it’s like, an artist, like, you’re going to be starving and homeless, like, good luck. There was never even a possibility. So, I feel like my soul’s journey, I needed to learn, like, to be in my teacher, my visionary, my entrepreneur, channel my masculine energy to provide myself the safety, you know, the financial stability. So, now I am able to create art and not have to worry about monetizing it so much, but be able to create art for art’s sake, which is such a gift, you know. Because I see a lot of artists struggle because they have to, kind of, sell themselves out for what’s selling and what’s making money, so then they lose that artistic clarity and that transmission that they’re really here to share.
So, that, and another major realization, I guess I’ll share it on this podcast, I shared at my Highest Self weekend – I love events, like, I am such a community person, I’m an in-person person, I want to feel you, I want to talk to you, I could talk, I do these podcasts for, like, 7 hours a day and I’m just like, then I go home and I go to another event, I love talking! So, I love being with people and I love music festivals.
So, something that’s been coming into my field and then I declared it, is, I want to create my own music festival.
[1:01:03] Nina
Oh my gosh, that’s going to be epic.
[1:01:04] Sahara
With, like, yeah, with like tribal dancing, bhangra dancers and drummers, belly dancers, Trini, Jamaican, like, every culture from around the world, with, like, gatherings and ceremony, and ritual, and magic, but, like, joyful and heart-centered, and, like, in nature.
So, I was like, where is this festival going to be, and then God kept guiding me – Portugal.
[1:01:30] Nina
Oh my gosh.
[1:01:31] Sahara
So, I feel like, part of…because on Sunday, I’m leaving for Portugal, and I don’t even, I’m just going to see what happens, I literally have no plan, I’m just going to go there and see.
And I feel that Spirit…and I’m going to, first, Afronation Festival, and then, from there, traveling, but I feel, which, I don’t know, by the time this podcast comes out, it will be like deep in the summer, so maybe I’ll have more clarity by then. But I feel like it might be in Portugal because that it such a cross-grounds right now, it’s very close to, you know, Africa, and the Middle East, Europe and the United States, it’s very open, it has very, like… I want to also bring in, also, the romance frequency back in, like, that has been a huge thing, the beauty path has been huge for me as well.
So, I feel I will create a music festival that really embodies in a lived experience. And actually, what’s coming through now, it might become a village that people live in all the time.
[1:02:20] Nina
Oh my gosh.
[1:02:22] Sahara
So, we’ll see. We might just create our own county.
[1:02:26] Nina
You guys heard it here first, on this Episode of the Podcast, there’s going to be a village.
[1:02:30] Sahara
Yeah, Lemuria is coming back. Welcome!
[1:02:33] Nina
That’s amazing! I could totally see just a bunch of women, just divine feminine energy, the beauty, the arts, just, like, creating from a place of joy and not survival, a place of peace and not lack, like, that makes such a difference.
Like, when you were speaking about music, like, I’m so aligned with that, and I love that. I feel like I’m on a similar path too, of just really wanting to express these things musically. And music has its own vibration, you know, and sound has its vibration, and it’s such a potent way to just get into that subconscious. And our bodies respond so well to sound, like, even the sound of our breath, right, like, to sound in general, it’s so beautiful. I’m here for it, I want to be a part of it. Whenever it happens, I want to be a part of it, that sounds amazing, amazing, amazing!
So, I think we are done, I think we’ve gotten everything out. Is there anything else that you have coming up right now that we should know about, that’s, kind of, on the forefront, maybe for the summer?
[1:03:36] Sahara
Yeah, so, well, I’ll announce it now. By the time this Episode comes out, or will be out, I’m rebranding Dharma Coaching Institute as Highest Self institute.
[1:03:44] Nina
Oh my gosh.
[1:03:45] Sahara
Yes. And I’m creating a whole array…and eventually, I want to actually team up with different spiritual teachers of different lineages and pathways to create different, like, really just, like, grounded and embodied methods of education, because I feel like our education model really…it’s like, we’re learning about spirituality in this really masculine way, of like, we’re reading it in the book, and the charts, and the graphics and this, and I’m like, how can we change, because so many people are like “I want to dive into these things that you’re talking about in a deeper way, but where do I study, where do I go?”, and I don’t really know where to refer them to, you know, I always say I have my own. So, now, with Highest Self Institute, I want to be able to take different beautiful spiritual teachers and have it all really one family that you can trust. It’s just like on the Podcast, I bring on people that I have worked with personally. Like, every single person on the Podcast has impacted my life in some type of way, no one is random. And that’s why they’re not the most famous of people, they’re people that I personally know. And I want to do the same, of people who are just really in integrity, and walking their talk, and education in a way, that’s like practice-oriented, where it’s not learning and memorization, rather, it’s the action, and the doing, and the feedback that you get from it.
So, the Embodiment Coaching Certification is not the second one, so, you can become a Certified Embodiment Coach, which is using the EEE method to allow people to really receive their own wisdom, and their own answers, and feel what’s underneath the surface, and then embody the energy that they are expressing.
And down the line, I want to create other ones on sensuality, that’s just a huge part of my dharma because it’s where all of the wounding in my lineage comes from. And who knows, you know, whatever I’m struggling with one day, will be here, so, I’ll let you know first!
But I feel that, you know, when you’re able to see that, of like, it’s all happening for me, for me to transmute and share with others, it’s like, it allows me to welcome in those obstacles with such more open arms.
So, I’m excited to see where it’s all heading, and, like, doing it in a way that’s joyful, and fun, and uplifting, because that’s why we’re here, we also don’t need to take this shit all so seriously, you know. We’re here to have fun, and sometimes the most sacred thing that you can do is play some Little Jon and shake your ass on a yacht, I’m just saying.
[1:05:59] Nina
I love that so much. I’m just envisioning all of these things, just holding that vision for you. I know it’s going to be epic as always, and beautiful, and just have your own twist on it, and your own specific frequency and vibe to it, so, I’m super excited.
I’m honored, as always, to just be here with you and to be able to interview you and ask all of these questions, and for you to be on the other side of the seat, and you know, hopefully it felt good for you to, like, be on that side and answer some questions. But I’ve enjoyed this, I really have, this has been awesome!
[1:06:30] Sahara
Well, thank you so much, I mean, it’s so great because I would’ve probably never talked about these things, like, on my own, because they’re very vulnerable topics.
And it’s funny because, these are the conversations I’m having in my real life with people who know me, but then I feel like, sometimes when you share things, publicly, on a podcast, you, kind of, like, maybe wait until you’re, like, a few years away from that thing, and you speak about it. But this has actually really, uhm, stretched me into really speaking about more what I’m, like, personally in right now.
And I do feel like these timelines are kind of collapsing of like, the old paradigm of, the expert is the person who went through that thing a really long time ago and now they’re totally on the other side, zero residue, into now, like, showing up as just more vulnerable messy humans of like “Hey, here’s what I’m struggling with right now and I don’t have all the answers, but this is what I’m learning”, because it’s actually when you’re learning the thing you’re most excited about, because you’re, like, in the weeds of it. So, I feel like it actually is an exciting time to share it. So, I thank you for asking me these questions because it allowed me to open up in this new way.
[1:07:30] Nina
Yes. I love it! Well, you heard it here first! We’re going to have a village.
[1:07:34] Sahara
Yes, we’re having a village, it’s going to be so much fun, everyone’s invited, as long as you’re fun.
[1:07:39] Nina
As long as you’re fun.
[1:07:40] Sahara
Yes. I can’t wait. Well, thank you guys so much for tuning into this Episode. If you loved it, please share it. And also share with me, on the iTunes Store, what other questions you have, what topics, if you would love to be interviewing me on this Podcast, you want me to another Episode like this, if it was helpful for you. Please, leave a review and share that all in the iTunes Store, and as a free gift, I will send you my Womb Meditation. So, this is a meditation that connects you into your sacred womb space so you can receive her answers. So, leave a review, take a screenshot and email it over to me at [email protected] you can find that in the show notes.
[1:08:14] Sahara
Thank you so much for tuning in, I’ll see you in the next one.
Episode#512: My Embodiment Journey – How I Got To This Expression with Sahara Rose + Nina Elaine
By Sahara Rose