GirlTREK

Pleasure Muse: Toni Cade Bambara  Tantalizing Trivia:  Born Miltona Mirkin Cade, this author, activist, and professor, changed her name at the age of 6, to Toni. She then added Bambara to honor the West African ethnic group, Bambara.  Her anthology, “Black Woman”, was the first feminist collection to focus on Black women. It included works from her friends Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde and Alice Walker.  After the success of her two fiction books, Gorilla My Love and The Salt Eaters, she became a filmmaker, covering topics like the Philadelphia MOVE Bombing and the disappearance of over 40 children in Atlanta.  She believed strongly in clairvoyance, dream analysis, telepathy, and ancestral healing, and wrote about those themes in most of her work.  She died at 56 from colon cancer. Toni Morrison posthumously edited and published her last book, Deep Sightings and Rescue Missions.  Mirror Work: Do a two minute free write, completing the sentence, “The truth is, I…” There’s not right or wrong. Just let your truth, about whatever comes from your spirit, flow onto the paper. Now look at yourself in the mirror as you read it out loud. “The Truth is I…” Repeat three times. Look at yourself while you speak and honor the courage that it takes to face our truths head on.  Speak Your Truth: A Playlist  Self-Care Shopping List: Pick up The Salt Eaters for yourself and Gorilla My Love for your pre-teen or teen to read this Summer.  “The dream is real my friend, it’s the failure to realize it that’s the unreality.” - Toni Cade Bambara  Didn’t catch the live recording of today’s episode? We don’t want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below. Opening ⁠Song⁠ Closing ⁠Song

Pleasure Muse: Queen Afua   Tantalizing Trivia   Born Helen Odel Robinson changed her name to Queen Afua She was raised in Harlem at the height of the Black Nationalist Movement and was a community organizer.  As a child, she suffered from asthma, allergies, eczema and debilitating cramps and at 15 years old, started a lifelong investigation, and practice of healing herself - she started  daily exercise, learning more about herbs and she changed her diet.  She experienced dramatic healing which led her on a spiritual quest, hearing directly from God, on several occasions, instructing her which plants and herbs to use for different ailments.  She tapped into ancient African traditions and combined those with her “impeccable listening” and intuition to launch her “Womb Healing Movement” that has helped over 1 million women.  She has become a wellness guru to generations of Black women including cultural leaders like Erykah Badu, India Arie, Jada Pinkett Smith, Iyanla Vanzant, Lauren London and Beverly Bond.  Queen Afua has written seven best-selling books that Center, African healing traditions and designed and led hundreds of workshops and retreats to heal Black women.    Mirror Work: Look at yourself naked in the mirror. Relax. Smile. Say thank you to your body. Put your hands on your womb with loving kindness and imagine the inheritance of Divine Femininity that flows through you from your mother’s womb and her mother’s womb. Say I am the daughter of ____ who is the daughter of ____.  Commit to listening to your womb. What is she telling you? What does she want you to shift in your life? How does she want you to heal yourself?   Awaken your womb: A Playlist    Self-Care Shopping List: Buy the book Heal Thyself or Sacred Woman by Queen Afua on Amazon. Visit www.queenafua.com for womb retreats and juice plans. Go to a local tea shop and learn about herbal healing. Invest in a quality tea blend. Didn’t catch the live recording of today’s episode? We don’t want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below. Opening ⁠Song⁠ Closing ⁠Song

Pleasure Muse: Dr. John Francis    Tantalizing Trivia   He gave up using motorized transportation and took a vow of silence that was intended to last one day. It lasted for 17 years.  He completed three college degrees, including a Phd while silent.  He walked across the United States and is referred to as the “Planet Walker”.  He was a pioneer of Black conservatism and environmentalism.    Mirror Work: While out on a walk find a patch of natural earth and take your shoes off. Look at your feet planted firmly on the ground. Imagine the healing powers of the universe shooting up through the arches of your feet. Feel stronger with each breath you take.    Watch: John in his own words, explain his journey in his TED talk,   Find Stillness: A Playlist    “You have to let go of the wanting to understand, you have to let go of wanting to possess the understanding and just be in that place.” - Dr. John Francis Didn’t catch the live recording of today’s episode? We don’t want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below. Opening Song Closing Song

Pleasure Muse: Alice Coachman    Tantalizing Trivia Alice Coachman was the first Black woman from any country to win an Olympic gold medal.  She was born in segregated Georgia and as a child picked cotton and sold peaches, pecans and plums to help support her family She rejected  the patriarchy and segregationists, both telling her Black girls should not be athletes; Shout out to two women who encouraged her to become a runner - her fifth-grade teacher Cora Bailey, and her aunt, Carrie Spry. She ran barefoot on dirt roads to practice; Her stumbling block became her stepping stone and this kind of “no excuses” training made her the best athlete in Georgia in high school. She was recruited by Tuskegee and won national championships for track and field and in 1948, dazzled the world in the Olympic Games! King George VI of England put some respect on her name and the gold medal around her neck.   Mirror Work: Flex in the mirror. Yell “Game Time!” Start clapping.  And run out of the bathroom like you believe in yourself. LOL   Affirmation: I can do whatever I set my mind to.    Play Hard: A Playlist    Self Care Shopping List: Splurge on a good pair of sneakers for yourself. The brighter color the better.   Activity for Alchemy: Challenge a family member or neighbor to an old-school footrace. Ready? Set. Dust them fools.  Didn’t catch the live recording of today’s episode? We don’t want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below. Opening ⁠Song⁠ Closing ⁠Song

Pleasure Muse: Dr. Sebi    Tantalizing Trivia He grew up in Honduras and got his foundation in herbalism from his grandmother.  He was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a license, but attracted a zealot following of believers who followed his lifestyle and diet advice.  Nipsey Hustle called him an underdog hero and champion of the truth.  He worked with Michael Jackson, Eddie Murphy, and Kendrick Lamar, just to name a few.  He pioneered a lot of the current popular health trends, including plant-based, fasting, knowing the PH balance of foods, and the healing benefits of sea moss.    Mirror Work: Gently massage your skin. Imagine that it is reflecting back to you everything that is inside. Notice where it is supple. Notice where it might be dehydrated. Notice your melanin. Give thanks that your body has the ability to process toxins and foods properly.    Affirmation: I tend to my body because it is a temple. I feed it food that is nourishing.    Release the Toxins: A Playlist    Self-Care Shopping List:  The next time you go grocery shopping. 2-3 Fruits or vegetables that you have never tried or rarely consume.   Didn’t catch the live recording of today’s episode? We don’t want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below. Opening ⁠Song⁠ Closing ⁠Song

Pleasure Muse: bell hooks Tantalizing Trivia She was born Gloria Jean Johnson, but like a longline of Black women who refused to be defined by the narrowness of this world, when she was ready to step on the scene with her talent, she changed her pen name to bell hooks after her great-grandmother.  She published more than 30 books. Her first, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism” was inspired by Sojourner Truth.  She identified as queer, but defined it as far more complex than who she was sleeping with. She said it was about “the self that is at odds with everything around it and it has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live." She was celibate for 17 years.  She practiced Buddhism and counted the monk Thich Nhat Hnah as her teacher.  Mirror Work: Gaze lovingly at yourself with slow admiration for each feature on your face. Imagine that you are meeting yourself for the first time and wrap both arms around your body in a loving embrace. Send the love that you have given out back to yourself with three deep breaths.  Affirmation: “I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.” bell hooks Make Love: A Playlist  Self-Care Shopping List: Something to sleep in at night that  makes you feel sexy. We love Amazon for their affordable options that can be ripped, torn, and used with abandon. :-)  Didn’t catch the live recording of today’s episode? We don’t want you to miss out on getting the full experience. Check out the opening and closing songs below. Opening ⁠Song⁠ Closing ⁠Song

GirlTrek Nation! Are you ready? The GirlTrek walking season has officially started!Join GirlTrek Co-Founders, Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison, as they chat about the road ahead on a special season kickoff episode. This season we are getting in the best shape of our lives by putting one foot in front of the other. You don’t want to miss this inspiring conversation with our cofounders as they layout the blueprint for walking in the direction of your healthiest, most fulfilled life this year. Lace up your sneakers, put in your earbuds and let’s walk! 

Join Co-founders Morgan and Vanessa on a Special Edition episode in honor of Harriet Tubman, broadcasting live from the streets of Auburn, NY.

This year we set a goal to take over 1,000 of the Blackest neighborhoods. And we did that! With the help of our entire team. With the help of you! You made the decision to lead women in your neighborhood. You helped them start their own crew. And we want to celebrate every single one of you. Nominations for the Victory Awards are in!  Come celebrate with us as we announce our Victory Awards, LIVE! 

Day 21 The Address: The Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma The Story: "You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone—any person or any force—dampen, dim or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don't be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself. " Today we step onto hallowed ground. Today we walk in the footsteps of the 600 Black men and women who set out from Brown Chapel AME to march the 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery. Today we tell the story of what happened when they stepped onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge.