about the Cussin’ yogini

  • The Cussin’ Yogini’s origin story starts with my lineage of cussers.

    My Grandma Nana cussed, my Mom cussed, I cuss and both of my children, Cleveland and Maya, cuss. We all cuss as a means of expressing ourselves, our disappointments and excitement. It is just the way we speak.

    As I am growing and understanding myself and others, I understand that we cuss because of the effects of harm that we do to ourselves because we don’t believe we are energetic beings, and the harm we may perceive or real that others may cause to us because they are being harmed by many oppressive and violent forces of energy.

    Firstly, I am a Black cis-gengered, mostly abled-bodied, slightly hard of hearing woman, who practices the East Indian tradition of Raja Yoga. I have practiced Raja Yoga for over 33 years. I was initiated into the lineage by a Black woman from the Shiva (Dattetreya, the destroyer of the illusory ego) lineage.

    It is a daily, moment-to-moment, practice of thoughts and actions of holding myself accountable and within communities of accountability to be more humane to myself and others. My interpretation of Yoga means that I realize I am connected to everyone and everything on the planet through mycelium and the universe through energy, the wholeness which is us - Ubuntu: Me-We.

    Writing the YogaRoots On Location’s AntiRacist Raja Yoga Teacher Training curriculum (2015) and birthed The Cussin’ Yogini (2019) because I was compelled to integrate 3 frameworks:

    1. Unconditional love and joy practices – I have intentionally practiced this since 7th grade at Reizenstein Middle School, East Liberty neighborhood, Pittsburgh, PA (46 years of mediating and cultivating community health and communal peace)

    2. Raja Yoga 8-Limbed Path – 33 years of practicing, 27 years of teaching

    3. Anti-Oppressive frameworks – AntiRacist framework (2014 was my first PISAB training, 8 years); and Anti-oppressive frameworks (Racism, Capitalism and Patriarchy) collaboration between Mistress Syndrome and YogaRoots On Location (2017, 5 years ago)

    My first published poem: The Cussin’ Yogini Poem on Medium (2019)

    “One Black cis-Gendered Yogini’s Perspectiv: I Vow to be Me

    Raja Yoga: My Call 2 Action…

    When it seems that Sexism, Racism and Greed are the rule.” Yes, that’s a long ass title, but it is complete.

    READ: The Cussin’ Yogini Poem on Medium

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    This website is devoted to all that I create; vlogs, a podcast, books, and artwork.

    I create to maintain my survival and practice thrival.
    I create to continue to heal my mind, body and my emotional states of being.
    I truly enjoy writing, drawing, playing, taking photos and videos.
    Creating is life-affirming and life-giving for me.

  • I am a Black, cis-gendered woman thriving amidst the systems that don’t that want me to survive. My artistic practice is my healing practice – whether expressing through written word, emoting on canvas, or connecting through collage. 

    I create to honor what is life giving despite the many forces committed to taking away my quality of life. The people, places, and practices that root me into my humanity are depicted to connect me to the larger vision of collective liberation that centers love above all. 

    It’s in my moments of beingness that the doing of creative expression comes through. Transmuting what challenges my joy is a joy in itself. My artistry reflects the contradictions of living amid multiple, inequitable systems that make no sense to what I know as a Black woman is possible when humanity is cherished.

    As I feel, heal, and reveal I know what my capacity is to commune. Connecting with myself through creative expression is how connecting with others through my embodied anti-racist yoga work is possible.

  • Standing firm on the belief that we are all bound and dehumanized by systems of oppression, I envision a humankind where we have dismantled these systems of oppression and humanely rebuilt new systems together. 

    I am the Founder and CEO of YogaRoots On Location, LLC® and its 200-hour Certified Registered AntiRacist Raja Yoga School and have been practicing yoga for over 30 years.

    As a wellness thought leader and yoga guide, I use integrative practices focusing on individual and collective wellness that is centered in communities of accountability. My vulnerable practice invites breath, meditation, movement, and discussion as a platform to navigate trauma.