Bidii Health Supplement - Issue 06 2023

BIDII is dedicated to educating the African Caribbean community on matters of health and well-being to stimulate our collective prosperity.

With great information available on food, health and beauty, Bidii aims to encourage a better and healthier lifestyle for both men and women.

This supplement on health is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a trusted health advisor for any questions you may have regarding any specific medical conditions.

Credits:

Editor: T. Prendergast | Publisher: Bidii Ltd | Layout & Graphic Design: D. Palmer

Contributors:

Paul Campbell (cancerblackcare.org.uk) | Dr. Linda Odogwu (bameskincare.com)

Nicola Smart (instagram.com/smarthairclinic) | Zainab Kwaw-Swanzy (zainab.co)

Pablo Imani (pabloimanimethod.com)

Our Health The Return of Cancer Black Care

Bidii interviews Paul Campbell, CEO of Cancer Black Care. Paul has extensive experience providing visionary, strategic, and operational leadership, in varied and challenging contexts, for supporting children and families during transitional times in their lives. His work is, generally, in education, youth settings and the criminal justice system. Paul brings much needed positive energy to revive the former community pillar supporting cancer care .

Q: The history of Cancer Black Care goes back quite some time. How has the organisation changed since inception and what are your key drivers, moving forward?

A: Well, my role at Cancer Black Care (CBC) is to raise awareness of cancer within Black and minority ethnic communities. We aim to

enhance the quality of life by reducing fears, tension, bitterness, and misunderstanding.

Our vision is that individuals and families within the Black and minority ethnic communities will have equal access to the highest quality care, treatment and support, which is effective, appropriate and considers cultural diversity, to work in partnership with other agencies, as well as lobbying, campaigning, and networking. I think I was the first executive director since 2006. Now, as CEO, my role is to reshape the mission and vision; including, making sure that we remain focused on core objectives and make sure they are strong and compelling.

I want to inspire the stakeholders and drive the charity forward, while advocating for policy change that promotes cancer prevention, access to quality care and support for patients and survivors. By engaging in advocacy efforts and collaborating with government and policy

makers, I want to drive systemic change and address barriers that impact cancer outcome, especially for black and ethnic minority groups, whilst forging strong partnerships and networks.

The organisation started in 1995, and originally there were 5 offices, one in Dalston (head office), South East London (Denmark Hill), Brent and Harrow (Acton Lane), one in Birmingham and one in Manchester. The goal is to get back to the position we once held in the community and have more offices and staff to increase our reach, so that we can work with more individuals at risk of cancer or who currently have cancer.

Q: What brought you specifically to the charity?

A: The charity’s aims and purpose resonated with me. It’s an opportunity to make a difference within the black community. The work is personally fulfilling, impactful, and addresses a critical global health challenge. It offers a chance to lead and inspire a dedicated team, collaborate with influential stakeholders, and be part of the collective effort to combat cancers and improve the lives of patients and their families.

My current position offers a chance to make a tangible difference in the fight against cancer. Whether it’s funding life-saving research, expanding patient support services, or driving policy changes, CBC can be at the forefront of transformative efforts. However, it was my lived experience being a cancer conqueror and what I faced during that journey (started in 2019), which was the main driver. The discrimination, mistreatment; I had to fight and be assertive to get a PSA test, and this role was an opportunity to lead from the front. I didn’t like the language that was used when I was spoken to. I didn’t like the barriers I faced, and some of the conversations that I had. I didn’t see any kind of diversity in the staff when I was going through

those processes.

I was quite happy in my last job and I wasn’t looking to move anywhere, but once this role came my way - it was an opportunity that I didn’t want to turn down.

Q: What have you noticed about the challenges that the black community face in cancer treatment and detection?

A: Lack of diversity in clinical trials. I think black people historically have been under-represented in clinical trials and this leads to disparities in treatment and outcomes for black people. I think access to healthcare is an issue too, because when I first spoke to my GP to request a men’s health check, I was turned down. Had I not been assertive, not been pushy, I would not have found out I was a diabetic or had prostate cancer - because I didn’t have any signs or symptoms. So that disparities in healthcare and access is a significant challenge, not just for me, but for other black people in the community that I have spoken with since being in my new role, and before.

Also, some of our group members at CBC and other people I talk to in this sector, talk about historical mistreatment in the NHS system, which has resulted in a deep-seated mistrust among some black individuals. This mistrust may lead to avoidance or reluctance to seek medical care, including cancer screenings and treatment. I think there’s going to be other socioeconomic factors: low income, educational attainment, and employment opportunities, all can contribute to disparities in cancer care and detection, and these kinds of factors can affect the ability of people to go forward. Low cancer screening rates studies indicate that black people have the lowest rates of screening compared to other racial ethnic groups and the disparities in screening can lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment, resulting in poor health outcomes for black and other ethnic

groups.

It’s also important to have culturally competent staff who play a vital role in creating a healthcare environment that is sensitive, respectful and responsive to the needs of the black community facing cancer treatment. By promoting understanding, trust and inclusivity, they contribute to better patient experiences, improved treatment outcomes, and ultimately, a more equitable healthcare system.

Q: What do you think are the contributing factors to the low numbers of screenings?

A: Contributing factors would include socioeconomic disparities, mistrust in the NHS, cultural barriers and beliefs, fear and stigma, a lack of awareness and education.

I won’t say a lack of information, I think it is where the information is. If the information isn’t in our optics where we are, where we are going; then, we are not going to see it. So, if you want to target more black and ethnic minority groups, then employ people who are culturally competent, who can work with those communities, create literature that is specifically for black and ethnic minorities, and create an outreach strategy with clear SMART objectives, which are both robust and purposeful.

Q: If somebody wanted to be more proactive about available cancer support what advice would you give them?

A: There are local healthcare providers and community organisations. I think the Race Equality Foundation has a patient website dedicated to cancer and black ethnic groups as well. In most areas, you will find services supporting ethnic minority groups. There is not a lot, to be fair. In the short term I have been here, I know about five or six charities that specifically work with black and ethnic minority groups . So, it’s about raising awareness of

those groups as well.

Q: What support does Cancer Black Care need from the community?

A: Volunteers. We need volunteers to help organise events, provide support to cancer patients and their families, coordinate support groups, or help with administrative tasks. Also, assisting with fundraising efforts, and to help plug our social media platforms. Fundraising events would allow the charity to fund other things like research, providing assistance to cancer patients, or offering educational programmes.

Advocacy is a great way to help; it influences policies to improve cancer services and support systems.

Building strong networks and collaborations within the community can lead to a more coor-

dinated and comprehensive approach to cancer services. This includes partnerships between NHS providers, local organisations, and support groups - to ensure that resources are maximized and duplicated efforts are minimized.

We value feedback from our committee members, and we would appreciate input on the effectiveness of our programmes, services and initiatives. This helps us understand the community better and it will help us to improve the services that we’re delivering.

For more information, email: cancerblackcare@outlook.com

www.cancerblackcare.org.uk

Charity Registered No. 1086465

Our Coils

To Be Bump Free

And spots can come and go, but on darker skin - the dark mark stayed behind, so I had lots of marks and every spot would leave a dark mark. So, fast forward two years, the dark marks were covering up my whole face. I remember going to the obvious university of the people – YouTube. It had all sorts of information: I was looking at skincare videos, putting on turmeric (on my face), lemon, vinegar, all of this stuff and it just really irritated my skin.

Q: How did you start your journey into specialising in melanated skincare and how to treat it?

A: When puberty hit, I got acne like everybody else - but I felt like I was more affected.

I then went to the doctors. I think they weren’t used to treating my skin type, so they weren’t really sure what to advise. They could tell it was acne, but in terms of the pigmentationthey didn’t really have any solutions for it. So, this led me to the journey of looking at ingredients, and how they could be used safely for darker skin types.

Bidii interviews BAME Skincare founder Dr. Linda Odogwu, who brings a wealth of knowledge for melanated skincare and hair removal. With many of us suffering from bumps and ingrown hairs, Linda takes us through her journey and the best tips for healthy bump free skincare.

PHOTO CREDIT:

I started to understand the ingredients and what things were working for me. I would help my family and friends, giving so much advice. I graduated as a doctor in 2012 and then started to look into this more seriously and using more prescription products - so I set up a clinic. My journey started because as a way to help people of black and Asian backgrounds and I feel like they are being overlooked and our skin really behaves differently to European skin for a number of reasons.

So, I just felt somebody has to be the first one, you know, when I was kind of looking for help there wasn’t really many sources that was targeted to my skin type. So, I just felt like, you know, sometimes you have to do it. I think it was Gandhi that said: ‘Be the change that you want to see in the world’, so I thought OK, let me see the person to push this out and help others because I know that I wasn’t the only one in this boat. So, I setup BAME Skincare and that was dedicated to treating darker skin types.

Q: Tell us about your skincare line and the services you provide.

A: We have a skincare brand called BAME Skincare and then we have a clinic as well. I’ve been working on BAME Skincare behind the scenes and it’s available on our website (www. bameskincare.com). So, we sell products like face wash formulated with salicylic acid to help exfoliate. We have our best seller, Acne and Dark Mark Treatment Pads. Then, I treat clients in my clinics at Harley Street and Chancery Lane.

At the clinics, I help people who need more services and treatments. Skincare is good, but people with damaged skin or affected with acne and hyper-pigmentation, then, we need to go to step up. My services include consultations, prescription products, microdermabrasion, chemical peel treatments,

which are great for resurfacing. For clients that suffer from ingrown hairs skin that leaves dark marks, I always recommend laser hair removal. So that’s been going for about 2-3 years, in terms of the treatment for services.

Q: Many black men suffer from bumps, how does this occur?

A: When the hair is cut, it tries to regrow through the skin of a hair follicle. And because the hair is curly, rather than growing straight out of the hair follicle, it curls underneath and causes bumps under the skin’s surface. With black people our hair is curly and so whenever we do any shaving, plucking or any form of temporary hair removal - when the hair grows back, it tends to grow back under the skin. And that is how we get bumps and ingrown hairs.

Q: How can men care for their skin to avoid bumps? If they already have it, what is the best thing they can do?

A: It does take a while to resolve, especially with bumps. Some people, when they have any form of inflammation like ingrown hairs, they can get their pigmentation scarring, inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and this again also takes a long time to resolve. The dark spots left behind can take six months, even up to 18 months to resolve - so if it constantly occurs, we start chasing ourselves. So, I always say prevention is better than cure. To do that, we have to look at the shaving practises.

A few tips I have are:

#1: Using electric clippers not a razor blade. Electric clippers cut the hair about half a centimetre above the skin so when the hair is growing it’s already out of the hair follicle. This so it just grows straight up. Anything that cuts the hair underneath and removes the hair from the follicle can cause ingrown hairs. Always use a clipper rather than razor blades.

#2: Exfoliate the skin. We tend to use chemical exfoliators. For example, lactic acid is very gentle. It basically takes away the upper dead layers of the skin, so even when the hair is growing it can pierce through the skin because there is not a lot of dead layers building up, blocking the hair from coming to the surface. If you can, use exfoliate chemicals such as alpha hydroxy acids like lactic acid. But sometimes, even mechanical exfoliators like scrubs are good to get rid of the upper dead layer of the skin.

And lastly, tip #3: Use of pigmentation creams or anti-inflammatory cream salicylic acid is a very good chemical that is found in aspirin and we know aspirin is an anti-inflammatory - so with these razor bumps it is because the hair is growing underneath and it is causing inflammation so we want an anti-inflammatory medication on top. Salicylic acid can be found in lots of over-the-counter products and we have salicylic acid in our Spot Out product, which is like a little dabber. You put it on to the ingrown hair. It calms that bump down and really makes it heal, sooner rather than later. So, look for ingredients like salicylic acid to stop the inflammation, but also ingredients that have stopped hyperpigmentation - so things like azelaic acid is good; mandelic acid is really good where there is lots of pigmentation. You can use these ingredients to stop the pigmentation.

So, these are the three top tips:

1. Shave with a Clipper

2. Exfoliation – using lactic or gentle scrubs on the skin.

3. Anti-inflammatory and anti-pigmentation creams

Q: Most women practise hair removal using a blade, shaver, or cream. What do you suggest as the best practise to avoid inflammation and bumps?

A: Yes absolutely, I will say on our skin, we have a very sensitive environment. We have a pH on the surface of the skin. It’s a little bit acidic, so 4.5 to 5.5; that is how the skin operates normally. By putting these creams on, they can be very harsh chemicals because it is basically dissolving the hair. So, after a while when you put these creams on again and again, week after week, it really starts to irritate the skin and you get this sensitivity and post inflammatory hyperpigmentation because you get a lot of irritation.

So, these creams are an absolute no no, especially for darker skin types. Once darker skin gets irritated, it forms darker spots and black pigmentation.

We would also say for shaving again, if you’re shaving too closely - you’re going to get a lot of ingrown hair. So we see a lot of clients coming in where they are shaving the bikini, waxing the bikini area, and their hair is growing backyou’re getting these bumps on the skin and you can look quite unsightly. And so we always say, you know we’re not really meant to be shaving or removing the hair like that. That’s why we only offer particular laser treatments because not all lasers can be used on darker skin. Because it burns us, it has to be an Nd:YAG laser hair removal machine in order to do permanent hair reduction—up to 90%. I’ve had Nd:YAG on my legs, for example, and I haven’t shaved for five years. It’s literally 6 sessions and the hairs stop growing. So Nd:YAG is very very effective, and make sure to go to people who are used to treating darker skin types. Make sure you have like the right machines, because there is a lot of IPL [Intense Pulsed Light]and you see people coming with burns and it is not nice. It’s very hard to treat, so make sure you always go for the Nd:YAG machine.

For more information on safe hair removals treatments visit www.bameskincare.com

Trichologist Nicola Smart from Smart Hair Clinic provides us with a better understanding on alopecia; what we should know and how we can be proactive in prevention, detection, and treatment.

Q: What information would you say is essential for women to understand about alopecia?

A: I think it’s important for people to note that alopecia is a general overarching term for hair loss and encompasses many conditions.

Women specifically are complex humans in many ways and that includes in relation to hair. Ninety percent of my patients are female, and their hair loss cases are often far more convoluted than their male counterparts. In other words, there are often several factors that play a role in female hair loss. Women should try to look beyond the physical area of thinning, taking a holistic view of their health and lifestyle to pinpoint triggers behind the hair loss.

Secondly, paying close attention to and understanding your hair and health can really help women identify changes in their hair. There are some instances where women may wear their hair in protective styles regularly. And although this is generally fine, problems are more easily identified when you handle your hair regularly. With more consistent handling of the hair, you learn to better understand how it behaves, i.e., when it requires moisture, a trim, or a shampoo.

Alopecia

Without seeing or handling your hair regularly, you can sometimes miss slight changes that could be addressed early on.

Lastly, don’t wait! If you suspect something isn’t quite right, visit your GP or a specialist for a second opinion. There are so many instances of hair loss that go unchecked until the very final stages of the condition. It is far easier to mitigate against the spread of hair loss than to regrow hair.

Q: What are the actions we can do to help prevent/reverse alopecia where possible?

A: While there certainly isn’t a magic potion or one fix for all, there are some types of hair loss that can be prevented with better handling. Traction alopecia for example, can be avoided by being kinder to your scalp when detangling and styling. Temporary hair loss associated with stress and nutrition can be mitigated against, by having a good understanding of your body and its changes. Knowledge of self is sometimes key to identifying changes and combating alopecia.

However, in certain instances, such as in hair loss associated with health, you are likely to require more in-depth conversations, tests, and treatments, beyond what you can do from home. Treatments for alopecia will vary based on individual circumstances but factors that specialists will take into consideration include the cause, length of time, extent of hair loss, progression, allergies, and any other underlying conditions or medications - among other things.

Q: There are many products on the market that promise to aid those with hair loss. Are there any you would recommend?

A: There are very few products that are proven to support new growth and buyers should be wary of hair growth oils and the like; however,

it makes sense to look at the ingredients of a product to help determine whether it may stimulate hair growth. There are studies that have implicated the use of ingredients like caffeine to help stimulate growth. Generally speaking, when choosing products, look for ingredients that stimulate the follicles by increasing blood circulation - which draws oxygen and nutrients to the scalp. More importantly, always conduct your own due diligence and ask for studies and trials that support any enthusiastic claims. Regaine is the only commercially available product FDA proven to grow hair and this is only under certain circumstances.

Facebook: smarthairclinic

The Smart Hair Clinic

“Prove yourself to yourself and not others”

A Quick Ting On ...

.. What Hair Advocacy Means To Zainab.

Zainab Kwaw-Swanzy, writer of ‘The Black Girl Afro’ from the ‘A Quick Ting On:’ book series, speaks to Bidii. As our hair continues to be a politicised aspect of beauty, Zainab discusses her work in advocacy to promote the importance of equality and diversity, as well as how we can embrace the versatility of Black women’s natural coils.

Q: For those that don’t know what your background is, how did you become an advocate when it comes to black women’s hair and beauty?

A: I work in tech but alongside that, I am a writer and model. But it’s only in the last couple of years that I would say I’ve become a professional model, being signed to agencies. I’ve always enjoyed taking part in shoots and concepts, where I had my afro hair out. And in the past, I’ve modelled for a 70s style shoot for a magazine; a Black Panther Party themed shoot, and I just loved the hair being the main

focus. And I think because I started doing a bit of work in that space, I then started to get approached and cast for specific hair related campaigns. There was a campaign I did with Pantene promoting their Gold Series range, which has been created by black scientists for black people and afro hair. But the campaign also allowed us to talk about hair discrimination and our experiences as black women, and that started to become a bit of a niche for me. And I’ve done it for a few other campaigns that focus on championing natural afro hairstyles.

With writing, I was involved in the magazine called Gal-Dem, when it first started up around seven years ago now. I was part of the founding team who created the online publication, which was run by women and non-binary people of colour. And the whole purpose was to create this platform to allow people’s voices to be heard and to share stories that aren’t often told in mainstream media. That’s how I got into writing and since most of my articles are lifestyle related, a lot of them ended up being about hair. I wrote about

the relationship between hair and technology; how technology can help the afro hair industry; the link between black women and their hair, and dating; and how experiences that you have, whilst dating, might influence the way that you view your hair or even influence how you style your hair, when you’re in a relationship with somebody.

Going back to my day job, I work in tech, working in a financial services company and over the past few years I have gotten really involved in diversity and inclusion, specifically around how we create spaces for black colleagues to be themselves at work. And the example I always spoke about, was black women often not being able to feel they can wear their hair in certain ways because this idea of professionalism can be rooted in quite racist ideals - and so it can be difficult for black women to sometimes wear their hair a certain way, in a corporate space. All of these things, I guess grew over the past few years and I built a bit of a name for myself for talking about the black experience, celebrating it and talking about hair and creating that conversation.

A: So I was approached to write a book on afro hair as part of the Quick Ting On book series by Jacaranda books which is a black-owned publisher and the idea of the series is that each book covers an important topic of Black British culture. And they knew that they wanted one to be about afro hair, and for writers to be first time authors. They wanted to have people who are passionate and maybe didn’t have a way into becoming an author, or into the publishing industry. But because of the nature of the series, it was important to get people telling their own stories and talking about the topics that are so important to them. I was very blessed to be approached by them at the end of 2019 and it was a two and a half year journey of research, exploring my own experiences and the network I’ve built: my public speaking and modelling and writingall the things I’ve done over the past years and bringing that all together, basically in book form to create something that I feel is showcasing the importance of afro hair in modern day society and also looking at history and how so many aspects of society impacts our hair journeys. So, I’m one of those people who does a lot of different things but have threads that brings it all together.

Q: When it comes to discrimination in the workplace and in schools, what do you think of that and how it developed?

Q: You became an author by writing A Quick Ting On: The Black Girl Afro. How did that opportunity come about and how was that experience?

A: In the book, I ran an online survey and over 350 black women filled it in. It asked a bunch of questions, but one question was around what factors have positively or negatively influenced your relationship with your hair. And the top two factors that negatively impacted black women’s experience with their hair were school and work. For me, I wasn’t surprised but it was really harrowing because that’s where we spend so much of our time as kids and adults and that is where we are experiencing the most negative behaviours that affect how we view ourselves and our hair. So, I really wanted to

dig a bit deeper into that. And people were very kind, in the research, to provide stories of when they felt that they were discriminated against. It’s very difficult to identify when you’ve been discriminated against, especially when it’s to do with your hair. It tends to be microaggressions: maybe someone touching your hair or someone making a comment. And in these places like school and work, it’s very difficult because of the environment you’re in, to raise it as an issue or even feel comfortable talking about it. So, I felt like it was really important to shed light on that. I interviewed Michelle De Leon, the founder of World Afro Day [15th September], in the book and the reason being is because obviously I’ve done a lot of research, and I have my own opinions, but I also felt it was important to hear from experts and people who are trailblazers in this space.

The whole point of World Afro day is to celebrate hair because so many black children are suffering in schools because of discriminative hair policies or because of comments from teachers or pupils, and so for me, it was really important to help boost the whole purpose of World Afro Day, however I could, and that was by spotlighting Michelle.

In the workplace, I think it’s more about leading some of the diversity and inclusion initiatives. I saw first-hand the experiences that colleagues had around their hair in the workplace and the challenges that they had. I felt that a lot of people may think that “it’s just hair” and so it’s important to actually talk about this and say, this isn’t a trivial thing that people are complaining about for no reason. This has real negative impacts on people. I talked about The CROWN Act in the States, which is a legislation that means it is illegal to discriminate against somebody on the basis of their hair in the workplace. When I was writing the book, seven states had passed the legislation so hopefully more and more states decide to like apply The CROWN Act and incorporate it into their

legislation [As of June 2023, 22 US states have enacted The CROWN Act into law]. We don’t really have anything like that in the UK and it’s only now (Oct 2022) where we just had a story in the news that said school policies that single out black kids and afro hairstyles are likely to be illegal. So that’s come out as a statement from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). It’s likely that these policies that require afro hair to be a certain length, or state that certain natural hair styles aren’t allowed, are likely to be illegal because they discriminate on the basis of race. So we are at the very beginning of that journey in the UK, but I think that’s a step in the right direction and we just have to keep championing people and platforms such as World Afro Day.

There’s also Project Embrace, who do a lot of work to raise awareness in this space and so we just need to keep putting on that pressure, so it becomes a real law that is applied everywhere and schools are having to review their policies to ensure that they aren’t singling out black students just because of their hair. There’s been so many cases where students have been sent home from school or excluded. In some cases,

students have won court settlements against their schools because it’s been noticed that’s not OK. I think we’re slowly but surely making progress with tackling this issue.

Check out more of Zainab’s work here: www.zainab.co

Hair Hamper Competition

In celebration of World Afro Day on 15th September 2023, Bidii is pleased to announce the return of our great natural hair hampers competition!

To attain healthy hair is a journey and to assist with a successful hair regime, the products are important too. The hampers offer great quality products to help look after your coils, from root to tip!

How To Win A Bidii Hamper

To win, simply visit www.bidii.co.uk and complete our Natural Hair Survey by 15th October 2023.

Participants will be entered into a draw, where 5 winners will be randomly selected on 20th October 2023 to receive a hamper worth over £150!

The hampers include a great selection of high-quality shampoos and deep conditioners, as well as products from great brands such as Pure Goodness, Pattern, and our regular favourites Mielle Organics, Mane Choice and Camille Rose.

Our Sisters B-Uzuri

Fitness

In 2022, Bidii launched the B-Uzuri platform to provide black women with inspiration and encouragement to start or assist you in reaching your fitness goals and more.

B-Uzuri provides workouts, meditation, information on diet and nutrition, plus much more - all aimed at the black women’s lifestyle. Work, family life and relationships can all provide stresses in our lives. However, for some, these stresses can become toxicleading into depression. Depression can include low mood, decreased interest or pleasure in most or all activities of the day, decreased motivation, and increases or decreases in appetite and weight, to name just a few.

Exercise has numerous benefits and is a great way to give back to your body, and combat anxiety and depression. From a gentle stroll to feeling the burn, can help your body, mind and spirit.

B-Uzuri offers great fitness and meditation videos, nutrition information, and recipes, with FREE and £10 per month membership options.

Check out the B-Uzuri site and download the app for Android from Google Playstore today!

The B-Uzuri app for iOS COMING SOON!

Follow B-Uzuri:

Instagram: @BIDII_UZURI

Facebook: @BIDIIUZURI

WhatsApp: B-UZURI FITNESS

BEAUTY | UZURI | GRACE

Our Brothers

Afrikan Yoga

Read the continuation of our interview with Pablo Imani - founder of the Afrikan Yoga Foundation. Looking at the benefits of Afrikan yoga for training and internal strength.

Q: What differentiates Afrikan Yoga from other types of yoga?

A: Afrikan yoga has a lot of similarities to a lot of other yogic practises; that’s the first thing I want to state. It has similarities to a lot of practices out there. The main difference is that it does focus on rhythm. It has a component within it called Hudu, which focuses on the elements. The best way to describe Hudu is Afrikan tai chi, nice fluid flowing motion that helps to bring the masculine and feminine principles into unity. Working in complementary pairs rather than at odds with each other, so the practise focuses a lot on that. It works with the elements: earth, water, air and fire. The elements pretty much gave birth to us, so we have to engage with the

elements as well and all of the elements we contain. We contain earth, water, air and fire. We are a container and we can also engage with these elements to get the best out of ourselves and to understand ourselves some more.

When you’re dealing with Afrikan yoga, you become more and more aware of your body, because there is an emphasis in body awareness. It also emphasises on cleansing of the emotions. The emotional body, which we don’t often focus on. That’s why we deal with particular elements like, for instance, water is an emotional element and a river cleanses itself through its own current. So, when our bodies are more fluid and flowing, what actually happens? We’re actually cleansing our emotional body, when we engage with fluid flowing movements. So, one thing about Afrikan yoga is it involves circular motion, which is feminine in principle.

A lot of the other yogic practises deal with geometric shapes, lines, squares, triangles. That’s what they focus on postures. Afrikan yoga has postures, but it also focuses on you just letting your body do its thing and flow naturally, fluid movements. It’s different in the sense that it really emphasise is on you using your imagination. Why? Because when you use your imagination, you’re utilising your third eye. You’re allowing your third eye operate to be less calcified.

So, when your third eye is open and not calcified, you can imagine things. You can manifest things. You could go into interdimensional spaces and back again. Your dreams can become lucid again, colourful and vibrant again. You can begin to see yourself in the dream state, and you can begin to bring certain things into being. So, this is one of the powerful tools of the practise and I guarantee that if you engage with Afrikan yoga, I’m putting my stamp on them - putting my name on it, okay if you engage in Afrika, you will dream and your third eye will become more apparent. Your impersonal self will become more apparent.

So how is it different, another thing is that it’s fast, it works very quickly on your flexibility, your movement, and your agility. It works really quickly. It’s rhythmic. It requires you to do it to the sound on the drum. The drum is a powerful tool because it relates back to a heartbeat. It relates back to the bang. The drum sound that you hear in the universe when the universe came into being. It goes all the way back to that. It goes back to you being in your mother’s womb and listening to the beating of her heart. This is the power of the drum and Afrikan yoga utilises the drum as well.

Q: What body parts should brothers focus on to stretch?

brothers tend to come to me about, knees, hips, lower back. They tend to be the three big major ones. Stretch them, keep stretching them, find out how you can stretch them. Google, YouTube, you can check me out on YouTube. Find out how you can stretch certain parts of the body so. Do your research and get to stretching!

Q: How can Afrikan yoga be used to enhance a brother’s current training routine?

A: When you’re training, lactic acid... so the thing about it is when you’re stretching, you’re releasing less of that lactic acid into your muscles. So that your training routine bringing in stretching, or for instance Afrikan yoga, will actually make your muscles more relaxed and your muscles more responsive to training. But also, it will improve the quickness of your recovery after training; so, that’s particularly why it will help them to do stretches.

Q: What stretches are necessary to help build internal strength?

A: This is what I say to men that are working out, you gain strength by focusing on flexibility. It just happens. It’s a by-product of focusing on your flexibility. But you cannot gain flexibility by focusing on strength. So, if you focus your flexibility, which means your stretching, which means that you practising yoga, which means that you’re doing some Afrikan yoga, you’re going to get strength. You may not get big, muscular, angular, but you will gain internal power, internal strength!

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A: I would say whatever you need to stretch. There are particular parts of the body that

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