Beloved Mr. Mandela

Today is a sad day for us, but the angels of Light are rejoicing as they are welcoming one of them!

I remember, a few years back, as I was a young UN tour guide - a young american kid saw a picture of Mr Mandela and exclaimed: "This is God. The God in the movie 'God Almighty' ". I laughed out loud as I was both astonished by what I thought was incredibly ignorant but how true this, coming from a young boy, was true in so many ways.

Mr Mandela was and will still be our father for many generations to come. He was a warrior of Love, a defendant of justice and integrity - and those are values that every human being should learn to polish over the years.

If I have one wish is to be one of the Lightworkers of this earth who continue on this legacy. And maybe one day, our paths shall meet in heaven!

With great joy, I send you my love! And to your family, I say "Sing and praise the Man for the way he chose to lead his existence and left a mark in our hearts forever!"

Amen!

La gamme complète des produits 100% naturels Shreyas Ayurvedic Skincare

Je vous présente la gamme complète des produits 

"Shreyas Ayurvedic Skincare"

I. Gamme visage

a) Sérum tenseur jour

b) Sérum intense nuit

c) Huile démaquillante

d) Lotion tonique

e) Masque régérérant

II. Gamme corps

a) Huiles abhyangas pour le corps (3)

b) Huile bio-clarifiante purifiante et nourrissante

III. Gamme capillaire

a) Traitement "Huile Chaude" (Pre-poo Oil)

b) Huile hydratante quotidienne

c) Sérum concentré cuir chevelu pour la croissance

d) Sérum Miracle (3 en 1)

I tried ZUMBA !

It's so good to step out of your comfort zone and try new things.

My cousin Sonia came for a few days (not long enough, as far as I'm concerned) to visit. We had not seen each other in over a decade, but weird enough, from the second we saw each other, we were thrown into 11th grade again!

Needless to say, at some point, my honey hubby felt left out of the chit chatting and discretely left. We stayed up until 4 am, talking, rewinding old tunes of stories of the past.

So Sonia lives in Spain and, apparently, zumba is quite popular there. Well, it was so funny to hear that somehow, being confused for a Latina all the time, maybe subliminally brought her to this "latin fitness dancing - shake your bum bum" kind of gym class. And it's weird, because when I lived in the US, noone could ever figure out where I was from, and all Latinos, from Brazilians, to Dominicans or Puerto Ricans or Comombians would claim me: the beauty of mix ethnicity!

The class lasted an hour or so. The teacher was a gorgous cap verdean girl, fit and slim, just the way every girl would wish.... and she seemed very nice - which doesn't hurt.

This was definitely a different kind of experience for me, far from my yoga habit, but I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. After a couple of days, parts of my body are aching, like my butt or my shoulders and it's a good sensation. I feel like I touched muscles that when I do yoga, or maybe it's the rhythm or something. I'm going to try to do it maybe once a week, switch maybe one yoga session. Who knows, maybe at the end, my bod will kick ass like the cap verdean zumba teacher!!!!

My beautiful cousin Sonia in downtown Dakar

New year = new concept

Today, I got to think about what is important in life and what really counts.

We struggle each day to be accepted into communities and well-established groups, pouring ourselves and giving our best to really contribute in a meaningful way, however way we can.

I believe a person's behavior is a reflection not only of his or her outside beauty but mostly of how comfortable the person is in his or her own skin. That's why, regardless of how much you give, how much time you spend contributing to a cause, you shouldn't do it to fill a void. Never, ever. Because, this creates expectations that can never be really met.

Instead, know how much you can give and for how long, and that, regardless of the result.

This past week-end, I had a rather human reaction to a virtually unimportant situation. However, my emotions probably didn't feel that way. I was surrounded by much love, yet, the fact that I had expected some "friends" to be part of the whole experience were a no show, made the experience sweet and sour.

Needless to say, this is not at all an event I will probably remember in ten or fifteen years. Yet, now that I'm way past the (over) reaction, I realize how every experience helps in getting a person a boost to grow and be wiser.

My husband's birthday is coming soon. And we talked about what it meant for him to get older in terms of priority, of getting to do things that matter, taking time for family, nurturing ourselves, ... be as gorgeous as we can, and that, while fully respecting our integrity and Mother Nature.

This brings me to *beauty* and what it means to be and to live in beauty.

For years, I was obsessed with my beauty, with the impact it had on people. I would, along with some of my friends (who, now that I realize, were all drop dead gorgeous), go out in the City and count point on how many drinks we could get for free or how fast we would get a cab after a night in the town. I flirted a bit with modeling, did some stuff with bathing suits, nothing close to Heidi Klum (LOL) but I felt like I needed that recognition, as I never actually felt beautiful. So I did it a few times, and I like the attention; but there was something sour about it. Something devoid of depth.

I guess I was young! 

Where am I? Oh yeah, new year = new concepts in my life.

Far away from my days at my very serious job, two beautiful daughters later, I now have found my true calling. I always wondered how I could merge my passion for beauty with my need for spirituality. And I found it in creating my own line of cosm'ethics Shreyas Ayurvedic Skincare, using the wisdom of Ayurveda, the great freedom of using aromatherapy, the ever-present use of the Energy of the Source and precious African home-grown ingredients. It's a small venture, working with family and other caring people. And I love it.

So, regardless of these little things that may bother me (and it is part of life), I have always tried to see what was the lesson to learn. As far as I am concerned, it is about always surrounding myself with people who share this philosophy of life and who would be there for me, just for a couple of minutes, taking the time and making me a priority, as I would do for them.

The others are just lovely people I get to share joyful moments sometimes but who, at the end of the day, will certainly not be there for me in case of .... And it is ok too. 

Inner Wheel conference: Keep girls in School

Yesterday was a busy and rewarding day.

At Inner Wheel, we organized a conference local high school Lycée Delafosse with the group of girls who benefit from our sponsorship program to keep them in school.

Actually, one of our main action poles is education as a tool for girls empowerment as girls are "in the making" for becoming tomorrow's leaders.

For yesterday's conference, we invited two wonderful ladies from the organizations OneWorld and ACTIONAID. Both ladies were from Benin and were just balls of energy. One representative from UNESCO was also there, as she happens to be this year's president of our group. UNESCO blessed us with goodies, as they actually partner with us on this project.

We kicked off the conference with exercises to break down on stereotypes imposed by tradition on what a woman represents in Africa and in the developing world in general, what it means to be a muslim girl in today's world and challenges, what it means to get an education and what it does for a village, a community, a country, a world!

At the end, we - Inner Wheel ladies, the women of the Rotary International Club, as well as teachers who attended, the panelists, and the high school girls - left with a renewed sense of our role as leaders of this world = a role we, too often, deliberately and conveniently choose to release.

"Help my hand write my future!"

 

 

 

We did a few role plays and exercises to bring the leaders out of these more than intelligent girls.

Is everyone just so damn busy?

I asked myself this question today, as I was rushing from one professional engagement to a social gathering, before finishing the day in front of the computer.

As I'm preparing for the inauguration of the new space of my concept spa-boutique (not very far from where I was before), I try not to feel overwhelmed by the fact that I am basically on my own. From the first drafts of the project, to dealing with picking out fabric, renovating old furniture, dealing with repair work and then, doing more sophisticated tasks as coming up with new formulations of products or thinking and producing packaging, I must say that I sometimes wish I could share the "burden".

Then, I think about the powers of words, and as soon as I catch myself thinking "what if", I immediately get myself back on a place on comfort, self-confidence and faith.

Then again, I love what I do. I enjoy the process and I enjoy every moment, hoping the outcome will not be the end of things, but just another step of the whole thing. I live this lifestyle and being able to share it with love and warmth, what more can I ask the Universe?

So, more enjoyable moments:
yesterday, I had a surprisingly bright experience. A few weeks ago, I ran into a friend of a friend, who's also a photographer. At the time, I wasn't really thinking I would want to do a photoshoot or even needed photos. But you never know, right?

I've never been a big fan of being photographed. I always kinda feel awkward in front of a camera and never really know how to pose or what to do in general. So that experience is usually a quick and not so painful one. Yet, with my boutique picking up and starting to make my skincare line more visible outside of my *privileged and private* circle of clients, I thought I could always use photos (maybe) for press reviews and things like that.

We'll see! One thing is sure: I did enjoy the experience and will be glad to renew it, though, maybe not so soon! lol.

Glam event in Lagos

Some shots of the UBA CEO Awards, taking place at the Meridien Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island (called "V" Island by locals).

 

My honey love actually won a trophee. So grateful !

 

And this is me, rocking a gown made of traditional African fabric. This is my second time wearing it. I designed it myself and had a local tailor make it for me. The true one-of-a-kind.