Visit us at www.pranawrites.com. Thank you!

 

Inspiration: Holistic Nutritionist AFYA IBOMU

Afya Ibomu...

She's the woman who used to prepare all of Erkyah Badu's vegan meals on tour. She's the designer of the many crochet tams Common used to rock back in the day. She's the wife of stic.man of Dead Prez, and she's been with him before he busted out on the scene as a militant, conscious rapper, up until today when he's become a more mellow peace and love yoga, fitness, music kinda dude.

Essentially, Afya Ibomu is one of those foundation women. She's the backbone. She holds great things and great people together. She's that creative light energy that you may not see or know, but is there powerfully playing an unassumingly relevant role in the midst of great movements.

Don't get it twisted either, she's no joke when it comes to her own shit.

She has written four books, including Get Your Crochet On!, Vegan Soul Food Guide to the Galaxy, and her latest, Vegan Remix, which will be released early 2015. She's also a certified Holistic Nutritionist, Fitness Expert, Crochet Designer and the CEO of Nattral.com.

On the giving back, community-building front, Afya has always been active. She's the force behind the Drink Water Campaign, which both educates people about the health benefits of drinking water and provides funding for clean water sources in communities across Africa. So far the campaign's Malawi Project has installed two water pumps at an orphanage, and in 2015 the goal is to provide rain water irrigation systems to help build the center's farming practices. She also regularly hosts workshops for teenagers on health and self-esteem building.

To keep her own inner balance, Afya says she meditates daily, cleanses seasonally, and always indulges in family care and loving.

3 Tips for Health from Afya

DRINK WATER - "Water is like the electrical current in your body", Afya says. She says it's the basic ingredient of good health, and it not only makes for glowing skin, but it also helps you maintain a healthy weight. "Drink 64 ounces a day or half your body weight", she suggests.

REST - "Rest helps you to be clear in your thoughts and actions", Afya says, adding that when you sleep your body regenerates and heals. "Even if you're not getting eight hours of sleep per night, at least take naps."

EAT GREEN VEGGIES - "Eating green vegetables makes your body more alkaline, cleans you out, gives you energy and helps to keep you light."  

Get more information on Afya's latest projects and books at www.nattral.com.

Photos courtesy of Afya Ibomu

Catrinka | Ethical Fashion | Global

Buy a bag, educate a woman, employ a girl. --- The Catrinka Philosophy

More of us should support these kinds of businesses. Full force. With vigor. Paying it forward.

Megan Reilly Cayten sums up why we should all consider shifting our spending habits to support forward-thinking social enterprises instead of the mass-production companies most of us mindlessly flock to. Simply, "The fashion supply chain typically exploits women instead of investing in them", she says.

Indeed, if we can all choose to use our money to help instead of harm the world, why don't we?

Megan is the lead behind Catrinka, an ethical fashion accessory company that specializes in handbags. Catrinka leverages the power of women and girls through a woman-centered manufacturing, distribution and purchasing cycle which provides resources to women at all points within the process.

"An extra year of income for a girl can make a dramatic impact on her health and well-being, and that of her children", Megan explains.

To make its bags, Catrinka engages female artisans from under-privileged communities around the world, and then allots a portion of proceeds from each bag sold to support the education and mentorship of marginalized girls around the world. Catrinka essentially activates social good for women both at the beginning and end of its production model.

So far the bag company has made a substantial impact on women and girls in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Nepal, India, Peru, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the USA.  

Did I mention that the brand is GORG? The pieces are all sleek and sophisticated, and if you want a dose of ethnic texture you can find that too. Catrinka is yet another brand that proves that fashionable consciousness is anything but absurd.

Visit Catrinka online at www.catrinka.com. 

Photos courtesy of Catrinka. 

Jacmel & Co. | Ethical Fashion | Haiti

Jacmel & Co. is a sassy line of ethically-produced calabash handbags made by local artisans in Haiti that are sold worldwide to conscious consumers who believe in job creation, women's empowerment and using their purchasing power to contribute to sustainable living around the globe.

Lucie Cincinatis, the Jacmel & Co. founder, ditched her Wall Street job to teach English and set up arts programs in the heart of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She fell in love with the craftsmanship of the local community and started Jacmel & Co. as a way to help generate sustainable income for those artisans.

Lucie took that leap in May 2014, which is jaw-dropping considering that she is regularly shipping out orders to women all over the world AND she has already been featured by Vogue, Elle, The Huffington Post, and several other big publications. Cheers to that!

 

 

Born in Belgium, Lucie says her greatest accomplishment thus far has been the relationships she has built within the Haitian community. "It's so nice to have the kids waiting for me when I travel. People in the neighborhood come say hi to me when they know I'm back. I see the difference I make in the community. Most of my artisans are single mothers, and when I first came none of their children were going to school. Now all of them are going to school."

In Haiti the calabash is considered a deeply spiritual fruit. Drawing from its sacred background, Lucie has created an organic fashion piece that spawns good vibes for its wearers who are aiding in the livelihood of women and families they may never encounter.

 

 

Jacmel & Co. will soon be expanding its offering to include sandals, home décor and jewelry.

Please support Jacmel & Co. and other ethical brands. Visit Jacmel & Co. at www.jacmelandco.com and email lucie@jacmelandco.com for more information.

Photos courtesy of Jacmel & Co.

Seane Corn on Destiny & Passion

Photo by Steve Rosenfield

Seane Corn spews deep knowledge seemingly effortlessly. It's as if when she speaks she's channeling a higher force. Her talks are a mass of sacred counsel - each sentence carrying its own enormous message. That is the simple magic of Seane Corn.

At this month's Yoga Journal Live in Florida we asked Seane two quick questions on passion, work and destiny. 

You have such depth of knowledge and passion for what you do. How can others tap into that passion for their work?

SEANE CORN: "Everyone has their own individual path and for some people they enter their path with more resistance; some people with more enthusiasm; some people with more questions. I am really excited and enthusiastic about this path. I also get overwhelmed; I get scared. I have a lot of confusion and a lot of questions like everyone else, but it hasn't diminished the passion I still feel.

"I think you can work on that for sure, but I also think it's who you are. I'm a passionate person in general. I am passionate about people, about animals, about the planet. I love life. I'm excited by life. I am grateful for this life, and I also get that with life there's amazing things and there are challenges, and you can't get the amazing things without also having the challenges. And so, when the challenges come up I don't feel punished by life or somehow that life has failed me, it's just the cycle of things. Everything changes and I just want to be present to what is. If you develop more of a spiritual world view it's easier to assign meaning to moments where perhaps in the past those moments would have been overwhelming and scary, and you would have felt punished or ignored by spirit. When you have spiritual context it is easier to see possibility. I live my life in a spiritual context. I believe everything happens the way it's supposed to. I believe that we are here to learn what love is. I believe that the quest of understanding that love is through experiences that require its opposite, and that's just life. Because I have that worldview that God exists in all moments light and dark, it's easy for me to stay passionate, because I know that the end result is more love, more devotion, more connection, and more interdependence, and I want to be a part of that bigger broader understanding."

Did you envision this life for yourself? 

SEANE CORN: "No. It was just destiny, I guess. I just wanted to teach yoga and at that time none of this existed. There were no celebrity yoga teachers and all that crazy stuff. I just taught yoga, and then it evolved and I stayed open to it. I didn't imagine any of this. I'm grateful for it. I'm excited by it. I earned it - in that I worked very, very hard. It's not something that just happened to me. The doors opened, but yet I still cultivated the skills to manage it, to understand it, to learn from it, to grow because it. So it wasn't just luck. It was a combination of destiny, hard work, commitment and going towards that which scares me. All this scares me. The bigness of it scares me. But not enough to prevent me from wanting to go deeper and explore more."

INSPIRATION: Jamaica's Story & Myth + Sharon Feanny

Yoga, wellness, conscious living, ethical consumerism in support of local artisans, clean eating, vegetarianism --- All are thriving in the cultural landscape of the small and legendary island of Jamaica.

SHARON FEANNY is a founding force behind the growth of the yoga and wellness surge in Jamaica. The yogi business woman created the country's most popular aromatherapy line, Starfish Oils, as well as the largest yoga studio and mind body fitness hub, Shakti Mind Body Fitness. Sharon currently offers local and international, online and live detox programs under her Live Fit Detox umbrella - merging her passions for mind body health, clean eating and yoga to help others tap into optimum living.

STORY & MYTH is a line of mala and wrist beads made in Jamaica from sustainable sources by local artisans. The beads are a statement of ethical fashion, with each handmade piece contributing to the livelihood of various in-need populations in Jamaica. The Story & Myth line has skyrocketed beyond the wildest dreams of its creator, Kristie Stephenson, and is now available at top Caribbean boutiques and yoga-inspired outlets across the United States. Local and international conscious consumers indulge in both the positive, protective energies of the line and its distinct artistic beauty.

Here Sharon Feanny poses in Story & Myth malas at the Yoga Journal LIVE Florida conference held earlier this month.

View the Story & Myth line HERE. Email storyandmyth@gmail.com for more information.

Information on Sharon Feanny's Live Fit Detox program can be found at LiveFitDetox.com. Email sharon@sharonfeanny.com for more information.

Inspiration: MARLEY COFFEE

Oh, Marley Coffee how I love thee! Thank you so much for your organic blends. It feels good to know that when I sip you I'm choosing to treat my body lovingly. I sincerely appreciate your commitment to being sustainably grown, ethically farmed and artisan brewed. Those things let me know I am helping to make the world a better place by being a conscious consumer. It also thrills me that those processes happen in places like Jamaica, Ethiopia and South America in communities where help is needed. I'm so happy to be involved in that cycle of building. Thank you, especially, for helping the world's youths by donating a portion of your profits to social initiatives like 1Love.org, KicksForCause.org, and the WaterWise Coffee Project. It's also awesome that your gourmet AND affordable. And, last but certainly not least, THANK YOU for tasting so ridiculously good!

All Marley Coffee products live up to the Rastafari standards of ITAL, standing for all things Pure, True and Vital. We believe that pure food from the earth is physically and spiritually beneficial. The ITAL seal is how we denote our commitment to these principles. --- MarleyCoffee.com

Marley Coffee founder, Rohan Marley (son of the late, great Bob Marley himself) talks to us about giving back, social entrepreneurship and what we can look forward to from Marley Coffee in the near future. 

What has been Marley Coffee's proudest philanthropic give back​ to date, and what made it most worthwhile?

Rohan Marley: We are committed to giving back at Marley Coffee. To date, helping to rebuild Chepstowe Basic School, which is just down the road from the Marley Coffee Farm in Jamaica has been so rewarding, many of our farmers children attend this school. With the help of many partners we were able to write a check that went directly to the school and we build a computer lab, a soccer field, new playground, and much needed repairs to the school. A big part of why I originally purchase the coffee farm in Jamaica was to give back and support the local community; the school was the next evolution.

Now, I'm also excited to act as chairman to the WaterWise Coffee Project which will help provide support to regions in Ethiopia where we also source premium quality beans for Marley Coffee. When you purchase Marley Coffee, you're helping provide .01 cent for every single serve capsule sold to clean rivers which have been directly impacted by coffee production. This project will help provide clean water to people starting in the Sidamo region and I can't wait to see the lasting impact this initiative will have.

What tips would you give anyone wanting to embark on their own socially & environmentally conscious entrepreneurial journey?

Rohan Marley: Partner with the right people. Hold yourself to the highest standards. And remember your roots. Everything we do at Marley Coffee is grounded in our roots, which means growing the best sustainable, ethically farmed coffee in the world, and partnering with the right people to spread the message.

What's on the horizons for Marley Coffee? 

Rohan Marley: I'm excited to launch EcoCup in 2015, one of the first easy to use recyclable single serve capsules, that will help revolutionize the market by reducing a lot of waste. Over 10 billion single serve capsules are consumed in North America alone annually, and we want to part of the change, reducing the impact with EcoCup. All single serve Marley Coffee capsules will be recyclable by Summer 2015, years ahead of others in the category.

I'm really looking forward to my trip to Ethiopia in November to check on the WaterWise Coffee Project and to celebrating our growth here in the USA including a new test in a select number of Target stores (Northern and Southern California). We are also growing internally, most recently we were added to the menu in 70 Subway locations in Chile on top of the great distribution we already have throughout Chile. The UK and France are also growing markets for us, and in September we opened our first coffeehouse in Korea, with more to follow. I continue to feel blessed by our success and joy in helping others while sharing some the best coffee in the world.

Visit www.marleycoffee.com to get more information on Marley Coffee and to find stores and online outlets where Marley Coffee can be purchased. 

Photos courtesy of Marley Coffee.