Send us Fan Mail

As Black women and women of color, we have been socialized into believing that we should not take up space in the outdoors. Yet, research increasingly shows that being intentionally connected to nature can be profoundly healing. Nailah Blades is a life and leadership coach, who helps women tap into their power. Her high-touch coaching approach connects women of color to the outdoors so that they go from feeling invisible to being able to take up space in all facets of their lives. Nailah runs a community-based organization, Color Outside, which hosts retreats and a range of other activities to foster a connection to nature. In this episode, Nailah talks about her coaching journey and how she came to add a natural component to her offering. We hear about what a relationship with a coach might look like, the importance of having coaches with diverse life experiences, and why you have to find a coach who understands your lived reality. As Black women, there are numerous challenges we face that are not imagined, but rather systemic issues that can wear us down. We deserve to take up space in places we 'don't belong,’ and the work Nailah does goes a long way in helping women feel more comfortable not only in nature but in their own skin.  

Key Points From This Episode:

• Get to know today’s guest, Nailah Blades, and the work that she does. 
• It is common for Black women to feel like the outdoors is not a space they belong in. 
• How Nailah came to work to help Black women reclaim their space in the outdoors. 
• Nailah's insights into what the Black community is like in Utah. 
• How long Color Outside has been running for and the community's structure. 
• Details about how Nailah got into coaching after feeling unfulfilled. 
• Coaches will not tell you what to do; they will give you the tools you need. 
• What a coaching relationship typically looks like and the average cost for a session. 
• There are coaches for all different aspects of your life, so find one that suits your needs. 
• It is important to work with a coach that understands your lived experience. 
• How Nailah is normalizing being outdoors for her children. 
• Wilma's experience of being introduced to the outdoors when she went on exchange to France at 16. 
• The story of how Wilma learned to ski when she started dating her now-husband and how she's fallen in love with it since. 
• It is important to try new things without the expectations of having to be good at it. 
• Saying yes to outdoor adventures allows you to see parts of the world you wouldn't ordinarily see. 
• Plans Nailah has for Color Outside going forward. 
• Where to contact Nailah and learn more about Color Outside.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Nailah Blades

Nailah Blades on Instagram

Nailah Blades on Twitter

Color Outside

Wilma Mae Basta on Instagram

Subscribe to The Healing H.A.C.K. for more conversations exploring ancient and modern tools for spiritual health, abundance, connection, and knowledge.

Send us Fan Mail

There are many things aside from traditional therapy that can bring wellness to your life. Life Alignment coach, Philippa Lubbock, spends today’s episode explaining to us what this therapy offers and how it brings healing to those it touches. We start our episode with an introduction to Philippa Lubbock and the concept of Life Alignment, and she tells us how she found the therapy. Next, we get into the nuts and bolts of how the therapy is practiced and the results it yields, as well as the difference between the conscious and unconscious mind, and how Philippa communicates with your higher self in order to choose the right words to speak into your situation. Life Alignment focuses on the root cause rather than the symptoms and Philippa tells us why, touching on the power of recognizing and addressing self-limiting beliefs and patterns and how family relationships influence wellness in adults. She speaks about her work, guiding people into respectful mindsets before their parents die, and the personal healing that brings family healing. Next, she tells us why it is so important to be accompanied by someone who is educated and loving while you explore your psyche. A great piece of wisdom Philippa offers us is to do what you love doing, listen to your inner voice, and find out what you really want. We hope you tune in for a life-enriching episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to Philippa Lubbock and the work she does at Life Alignment.
• The South African born practitioner that introduced Philippa to Life Alignment.
• What Philippa needs to know: your birth year, and the symptoms you are experiencing.
• How Philippa administers the therapy to release traumatic memories and create balance.
• Wilma’s experience with Life Alignment; relevant words, and a sense of peace and safety.
• Philippa unpacks why Wilma feels this way: she comes home to herself.
• The difference between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.
• How Philippa communicates with your higher self in order to find the right words.
• The balance between the client and the practitioner.
• Why Life Alignment focuses on the root cause rather than the symptoms.
• The power of recognizing self-limiting beliefs and patterns.
• How family relationships influence wellness in adults.
• The way in which Philippa guides people into respectful places before their parents die.
• How personal healing brings family healing.
• How Philippa has experienced Wilma.
• The need to be accompanied by someone educated and loving as you explore your psyche. 
• Doing what you love doing, listening to your inner voice, and finding out what you really want.
• How Philippa works with anyone in any way. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Philippa Lubbock on LinkedIn
Breathing Space
Life Alignment
Wilma Mae Basta on LinkedIn
Wilma Mae on Instagram
DRK Beauty

Subscribe to The Healing H.A.C.K. for more conversations exploring ancient and modern tools for spiritual health, abundance, connection, and knowledge.

Send us Fan Mail

Today’s guests are Jenn Ma-Pham, Dr. Christine Coleman, and Jacqui Johnson. These amazing women are all DRK Beauty therapists and they join us on the show to highlight the diversity of our team and share the breadth of work that is going on in the DRK Beauty community. Jen is a licensed clinical social worker whose passion stems from the belief that recovery is possible and that the human spirit is resilient. Dr. Coleman is a speaker, consultant, and award-winning founder of a women’s non-profit called Sol Sisters Inc. Jackie is an LPC and an art therapist who offers holistic therapy that integrates art, storytelling, and body sensations to promote healing from racial, generational, and other traumas. Our conversation covers the lack of access to therapy for people of color and the systemic causes for this. We speak about what the situation looks like on the ground for Black people who need to talk to somebody and the many challenges that stand in the way. Together, our guests also weigh in on their personal experiences of devoting their lives to helping their clients along their journeys of healing and how they find the time and energy to look after themselves as well. So for all this and more in a conversation filled with the brilliant work and perspectives of Jen, Christine, and Jackie, tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing our three guests from today and the respective focuses of their work.
• How Jenn, Christine, and Jacqui got interested in social work and their journeys in the space.
• The emotional cost of helping others and how each of our guests take care of themselves.
• Setting very clear boundaries and holding space to ‘just be’ rather than code switch.
• Being authentic as a therapist and how this can help clients feel safer.
• Perspectives on stigmas surrounding mental health in communities of color and its origins.
• Systems that have been set up to make access to therapy difficult for people of color.
• Experiences of white male doctors dismissing the experiences of womxn of color.
• How POCs are looking for therapists who understand them but resources are slim.
• Fault being put on POCs for not seeking therapy when its more of a societal issue.
• Effects of the pandemic on access to therapy and how people are coping with readjusting.
• The lack of systems for prisoners to get access to therapy in jails versus prisons.
• Guilt around tapping out from activistic work and the need to set boundaries.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Christine Coleman

Sol Sisters

Wilma Mae Basta on Instagram

DRK Beauty
E-Team

Subscribe to The Healing H.A.C.K. for more conversations exploring ancient and modern tools for spiritual health, abundance, connection, and knowledge.

Send a text

As womxn of color, we do not live in a world that is designed to foster our journeys toward mental health. It is up to us to make our own wellbeing toolkits and this is not easy, but this is the problem that this show aims to solve! This is the Healing Home podcast hosted by Wilma Mae Basta, and the intention behind this show is to help all womxn of color to discover and create their own wellness journeys. We explore a myriad of healing tools and modalities ranging from psychotherapeutic to the spiritual, all for womxn of color! Wilma is the founder of DRK Beauty, a wellbeing and mental health digital platform that helps womxn of color discover and craft their own wellbeing journey. In this episode, Wilma helps listeners get to know her a little better, telling the story of her own life and how it led her to a breakdown followed by a path of discovery that resulted in her wellness platform as well as this show. We hear about Wilma’s parents, upbringing in America, and experiences of feeling othered by both white and Black communities, and what happened later after she moved to Europe where she felt she was not constantly read through the lens of being Black. She talks about how this was soothing but also meant she didn’t have to do some important inner work. Wilma explains that eventually everything culminated in a sense of crumbling but it was this that encouraged her to go on the inner journey that led to this amazing show. So make sure to join us today and in the episodes that follow, so that we can move forward to a place of strength and love in a less than friendly world as womxn of color, together.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing the show and the aim to help women of color create a mental wellness toolkit.
• Host Wilma Mae tells the story of her path to mental wellness leading to founding DRK Beauty.
• The story of Wilma’s parents’ personalities and careers and how they met and fell in love.
• Moving to a predominantly white area but living in a multicultural apartment block.
• Wilma’s memories of feeling othered by both Black and white communities.
• How Wilma finally felt she belonged when she went to France on exchange in junior year.
• The changes Wilma experienced from the culture in France and how she understood why she didn’t fit in before.
• How Wilma moved to NYC to study at NYU and experienced the rough scene of the '80s.
• Moving to London to study, meeting her husband, and how Wilma ended up staying 30 years.
• How Wilma excelled in her career and built a family while not feeling much racism.
• Not doing much inner work and then not being able to make sense of a crumbling marriage.
• Getting married to a second husband and diving into a new marriage that began to fail quickly.
• Experiencing a breakdown and how this was the beginning of Wilma’s mental health journey.
• The lack of mental health tools for women of color and how Wilma’s journey led to her starting this podcast.
• The happy marriage Wilma is still in thanks to the work her husband and her have done internally.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Wilma Mae Basta on Instagram

Wilma Mae Basta Email

DRK Beauty
Stanley Branche

PennState University

NYU

Subscribe to The Healing H.A.C.K. for more conversations exploring ancient and modern tools for spiritual health, abundance, connection, and knowledge.