The Art of Letting Go

 The Art of Letting Go

We’ve all seen or at least heard of the TV show Hoarders. Some of us watch, with guilty fascination, our fellow humans trapping themselves inside walls of things. Psychologists have acknowledged hoarding as a mental illness. There’s anxiety that is associated with hoarding in an almost cyclic fashion. Anxiety is both a cause and a product of hoarding. Many of us that haven’t quite jumped the line between being packrats and being hoarders don’t realize that we are suffering from a milder version of a real condition. Not being able to get rid of that dress you’ll never wear again because MAYBE you’ll like it again some day. Or that trinket from that ex. Sometimes it’s the not throwing out some food in your fridge (that will inevitably go bad) because it’s wasteful and you MIGHT eat it. Sometimes it not letting go of that grudge you’ve fallen in love with against the person that has hurt you. We hold on to things far too long far too often.

I’ve come to believe there’s an art to letting go of things, feelings, spaces, and people that are toxic to us. And trust me, this toxicity isn’t only mental. Holding on to things prevents us from regularly clearing space. From dusting our homes, to mold growing in cracks and crevices. Holding on to seasonal things triggers un-wellness in the form of allergies, stress & anxiety, lack of focus, and more.

My suggestion is a spring cleaning of sorts. Open all the doors in your home and all the windows. Put on your favorite music or podcast. Burn some incense. Start with the things that are already out in the open if you tend to be a junkier person. Analyze anything you own that seems worn. Ask yourself why you feel the need to hold on to it. Sit with the emotions the items bring and release them as you release the items you’re holding on to. For me, I never get a deep cleaning like this done in one day. I just go room to room and do it. After this, your home will feel fresher and cleaner and your spirit will feel lighter.

Written by Del-Amina for Live Laugh Love Nashville 06/2017

Making Mental Health a Priority

Making Mental Health a Priority

When it comes to our wellness, it’s easy for us to focus on the apparent. You know? The things that are easily seen by the naked eye and require little in the way of investment to manage. We try to be careful of the things we eat and we make sure to get our bodies even just a little more active to maintain our physical wellness. We are socially encouraged to get regular physical check-ups and most schools require records of said exams and records of immunizations to further our education. We talk about washing hands to prevent communicable disease; we encourage rest when we catch the common cold. It almost seems we have concluded, as a society, that wellness isn’t just about treating major illness but preventing it, and addressing minor infections before they become big.

This awareness, however, stops a few paces short of being holistic because the same approach isn’t being used for mental wellness. We’re getting to a place of awareness in our society as it pertains to mental health, and that is a good thing! Unfortunately, we are still approaching it from the vantage point of mental illnesses rather than on a continuum of wellness. As it stands, many healthcare plans that cover regular physical examinations exclude counseling. At work, we can call in sick for fevers or vomiting, but if we aren’t having a healthy mind day, we are often reduced to feigning physical illness to be excused. The same schools that require batteries of physical exams and preventative shots for admission have students on roster that have never even had a psychological evaluation, let alone 30 minutes of counseling.

Let’s be very clear. Just like every human being hiccups, coughs, encounters bouts of the common cold, food poisoning and the like, EVERY SINGLE human being experiences mental un-wellness. Every single human being and subsequently our society would benefit greatly from a yearly mental wellness exam. How many people found, in a simple routine examination, the early stages of cancer and could tackle it head on because it was caught early? Would not the same happen with fatal mental illnesses if we caught the early stages in routine exams? What would it look like if we could rest through a heavy anxiety day in the same way we rest through a feverish one? What would it look like do things DAILY to maintain our mental wellness in the way we wash hands to maintain our physical wellness?

Our beings are whole entities. We are body and mind. We must tend to both our physical and mental selves to attain to our highest level of wellness. Sometimes that means looking past the readily apparent and taking time to sit with the tougher sides. At the end of it all, our lives depend on it. Let’s be well!

Written on 05/15/17 for Live Laugh Love Nashville's Wellness Wednesday Blog by Del-Amina

Waterlogged! Stay Hydrated Without Drinking Water

Waterlogged! Stay Hydrated Without Drinking Water

We’ve heard it all before: The human body is made up of blah blah blah percent water; H₂0 is so very important and we need 8-10 glasses per day to stay healthy and hydrated!

Anyone ever attempting this feat of strength knows how frustrating it can be to take in that amount of water. Add to the fact that many people don’t even like water; tally up the bathroom trips, the reminder alarms (oh yes, friends… there’s an app for that), and the 4-lb. weight of the vessel large enough to contain the amount of water needed for the day and it can start to feel like a second job just drinking enough water to reach the quota.

Well…

We have been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray!

While science maintains human need of water for hydration, the amount differs for everyone, varying according to age, sex, health status, body size, physical activity and more. Additionally, we get a nice portion of that water from the FOODS WE EAT! I’ve come to understand, through cursory research, the real purpose of drinking water as supplementary to the water we get from our food. Essentially, if you’re not getting enough hydration from the food you’re eating, your body will signal you to drink water via thirst. If you’re not thirsty, chances are, you already have enough water in your system. But for those that don’t, here are a few ways to stay hydrated that won’t have you running back and forth to the bathroom.

Fruits & Vegetables

This one should come as no surprise. There are quite a few fruits and veggies that are almost completely comprised of water. Upwards of 95% water is found in cucumbers, celery, iceberg lettuce, and watermelon and the benefits to eating fruits and vegetables instead of drinking insane amounts of water are the extra nutrients you get from them. The bonus of specific nutrients in some fruits and vegetables make it so consuming them offers more hydration than just a glass of water would.

Lean Meats

Yep! Meat contributes to your water intake. Leaner meats have a higher percentage of water. Do they taste as good as the full fat meats? Well… maybe not, but that’s nothing a little curry can’t fix.

Yogurt

Yogurt is 88% water and it contains electrolytes and potassium, vital nutrients for hydration.

Other Beverages

For those who do not like water, good news! Any beverage can satisfy your body’s need for hydration! So, drink what you like! Be aware, however, that many beverages are high in sugar and although you may be hydrating, you’re also adding way more sugar than is healthy to your diet. So be careful with that.

As the weather in Nashville starts to heat up, staying hydrated is becoming more important. How refreshing is it that you no longer have to lug around a gallon of water to keep your cool!?

Written 5-2-2017 by Del-Amina for Live Laugh Love Nashville - Wellness Wednesday Feature.

Del-Amina Lyricist | Vocalist | Orchestrator

Del-Amina

Lyricist | Vocalist | Orchestrator

“I believe our pursuit of self-love is the ultimate purpose of life and every human interaction we share is a vehicle to that goal.”

Del-Amina the Performer: Del-Amina is an emerging R&B/Jazz singer and songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her song writing and musical style is reflective of her early immersion in R&B music culture, her intrigue with the expansive harmonic and rhythmic language of Jazz music, and her formal Classical education. Her rich, sultry voice expresses a raw vulnerability as she sings her songs. Del-Amina writes and sings of the human experience with inter and intra-personal relationships; most often of the ebb and flow of romantic love, the valleys and victories on her journey to self-love and self-awareness, and her observations of society through the eyes of a Black Woman. Del-Amina cites Stevie Wonder as her primary musical influence and she boldly articulates a woman-ness that rejects societal norm.

Whether smooth, jazzy ballad or mid-tempo, R&B/soul groove, her music reverberates one simple message: Love. It is through her music, she believes, she will achieve her higher purpose of self-love and she hopes to bring many others along for the ride.

Del-Amina’s debut project, This Moment the EP, captures these themes and highlights her ability to craft music that demands reflection and introspection. The opening track of This Moment titled Winter Boo highlights that craft.

“I ain’t gonna ‘pologize for being forward! I know just what kind of guy I like…”

Del-Amina’s soulful voice exclaims as the fun, mid-tempo song begins. Though she actively rebels against the idea that women must fit certain ideals of femininity, the vulnerability she embraces in the soulful, jazz ballad, Blue Wednesday is what’s most often revealed in her organically unfiltered stage performance. To hear all the songs from This Moment the EP visit SoundCloud and/or BandCamp.

After only a year, Del-Amina has had such opportunities as playing the Lightning 100 stage at Musician’s Corner, appearing twice on 103.7 FM, and having Winter Boo debuted on MDORadio.com.

Since Del-Amina hadn’t been actively pursuing a career in music when the opportunities began knocking. She believes it was The Universe’s way of saying, “Here is your path. Walk.” She is enthusiastically working to establish herself firmly as a songwriter and vocalist and to make the most of the platform given her to share music and love with the world. She’s taking on gigs as a session singer, she’s currently writing for her next project, and considering touring opportunities.

Speaking of touring, below are the dates and venues you can catch Del-Amina live. Head on out to see her, you will not be disappointed. Check out her Website and follow Del-Amina on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with her live performances. You want to make sure not to miss a show coming to a venue near you.

• Monday May 1, 2017 – Nashville Tennessee - Alley Taps
• Saturday June 17, 2017 - Nashville Tennessee - Mercy Lounge.

At the Mercy Lounge show Del-Amina is a part of a "Whitney vs Mariah" showcase hosted by Joseph Copeland of JoCo Shows.

Del-Amina the Person: Del-Amina, born Akila Dell-Amina Mwongozi and hails from Oakland, California. I asked her, through text and email, to tell me a little about herself, the person. She started off the conversation off with something that hinders a lot of people from achieving their goals. Del-Amina has proven, what people conceive as a weakness can be your strength.

"Del-Amina the person, ay? Well... I'm severely introverted and empathic. It takes A LOT of energy to be around people. Because of that, and the fact that I work in customer service to support my creative habits, I spend an enormous amount of time at home in my downtime."

She loves to cook, and adds she likes to eat… good food. When I asked Del-Amina what she considered good food her reply was priceless.

“Aw man. That's a tough one. I don't necessarily have a favorite cuisine. I just like really flavorful food! I don't eat out a lot because I always feel like I have to spend too much money to eat food that's not as good as my home cooking! Ha-ha! But if I do, I like a good steak or brisket, Middle Eastern and Indian food, Thai Food, and Bonefish Grill!

Del-Amina in her downtime also likes to paint and draw. Me being an author I thought her next statement was profound.

“I like to read a lot. I like words. I'm really interested in the etymology of words and why we use the colloquial phrases we do. I am interested in connecting the dots of the universe. So I read a lot about everything. Science, religion, art, humanity, nature, history, etc.”

Del-Amina went on to tell me that she watches movies a lot. She likes almost every genre of movie (except horror), but her favorites are Fantasy and Romance.

What Del-Amina likes the most about Nashville is its attempt to cultivate a community of strong support for art and entrepreneurship. Del-Amina doesn't really go a lot of places, although she is trying to get out more. When she does venture out the one place she heads to is High Garden Tea! Del-Amina loves the place and its hands down her favorite place to be, outside of her home, in Nashville. She states the people who work there always seem so happy, and it's peaceful. Plus they have some amazing tea! Del-Amina likes to watch the sunset over downtown, especially around the full moons. She also has grown very fond of Natchez Hills Winery at The Fontanel. It's a venue she has played regularly and when the weather is nice, it's a real treat on a Sunday afternoon.

Del-Amina on Social Media:

• Website
• Follow Del-Amina on Twitter
• Like Del-Amina on Facebook
• Follow Del-Amina on Instagram

Written by Joseph Clay