On day one of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, at 8:45 a.m., as I walked into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans and watched the lines of people form, I could hear the commotion beginning. People were ready. But as I entered inside and walked to the Wellness House activation and inside a curtained space with elevated stages, poufy orange cushions to sit on, sound bowls placed around, and sage being spread, it was a completely different scene and vibe. The practitioners, beautiful Black women from New Orleans who were preparing to teach guided meditation and utilize sound therapy, were dressed in ethereal white ensembles, greeting people with warmth and in a calm voice. They were ready, too. They were there and would be there every morning throughout ESSENCE Fest weekend to help guests heal.
“Meditation is not necessarily doing anything,” says Dirieal Perkins of Stretch Galore Yoga about the practice, which she’s done for about five years. As we talk, her two-and-a-half-month-old son Yiannis, also in white, sleeps on her chest in a carrier. “It is more so becoming, not necessarily one with your thoughts, but really just entertaining those thoughts and not so much dwelling on it, but just allowing it to flow and just let it pass. It is not, we have to sit down and only think about good things. That’s literally not what it is. It’s kind of impossible in a sense. Your mind works; it’s all over the place. It’s allowed to be that, but just also allow yourself to come back to center at some point. Like I said, entertain it. Then let it pass. Let it fly. But don’t dwell on or hold on to those thoughts.”
One way to entertain and release those thoughts is through breathwork, which Aries D, one of the practitioners who works at NOLA’s Divine Essential Magic, says is essential.
“We take breath for granted. That’s something that we’re born with. That’s the last thing we do when we leave this earth. But at the same token, it’s the main way that you can allow yourself to release not only oxygen, but different endorphins to help yourself relax,” she shares. “As challenging as it sounds, we have the ability to tell our minds ‘next.’ So if it’s a thought that you don’t want to have, say ‘next,’ push it to the next spot. You have so many things that you encounter on a daily basis, let alone that you endure throughout your whole life. So even though it’s some unwanted memories or thoughts that pop up, you have a plethora of other ones that you could bring forth to manifest different beautiful realities for yourself.”
Practicing meditation and learning the ability to acknowledge and then move on from thoughts that fill our minds has changed the life of lead instructor Shan-coa Burke. She has been doing it since 2016 and guided ESSENCE Fest guests through a stirring experience.
“I needed to heal. I needed to do some real healing,” the Stretch Galore leader recalls. “I was ready to grow, and I saw how the power of manifestation changed my life, and I wanted to bring it to our people because it wasn’t big in our community. And I was just this Black girl from New Orleans and thought, I need to bring this to our people. Because our people really need some healing. And one thing I know about God, he aligned it, and he aligned me with every one of these women.”
Not only does the practice provide mental clarity, but it can also have physical benefits. This was clear from looking at the very youthful Burke, who one might confuse with a young college student but is actually a soon-to-be 30-year-old mother of three.
“Even by me looking so young, that’s because I’m not letting the stress take me. The meditation is the detachment,” Burke says. “I envision myself detaching from these situations and pushing the negativity out. Pushing it out, inhaling that light, and exhaling that darkness.”
The setting for the guided meditation service was quiet, and they even asked vendors across the way to turn down their music to maintain the sanctity of the space. However, the ladies made clear that such introspection doesn’t have to be done only in hushed rooms.
“The best way is to just do it no matter what you’re doing. Most people feel that they have to be in a certain area or a certain spot, and it has to be quiet. I read a book once where it talks about different meditations. So I’ve learned a whole lot. But you can literally sit down and eat and do food meditation, focus on the foods that you’re eating. You can meditate while you’re walking. You can meditate literally while you’re working out, in the tub, sitting at your desk, and working. You can literally meditate anywhere. So this whole ideology that it needs to be peace, quiet, certain surroundings only, it’s not true. So it’s about just implementing it in everyday life, no matter what you’re doing, just knowing you can do it anywhere,” Perkins says.
While the guided meditation started with just a few participants, by the time I opened my eyes at the end, the room was full. People were sitting wherever they could find a spot, whether there was an orange cushion to rest on or the hard floor. But they were centered and at peace, ready to take on the Festival experience in a good headspace. That impact is the purpose behind all of the women’s work.
“It’s how you start your day. You control your day because you can meditate and say, ‘I’m going to have this kind of day.’ I just believe in the power of manifestation and positive thoughts,” Burke says. “I learned this trick and I want to share it with you so you can see how it transforms your life. If you want balance, ask yourself every day, ‘Why is my life balancing out the way I need it to?’ Ask yourself that because the ‘why’ reveals itself. The why reveals answers.”
She adds, “Anytime you question why, your brain starts to work. It helps you cultivate the answer. It starts to find answers, and it starts to reveal things, too. So I want you to get there. I want everybody to be there. I want, especially our people, to be there because we really, really need this. We do this for our people.”
