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Today we’d like to introduce you to Asha Edouard.
Hi Asha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I received my Social Work training at Howard University in 2015. After working in multiple sectors of the profession; from hospital and ICU settings, schools, rapid rehousing and homelessness, therapy, etc, I felt unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Although highly successful in my field, I was struggling to find a sense of meaning and identity. So much of my world involved helping others, and I often neglected myself and my own needs. Shortly after, I completed a Yoga Teacher Training in DC and fell in love with the integration of mind, body, soul and spirit. Unlike my clinical training, the yoga philosophy highlighted spiritual wellness of all parts of self, and I appreciated that. I used my therapeutic experience in addition with my newfound yoga love to offer my community, trauma-informed yoga interventions for anxiety, spiritual wellness and self-care. This practice deepened my desire to know more about life beyond the physical and mental body and to study the energy body (Reiki). I became a Reiki Master and found so much pleasure in integrating Energy Therapy with mental health coaching and trauma-informed care. I now support my community as a Spiritual Social Worker for WOC offering interventions for women health/womb wellness, energy balancing and spiritual wellness.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not. My greatest obstacle was overcoming the doubt and fear with merging my clinical training with eastern and spiritual concepts. When I first decided that I would leave my therapist job and open up a trauma-informed restorative health private practice for WOC, I was met with so much internal resistance and shame. In my training of being a therapist, there was not an emphasis on spiritual care or even a discussion regarding spirituality in the therapy room. This was my greatest hurdle. After overcoming that, I realized that my community was in need of ethical practitioners who could speak both the therapy language and the energetic/spiritual language. Following this, my other challenge was finances. I recall spending my entire savings to establish a business, rent office space, invest in coaching and training and booking and admin systems for my business. Banks were unable to offer me loans due to my short time in business so I relied on friends, family and my community for financial support in my business.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am in love with the fact that I get to hold sacred space for WOC to unravel, discover who they truly are, rest and put themselves back together daily. As a Spiritual Social Worker, I offer trauma-informed restorative health interventions for nervous system rebalancing, chakra health and wellness and spiritual wellness. Out of this passion, birthed a wonderful idea that I had to merge spiritual and chakra wellness with immersive cultural experiences. This gave birth to spiritual wellness retreats which have been a major hit in my business. In addition to this, I am known as a Womb Activator, assisting women of color to explore confidence, self-love, self-worth and personal power through womb coaching and healing. I support women as a birth worker and womb keeper providing support post-termination, baby loss, birth, miscarriage, etc. I love this part of my work because it allows me to connect with my clients from the heart. What sets me apart from others is my clinical and therapeutic experience and training as a Social Worker. All of the offerings in my business are rooted in trauma-informed and culturally sensitive care. Additionally, I come from a family of spiritual practitioners also, so that is a plus. I now train Trauma Informed Reiki Practitioners to serve their community as spiritual leaders and healers. I also own a Womb Spa in Marietta, GA.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
As a child growing up in NYC, I remember running down the blocks after the ice cream truck. I used to love to get an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. In my home, ice cream was a reward for good behavior or performance at school and I appreciated that. I still love ice cream now, lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: ingraceyogatherapy.com
- Instagram: @INGRACEYOGA
- Facebook: @INGRACEYOGA
- Twitter: @ASHAEDOUARD
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6MPx9Br657TAystbRZXGeA
