It would have been impossible to see your reflection through the smoke. At best, you could catch a faint glimpse of your silhouette in the mirror that spanned from the bay window protruding out towards the street where 6 o’clock traffic had huddled into Mid-city L.A., and as far back as the quaint kitchen where Triiinity Tafari attentively brewed a loose-leaf herbal tea. Amiiiri Tafari sat on a bar stool across the counter fanning what smelled like a palo santo wood, resin and sage mix that permeated the entire yoga studio in preparation for Sacred Soul Yoga — a practice encouraging women to embrace their womb-an-ness while “creating a shared space for goddesses.”
Blavity Creative Society sat down with the Tafaris to chat about their spiritual approach to yoga, femininity—by their definition—and upcoming projects.
Blavity: What is Sacred Soul Yoga?
Triiinity and Amiiiri Tafari: Sacred Soul Yoga is a class dedicated to giving Goddesses a sacred space to grow their divine energy. Together we indulge in sacral dancing, practice beginners yoga and connect in meditation as we ascend in soul-aligning bliss. Sacred Soul Yoga is a safe space where women can shake off all stresses from the day and become unguarded for a moment, feeling liberated in her own movement and mind, body, soul connection.
We have tea time, serving our own Free Spirit loose-leaf herbal blend and have Q&A, or “Goddess talk,” so each class is an intimate experience. We strive for Sacred Soul Yoga to be the Goddess connection, where like-minded Goddesses can link up, learn from and support one another as we grow together in a safe and sacred space. It is our hope that each Goddess will leave feeling not only physical progression, but a sense of peace that she can access at any time.
B: Waist beads, herbal teas, essential oils: Why are these essential to your practice?
TT + AT: We are firm believers in holistic health. Since we started maintaining our temples with a holistic consciousness we have seen so many benefits. Nature has provided everything we need to survive and thrive, though in a society so dependent on pharmaceuticals, its magical gems often go unnoticed. Crystals are an element of this natural magic, holding all manner of healing properties. These special stones balance your energies and raise your vibrations which result in a host of spiritual, mental and physical benefits. We like to keep crystals on us and around us as much as possible. And we find our wombs especially important. That’s where waist beads come in.
Creating and consuming herbal blends is a great way to enjoy the benefits of nature’s medicine. Essential oils, much like herbs, also host a number of physical, mental and spiritual benefits. We have a blend of essential oils here at home that makes our menstrual cycles better. We actually give away a pair of Soulbeads, Sacred Soul Herbal Blend, or our Aura Oil essential oil mix to at least one Goddess every Sacred Soul Yoga class. We share these things because these are the things that help us in our own daily journeys and the things we hope will help others.
B: Where did the Tafari name originate?
AT: As we were going through our spiritual evolution, we realized that in many ways we were no longer the same people. Much like a butterfly is no longer called caterpillar after metamorphosis, we knew we needed new names to represent the transition. With fervent research, Triiin chose the name Tafari. Tafari is a word of African origin, meaning to be in awe of, or she that inspires awe. In embracing our Goddess selves, the name felt fitting.
B: What’s your definition of femininity?
TT + AT: Femininity is the full embrace of feminine energy. Creativity, expression, sensuality, intuition. Breasts that serve sexy as well as providing sustenance. Hips that roll and manifest life. It is the balance of all things intrinsic to women. Femininity is the wombman’s balance of purpose and pleasure.
B: How did you come up with the concept for Free Spiiirit? What does the brand represent?
TT + AT: As we began to evolve spiritually, we wanted to use our business venture as a platform to spread the light, knowledge, and peace we ourselves had begun to experience. In our quest for freedom, we wanted to explore all of our passions and talents. So, in December 2012 we began to discuss how we could best do that in a marketable artistic format. And thus Free Spiiirit was born.
Free Spirit is a lifestyle brand embodying freedom of mind, body and spiiirit ascending to unending planes. It is the creative umbrella for all of our expression. We represent love and respect for the planet and every living thing on it. We take an active progressive stance on societal issues in aims to create in our world a healthy, happy paradigm flourishing in unity. We promote living free and anyone’s ability to do and be anything they desire.
B: What can we expect from Amiiiri and Triiinity in the future?
AT: There is so much we are doing and want to do! In the future you can expect many more projects that embrace our mantra of making freedom of mind, body and spiiirit, accessible to all. We plan on having more events coming up soon—including a retreat this year—as well as many new products. Free Spiiirit photography is really taking off, so expect to see more of our original concepts in art form. Triiinity will be getting behind the camera a bit more this year. I am working on a musical project that I absolutely can’t wait to share. We also plan to travel more this year in efforts to touch more souls and expand our reach. 2016 is gonna be a good year for the Free Spiiirit Tribe. It already is!
