I was around 12 years old when it started to become clear for me.
I was being raised Catholic in Santo Domingo, D.R. Every Sunday we went to church. And on that day, I asked:
“Ok, so how many people are there in the world?”
“And how many of those billions of people believe what we believe?”
“And what do they believe instead?”
“Aren’t they just as certain that what they believe is the right thing as we are of ours?”
I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but suddenly this whole thing felt very arrogant, convenient and sketchy to me.
I believe that was the day that organized religion - which had never fully sat well with me - began to crumble. This was not a simple or quick process. I had come to equate being “good” with following a religious doctrine. What would this mean for me now?
In that moment came a permission for something I had been feeling my whole life: A real exploration of my own spirituality outside of the confines of organized religion.
I felt “church” much more powerfully when I sat in intimate circles with the highly intuitive women in my family. I felt “church” when I watched Walter Mercado with my grandmother. I felt “church” when I played in her yard for hours amongst the guava trees, the sheets hanging dry, and the random chickens.
I also felt my “church” in every pop-culture depiction of witches and mysticism.
And there was a huge distinction:
I began to know that no one would need to play mediator, or dictate to me what Spirit is.
I would come to know it myself, my way.
My early adulthood was more defined by what I was releasing rather than what I adopted. I needed to clearly know and declare that I was “not-Catholic”, as my own misalignment and disappointment with it as an institution became clear.
It wasn’t until I was 27, that the Spiritual void began to fill. It was 2007 and I was living in NYC.
I picked up Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now.” and Elizabeth Lesser’s “The Seeker’s Guide.” I signed up for a yoga retreat in the East Village. I sat in meditation circles. I couldn’t get enough when Oprah discussed her own spiritual journey.
This was also the year I started therapy - and it felt intrinsically linked to my process.
So much of this healing and spiritual work feels ubiquitous now, and yet sixteen years ago I remember the faint judgement I felt for starting to dive into these spaces. I kept it largely to myself.
I was looking for my way, my answer, the thing that would fill and align with my spirit.
Instead, something truly magical happened along the way.
I came to stop looking for a destination and a clear, neat final answer in my spiritual search.
I learned to find profound joy and curiosity in the exploration and journey
I learned to trust when something had deep resonance in my soul even if I couldn’t explain it
I gave myself permission to honor, adopt, and engage with different spiritual philosophies
All these years later, my spiritual journey has been propelled and deepened by my life journey. I’ve considered it essential to have a spiritual practice that continues to evolve as I became a mother, got a divorce, started a business, chose a new life partner.
I’ve gotten multiple energy work certifications, participated in profound experiences of deepening my relationship to Spirit, and felt called to weave it all into my work.
The maturity of my journey has led me to fully embrace my magic and power, my profound connection to Spirit and divinity, and find the courage to call myself what I know I am: a bruja.
My own spirituality - and adopted spiritual practices - have given me:
a renewed love and trust in life, the world, and people.
an expanded capacity and context for the full range of our human experience - the lighthearted and the painful
a framework rooted in love that grounds me, and brings me closer to connection with my people, purpose, and the kind of life I always dreamed of.
a powerful knowing of my own divinity and connection to the divine all around me that is always present with me.
Basically, I know every moment is magic. And it’s a beautiful way to live.
Perhaps you’re at a moment when you’re seeking something different within yourself. Maybe you know that there’s more at a spiritual level and you want to go deeper. Maybe you’re curious, but you don’t know where to start and whether you should go for it.
A Simple Guide
Below is a simple guide rooted in the truths I’ve learned. Remember that this is one of the most personal journeys of your life. This is about resonance and alignment with the truest parts of you.
Start with your own roots:
I’ve come to understand the spiritual journey as deeply ancestral and connected to culture and heritage. I believe it lives in us and is passed on from generation to generation. This is a beautiful place to start. Interview family members. Meditate and connect with ancestors. Look through old journals and photo albums. Get curious and sit with the questions.
Give yourself permission to explore:
I have an Orisha Tarot deck, practice Feng Shui, Unitarian Reiki, and when it gets real, it’s time for the JAPA meditation, and my drum. Every one of these practices I treat with honor, respect and reverence for their origin. I believe that there is one Source, and we get follow our natural curiosity, and adopt spiritual practices - and do so with honor for the people and cultures they come from. Shoutout to Marlene Menendez who held me in a year-long Mystic Path container last year.
The answers are all within you:
This is one that you will just know: This is a journey in trusting your own alignment and resonance. You are the Source. You are the divine. You know your truth in a way no one else can. If something feels right in your bones, it is. Go deeper. If you get an intuitive feeling of a full YES from from someone who can be your teacher, or words you’ve heard a thousand times finally land, trust it. Let your intuition lead. Keep coming back to how it feels in the truest parts of you.
Notice the real spiritual work:
You may learn new practices, meditate, make beautiful altars, attend gorgeous retreats - and the real spiritual work happens when you’re stuck in traffic, dealing with stressful people, or managing 12 things at the same time. You can honor your true human experience - and - How are you treating yourself day to day? How are you making amends? How are you treating others? How is your sense of humor? How are you making space for pain, sadness, anger to be experienced and vulnerably expressed?
Be mindful of your sources & support:
Ask for recommendations from people you trust, and follow your intuition. Today, we are so lucky to have a million sources! From books, to online communities, to retreats, to workshops, to moon circles. Going through this journey with others who speak your language, get it, and support you through it is one of the best parts.
Here are just some of the people who have powerfully held me over the years:
Marlene Menendez, Marianna Lopez, Alison Yanni, Jaime Nolan, Debbie Rodriguez, Nikki Novo.
Wherever your spiritual path leads, may you trust it, may you find the courage to listen, may you follow your curiosity, may you be guided, may it be open, joyful, enriching and uniquely yours!
⚡️ Let’s work together
If you’re ready for the kind of Becoming Journey that has you also connecting to your own spirituality, claiming it fully, and you would like to be guided and held through it - this is what a coaching container together can bring.