teisha leshea

This year, I wrote an article for xoNecole titled “5 Holistic Ways I Take Care Of My Vaginal Health”.I spoke about my issues with fibroids and what steps I was currently taking to improve my vaginal health. In early February, I decided to remove my IUD (I was not too fond of that thing); since that day, I’ve been researching ingredients and more natural alternatives. My goal for 2020 is to ultimately use natural products and avoid perfumes and other toxic brands. With tons of trial and error, I curated a list of the products that I use. Most of what you see on this list are products from black-owned businesses.

The year was 1999, and I was in the 7th grade. Grade school was a time when boys and girls came into their own. It was primarily a time to be introduced to your preference in a guy. Sports have always surrounded my family; we played them, and we rooted for them. One Saturday afternoon, I walked around the house, and I saw a magazine on our rectangle coffee table. Who I saw on the cover of the magazine made my heart skip a beat. I noticed this cocky, cocoa brown skin, a light-eyed black man with an afro covering most of the cover. I picked it up, sat down on the couch slowly, looked at the table of contents, and went straight to the story. The first thing I did was shift through the photos before I read the article. I read that article six or seven times. I had to make sure I didn't drool because that magazine wasn't mine.

I have a love-hate relationship with the weekends. They take forever to show up and are too short to enjoy. I was having a good night's sleep the night before I will be up before the sun rises. 6 am on the dot I roll over and to look out the window, and I see the sun slowly rising. As I roll on my back to stare at the ceiling, my mind seems to race on what activities I want to accomplish on my first day of "freedom." I'm a planner. My Google calendar consists of every color of the rainbow to color coordinate my life. But today I'm putting my planning on the back burner, and I'm deciding to go with what my heart tells me. First things first, check the weather. I reach for my phone and tap on the weather app to see with the next five days will be. A relaxed and breezy 72 degrees in San Diego sounds perfect. Finally, I can pull out that blue dress that I planned on wearing months ago.

Although my astrological sign is an earth sign, I've always gravitated to the calmness of the water. During this quarantine, I've realized that I've been taking advantage of the California weather and beaches. There is nothing like watching the sunset after a long day of work, feeling the coolness come off the water, brushing across your face or your feet being submerged deep in the sand. It can be a place to bring clarity to your problems or a place to forget your questions I've noticed being near water gives me a chance to bring calm to my anxiety and meditate on the next phases of my life. I chose Tulum, Mexico, as my destination of choice. Tulum provides the perfect mixture of water, sand, and green landscape that provides the perfect escapism.

We are currently living in uncertain times. We've lost count on how many days it has been since this stay at home order. From gaining five pounds to everyone Ticking their Toc and watching every Netflix show that streaming service has to offer, we have now become frustrated and suffering from cabin fever. One thing that has gotten us through many days is the music. I have curated a playlist to get you through all of your quarantine needs.

"It is sad that we have fallen so deeply into the indoctrination against our own sacred natures as women that we regard one of the most magic aspects of our embodiment as unwanted, unclean, and shameful."Teal Swan