Today we’d like to introduce you to Brujas of Brooklyn (Griselda & Miguelina).
Brujas of Brooklyn was birthed out of our respective Saturn’s Return. As twins, we have experienced major milestones in eerily similar ways. Our Saturn’s Return, which happens around the time a person is 28-30 years old, dragged us. The discomfort and losses we experienced led us to incorporating healing modalities into our lives in serious ways. We realized that communities of color needed major healing, yet lacked access to things like yoga and breathwork. We thus decided to take our collective knowledge as professors and yoga instructors and birthed Brujas of Brooklyn, officially, in 2016. Our platform is a combination of ancestral wisdom (passed down via our bloodline as Afro Dominican women) and our breadth of knowledge as professors on the effects of institutionalized forms of oppression (racism, sexism, homophobia) on communities on color. Our work is specifically focused on what we call “work womb work”. We provide healing spaces for women of color, Black women in particular, to feel held and safe enough to release pent up trauma that is lodged in our wombs. Our prayer is that the healing that takes place heals seven generations before us and seven generations after.
Has it been a smooth road?
As anything worth having in life, this has not been a smooth road. What we have found is that a lot of the struggles we endured have been internal. The colonial violence our ancestors endured, and the structural forms of oppression we continue to experience as Black Latina women of an immigrant mother, has led to an internalization of oppression. This internalization leads to complexes that make us feel less than the magnificent beings we truly are. Imposter syndrome has been a major obstacle for us. Feeling like we are not enough, or that we don’t belong in healing spaces, has often gotten in the way of our progress. But our personal healing journeys have helped us craft a stronger platform as Brujas of Brooklyn. An external obstacle we have experienced is slight push-back on our reclamation of the Bruja, or witch identity. Most people embrace it. Some are still caught up in internalizing colonial and racist narratives that depict witches as evil and anti-God. Our own mother has shown some resistance in our embracing this identity. But she is slowly coming around as she sees how receptive people are to our magic (which, by the way, we learned mostly from her).
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Brujas of Brooklyn story. Tell us more about the business.
Our company is our baby. Brujas of Brooklyn was a vision we collectively manifested almost ten years ago. We started holding intimate retreats with close sister-friends of ours back in 2012. These retreats were received so well that we decided to slowly expand our reach and offer smaller workshops to those interested. Our official launch was in 2016 when our Instagram page was created. Our workshops are mostly based on the technologies of Kundalini Yoga. This is considered “the yoga of awareness” as it helps to rid the emotional body of traumatic imprints that get in the way of wellness. This clearing leads to more clarity and awareness of our power as spiritual beings have human experiences. Kundalini yoga thus works a lot on healing the aura.
So the work itself (poses, breath work, chanting) is no joke. But those who have experienced our workshops often attest to the fact that the practice itself is very transformative. As professors, who each hold PhDs in the Social Sciences, we also hold lectures and dialogues around anti-Blackness across Latinx communities. The academic aspect of our craft is woven into our workshops as we create experiences for women of color to heal from internalized trauma that we hold in our wombs. We also sell an aura cleanser we call “WITCH DONT KILL MY VYBE”. This bad-vybe repellent sells like hotcakes. The formula has been collectively crafted by us for over five years. We call it a ritual in a bottle. Overall, we try our best to be ourselves as we provide containers of healing for those in our presence. We consider ourselves lightworkers that shine like lighthouses in the midst of chaos.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We def see major shifts in the wellness world, as we speak. Wellness, as a commodity, has been very white. Most yoga studios in cities like LA, NYC and Chicago are mostly operated and patronized by white people. As women of color, we have found this dynamic to be a bit jarring. It is important to note that we are not alone in this sentiment. As a result, we have seen an influx of Black and Brown healing collectives springing up in the past few years. Heal Haus, a wellness studio in Brooklyn, NY is a key example. Created and birthed by two Black folks, Heal Haus is a second home for the Brujas. Ethel’s Club, also in Brooklyn, is another space that is run, operated and services BIPOC. So unless those in the wellness industry plan to be left behind, it’s important that these spaces diversify. And not just with regards to race…but also gender, sexuality, class, etc.
Pricing:
- Workshops range from $25-75
- One-on-one sessions start at $111
- Witch Don’t Kill MY Vybe (bad vybe repellent) $22
Contact Info:
- Website: Brujasofbrooklyn.com
- Email: brujasofbrooklyn@yahoo.com
- Instagram: Brujasofbrooklyn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brujas-of-Brooklyn-1720481378235538/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/brujasofbk
- Other: https://medium.com/@brujasofbrooklyn/brujas-of-brooklyn-c2fb553ca47f
Image Credit:
Idris Talib Solomon, Cesarin Mateo (Pics of us in all Black in Nature), Elliot Ashby (Bad and Bruja pic), Kristin Kremers (us in all-white)
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