Hidden Gems: Meet Lorena Salgado of Chikita Yogita

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorena Salgado.

Hi Lorena, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in South Central LA – into an immigrant family where my parent’s roots lay in a tiny village in Mexico. Growing up, I was raised with very strong traditional and cultural ideals; some that resonated with me and some that didn’t. As a Mexican-American, I struggled to balance the duality of being “Mexican” enough for my family and “American” enough for my adopted country. My combative nature allowed me to challenge what didn’t resonate with me in Mexican culture and incorporate what did in American culture. This didn’t mull over very well with my parents – they wanted to force this square peg into a round hole. My Dad always told me that I was very stubborn and even nicknamed me “Terca” (it means stubborn in Spanish). In hindsight, challenging authority from an early age has allowed me to pave my own path and embrace my individuality.

From the crisp age of 12, I already started working and earning money from a variety of hustles such as: the swap-meet. I started at such an early age, out of necessity, due to my family’s impoverished situation. Since then, I’ve worked so many different types of jobs that acted as stepping stones until I could pivot into something stable – the dental field.

In my previous life, I worked at USC – more specifically, in their dental department. I primarily worked with low-income families, at-risk youth and foster children. It was a very fulfilling and humbling experience and I’m forever grateful for that time in my life. During my stint there, they had wellness classes and workshops for the staff. I would attend to help balance out the mental and physical demands of my day-to-day. My favorite class to attend during my lunch break was yoga. I fell in love with the practice from that moment on and when Covid shut down the world, I saw a window of opportunity to pursue my certification to become a Yoga Teacher. After two long years, I was able to finish my program (via online instruction) but was unsatisfied with not being able to connect with a physical cohort. Serendipitously, I stumbled upon a yoga school that was offering a 300-hour yoga program for those who have already completed the introductory 200-hour program and decided to sign up. It was an accelerated intermediate yoga teaching program where I’d be isolated from the rest of the world; tucked away in a small but charming farm in the Big Island of Hawaii. It was there, where I met beautiful souls that inspired me to become the best version of myself. I learned about so many alternative forms of wellness and it inspired me to look into sound healing. When I arrived back home, I looked more into how to become a sound practitioner and took the next steps to incorporate that into my yoga practice. Shoutout to “Breath Body Earth Yoga School”, to say it was a life changing experience is an understatement.

Being from “the hood”, if you’re not part of something then you’re automatically an outcast which translates to being an immediate target. I’m no stranger to being bullied, getting jumped and constantly being harassed. In response, I wanted to create a community; a place where women can go to feel safe and be part of something bigger – no matter their background.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, the road was not smooth at all. My initial 200-hour yoga program was only supposed to take six months to finish but that was complicated with the onset of Covid (among other things). I was dealing with a number of life changes I had never faced before: I was diagnosed with adult ADHD and Generalized anxiety disorder, my dog (Niko) of fifteen years passed away, I’d never been without a job, never been isolated from my family, I quit alcohol, I had just gotten married and for the first time in my life I moved out of my familial home. I had to sit with and face all of the undealt trauma that’s occurred in my life. I fell into depression because I had lost my identity as a strong independent woman who always held her own. I was very much in my masculine energy for most of my life but it was stripped from me all at once. I honestly questioned if I was ever going to finish my online yoga program; thankfully, I was able to white knuckle through it. Finishing the program after two long years felt like a sigh of relief but it was only the beginning. It was the catalyst that kicked off my journey into self-care and self-love. The harder I worked to find my new purpose, the more I was able to heal.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I offer yoga classes and sound healing journeys in both private and group settings, all aimed at empowering you to embrace self-love and become your own healer. I specialize in working with at-risk youth. I currently partner with an organization called “Yoga For Youth” which serves the underprivileged schools in South Central LA. This work is especially close to my heart given I was raised in that community. I think I am most known for my sound healing journeys and meditations. I have received a lot of encouraging feedback. What I am most proud of about my brand is how it encourages my underrepresented community to explore their own yoga journey. My goal is to inspire more women who look like me to have the courage to discover the transformative world of yoga.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
As unfortunate as Covid was for the world, there was a silver lining in it for me. It forced me out of my comfort zone to finally pursue something I was passionate about – beyond money. In that pursuit, it allowed me to discover who I truly am and fully come into my feminine energy. It’s true what they say, “when one door closes, another one opens”. I have immense gratitude that my close family and friends were able to come out of the pandemic, and have so much compassion for those who have suffered.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/chikita__yogita
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083233605210
• Other: [email protected]