Today we’d like to introduce you to Athea Davis.
Athea, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I feel like my whole life has led me to where I am today, including all the sunshine, storms, and rainbows I’ve discovered along the way. I’m not quite sure I can point to one defining moment that gave me all the answers. However, there were two seminole events that propelled me forward with intense and fiery passion – my divorce seven years ago and the death of my ex-husband (my son’s father) almost three years ago. My divorce was a tumultuous experience. It was filled with intense emotion and trauma – both current and that excavated from the past – and, it was filled with intense love. I desired so much for my eleven-year marriage to work, but I realized that I had somehow grown stone in my heart. Though my husband suffered from depression and alcoholism, I don’t want to say that it was his entire fault. We were a volatile mixture together. And, yet, those two factors – the depression and alcoholism – were a force I couldn’t change. I either had to choose life or death. With deep presence for the love we shared and gratitude for our marriage journey and our amazing son (now 12), I chose life. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. I was scared and yet I never felt so alive. I committed from that moment forward to becoming a life-long truth seeker. I began practicing yoga, mindfulness, and meditation. Those practices saved my life and magnified my life. After my divorce, my creativity bloomed in ways I’ve never experienced. I started teaching yoga at gyms and local yoga studios, organized seminars and workshops, spoke and presented at various events and soon realized that I had a natural ability to connect with people in the world of health and wellness. I sought every teaching and speaking opportunity I could and was guided to teach health and wellness tools to youth, including becoming a youth mentor for youth in prison. I’ve taught many youth in prison the same mindfulness tools and techniques I teach to youth in school. After teaching for many years as a second job (my “real” job at the time was working as a Senior Certified Paralegal in the corporate legal world), I got the opportunity to teach youth in a public elementary school as part of a research project. A non-profit group from California, The Sonima Foundation (nka Pure Edge, Inc.) had an agreement from the school district (HISD) for three years to study the effects of mindfulness on students in the public education system. Around the same time, I started my own business, a single-member LLC (a business created to sell health and wellness products and serve a variety of clients seeking to add these transformational tools in their life). I pretty much hit the ground running. The research project is complete and I’m now in the close of my 4th year implementing a health and wellness curriculum at one of the toughest schools in the district. The impact of these practices on the students and the school has been phenomenal. I will soon be implementing these practices on a large scale.
In the midst of all this amazing work and transformation, my ex-husband killed himself almost three years ago. The sudden impact of this violent death literally numbed my body. I was in a complete state of shock and teetered with my own depression from the tragic event. On a run one day I was guided to write my first book, Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce: Daily Meditations for Youth, Parents, and Families (available on Amazon and my website). In that book I took a stand for the power that love holds in our life. Soon after I finished my manuscript, I created my first educational resource product, Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce: Affirmation and Art Card Deck for Youth, Parents, and Educators (available on my website). I want to make it clear that I don’t do this work alone. Every one of the people in my life from my ex-husband, my son, my students, my mentees in prison, family, and friends have infused my heart to take on this work. When I teach, speak, and write, I do so for all of us. Their voices speak through me, inspire me, and remind me that life isn’t about winning for ourselves, it’s about creating a better world for ALL of our human brothers and sisters. There is a power greater than me that constantly guides me and shows me each direction to take. I have so much gratitude for having the clarity in my heart to answer the call to serve.
I have designed my life that my work, my play, and my service are one in the same. It’s pretty awesomesauce!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I hit a lot of walls that test my fortitude and confidence to keep going. It’s hard, but it’s also very beautiful. People don’t always believe in what I do and it’s so easy to just give up and move on, but I’m very driven and determined because without these tools the world isn’t quite as bright. Those in my life remind me that we all have a lot of work to do. When I push through the hard stuff, that spot where I want to give up, I meet a magical rainbow on the other side of it all. That inspires and empowers me to keep going.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sol Sense Yoga – what should we know?
I’m a single-member LLC. I work with a variety of clients, mainly youth and families, that desire to transform their lives using health and wellness tools to spark the transformation. I offer trainings and seminars to schools, summer camps, and businesses on topics such as health and wellness, classroom management, conscious parenting, and a variety of social and emotional learning topics. I also sell a mindfully-infused educational resource product and my book, Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce, which were both released in September 2017 (see answer to question 1). I’m currently working on my second book (a children’s book), The Vegan Chicken and I’m in the process of developing my second mindfully-infused educational resource product for youth with disabilities (or youth with special opportunities as I’ve learned to love to say).
Finally, for anyone looking for insights, inspiration, and practical tips on a variety of health and wellness topics for the entire family, including yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and whole foods, plant-based nutrition, check out my three blogs:
Today’s Gonna Be Awesomesauce (a variety of health and wellness topics);
A Day In The Life of a Yogi Mom (all things giggly and sparkly for the post-modern spiritual mom); and
Open-Faced Bliss (whole foods, plant-based nutrition and recipes)
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Faith, Grit, Practice, and Passion.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.solsenseyoga.com
- Phone: 832.257.3598
- Email: athea@solsenseyoga.com
- Instagram: @solsenseyoga
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/solsenseyoga/
- Twitter: @solsenseyoga
Image Credit:
BYC -Anthony Rodriguez (headshot)
AR Expressions
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