Tag: Overcoming communism

Q and A with Amanda from Upstate New York, USA

“You deserve to love yourself.”

Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I am passionate about helping people feel at peace with food and learn self-love! I understand that our relationships with food and our body image are often more complex than they seem. Self-love is the foundation of all positive change! I also love real estate investing and financing. 

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I was an adventurous kid, and as an adult, I enjoy extreme sports like skydiving and more relaxing options like paddleboarding. As a child and teenager, I used food to gain a sense of control and turned inward. I don’t want anyone to experience that pain.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Self-love is everything. You deserve to love yourself. Your authenticity makes being your best self possible!

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: Feminism is about opportunity. Women need the same level of opportunities awarded to men.

Let’s connect! You can email me to get on the waitlist for my self-love course about our relationships with food and how to truly love ourselves. The course begins in May 2022!

Email: amanda.donohue7@gmail.com

Thank you for reading!

Q and A with Adina from Timisoara, Romania, living in Sarasota, Florida

“It’s up to you to seek out the learning that will help you fulfill your desires.”

Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I am passionate about women’s health and happiness. I want every girl to grow up knowing about her body and honoring all of its processes. I want her to know that she is magical and has the ability to create life, either in the form of other humans or in a relationship or business or any passionate project. I want her to speak her beautiful and powerful thoughts and feelings into the world boldly. I want her to willingly share her body, mind, and soul with others who appreciate her. I want her to understand her monthly superpowers and to make the most of each phase of her life in general. I want her to feel safe and powerful in her body.

I found this passion through contrast. My career started as a pharmacist, seeing people (especially women) come in month after month for “maintenance medications” that never seemed to help them actually get any better. My hobby turned career since 2001 has been belly dance. These two worlds, pharmacy, and dance are almost exact opposites in my mind. Pharmacy is very structured with many rules and regulations, not much freedom to say what you really feel. Dance is fluid and new in every moment (even the highly structured dances have this fluidity within them). Over the years, I began to see that dance, on its own, has more power to heal than conventional medicine. When combined with other modalities such as nutrition and mindfulness, dance can lead the way to true freedom of movement and lasting fulfillment. Currently, I am working part-time as a pharmacist, teaching about 9 belly dance classes per month in my membership, and including a free class each month (Yes, I teach free monthly classes! DM me on Facebook or send an email at ravenswoodrhythms@gmail.com, and I’ll add you to the list so you know when the classes are held each month.), and I have a coaching program helping women harness the superpowers of their cycles (menstrual and/or the moon and seasons).

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I was born in Communist Romania. At the age of three, my parents escaped and left me behind with my grandparents in the village. Nine months later, we were reunited in West Germany and another year later, we moved to the US. The message I received growing up was not to stand out in any way, to just be quiet and fit in, for fear that we would be found and possibly killed. So, I learned to stuff all my differing opinions, of which there were MANY, down deep inside myself and stick to what was safe. So, I became a pharmacist. But I’ve also stuck with belly dance for over 20 years now, so that’s the way I rebelled.

I actually discovered belly dance while visiting Romania when I was 15. We were at a restaurant and there was a belly dancer! I was mesmerized. A few years later, I was at the Earth Day Festival in my town and there was a troupe performing. I was so excited that it was so tangible! The costumes were bright and flowy, and I knew I found my thing. It took several months for me to build up the courage to attend a class, and several years until I felt truly comfortable in my own skin, and yet I persevered! When you find your thing, it keeps bringing you back home to yourself, no matter how far you stray.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Your past definitely shapes you, but you are the artist and can shape yourself into whatever you want with that information. As a woman, you are life, and that is no small thing. You have such great power within you, and all the tools hidden in your biology/physiology make your world and the larger world a better place. It’s up to you to seek out the learning that will help you fulfill your desires.

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: I definitely resonate with equal rights in the larger world, social/political/economic, but as far as being equal to men, we are not. And that’s a good thing! I believe that all humans can do all things, but we are wired for great differences. I believe it’s okay to be ultra-feminine or masculine and that means different things for each person. I do believe that the more feminine types of contributions to society, compassion/collaboration/nurturing/etc. should be valued equally.

MORE FROM ADINA: I was born in Timisoara, Romania, and grew up in Columbia, Missouri. I’ve lived in a few other places, but now Sarasota, Florida, is home.

Let’s connect! Here:

DM me on Facebook or email me about my freely monthly classes so that you can get yours! 🙂

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/adinaisebelleravenswood/

Email: ravenswoodrhythms@gmail.com

Thank you for reading!