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African Queen
 
She is a queen among women and the womb is her kingdom. Queen Afua talks to Halima Malik about nutrition, ancient khemetic science, yoga, nurturing and the importance of healing your self.
 
Exuding a calm disposition and a shimmering, clean complexion, Queen Afua is a tribute to the African legacy. Her timeless classic, Sacred Woman: A Guide to Healing the Feminine Body, Mind and Spirit continues to be an international bestseller. Her follow-on book 'Heal Thyself for Health and Longevity' has also enjoyed success.
 
Based around holistic health, the books are targeted at women and encourage them to empower themselves through taking control of their health. And the testimonials of hundreds of women are evidence of Queen Afua's healing touch.
 
Her contributions and work with women overcoming difficulties has resulted in words of praise from a wide range of people including celebrities who have turned to her for healing. Bob Law, author and radio presenter describes Queen Afua as a ''national treasure''. Hazelle Goodman, the actress, describes her as an ''extraordinary healer, teacher, mother, and keeper of our legacy. Through Sacred Woman, she has given us the sacred tools we need to live our lives in this new century''.
 
An expert nutritionist and herbalist, Hatha Yoga instructor, founder of womb yoga, Ari ankh ka instructor and Khemetic Priestess, she is also founder and Director of the Global Sacred Woman Village Centre. Queen Afua's ideas are based around Afrocentric spirituality; a pioneer in the African-American women's health movement, she, together with her husband Hru Ankh Semahj is co-founder of the Heal Thyself Natural Living Centre in Brooklyn, New York. She credits her husband as her spiritual mentor and the inspiration for her work ''He was the spiritual guide for sacred woman, he was the literary mind behind the scenes''. Using ancient principles, they have applied them to contemporary living. Their approach to healthy living is inspired by and based upon ancient Khemetic science (African spirituality).
 
The courses and workshops designed for women focus principally around the 'womb centre'. Considered to be a focal point, it is a vortex of energy not just in the ancient khemet traditions, but also in yoga and in the martial arts traditions of the Chinese and Japanese. ''In order for a woman's womb to be at peace, she needs to be at peace in all of her intimate relationships'' observes Queen Afua in Sacred Woman (p.326). These relationships mean ''with all things that she (woman) consumes at a physical or energetic level and that become a part of her. Whether the intimate exchange is breathing air into the body or putting food into her mouth, all of a woman's intimate relationships are rooted in her relationship with the self'' .
 
The Centre's work revolves around the 'aryunkah' concept ''which is bringing your soul to life by focusing on the womb as the focal point, and I'm careful of the movement that would help to flush the womb, energise the womb, balance the womb, sending more oxygen to the womb centre''. The womb is appropriately compared to a plant: ''if it's not watered properly, if it doesn't have the sun, it will die''.
 
Therapies and techniques used in her work to help heal women include fasting, detoxing, diet, dance, yoga, aromatherapy, positive affirmations and use of ornaments and symbols, and spas. The therapies are 'natural' and not only strengthen the physical body within, but also have a knock-on effect on the psychological mind of women and how they perceive themselves. It's also a golden opportunity for the beauty conscious, expelling harmful toxins and improving the complexion of the skin and hair.
 
The concept of healing yourself originated in Queen Afua's own self development. She tells me that at 18 years of age, she was suffering critically from a cocktail of diseases and ailments including arthritis, asthma and hay-fever, coupled with mood swings and lethargy. Simultaneously she was 'hooked' on the medication, the prescription drugs used to relieve and alleviate the symptoms.
 
Desperate to overcome both the physical and psychological pain Queen Afua, on the advice of a friend, sceptically booked herself into a weekend retreat. She credits that weekend as a transformative one that changed her outlook forever. ''I came up there with the asthma and I took my grapefruits, my lemons, my oranges and I began to cleanse and purify''. During that critical period of healing, Queen Afua confronted not only 'herself' but also the toxins inside her physical body. ''There was so much coming out of my system during that weekend''.
 
A sigh of relief can be heard in her voice as she recalls how she confronted her 'breath'. And it wasn't just breathing in the mechanical fashion but really 'feeling' and 'appreciating' its impact: ''I got my breath back for the first time after years of medication''. This was a pivotal moment for Queen Afua. Her inner inquisitive nature and hunger to learn and educate herself on holistic and natural living led her to a new path. ''I began to study, self study, holistic principles''. Her desire to help heal other women to take control of their lives became Queen Afua's aspiration.
 
The Heal Thyself Centre, in the heart of New York is the result of Queen Afua's willpower, courage and passion to change a dream into reality. The centre has always encouraged and used natural health techniques to overcome both psychological and physical pain. Founded 23 years ago when the concept of holistic health and natural health had not made a big impact with the indigenous population, the centre nonetheless zealously preached healthy diet and living. It has firmly established itself now and its success is ever growing, and deservedly so. Her reputation and skill have passed through 'word of mouth' on the 'grapevine'.
 
Metaphorically the centre is a 'womb' attracting women from different 'walks' in life including women who have been sexually, violently abused, those who may be suffering from ailments including womb cancer, arthritis and asthma, but also psychological pain. This too, affects directly the body and the spirit. Queen Afua notes that the 'types' of food and liquids we consume also affect the level of pain experienced. A weak body finds it difficult to withstand both physical and psychological pain
The women who come to Queen Afua's doorstep are ''pretty much between 20 and 65''; she continues, ''women come to me for many different problems: emotional problems, problems with their relationships, problems with raising their teenagers''. But there is one thing that unites these women and that is the ''womb challenge'' and Queen Afua is critically aware that the women ''don't connect it'' - through the therapy sessions and as the women overcome their inner conflict and resolve their issues, they begin to liberate themselves from the suffering they experienced and encountered. She tells it straight and clearly to me: ''the womb is the centre of the body, the centre where your creative energy comes from. It is the centre where life comes from. And that centre is always challenged by women''. Note her emphasis on 'always'; and she corroborates her statement with the types of challenges that occur at the centre ''so it comes in the form of menopausal concerns, hot flashes; many women come to see me because they are not able to conceive and want to have children, so I share my work and they are able to conceive''. Some of the women make it full term through the pregnancy, others don't. Women suffering from fibrous tumours also come in large numbers to the centre.
The prevalence of these conditions is frightening, and Queen Afua warns, ''it's almost like a common cold for women. And that's when I tell them where it's coming from''. It's a direct challenge to the womb. Queen Afua makes her diagnosis and takes into account a woman's diet and lifestyle. ''I tell them where it's coming from, the food that they are eating and the emotional baggage they are holding''. Once her patients accept that emotions play a significant role in destroying self confidence and inner self respect, then they begin to change - acceptance is part of the therapy. You have to 'confront' your issues before dealing with them. It's like a mirror reflecting a part of you that you could see, but were blind to. You may have listened to that inner voice screaming, tearing you apart, but you may have deliberately become 'deaf' to it. It is these emotions that the Centre works to dilute and expel and helps women accept 'responsibility' for their own health and wellbeing.
 
The Centre runs a number programs and workshops for women. Queen Afua tells me with confidence and reassurance, ''then you can see them (women) spiritually elevating and I just see the connection of the damage and then they move into the nefratoon concept and that's moving from the mud to the lotus''. The 'nefratoon' concept is ancient khemetic science, rooted in ancient khemet (Egypt). The transition is not just metaphysical for some of the women but literal also. Mud is symbolic of life, origins, roots: ''I use the clay and I use the mud. It pulls the poisons out and puts minerals in''. This leads to a process of self questioning and learning how to deal with your emotions. ''So how you look at your challenges in life - just look at the mud''. The questioning includes asking ''why did you create that? How did you create that? What is the lesson here? How can it be of value? - its when you're not carrying grudges, not being angry, you're just giving lessons, so lessons you harbour, you're able to grow from it. Then every lesson is a blessing, then as your womb starts to connect naturally and you start to heal''.
 
Breathing sequences used in the therapy sessions are attributed to the practice of hatha yoga; ''being an instructor I was able to use the connection between ancient movements and also connecting the ancient movements to the present day situation''.
Recently, Queen Afua travelled to khemet (Egypt). ''I went to one of the temples and there was ahat and ahat was sitting in the squat. All above her were the medical instruments for surgery''. She continues: ''I began to see that as we begin to sit in our seat of 'power' - that squat represents the throne. It's a position of the throne. Within a woman we have everything''. It's the 'seat of power' inherent within all women, ''so that's one of our movements and another movement deals with the nute, she is the universal mother. She represents the light. We are a continuation of that legacy as we carry in our movements a natural African lifestyle that will help balance the whole planet earth''.
 
As women we have to balance ourselves in the world in which we engage and participate. Eating healthily is critical to our survival and the wellness of the mind, body, spirit trinity. Foods in khemetic science are classified according to the elements and this concept can also be found in both the ancient Indian and Chinese traditions. The elements are an integral and important and cohesive component of our systems and instead of viewing them as separate and distinct, we have to learn to embrace them as if they are an integral part of who we are, both psychologically and mentally.
 
''I go by the five elements, the spirit of life is in all things'' says Queen Afua ''and you need all the elements, in our juices, in our herbs; for example if someone is debilitated in terms of their bones they need turnips which help to restore the bones, they need dandelion, they need clay packet on the bones. If someone has a respiratory problem that means their air is blocked''. Queen Afua suggests eating red radish and garlic, "and that's pure oxygen and that will help restore the life force. If someone has high blood pressure they need cucumber, the water and also if someone has kidney problems''.
 
If any of the elements are missing in the body, then ''over time the body will become debilitated so at this point eating a lot of calories, eating out of emotions, eating junk foods are not fulfilling our needs. We have mental illness, we are debilitating, we have premature ageing''. There are so many things that we are fighting against and this leads to disharmony. ''It dictates how we're behaving as a global family. This is all ancient khemetic teachings''. Elaborating on the types of therapies learned through khemetic teachings, she includes meditating and fasting. ''We did dream therapy and we study dreams and know what was going on in our subconscious which then told us what was going on in our physical consciousness''.
 
Aromatherapy is an essential therapy that Queen Afua strongly recommends should be incorporated into our daily life. One of the most powerful oils that is used in healing sessions is ''distilled from the lotus flower. In ancient khemet this was used to stimulate the higher self, and we opened the way to the chakras, the energy centres''. In the yogic traditions, the lotus flower (padmasana) is a beloved flower that is regarded as a spiritual flower. The chakras (energy centres) in the yoga traditions are pictorially and textually described as lotus flowers.
 
Sound too was and is used to help cleanse the energy centres. In ancient khemet, Queen Afua describes its use: ''the centres had ancient names, they had the meaning, song, chant to help open up''. ''If your heart was in balance, you would have an ancient prayer for that and it would help you open up your compassion, your forgiveness because we harbour things ''. Often ''we don't understand how things came about then we are at our downfall and then we begin to eat the food that will eventually kill us and relationships that destroy us and so on. So we anoint ourselves with oils and begin our breathing. We bring the energy within our self so that we can seek the salvation and seek your wholeness by going within. And that's what our ancestors said; go within to come to life. In your meditations and in your prayers and be a living person as opposed to someone who is walking dead''.
 
Halima Malik is Deputy Editor of YOGA Magazine and Features Director of Mind Body Spirit Magazine. To find out more about yoga visit www.yogamagazine.co.uk For more information on Queen Afua and her work log onto www.queenafuaonline.com
 
 
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