Join Renee in this riveting interview with Trauma Expert Iya Affo, who is the founder of Heal Historical Trauma. As a descendant of spiritual and physical healers, Iya’s life has centered on spirituality, #Indigenous healing, and wellness. Her ancestors hail from the Sacred City of 41 Mountains in West Africa, Barbados, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Iya began to develop an interest in neuroscience at a young age, which was fostered through experiments in the rat lab at Columbia University during her mother’s doctoral research. The first part of Iya’s life was focused on physical healing and she pursued education in Nutrition, Massage Therapy and eventually Chiropractic, all the while participating in a variety of indigenous healing practices. Iya has worked with clients in search of healing for 35 years.
Today, she is a Culturalist and Historical Trauma Specialist who earned Western Certification as a Trauma Specialist. Iya is Certified to facilitate Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model for Caregiving, and Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). She is a Certified Trauma & Resilience Life Coach, a Certified Adverse Childhood Experiences Trainer and has completed Certification for the Native American based Fatherhood is Sacred/Motherhood is Sacred program.
With an eye on indigenous healing practices, Iya has visited more than 30 countries around the world and has spent extended time living and studying in Native American, Yoruba, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist communities in various countries. While on pilgrimage in West Africa, she studied with Medicine Men and Women to learn the ways of the Shaman and understand the truth about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In China, she lived in the Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Zen Buddhism, and immersed herself in Chinese culture. While in China, she also lived among the Taoist in Kunyu Shan. After a spiritual calling to India, Iya sojourned in an ashram (Hindu spiritual community) and lived a minimal lifestyle while imbuing Hindu customs and ideology. Serving Navajo Nation, Salt River Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, Ho Chunk Indian Community, and Chemehuevi Indian Community, Iya found a home among the egalitarian, indigenous people of North America.
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Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
