Afiwi Roots & Revival Queens’ Edition

Virtual Groove Queens Edition

It is with both pleasure and excitement that we announce that Roots & Revival: Groove Queens Edition is back!

Are you tired of being tired? Are you ready to let go of the negative inner chatter? Are you prepared to be unapologetic? Are you ready to kick start 2021 with power and purpose! As we step into a new year, open and willing to seeing, feeling, living, loving and leaving what comes our way, what are you willing to do turn your desires into your reality?

Over the next six (6) weeks, Afiwi Groove School in partnership with Me to Moi Health and funded by the Canadian Red Cross, will be offering a NEW series of virtual women’s circles and dance workshops for women across Canada. Curated by women for women, we invite you to take up space, speak your truth and be unapologetic, for your power and purpose is waiting to be seen!

For information on these sessions email info@groovequeens.com.

Dance connects people to their inner self and has the power to heal. These dance workshops will revive your spirit and ground your inner self through music and movement.

Dance Workshops take place on Wednesday evenings.
January 11-February 16, 2021
7:30-8:15 p.m.

Space per session is limited so register now!

Aisha Saintiche is the founder and owner of Me to Moi Health, as well as a Certified Health Coach. With over fifteen years of experience in Mental Health, Accessibility and Diversity and Inclusion, Aisha has used her experience as a strategic advisor and health coach to understand the complexity and intersectionality of the mental, physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual barriers that keep women from achieving their optimized health and wellness.

As a health coach, I have four (4) key responsibilities to the women I coach:

1. To act as the conduit to their inner chatter that challenges their ability to put themselves first.
2. To establish the right system that ensures success
3. To provide the right support in a way that empowers them to realize and utilize the power that exists within them to achieve their desired state; and
4. To hold them accountable to themselves and to help them realize that the only person positioned to determine their success is them.

Further to this Aisha holds a B.A. in Honours Political Science, a Masters in Public Policy Administration and Law, as well as a certification in Advances Crisis Intervention and Counselling and Health Coaching. Most recently Aisha was hired by the Canadian Olympic Committee of Canada as an Integral Master Coach to support the organization with issues related to diversity and inclusion and Anti-Black Racism.

Always seeking opportunities to bring about change, she is also an active member and Board of Director for the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto (WomanACT) and Afiwi Groove School.

Sasha Howell is a dynamic and motivating well-being speaker and sharer. Speaking from her heart and sharing from her own experiences, Sasha touches on topics such as taking chances, adapting to change, health anxiety, grief, suicide loss, and more – all with a common theme of bouncing back, unbroken.

Sasha’s work, inspired by her lived experience and her own resilience, has been shared to engage a wide range of audiences including healthcare workers, scientists, students, and community members.

Sasha customizes her talks based on the unique needs of her audience while sharing challenges she has faced and how she overcame them. She discusses ways to conquer tough times, grow from them, and reclaim control.

Dionne Levy is a mother of two, thriver and advocate for women experiencing Post-Partum Depression/Perinatal Mood Disorders. For as long as she can remember, her passion in life has always been to connect with and support others; to show compassion to others in a world where it too often feels like humanity has been lost. It was not until her personal experience with Post-Partum Depression/Perinatal Mood Disorder with both pregnancies that she realized the importance of self-care and her mission to bring awareness and education about PPD/PMD and to have open and honest conversations about the impact it has on how women feel about motherhood and the expectations that comes with it!

Dionne believes that if her experience can help at least one mother, one parent or child, then she has fulfilled what she feels is her purpose – using her stumbling blocks as stepping stones.

Reena Ruparelia is a skin positivity champion and advocates for those living with Visible Skin Conditions. Through her Instagram Page @psoriasis_thoughts, Reena shares all part of her journey in a raw and poetic way.  She is passionate about helping those who struggle with self-confidence and body-image, find peace and freedom in their uniqueness. So they can live the life they are proud of!

Rosetta Sowkey is a trained trauma-informed practitioner who actively works with adults, young mothers and children. As a practitioner she believes in building trust and fostering openness with clients, which is the first step in developing a relationship that is built on mutual respect, support and collaboration resulting in positive long-term outcomes. She is committed to assisting individuals with trauma recovery and creating a new sense of self- worth, thus fostering the development of healthy relationships and improving mental health. When this healing begins, clients are then able to establish boundaries, prioritize their needs and realize, self-care is not selfish.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Sanaaj Mirrie is an artist, social entrepreneur, cultural arts ambassador and community developer with a clear vision of the benefits of dance, drumming, and connection to one’s roots. Founding Afiwi Groove School in 2013 Sanaaj wanted to provide an outlet for children, youth and the community-at-large a safe space where they were free to express themselves. As a young woman on a journey to self-discovery, Sanaaj used African dance as a means of thriving through anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem – the outcome of her experiences with violence and poverty at a young age.

Sanaaj has not only made it her mission to heal herself from childhood trauma, but she has made it her mission to create a space and place for children and youth to create their own path to success through the power of African arts an culture. Today Sanaaj is the Director of Afiwi Groove School and a growing figure in the cultural arts community, spreading love, positivity, empowerment and promoting social change and community development.