Rolling out is celebrating women helping women all Women’s History Month. We had the honor to sit with Shantel Dennis, a holistic wellness practitioner.
Would you mind sharing a little background about your wellness journey?
I started my self-care and healing journey about five years ago. Taking on the mission to shine my brightest light at the start of plan-demic. Fueled by discomfort with my career, the death of my father and my overall dissatisfaction with the life. I had earned to play the role of a happy successful women very well. But deep down I felt like there was something more to life that I was missing. I was missing me.
What have you learned about yourself in doing this type of work? How has it changed you (if at all)?
My love and care for others encapsulated by my 23-year Nursing Profession had taken over my life. The overall medical system and how we especially the Black indigenous people of color (BIPOC) were treated or undertreated began to weigh heavily on my heart. Seeing this biased approach to health care and being able to see the repeated band-aids being applied over and over, but not ever reaching to cause of the disease prompted me to do something different. What I found was my emotional wellness. When I learned to let go of the things that no longer served me and decide to make healthier choices in my life I saw my body and mind begin to change and my overall health and wellness also improved.
How would you define purpose and do you feel like you are living yours in doing this work?
Finding my purpose to living was also a part of my healing process. Starting with understanding who I was and who I desired to be. My purpose involved finding a reason to live and sharing that discovery with another person in a way that not only allowed me to grow but also helped others grow. Purpose to me is a collaborative effort but it only takes one person to find their purpose for the expanded growth to happen.
What are some challenges you face as a Black woman in this space?
As a Black woman in the holistic wellness practice, I have found that the most challenging part has been finding a way to bridge the gap between our people and their understanding of disease causation. … I would like to see the holistic community take on the focus of addressing the most common health disparities within our community by balancing both the importance of physical health and spiritual health in a way that helps to correct the overall dis-ease of our people. The most common disease and health concerns within our communities include hypertension, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, cancers, mental and substance abuse disorders. One thing that all women can do right now to improve their health is take time to check in with yourself emotionally and make a mind shift to not continue to live in dis-ease. Partner with other women on the holistic health journey to empowerment. Show up for you. This starts with taking a stand and modeling the “me first then you” approach to self-care. Women’s History Month is a powerful time to come together as women to identify and stand together in one combined effort to help nurture and heal the world one woman at a time. Starting with you.
