Kayla Harley

This day was the processional/celebration day for everyone in the Jamaican African Dance Festival. The head women, Sophia and Amaniyea were arranging a platter of fruit, plants, flowers and other natural libations that would be offered up to the Ancestors, as custom in the proceeding activities. The rest of women taking part in the ceremony painted their faces with White dots, stripes, color marks and more indentations to symbolize what native brown peoples of the land--mainly Africans would do traditionally to identify with one another in each tribe. These kinds of gatherings make every occasion of gathering special, memorable and important, they address social issues, influence political decisions, help the warrior men prepare for war, bring forth miracles for families, widows and/or illnesses someone maybe suffering from, for fertility, guidance and more. Sophia, her Mom, Amaniyea, a Little One. One of the women who took my GYROKINESIS morning Stretch spoke ...

Imagine a place where people gather from all around the World, dedicating their hearts, souls and bodies for a time of celebration in Dance. It is a time of honoring our the ones who came before us, our Ancestors, being greeting by the Elders of the day, smiling and dancing beneath a Jamaican sky from sunrise to sunset. The dance, an expression daily life, ritual and roots of African and the African Diaspora in a channel for the Divine to flow through the body in remembrance of what has always existed within. It's hard to say precisely where one derives from, even having taken a genealogy test, as nations and tribes have spread out, migrated and separated since before the passage of Slaves to a new land..... but here, at the Jamaican-African Festival one can identity with whichever captures the soul and frees the SPIRIT most. This is the fourth annual conference, this year it's being held in Ocho Rios St. Anns Bay at the Mammee Estates. There is not use for being shy here, n...

This is morning's breakfast is all that I need to get by. This trip for me is many things: a vacation yes, but a healing retreat to a place I know that has plants, herbs, fruits and vegetables growing in abundance to support the human body, treat any areas of concern from within and to invigorate the mind and senses having being dulled by the mundane life of living in suburban America. BUSH TEA. Simply Turmeric, Jamaican Ginger and Lemongrass *are Fever Grass as they call it. These miracle working entities help fight off inflammation, impurities and strays in the immune system that keep you from living your best life. Feeling GREAT, REVIVED, POWERFUL and fit to take on the days challenges with a clear sense of judgement. These simple of-the-earth mechanisms do that for you. My belly is warm. My heart is lifted and my Spirits are ripe to start walking down de road. Little Duns River. I spent countless hours researching online for affordable things to do in the Riu area bef...