Naima Mora's Blog, page 7

ReelArtsy & Film Festival Radio!

From my Reel Artsy interview – Galaxy of Tar my band!

Recently I did a few fun interviews about my book, my new series Model Life Series, my blog, and sharing stories. Reel Artsy and Film Festival Radio.

 

 

 

I stopped by Reel Artsy to share what I’ve been up to these days and I chatted a bit about my quirkiness influences and my outlook and artistry.

You can read that full interview at Reel Artsy here.

On Oct 5th I did a talk radio show – Film Festival Radio with Janice Malone – we had such a grand talk! We talked about my new book, about the series of books I want to write and share, and the positive impact I am working hard to have on people everywhere.

 

 

 

You can listen to the entire radio interview here.

Thanks Janice and Reel Artsy for great interviewes – I so appreciate you!

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Making Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Headed into the Holiday season and it’s no time like the present to get healthy. I discuss healthy lifestyle changes in “Model Behavior,” and here are some tips to create healthy lifestyle changes by Diane Renz, L.P.C. Visit her Gatewaytohealing.com website for more information. – Naima Mora

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Diane Renz, MA, LPC is a Psychotherapist in private practice. Photo courtesy of allthingshealing.com.

“Lifestyle changes begin with setting Intention. If you don’t have an intention, it easy to lose commitment to action. Intention is not a goal but an overarching frame for the “why” of doing something. For example, someone might have a goal of losing weight, but an overarching intention of feeling well, with more vitality for life and relationship, to live a fuller life.

Next is making a “doable” commitment for at least a period of 21 days or more. It helps to name this as your 21 day challenge. If you know you have a challenge with a time limit, you can hang in day by day knowing that you are running an experiment to see what outcomes you might have at the end of the 21 days. Having said that, if you fall off your commitment, you do not need to ditch the entire remaining days; all you need to do is just “begin again”, right here and right now. Be sure to specifically name your commitment to action that you will do each day.

Write the intention and the commitment down. Not just once, but every day. It really is the way to stay focused on what you are wanting in your life. It doesn’t take long to jot down. For example: my intention is to feel more positive, my commitment is to go to sleep by 10pm each night and prior to sleep name with specificity and sincerity what I am grateful for.

Lifestyle changes come over time, a steady turn of habits. This is crucial to remember because the trends, fads, diets, and gusto and excitement of the latest new idea fade quickly and is not user friendly. We have spent many years if not decades “cultivating” habits, behaviors, ways of thinking, that require a steady action to recalibrate. We need to “cultivate” new habits, like a new language, or learning how to play a musical instrument–we don’t just do it, we cultivate it.

Using the analogy of cultivating a garden, we plant the seed in soil we have prepared to receive it, our job then is to water, provide light, fertilizer, and keep the weeds from overtaking. We don’t then pull at the seedling and force it to grow; we create an environment that is conducive for it to thrive.

Intention, commitment, cultivation.

And then you must practice:
 On a daily basis choose what you are ready to implement and practice, practice, practice. It is not supposed to feel good right away. In fact, as you make healthier changes in your life, often you might initially feel worse. Some of this is related to becoming more aware and less sedated by negative behaviors, some has to do with physical toxicity, some to do with the aches and pains of newness, etc. This is why commitment is crucial and to stay focused on the “why” of what you are doing to stay the course.

Some options for living your best healthy lifestyle include:

•  Begin and end each day with contemplative practice: Mindful breath, mediation, prayer, focusing and connecting to whatever you sense as the essence of you, you can call it spirit if comfortable. Bookend your days with this stillness. This can really help you stay connected to what is essential to your wholeness. (health and healing really means a return to wholeness)

•  Movement everyday (notice I use the word movement v. exercise). Movement can be of body, of bowels, of breath, of feelings, of expression……”illness comes from stagnation and healing from movement”

•  Aerobic movement for at least 30 minutes daily. Move and stretch throughout the day for better heart health and serotonin levels

•  Practice gratitude: become acutely aware of the simple pleasures and abundance of your life

•  Smile (sounds easy, but try it when you least feel like it, it has positive change in nervous system and reinforms negativity bias)

•  Practice Loving Kindness (try to wish yourself good things instead of the negative self-talk, then extend to others)

•  Eat colorful natural foods and begin with good breakfast, essential for brain health and good metabolism (if you are skipping breakfast to lose weight it will have the opposite effect). Eat throughout the day with conscious awareness, 3 meals, 2 snacks, stop eating 2 hours prior to sleep to aide in better sleep.

•  Take breathing breaks throughout the day: begin with an exhale when feeling stress, it allows you to release and makes room for nice deep natural inhale. You can try the famous 4,7,8 breath I learned for Dr Andrew Weil, but has been a practice for over 2000 years. Tip of tongue placed behind two front teeth as fleshy bump, blow out and you will feel the wosh around your tongue, breathe in to count of 4, hold count of 7, exhale count of 8 for 4 rounds—serves to reduce urges and relieve anxiety and balance the nervous system.

•  Take time outside with nature. Nature is resilient and in rhythm. We lose ourselves with late nights, non-nutritious foods, lack of movement, excessive anxiety, etc. When we spend time in nature we can attune to its rhythms because they are our own.

•  Everyday be sure you are making contact with someone in a positive way. We are social creatures and thrive with good contact. Often food cravings and binges are really related to the need for love. When we give and receive kindness and contact we thrive, our oxytocin and serotonin levels go up bringing feelings of well- being and desire for attachment.

•  Find what is FUN. Simple moments of fun like doing a puzzle, kicking a ball around, dancing to your favorite tune. It does not have to be a big activity but is essential for overall health and balance to play each day.

•  Focus on your work, whatever is before you, whether it is a major business meeting, or a pile of laundry, give it your full attention and focus. Be present to the task, and then you can clearly define when you are working and when you are playing. (Multi-tasking truly does not work, our brains do not function at optimal level and nothing gets done well, focusing on one task is good for the health of your brain). Finding the balance of work and play is essential daily practice.

•  Be sure to sleep at least 7-9 hours per night and that you sleep before midnight for your biorhythm health. It is fun to experiment with earlier bedtime and waking with the light, letting your body find its way back to what is natural. (lost sleep can lead to weight gain do to less leptin in the brain that indicates fullness)

•  More on sleep, limit computer technology and stop 2 hours prior to sleep. The electromagnetic field and light diminishes your melatonin levels (neurotransmitter inducing sleep state) and throws your nervous system into an active state.

In summary: 
Eat well, Sleep well, Move well, Breathe well, Be still, Play, Smile, Focus love and gratitude, Connect to others.
So here you have a few ideas to start with. Make it simple, choose three things you can commit to daily for the next 21 days and see what you cultivate. There is no reason to give up because you always have the next new moment to begin again.

What ways do you already work to get or stay healthy?”

This article is excerpted from Yourgatewaytohealing.com.

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What Emotions Do: Paula Muran

What do emotions have to do with healing? I touch on this in my ebook Model Behavior, but here is an article concerning emotions, written by Paula Muran, an expert on core beliefs and how they impact our emotional lives. 

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Paula Muran. @ANewEnlighten. Liberated Soul & Founder of A New Enlightenment …
twitter.com

“Emotions are the root cause of almost every injury and illness. Anger, fear, unworthiness and other emotions get ‘stuffed’ into the body, over time these limiting emotions weaken the physical body creating stiffness, aches, pain and general discomfort, which eventually can cause more serious conditions like tumors and cancer.

In the allopathic and western medicine world we have lost touch with the basic concept of true healing. We substitute a band-aid for a cure and wonder why we don’t feel better. People get ill for many reasons. Each diseased state is telling us that we are ignoring some part of self and change is necessary. While many factors contribute to healing and it happens on many levels, all require attention throughout the entire healing practice. Ignoring the mental, emotional or spiritual bodies would not provide adequate and long-term good health.

Emotions are the foundation on which we build our life. They inspire and they limit us. Joy, bliss and happiness along with anger, fear confusion and unworthiness make us a whole person. Anger is often the impetus of motivation to accomplish goals while fear has the exact opposite effect. Confusion on the other hand, keeps whiling thoughts spinning causing a cloud of chaos. Happiness and joy are contagious and elevate everything we do. But why is it that joy is often the least experienced while fear, anger, confusion and unworthiness dominate?

Limiting emotions cause us to stay stuck in a false perception about the self. Fear plays havoc with relationships, careers, success and finances. Head colds for instance, are a direct result of emotional confusion while a toxic liver motivates anger.

Emotions and beliefs also shroud our true divine Self. As we explore spirituality it is necessary to also acknowledge and eventually release (let go) of limitation in the form of fear, denial and disbelief. This action takes courage and trust as we explore the inner workings of the Self. As our world transitions there is a real (urgent) need to change. External circumstances perpetuate the already abundant level of fear around us. Anger, confusion and mistrust all contribute to a society that is overwhelmed. It’s time for change.

How To Identify Limiting Emotions

Look at friends and family members as mirrors or reflections. What you see in another that bothers you or angers you is a part of yourself that has not yet been healed and loved. I suggest you begin criticizing your dearest friends and then turn all that criticism around to yourself. This exercise gives you an opportunity to look at your limiting emotional issues. Allow others to reflect back your brilliance or limitation. Once you located your personal limitation it’s time for change.

Emotional patterns begin in the first place when we place a judgment upon them. This time experience (feel) the energy of anger but don’t judge it—just experience it. Allow anger to run all the way down to your toes. As if you are sitting in a pond of red water—now enjoy it. Love the feeling that anger produces. From here we can begin dialoguing with anger. This helps us locate the core issue underneath the anger. Yes, that is correct, strike up a conversation with anger. Ask it questions like, “What are you teaching me?” or “Why am I so angry all the time?”

With these answers you are able to make change.”

Follow Paula’s blog. http://www.paulamuran.com/blog/

YOu can find the original article here: http://healing.about.com/od/emotionalissues/a/paula_emotions.htm

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Tj Hector: No Regrets

This is the story of TJ Hector, and what it was like to be born into poverty, to parents with substance abuse problems, and with the strength to find a passion, like music, to heal yourself and find your way with no regrets.

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TJ Hector

I grew up in a very small town in the American south, to proud parents who worked their whole lives to provide for their kids.

Sounds pretty typical of most families, you know? My mom worked in a yarn factory and my father in a furniture factory. Me and my sister (now 23) had everything we needed. What we didn’t realize was that we were quite impoverished. Yet there was always food on the table, even if it were ramen noodles or something we ate each night.

My parents were always wondering if there would be enough coming in to keep things afloat. They hid it from us, and for that, I thank them. I did have both parents in my life, but I’ve really noticed recently how much I am like my mother. She and my father split in 2005, and ever since she has headed into a downward spiral. He is seemingly doing well, while she drank him away… or has been trying to.

Both of my parents have turned out to be quite the alcoholics, something else that was hidden from us. My mom loves my father and would do anything to be with him again, but he just does not want her, so she drinks and cries.

Having to see her so down, so often has really put me on her side with most things. From my father, I get masculinity and his humor. However, from my mother, I get what’s most important and also most self-destructive–heart and emotion. I wanted to be nothing like my mother; I would never let another person become what my father was to her. I would never love anyone that much.

I told myself these things, but that isn’t exactly what happened. I fell in love and as all great things come, there is a date at which they must depart. The same practices, the same thing that happened to my mother, happened to me. I fell into nearly a year-long depression, starting in September 2010 and into late 2011.

I do not like to cry, but I would cry in private. Almost every night I would sit in my room and cry until I finally went to bed. I became more reclusive than I already am naturally; I did not want to hang out with friends, I did not want to enjoy life.

I had always loved my time alone, but now more than ever I needed people…and they were not around. The nights were the worst, because that’s when I had most time to think. I wanted to sleep for as long as I possibly could, so that there were no hours available. What really brought me out of those difficult times was the music of  Amy Winehouse. These songs in particular “He can only hold her for so long,” or “Just Friends,” and the emotion within her cover of “Will you still love me tomorrow?”

I felt like no one really understood pain or how troubled I felt until I was truly introduced to her music. I had always liked her voice, but when I discovered her discography in depth, I began to do better. As cliche as it sounds, music healed everything. I finally found full-time work and saw that with being productive, you truly do feel like you’re needed.

Whenever I listen to Amy’s music, I felt something that no one else has ever had the opportunity to do for me. Each song, we are one in the same. So with her passing, I took it pretty hard. As for love, I hold no regrets. Even though I felt so heartbroken, the situation allowed me to see that I do feel something. I am capable of giving myself to someone.

Next time, it will be a bit different.  In my life, I plan to continue my ever growing love for travel and culture, design as a hobby and I am currently attending University in South Florida.

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What musician or musical experience changed your life?

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Read A Book: Make It Your Life

Preparing for an interview….

Books have changed my life. I love writing and I love reading. Perhaps that is part of the reason I felt so inclined to write a book myself. Books have given me courage and wisdom. Books have taught me love and poetry. A good book often gives me a shoulder to cry on and a friend to laugh with.

My favorite book of all time is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I was thirteen years old trying to survive my first year in high school, shy and timid. I called my sister, Ife, and asked her for some advice. She told me to be strong and sent me a book in the mail. It was The Alchemist, a story of a young man who has a dream and sets out against all odds to follow it. In the process he learns courage and faith. He learns to allow his heart to sing and read the signs of the universe.

This book changed my life and continues to every time I read it. I have read it numerous times already. I have gifted it to friends, hoping it will have the same impact on them. (It did.)

Another one of my most favorite books is a small, short read, but full of adventure and courage. It’s called, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

I read to LIVE. I recently experienced the loss of several friends and family members. My first remedy to cure my sadness was to purchase Tina Fey’s, Bossy Pants.

Books are treasures. Not only can they help to teach us lessons of life and cater to our emotional sensibility, books have the power to expand our knowledge, our vocabulary and our ability to read more fluently. Being able to read and write is one of the most amazing gifts I have ever been given, aside from life itself. Reading and writing allows me to educate myself and express my own ideas and experiences. It is a human right to be taught how to read and write, and we should take advantage of it. We must read to LIVE!

What was the latest or most inspirational book you read – will you ever write a book?

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Lauren Dorsey: Never Judge a Book By It’s Cover

Lauren Dorsey, Fan Profile of the Week: Naima Mora Online

 

My name is Lauren Dorsey and this is my story. My advice? Dont judge and never give up on your dreams!

Ever since I moved out to Colorado, life has always been full of ups and downs. I moved out to Colorado in 1999 right in the middle of my 4th grade year and life was tough for a 10 year-old.

I had no friends and I had this nerdy/boyish complex that no one liked. I was the typical outcast that would eat lunch alone and walked home alone.

I would have given anything to be the pretty little girl or the one that anyone would want to come up and talk to.

Middle school came around and I separated from the kids that bullied me or didn’t like me. I thought to myself this is a great opportunity for a fresh start and to assert myself in meeting new friends, and did it ever work!

I finally found a group I can associate and identify with. During this stage in my life I looked so awkward and still felt like I didn’t fit in. At this point every pre-teen/teenager collects magazines of boy bands and their posters, me…I collected magazines like Seventeen and Teen Vogue.

I loved fashion and the pretty make-up that models wore. It was that time where I knew what my ULTIMATE dream was…to be one of these models. I wanted to look stunning and have beautiful flowing dresses and fancy purses. I started watching America’s Next Top Model and my interest sparked even more. I knew that if I wanted to be a model I had to work on having a personality of some kind – a personality that people would love me me for and that was social.

I had been in 4-H for some time; I entered many contests, but the one I would always be in was Speech. I wrote and presented my speeches to local clubs in town, to judges in the contests, and to my classmates in school. I learned so much on how to present myself to the public and to anyone I came across. As silly as this sounds I had broken from my socially awkward cocoon! Even making friends was so much easier and people were easier to talk to as well.  Since then, I have  so much confidence to tackle everything and anything I wanted in life.

It wasn’t until the Summer of 2011 that I wanted to give modeling a try and see where that lead me. So far I am accomplishing so much! I have been in 2 fashion shows held in Denver, and I have had agencies look at my work and trying to recruit me. It’s only uphill from here and I have been learning so much. I am still learning a lot that will get me to where I want to go. I couldn’t be any more happy with how things have gone for me.

I went from this shy, outcast girl who was judged all her life to  a friendly, outgoing, down to earth young woman. If there is a moral to my story it would have to be:

1) Never judge anyone you meet in life, you may not know what they are capable of and one day you are going to regret not getting to know that person and,

2) If I can give any advice to anyone especially those of the younger generation never EVER give up on your dreams and never EVER let anyone trample over you to get to where you want to go.  

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What are your experiences in being judged or judging others? What advice would you give young people today?

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Now On Goodreads & I Host Fashion Week In Detroit

A Few Updates Week of October 1, 2012: Goodreads & Fashion Week in Detroit

 

 

You can now find me on Goodreads! Reading fanatics can now follow me and connect with me va my blog or buy my book Model Behavior at Goodreads, the place for readers to find thier favorite authors.

 

 

 

 

 

Discover and share books you love on Goodreads, the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations! Link above to my boog page on Goodreads and link below – my blog also feeds there!www.goodreads.com/author/show/6536543.Naima…/blog

At Fashion Week In Detroit December 8th, 2012

“Walk” Fashion Show the Largest Fashion Event in the MidwestMelodika.netNaima Mora winner of America’s Next Top Model Comes to Detroit to host Walk Fashion Show Saturday, December 8th @ The Charles H. Wright Museum of African …read more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Saturday, 29 September 2012


Naima Mora winner of America’s Next Top Model Comes to Detroit to host Walk Fashion Show Saturday, December 8th @ The Charles H. Wright Museum of African America History.The Midwest’s largest fashion event, the WALK Fashion Show is back for fall/winter 2012. This season Naima Mora of America’s Next Top Model and Detroit Native hosts the WALK Fashion Show. Naima Mora, best known for winning Cycle 4 of America’s Next Top Model and multiple appearances on the Tyra Banks Show hopes to inspire local Detroit women in the fashion industry. Winning the competition, she received a prestigious contract with Cover Girl cosmetics, a spread in Elle magazine, and a contract with Ford Models. Naima is very excited to share her knowledge and experience with Detroit’s fashionistas from her very successful modeling career since ANTM.

Mora has also been the face of Sheer Cover Mineral Make Up, Split Clothing and Samsung. Her television experience includes frequent guest cameos on The Tyra Banks Show, judging Miss Teen USA, guest appearance on the season 2 premier of Veronica Mars, and as the heart throb of TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me” music video. She also walked for Bravo’s Project Runway Finale 2008 for Joe Farris’s collection. Other notable fashion shows that Mora has walked for include “Elle Girl Presents: Dare to Be You,” Christopher Deane, Richie Rich, Carlos Miele and Gharani Strok. Naima has shot the covers of reputable fashion magazines such as Vicious, Cover, B.L.A.C., Modern Salon, H Mag, Mami, U+U, Uzuri, and the two part special hard cover release of Luxe Knits. She has also shot spreads for Teen People, Ambassador, Corduroy, Metro Pop, Fuego, Latina, Inked, US Weekly, Intouch, Radaar, and Jewel. She is also featured in Nigel Barker’s book “The Beauty Equation.”

The WALK Fashion Show is in its 6th edition averaging over 500 women to each casting call and over 2,000 fashion forward show attendees from the metro Detroit area and around the country every year. The fashion extravaganza previously held at lavish venues such as the historic The Detroit Opera House and the Detroit Rooster Tail with celebrity hosts such as Dominique Reighard of America’s Next Top Model. Each year WALK donates a portion of its proceeds to various charities. This season’s show is produced by native Detroiters Daishawn Franklin and Crystal Bailey. Mr. Franklin was just recently seen in a Detroit Free Press feature celebrating 9 years of successfully producing celebrity events and concerts around metro Detroit area.

The Fall/Winter WALK fashion show will be showcased December 8th at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The audience will be treated to a full day of fashion as for the first time in WALK Fashion Show History the event will be showcased in 2 incredible shows, in one fashion filled evening. Included in this family affair, a Museum Membership Drive will also be held during the event.. The doors of this beautiful space opens up at 4:00pm but remember LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION starting promptly at 5:00pm and after an entertaining intermission, filled with local and national vendors, as well as live entertainment, the finale will begin promptly at 8:00pm. Tickets are available by contacting 313.799-Walk6 or online at www.Neptix.com.

WALK strives to provide the perfect platform to the needs of many locally based models, designers, store owners and the Detroit fashion community.

For information or interview requests please contact: info@walkfashionshow.com or by phone 313.79WALK6

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Life Is A Gift

Ascending the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan.

 

Life is a gift.

In the past year, I have had to endure the passing of a lot of my friends and loved ones. On a daily basis I think about how they fought bravely for their lives. I think about the impact their lives have had on me, and the world.

Their struggles make me consider the life I have as the ultimate gift I could have been given. It propels me to use each day to create something outstanding from my life. I want to use this precious gift to affect the world in a positive way and leave it better than it was when I came into it.

On a day-to-day basis it’s hard to remember to cherish life. We become burdened with jobs and rent and laundry and picking the kids up from school and grocery shopping and cleaning the house and enduring traffic. But each of those activities are expressions of our lives and can be treasured as actions we take to ensure that we keep living another day.

A good friend of mine recently told me that she has become appreciative of everything. She told me that she even appreciates finding a parking spot or getting a green light! I think when we live like this we become aware of how our lives really are the ultimate gift and how much we can use them to do something outstanding.

The work we put into accomplishing our dreams and taking care of ourselves is in a sense, showing our appreciation for the life we have been gifted. It is our “gift to God”.

“Every man and woman has the potential to create something magnificent.  Life is a gift for discovering what manifestation our talents can leave behind whether physical, mental or emotional.” (Naima Mora: Model Behavior) 

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Luke Humphrey, Photographer

Featuring the work of Luke Humphrey, a photographer from my book, Model Behavior. I love the vibrant look of these stylized shots. It was a great shoot and I am grateful to Luke and his talent for allowing me to share them with readers!

Luke Humphrey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Luke Humphrey

 

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Faith

On Faith.

Waiting in Hair and Make Up for Richard Hallmarq’s show to begin.

I like to paint perfect pictures for myself. I like to envision the perfect ending in all aspects of my life- career, love, family, health, etc., etc., etc. Seeing things in a perfect light is not a bad thing either. It allows us to dream big! And with a dream so big, we must work very hard to accomplish it.

I am determined to attain BIG things in my life that will make not only me happy, but others happy as well. These are goals like winning America’s Next Top Model and building a successful modeling career from that base. They are goals like writing a successful book to encouraging hundreds of people or recording an amazing album that touches people’s hearts. I understand that in order to accomplish these big aspirations I must accomplish small ones first. The small accomplishments are what really count on making it BIG!

Some of the small challenges for me on a daily basis include, but are not limited to, getting out of bed to fight another day, putting in hours of practicing in my studio, putting in hours of writing a week, challenging myself to continue exploring when sometimes all I want to do is go home a watch TV. It is a challenge, but important, to look at setbacks as opportunities to grow and further prove my strength and determination!

I sometimes think that in order for me to accomplish my long-term BIG goals, life has to unfold exactly the way I envision it. But, it never will.

I like to paint perfect pictures for myself, but I know the path will not be perfect at all. I know that there will be mountains to climb and oceans to cross. Deciding to make each moment something amazing and create value from it will determine my picture becoming complete. These small accomplishments will ensure my dreams coming true!

As long as I keep fighting every day, I know my dreams will happen. Most often, our dreams will not unfold exactly the way we expect them to, but if we keep working hard, our dreams WILL happen as long as we BELIEVE in them and in ourselves. This is called having faith, and it is a very important component of success.

What do you have faith in?

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