We recently connected with Johana Hernandez and have shared our conversation below.
Johana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I realize what I went through before, justified to prepare me for these defining moments, when I come to the defining moments and I can look at the other moments, and I realize if I had not gone through that I would not have been ready for this. I know at those moments I did not like what I felt and saw and experienced, although I give thanks to Jehovah Dios and I share with him “I see now that everything you took me for was getting me ready for these moments, and I thank you for continuing to train me, Lord.”
In the work I do now I feel I was prepared and called to do this because the works I share are the things that I had experienced as a child, as I quote Gandhi “Be the change you wish to see” and that practice is to be the person I needed when I was younger for others. I believe we all have callings, and it is up to us to answer the call. What I had in my mind when I was in my teens and wanted for myself was a whole different plan from what I do now. You know that quote that says, “If you want to make God laugh, show him your plan.” Well, we are both laughing, because everything I said when I was younger that I would say I never do and practice, I do now. Life is funny how things work out. As I reflect, especially when I go back in time in my mind on all the trials and tribulations and perseverance I can say I was and still am in training that equipped me to where I am now, in this Earth school, I like to call life.
Allow me to greet myself, Hi my name is Johana in what I do, I advocate for health and wellness, as well as play because play is a way of releasing stress and healing for adults, children learn best through play, activating the imagination, and much more. I work in the early childhood education field with children, teachers, and families, I also share yoga for kids, tweens, and adults in the community and on zoom. In these classes and workshops, I model and teach tools for self-regulating the nervous system by connecting with the breath and moving the body, playing, and interacting with one another, with games, and more, as well I am a Children’s Author.
I will begin the story and how I feel these defining moments venture to where I am now. I remember when I was 6, I enjoyed learning about Martin Luther King and how he helped many people, also I enjoyed learning about how other people contribute to the community. Furthermore, I remember thinking to myself and envisioning myself doing the same thing. Also as a child, I loved playing, using my imagination, pretending, writing, reading, running, climbing, dancing and speaking, and much more. Although communicating was not my forte because, from the age of 3-5, I experienced being mute after witnessing something so tragic that affected my language. After that, I experienced severe stuttering. I enjoy imagining a world of good people, and I love creating stories, there is something unique in the power of storytelling. I realize now it was also a coping mechanism or escapism from the real world that I would witness domestic violence in my home, and the environment, daily.
Playing, and using my imagination, were big coping mechanisms for me as a child. My imagination was very vivid, and I enjoyed imagining my world with great things. When I was little, my mother and siblings, and I experienced living in a shelter, during that experience there was a school nearby the shelter, and I attended this school and there was a child development center right across the street from the school. The child development center would pick up the after-school kids, and I was one of them. I still remember playing in the dramatic center, as well as with blocks and puzzles, I felt at ease when I played. Till I would be picked up and wonder what was next, I guess that was the feeling and coming from a space of survival. My mother, siblings, and I moved to the Victoria Courts, part of the public housing. In that chapter of my life, I experienced how to survive external and internal battles. During those moments, I had to also mask myself and underachieve for the sake of my safety not to get bullied. Many times one does not know that one wants to excel but cannot for the safety of their being, I guess this is where “The crab’s in the bucket mentality come from.” It was not all bad, because I also learned I had to be strong, and discern. At the age of 11, I envision myself wanting to work as a forensic or mortician. I saw no hope anymore in this world because of witnessing war in the community and violence that I saw and experienced in my external circumstances, although I knew I wanted to continue and finish school, my internal circumstance was much greater than the external, and I fought every day, to keep pushing forward. It’s amazing that even though I felt something inside me telling me to keep going and not give up, I believe it was my spirit.
When I graduated from high school. I attended community college and joined the mortuary science program. I was surprised myself because, at the age of 11, I said I was going to do it and I did and ignored the external voices of people’s opinions. Furthermore, I worked in that field on and off for two years until I had my SUN at 21. My life and perspective shifted a 180-degree turn when I learned and understood hope, and I began to understand why people help one another even through all the negativity that happens in the world. I understood why they are social workers, and people helping in the community, and it was because of hope for the future and the next generation.
When my Sun was born, I wanted to give him a different and better upbringing than I had, because if I experience violence and I know I did not like that, why would I do or expose that to someone I love? When my Sun was 2, I experienced some challenging times, and there was a day I took a walk and saw a job fair. At this job fair there was a paper that said “would you like to be a teacher?” I remember when I was 15 I would say I would never do that, although at that moment I told myself why not. I signed up and went through basic training for childcare practitioners. When I attended this training, I learned so much about the brain, what trauma does to the brain, synapses, why it is important to communicate with your child, and positive guidance as well as play. I felt that this training did more than train me to work in childcare, but brought awareness and reflection of my upbringing and to practice these practices with my Sun, and to change the cycle that is going, to begin with, me.
I return to school for Early Childhood Development. Not only that, but I had to volunteer and gain experience to receive my CDA, which means (child development associate.) Do you know where I volunteer? It was at the development center when I was a child and at the time my mother and I, and siblings, were staying at a shelter. This place has greatly helped me with school, experience, and mentoring. Now I give back to the community and am thankful for what they have done for me.
I feel working in the early childhood field has helped me heal so much of my past traumas and helped me understand the importance of human development, that is social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, and spiritual which I believe that the foundation is like a house, and we humans being are spirit.
The more I learn theories and practice in early childhood I would apply them with myself and sun, it does work. I began to practice yoga in 2015, and I noticed how yoga helped me so much with my mind and emotions, and decided to receive my yoga certificate in 2017 to share this amazing practice with the community. After that, I thought to myself why not kids, and I received my kids’ yoga certificate in 2018.
I notice now I just want to give back, because it comes from a place of understanding, even though there are trials and tribulations, one has to preserve and not give in to despair. Everyone is a gift and has many abilities. I sometimes believe that our weaknesses are our strengths, one just has to sharpen them, like I was mute, and experienced severe stuttering, and everyone made fun of me and thought I was dumb because there was this language barrier, I had to keep on and practiced because practice makes progress as I got that quote from my SUN. In 2020, I released a children’s book called “I Am A Gift and I Have Many Gifts”. This story is for all ages in its 18-page book, the topic shares that we are all gifts, and it doesn’t matter who we are and where you come from, we are all gifts.
This scripture comes to my mind when I reflect on the past:
Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.)
I learned that God believes in me and everyone else, although it is important for us to believe in ourselves, and for one to trust in ourselves too. I learn that I and everyone have the power within us, and the power is “Choosing. Our free will” is power, we all have a choice in how we want to view and personally see ourselves. We are all Authors and Directors of our lives. We all have a past and Thank God we all have a future. Many people can say I had a challenging past and feel pity, although I choose to view my past as training I cannot change the past, although I can reinterpret how I choose to see it, same circumstance, same event, but reinterpret the past by interpreting that this was training and everything I went through is to give me experience, one cannot get this in books. You get the test first, then the lessons. God is so good that he turns a mess into a message, a test into a testimony, and a victim into a victorious one.
We all have Power because we come from Source.
Johana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi, my name is Johana in what I do, I advocate for health and wellness, as well as play because play is a way of releasing stress and healing for adults, and children learn best through play, also I enjoy activating the imagination, and much more. I work in the early childhood education field with children, teachers, and families, I also share yoga for kids, tweens, and adults in the community and on zoom. In these classes and workshops, I model and teach tools for self-regulating the nervous system by connecting with the breath and moving the body, playing, and interacting with one another, with games, and more, as well I am a Children’s Author.
The services I share are Yoga and Self-Care for Caregivers, Parents, Educators, and Teachers Support Staff, by exploring yoga and other mindful healthy tools to discharge and calm the nervous system of stress, by utilizing the innate tools one has within them. I also like to share my understanding of the physiology of stress. As you engage in the practice, you will build this resilience, rejuvenation, self-reflection, and self-awareness. As for yoga for kids and tweens, teens to discover healthy ways to process emotions, and for early childhood I share developmentally- appropriate yoga poses, and breathing exercises that will improve a sense of awareness to help communicate their emotions by understanding them, and I also share for family yoga, to create a great way for a bonding experience with the kiddos and parents, this gives permission to let loose and be silly and have fun, and work in and out the body, as well as release stress through play. I also read the book I publish: “I Am A Gift and I Have Many Gifts” and “Yo Soy Un Regalo y Tengo Muchos Regalos.” I also provide workshops, training, and mentoring services for Early Childhood providers/ educators in the early childhood development centers by sharing various tools such as transitions, interactions, positive guidance, discipline, self-awareness, and much more. Furthermore, I facilitate and assist in these services and provide modeling tools and mentoring for the teachers. Children learn in various ways and so do adults, some of us learn through visual, audio, and tactile meaning hands-on experience, it is just meeting the learner where they are at and guiding and facilitating, which is called in education field (scaffolding). I believe that everyone is a gift and posses is a gift and has grand potential within them. All we need is a little spark.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I have been unlearning a lot of conditioning behaviors in these past couple of years, with the practice of Self Reflection and Self-Awareness, because Self-Reflection is the key to Self-awareness, if I don’t know, or am not aware, how can I change it? Self-Awareness can be scary and uncomfortable because it is a practice that one has to look at within themselves, although going within with grace and compassion can help. We are told that the mind can not be changed, although that is not true, the mind can be change because it is plasticity, also by first reflecting and bringing awareness, then creating new habits of the behaviors I want to replace the ones I do not want with discipline. Self-Discipline is a superpower because it liberates me from what had hold of me, and shows me I do have power over myself. I also learned that taking accountability is a superpower because it is a responsibility that I have to do to change. After all, if I blame someone else there is no change. I basically give my power away to what or whom by saying, “they tempted me, that’s why I did it.” It begins with me. I learn that the only thing I have control of is myself and that is the thoughts I think, the images I visualize, the emotions in how I want and choose to feel, and the actions I want to take. Just recently, I remember that my superpower is “free will/ Choice” that was God given to us, and we all have that. A long time ago I did not realize I gave my power away with my permission and that is doing things or agreeing to things I did not and lying to myself I did. I have learned that there is a mind virus that programs people’s minds, and that is in what we see and hear. I learned I am the programmer of my mind. Furthermore, I learned that our mind is like a computer and I receive messages through the senses. And as a programmer, I can choose what goes in my hard drive, my inner matrix. There is that saying “garbage in and garbage out, although that is false because garbage in and garbage stays.” and it is up to me to empty that garbage out of me. It is important when one wakes up in the morning to begin to self-monitor myself, to check in how I feel and what thoughts are visiting, because in the first 20 minutes when I wake up, and before I go to sleep that is when the subconscious is more active, and what I see and hear, sinks or downloads in my mind computer, and that has effect in how I think and feel. As a programmer, I have to be active and aware by taking control of what goes in my mind. I have also learned we are not our thoughts or emotions, they nearly are visitors, by practicing self-reflection and self-awareness. I learned that I am in Earth School, one gets the test first, then that lesson after, and lessons are blessings when I humble myself and allow myself to understand and receive the teachings. Most importantly, I have learned that good and right do not mean the same thing. Things that look or seem good are not always right. I have also learned that authenticity is a superpower, and we are told that we have to please everybody and to make people like us, although that’s not true, because to please everyone’s perception of me is a way of losing myself, and there are two quotes I love from the good book, and that is:
Mark 8:36-37
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Peer pressure does not end in middle school or high school, it still happens when you are an adult, this can also look like as underachieving yourself for the sake of others (forsaking yourself for others), just to conform and follow trends and culture. We all see it these days in social media, if you don’t agree with their agenda it gets canceled. It is not worth losing myself and doing something that does not align with me. Stay authentic to who you are, do your best and enjoy life, you are a gift, and your talents and skills are a gift. We are all problem Solvers. We all carry treasure within us, which are abilities because we are able to do many things. Furthermore, we just need to Reconnect back within ourselves. Remember who you were before the world told you who to be. Thank you, and many blessings to you all.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I love to read, the books I always recommend to others are:
The Bible: King James
I do enjoy reading the book I wrote to others that is titled “I Am A and I Have Many Gifts”
The Four Agreements by: Don Miguel Ruiz
this book has helped me so much by applying and practicing these agreements with myself and that is, to be impeccable of my word, don’t take things personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best.
Mastery of Love by: Don Miguel Ruiz
The Magic of Thinking Big by: David J. Schwartz
The Game of life by: Florence Scovel Shinn
The Inner Matrix: by Joey Klein
Understanding Your Potential Discovering the Hidden you by Myles Munroe
As A Man Thinketh by: James Allen
Audio I enjoy listening to that helped me unlearn and connect with my greatness is: Les Brown- Unstuck,
DISCOVERING AND RELEASING YOUR GIFT AND POTENTIAL TO POSITIVELY IMPACT THE WORLD. DR. MYLES MUNROE
Jim Rohn- How to take charge of your life
Earl Nightingale- The Strangest Secret
The Little Prince by: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Contact Info:
- Website: connecttoflowyoga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connect_to_flow_yoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connecttoflow/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johana-hernandez-15b621199/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@connecttoflowyogawithjohan6337/about