We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alondra Taveras a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alondra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
After so many years of continuous heartbreak i started to see the patterns in my romantic relationships. i decided to track these habits that led me to look more intimately at my childhood and my parents. i was quickly able to see my parents and grandparents stories in my experience and that was very unsettling. what first came to mind was how in the christian church growing up the pastor spoke about these generational curses. i recalled he spoke about how it come down to someone in the lineage being able to finally break free of those chains. i knew i was chosen and had to take matters into my own practice as i was no longer part of the church but initiated into IFA, an african spiritual practice.
i felt my maternal lineage urging me to tend to it, to nurture it and more importantly to simply be acknowledged. i grew up in a Dominican first generation household raised in Queens, NY and emotional intelligence was not my families priority. these stories needed to be suppressed, forgotten, buried and burned according to my elders even though their alcoholism spoke a different story..
over the years i acquired tools to self heal including becoming a Reiki Master, practicing being in ritual, communing with my ancestors and nature for support. today, ten years later in practice, i host a virtual Womb Healing Course, Destination Healing Retreats in the Caribbean and support expecting parents looking to be intentional about bringing their young into this world as an international Doula.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a queer, two spirited Aborisha born on the island of Ayiti (present day Dominican Repubic) and east coast raised. A healer actively healing, an alchemist of energy, plants and the elements. I’ve been intentionally expanding my gifts as a Medium and Reiki Master for over 10 years. Within this practice, intergenerational healing around womb, sexual, sensual, childhood & self-worth traumas are usually at the center.
As a first generation Dominican child, I grew up with many ingrained stories of how I should live my life. It usually centered cis-men, european beauty standards and required me to work/study real hard to make something of myself. Over the many years of reprogramming, I have acquired tools to cultivate self love, process my romantic/platonic patterns and learned familial behaviors through ritual and healing ceremonies.
Through my practice I have made room to be able to truly be in a state of receiving. Once in that state, I could truly start listening to exactly what it is my spirit desires breath by breath. Womb healing has supported my ability to create the life I want to live, grounded in the eternal. I work closely with my ancestors and spirits council to heal inherited wounds at their roots.
Bruja Island is the paradise we deserve to transform in.. soft, compassionate, tender, spacious and patient. Bruja Island is a house of healing centering queer & melanated communities journeying with you through the gifts of storytelling, spiritual consultation, guided ritual/ceremony, themed healing retreats, and 1 on 1 virtual or cohort courses.
My offerings support folx to cultivate spiritual intimacy with everyday rituals & ceremonies that connect to your higher self/spirit team(s). Spiritual intimacy helps you move with greater intention, protection, and confidence in who we really are, where we come from and who walks with you.
I offer suggestions and services that have supported me along my journey to bring balance between the highs and lows. Take what is for you to use on your own ase (essence) and cultivate your own magic. There’s a few things I know to be true in this reality and one of them is that life is going to keep happening. What changes is how you decide to respond.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
authenticity! there’s nothing people want more than to be able to relate. in the healing world, folks want to know they are not alone in these traumas and family dynamics. we all have a story of how dysfunctional our upbringing was. i take the time to share my personal experience and am very vulnerable with my audience. i am an open book to them because my work is based on my lived experienced and that cannot be sugar coated. folks want to hear about the bad things that happened! social media has become a place of picture perfectness and i love to just keep it real.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
talking to folks in person is my best source of new clients. people enjoy engaging with me in real time, hearing about my life of travel and living abroad. story telling!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brujaisland.com
- Instagram: @brujaisland
Image Credits
Hestia Photography