We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tisha Marina Bernard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tisha Marina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
One of the greatest and surprising risk I have taken is saying YES to the hula hoop. What am I talking about? I will explain. Over 20 years ago, I went to a party and there were some women dancing with hoops. But the hoop was doing all these amazing tricks all over their body! As a dancer, I was intrigued on so many levels. I wanted to know more so I approached them to ask them about what they were doing, and they replied, “Hoop dancing.” One of them gave me their contact info to learn more, and I was on a mission. First, I said YES to myself to go on this mission. To follow the fire that was alive within me. I went to buy a toy hoop and tried to do what they were doing. The hoop kept falling and I was instantly discouraged. So, I called the woman up and she invited me to come buy a hoop from her. From there, I learned that these hoops were hand made from special material which made them easier to use. My friend and I both bought one and immediately began to practice every day. We took our hoops to Venice Beach, set up with a boom box and tip bucket. We did this all summer and gathered audiences! One day a woman asked if she could buy some hoops for her school. So, I said YES. The thing is I had no idea how to make them, so I reached back out to the original person I bought them from, and she taught me. I began to sell hoops and made a nice side hustle. One day at a friend’s BBQ, I showed some of my new friends the tricks I was learning. A person at the party asked if I would be interested to come perform at their venue. So, I said YES. I had never performed with my hoop before, but clearly it was time. From there I began to book hoop gigs all over the place! I then took my hoops to my after-school dance program for “at-promise” kids, and they loved them. Shortly after, I was approached by a woman doing a documentary on the resurgence of the hula hoop, and how people were using them to change their lives. She asked me if I would be in the film. So, I said YES. I then became one of the featured artists in the documentary, The Hooping Life. I haven’t stopped hooping to this day. The hoop continues to bless me and take me on so many fun adventures. All because I said, YES! In conclusion, I want to thank my ancestors as well for delivering me the sacred hoop. Once I learned of the hoop’s Indigenous rich history, I knew I was on the right path.
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.
Blessings readers. Thank you for taking your time to read a bit about my story. My name is Tisha Marina Bernard. I am here on this planet to be a vessel of service. I strongly believe in social justice and creating a world accessible to all.
Professionally, I am dancer, Holistic Life Coach, LMFT, Restorative Justice Facilitator, Certified Peace Ambassador and educator.
Spiritually, I am an initiated Shamanic Practioner of the Andean Medicine. I am a firekeeper in the lineage of the Mexica/Aztec people as well as a danzante.
These are simply only a few paths that I am walking on. More than anything, I am a spiritual being having a human experience and no label can put me in a box. I am a free spirit meant to fly.
For fun, I love eating frozen strawberries, love laughing, enjoy reading a whole book in one sitting, can swim for hours, love taking naps, been known to dance under the moon and kids are some of my favorite people to hang out with.
To learn a bit more about me, please keep reading….
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I am going to share a personal story about my resilience. It’s vulnerable, but I have a platform here to tell it, so I am. My hope is that it reaches someone else who has felt lost on the same journey I am about to share. I need them to know they are not alone. I must start with a disclaimer. This is MY story and journey. I cannot speak for others; I can only share my personal journey. It can be a controversial topic as I have learned from sharing in the past, and am only speaking from my personal experience.
I have lived a hard life and been through hell and back. Most people have. Yet, my strongest resilience I have shown myself is, getting off pharmaceutical drugs. I have been on them for over 20 years of my life. I knew it was time to stop when my body began to reject them, was not functioning properly, and my health was not well. I had done decades of different methods of therapy and healing, and I was ready to be off them. What I did not realize was that I was not ready for the withdraws. Doctors told me there would be no side effects, and for me that was not the truth. Within a week of going off, I was suicidal, could not sleep, eat, and could barely function. I would call my friends daily so they could keep me alive. Literally. If I did get sleep, I would wake up in panic attacks. It became hard to breathe, and high anxiety was present every waking minute. I went to over six different doctors who only offered the solution of going back on several different medications. Each doctor told me my symptoms were not real, that I was just mentally ill, and I just needed to be on a new medication.
I spent every day debating on whether I knew really needed them or not. The withdraws had me doubting myself most of the time. But my resilient spirit kept me going, as the deepest part of my soul knew they were now toxic to my body and soul. I spent close to a year living this way.
A Facebook support group is what ultimately saved my life. I found a support group for people coming off the medication I was on. Suddenly I was surrounded by thousands of people who shared similar experiences and symptoms. Now, the panic attacks at 2am I was experiencing were backed up by people going through the same thing. The suicide ideation that I knew was not from my own spirit, was talked about by hundreds of others. In this space, I learned I was not alone and that we were all suffering this lonely journey together. In this space, we discussed sources of healing and supported each other to make it through. I am forever indebted to finding this group of strangers who helped save my life.
I eventually went back on a low dose as my body was going through withdraws too hard. I was about to lose my job, my friends, and anything else I had worked so hard for. I felt I had no choice. I am currently on a small dose, simply so I can function, but my goal is to be off them completely within the next year. To this day my GI system is damaged, my central nervous system is compromised, and I constantly have auto-immune problems because of the pharmaceuticals.
To wrap this up and be clear, I am not against pharmaceuticals. They serve a purpose and have saved lives. What I can’t stand for is, not being properly educated and guided throughout the process of taking them and their true side effects. I don’t stand for doctors (or anyone) that tell me that what I am experiencing is not real and that there is something wrong with me. I am grounded in my truth, and it has set me free.
To learn more, please watch the documentary, Medicating Normal.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I am dedicated to deconstructing and decolonizing emotional wellness and mental health. The darkness I endured in this life has led me on a mission to help others find their own light again. And I have spent decades to find different healing avenues that have proved to me they work. One has been my commitment to walking the Red Road, following my Indigenous ancestors through keeping our ancient traditions alive. Sweat Lodges, Sundance and numerous ceremonies have helped me find my way back home to self. Learning the ancient traditions of ancestral medicine healers have also helped me find my way to well-being. This is the medicine that existed before there were medications. Going to school to become a licensed therapist has helped me to understand trauma, how it shows up in the body and psyche and so many tools to manage the pain it brings.
When I was put on medications, yes, I was depressed. I was depressed because I was traumatized and deeply hurt by the toxic environments I found myself in. Depression is a natural result of that. What I really needed was therapy, someone to understand me and show me some love. How many other people are in this same situation? Life gets hard, and we live in a society that automatically medicates versus addressing the actual root causes.
I now incorporate everything I have learned and use it through my Holistic Life Coaching and therapy. When someone tells me what they are feeling and experiencing, I don’t immediately diagnosis them. Instead, we dive in to reveal the root causes and go from there. I use my Shamanic healing practices to clear generational trauma and do soul retrievals. My goal is helping individuals explore all their natural options before becoming medicated.
One of the simple skills I learned and now teach is through Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). The intention is to simply change our words. I used to say, “I am depressed.” Now when I am going through it, I simply say, “I am experiencing depression.” Stating that I am depressed puts me in a box and makes me feel like that label. I am not depression. I am a spiritual warrior having a human experience. From this place, I am on a mission. I am on a mission to help guide individuals back to their true nature, a Divine being made whole. I deeply want this for all beings.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tishamarina.com
- Instagram: tisha_sacredhoop
- Facebook: Tisha Marina Bernard
- Linkedin: Tisha Marina Bernard
- Youtube: The Blaxican Militia https://www.youtube.com/@theblaxicanmilitia5670