Gaja Boheme

day 8 of my 14-day self preservation challenge.

i’m more than halfway through…and honestly…the most noticeable shift hasn’t been physical. it’s been presence. i feel more grounded in my body. more here.

which makes sense, because that’s exactly what i’ve been teaching.

this week i’ve been doing my own lymphatic work and assisting in teaching reiki. and there’s something humbling about being a student and a teacher at the same time. you can’t pour from a place you haven’t visited yourself. you can’t guide someone into their body if you’ve been avoiding yours.

that’s what self preservation actually means to me. it’s not bubble baths and early bedtimes. it’s the commitment to tend to yourself with the same intention you bring to everything and everyone else.

lymphatic work has been a big part of that. not because it’s trendy. because it works on a level most people don’t expect. it’s not just physical. it touches the nervous system, the breath, the places where we hold things we haven’t named yet.

some people call that regulation. some call it energy work. i’m starting to think it’s both.

When you pour into others, what does coming back to yourself actually look like for you?

I used to feel like I was going crazy. Mood swings I couldn’t explain. Exhaustion that sleep didn’t fix. Cravings that had nothing to do with discipline. Cycles that made no sense. I kept trying harder and the body kept pushing back.

Nobody told me these things were connected. Nobody told me there was a name for the full picture.

PCOS is now being reframed as PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome) and that shift matters. The old name pointed at ovaries. The new name finally points at the whole body: hormones, metabolism, nervous system, inflammation, cycles. All of it.

What helped me most was not another protocol. It was understanding my symptoms as signals. Cravings are not weakness. Exhaustion is not laziness. Shutdown is not failure. The body adapts. When the environment becomes too much…physically, emotionally, metabolically…it starts communicating.

Learning to decode those signals instead of fight them changed everything for me.

Swipe through for the full breakdown. And if you want the free Body Signal Decoder I made from my own journey, comment PMOS below and I will send it to you directly. 🤍

These were my party days lol. I loved clubbing. Loved the bars. Loved my drinks. And before you think this is “that kind” of post, it’s not. I’m not here to bash any of it. If anything, those were some really dope times in my life!

I stopped drinking in 2022. And it wasn’t this dramatic turning point or some big spiritual awakening moment. My body just stopped agreeing with it. I even tried a mimosa in 2023 just to see. Didn’t sit right. And that was that.

One thing that has never changed about me is that I was always the “hippie” of the group. That was always there. What changed were the practices, the rooms I was walking into, and honestly, how I felt in my own skin.

The “spiritual community” has created a very specific and honestly exhausting image of what waking up is supposed to look like. My body rejected alcohol. That was my journey. It is not the blueprint.

This post is for anyone still in that chapter. Or in the post-chapter. Still carrying a little guilt or shame about who you used to be or what you used to do.

“Awakening” shows up differently for everyone. For me it was alcohol. For someone else it might be sugar. A non-active lifestyle that suddenly shifts into running marathons. A relationship pattern that no longer fits. A job that stops making sense. It shows up in the places your body and spirit are quietly asking you to pay attention.

And I’m still in it. Sugar is something I continue to work through. I’m still noticing things in myself that I want to move forward from. That’s why I always say healing is a spiral, not a straight line. You’re going to find different places in your life that need some light.

You don’t need to be a “holy” person. That doesn’t exist. The real “healers” (and yes I’m still a little funny about that word) have actually been through real s**t. They know what it’s like from the inside. And no certification can top that.

Meet our final guest activator. 🌿

Iosellev “Josie” Castañeda Morales is a modern day Curandera. Introduced to the practice of Curanderismo at an early age, she was raised with it as a way of life. Today she serves her Miami community as a Yerbera (a traditional folk herbalist) bringing ancestral medicine into the lives of those ready to receive it.

Josie is the creator of and the author of Latine Herbalism: A Beginner’s Guide to Modern Curanderismo, Healing Plants, and Folk Traditions of the Americas. In it she shares remedios y rituales for modern times; honoring the roots while making the wisdom accessible.

Often called a genuine healer, Josie walks with people on the path of self healing and self discovery with depth, joy, and clarity.

I have personally received a limpia from Josie and own her book. When I was building this workshop, I knew immediately she had to be in this room. Her lineage, her knowledge, and the way she carries this medicine…it just made sense. Having a published Curandera close out Day 2 with a traditional cleansing ceremony is not something you find at most herbal trainings. This is what makes the Sacred Alchemist Workshop different.

We are so grateful to have her.

This container is now complete. And so are our spots.
The Sacred Alchemist: Herbal Alchemy Workshop is officially sold out! 🥹🫶🏼

Thank you to everyone who trusted the vision and said yes. We cannot wait to be in the room with you.

April 25 & 26, 2026 | Delray Beach, FL 🌀