Your Body Knows When It's Time for a Fresh Start | Ep. 76

Have you ever felt that undeniable urge to completely reinvent yourself? That deep knowing that something needs to shift in your life, even when everything looks fine on the surface?

Reinvention is calling us all the time - sometimes in whispers, sometimes in shouts. It might manifest as a desire to transform your appearance, pivot your career path, or explore new creative mediums. But reinvention goes far deeper than appearance. Often it's about reconnecting with parts of ourselves we've lost touch with - that childlike creativity, that forgotten passion, that buried dream. Sometimes it requires letting go of old identities to make space for who we're becoming. The most powerful truth I've learned is that resisting reinvention only delays our growth. When that desire for change knocks at your door, don't turn it away. It's a signal that something in your current state needs realignment, an opportunity to bring yourself closer to home.

As we celebrate National Minority Health Month, remember that reinvention starts with listening to your body - truly tuning in to what it needs for rest, nourishment, and stress relief. Whether your transformation happens through dramatic changes or subtle shifts over time, embrace it as a natural, necessary part of your journey toward authenticity. What part of your life is calling for reinvention right now?

Episode Resource:

• Cheers to the Many Versions of You: The Feminine Urge to Reinvent Yourself

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Theme Music:
She No Dull Beat by Nana Kwabena
Festivities in Belize by RAGE Productions

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Wellness Tip
• 3:30 Understanding Reinvention's Many Forms
• 6:14 Hair as Personal Rebellion
• 8:41 Embracing Lifestyle Changes
• 10:02 Final Thoughts and Gratitude

Transcript

Aliya Cheyanne: 1:21

Testing testing one, two, three. Testing testing one, two, three. Hey friend, welcome back to the show. I'm so happy that you're here, thank you for tuning in and, if you haven't already, be sure to rate and review the show and share this podcast with a friend. April is National Minority Health Month, so before we jump into today's topic, I wanna share a quick wellness tip that aligns with the episode, and that is listen to your body.

Aliya Cheyanne: 1:51

Reinvention starts with self-awareness. Pay attention to body signals for rest, nourishment and stress relief. Don't ignore persistent pain, fatigue or discomfort. Seek medical advice early rather than waiting. The feminine urge to reinvent yourself, I feel like this, is one that so many of us know so well, and reinvention can look different depending on who you're talking to or who you're dealing with. For some of us, that might be a new and refreshed look, from our hair to our makeup choices or to our style. For others, reinvention might look like a career pivot, either by choice or by force, perhaps a new field, perhaps a new area of study, perhaps an unexpected change that friends and family around us may not even understand. For those of us who are creative, reinvention might look like a new medium.

Aliya Cheyanne: 2:58

When I was younger, I loved poetry. I loved to write poems and to pour my feelings out and express things that way. As I've gotten older, poetry hasn't so much been my thing, but I found other mediums that allow me to be creative in ways that feel good. That includes this podcast. That includes writing and pouring into writing projects. That also includes low-pressure creative play that has nothing to do with creative ventures that I take more seriously. It could be a random art class or a random hands-on activity that allows me to just play and experiment with colors and texture and canvases and canvases and all kinds of other tools. I've actually been introduced to so much creative play in this season of my life. It's been really nice. I've made things and painted things that I would have never expected. I even made my first collage recently and, like, used different tools to cut out images and different types of glue to stick things on and just allowed myself to play and be free.

Aliya Cheyanne: 4:13

Reinvention looks different for everyone and we all feel the need for reinvention at some point. I think it's natural to want to resist the change, but I think it serves us so much better to lean in to the call. When the desire for reinvention comes knocking at your door, don't turn it away. It's a wake-up call to tell you that something changed in your current state or something in your current life is out of alignment, and it's an opportunity to make necessary changes to hopefully bring you closer home to yourself again.

Aliya Cheyanne: 4:53

I can't tell you how many times I've reinvented myself with my hair. Now we know in this society, hair continues to hold a lot of weight. People associate hair with beauty, with femininity. Depending on the texture of your hair, people will call it beautiful or ugly. So many projections and thoughts and opinions and ideas about hair, and for me, hair has always been a point of rebellion.

Aliya Cheyanne: 5:26

Like many millennial Black women, I grew up getting relaxers, unfortunately. I went natural in high school and I've always kept my hair natural. Since then, I've just dibbled and dabbled in different ways to protect it or grow it. That's included shaving it off multiple times and growing it back out again with braids, wearing afros all kinds of styles you cannot imagine. I have pictures from back in the day that I just don't even want to see the light of day anymore, because I experimented with my hair. I have pictures from back in the day that I just don't even want to see the light of day anymore because I experimented with my hair. I have pictures from back in the day that I just don't even want to see the light of day anymore. I have pictures from back in the day that I just wouldn't even want to bring to light now because of all the crazy things I have done with my hair.

Aliya Cheyanne: 6:19

But this season of reinvention and this season of creativity has allowed me the opportunity to be more creative and more fun with my hair in ways that I haven't been in a long time. Child, I even had locks for a couple of years. Once upon a time this is not a joke. Lately I've been growing my hair back out for the last year and I've been wearing braided baldies to help me do it back out for the last year, and I've been wearing braided baldies to help me do it, and it's been so fun to play around with my hair and to test out different styles. Reinvention for me has looked like getting back in touch with my childlike self, who loved to do different things with my hair and express myself in that way. It's been fun to wear these braided baldies and have flowers, hearts, butterflies, waves, squiggles, loops and all kinds of designs braided into my hair. It's a fun conversation starter and it's fun to rock and wear. Reinvention for me in this season also looks like making lifestyle changes. I've talked about it on this show quite a bit, but I definitely want to move into the healthiest version of myself, and that's requiring me to eat healthier, to move my body more, to stay active and to put more care, time and attention into myself.

Aliya Cheyanne: 7:44

Reinvention isn't always quick. Sometimes it's subtle shifts over time and before you know it, we look back and we're a totally different person. Sometimes reinvention requires a new perspective or a new attitude or a new approach to our creativity and our art. Sometimes we have to let go of old identities of ourselves to make space for new ones. In this season of my life, I'm doing my best to lean into reinvention with ease, to not resist change so much, because, although we may be creatures of habit, change is one of the few things in this life that we are promised, and I love the idea of reinventing myself over and over and over again and becoming more and more and more of myself, particularly the older I get.

Aliya Cheyanne: 8:38

I want to remind you that reinvention is a natural, necessary part of growth, and particularly reinvention is a natural, necessary part of growth and particularly, reinvention is a natural and necessary part of creativity, purpose and alignment. So keep that in mind the next time reinvention comes knocking at your door and asking you for change. Be sure to try out this week's wellness tip and let me know how it impacts you. Friend, thanks for tuning in to another short but sweet episode. If this episode resonated with you, please be sure to tell a friend, to tell a friend and to rate and review the show wherever you're listening to it right now. Thank you for lending me your time, your energy and your ears, and I appreciate you for being here, your energy and your ears, and I appreciate you for being here. Have a great rest of your day or night and I'll catch you on the next episode. Bye.