On Purpose with Jay Shetty - Jhené Aiko: On Learning to Love Yourself and Making Peace a Priority

Episode Date: December 21, 2020

Jhené is fascinated by roots — tree roots and her own roots. Making music that's connected to her own history is a way for her to learn more about who she is. On this episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Jay talks with Musician Jhené Aiko about how she finds peace in making music and how that music can be a source of peace for others. Jhené describes specific practices that have helped her connect both her peaceful side, and her wild side. You love On Purpose because it inspires your life. Have you tried Jay’s Genius workshops and meditations to access even deeper well-being? Learn more at https://shetty.cc/OnPurposeGenius See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, I'm Wilmer Valderrama, executive producer of the new podcast, Date My Abuelita First. Each week, the incredible Vico Ortiz and fabulous Abuelita Liliana Montenegro will play matchmaker for a group of hopeful romantics. Right, Vico? You know it. Listen to Date My Abuelita First, Thursdays on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do. Just do it better. Besitos. The Therapy for Black Girls podcast is your space to explore mental health, personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves.

I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, and I can't wait for you to join the conversation every Wednesday. Listen to the Therapy for Black Girls podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Take good care. It was all kind of like a metaphor for me, acknowledging all the different parts of myself that make me who I am and embracing my wildness. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. Thanks

to each and every single one of you that come back every week to listen, learn and grow. Now, I'm really, really looking forward to this next conversation because it's with someone who's been pouring their heart into making music about meditation, making it an opportunity for revelation in our own lives and making it about healing. Today, I'm talking with Janae Aiko about the sound healing and creative intention she pours into her music. Janae is a six-time Grammy-nominated R&B performer. In addition to her music career, she's a Barnes & Noble bestselling author and mother. Her new album, Chilombo, is absolutely phenomenal. It's a work of art, and it's truly been the album of the year of helping people this year get through their struggle, their pain, and their challenges. And I'm so glad to have this conversation

and share this space with her right now. So Janai, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so grateful to share this space with you. Thank you. Yeah. I want to start with asking you probably something totally random, but I saw the with asking you probably something totally random but i saw the other day you posted something on instagram which is where we connected and you posted adventure in your caption and then you were like what looked like next to an unearthed tree or it was like this crazy background can you tell us about what that place was? Yeah, so I was in Point Lobos, which is in Carmel. I think they call it the Central Coast. It's like up the California coast.

And it was like a hiking trail. And literally, while I was walking, I was looking at the roots. And I've been like obsessed with roots lately, like actual roots of trees and my own personal roots as well. And I saw them coming out while we were walking on the trail. And they were so smooth and shiny and strong. And I was just came upon this, like you said, it looked like almost like a tree had gotten like ripped from the ground and all the roots were exposed. And they were like, it was like a wall of roots. And so, yeah, that's what it was.

And I just thought it looked really cool. It did. It looked amazing. I caught my eye straight away and I couldn't wait to ask you about it because it looked like an incredible experience. And I'm more fascinated now because of what you just said of your fascination with roots. Tell us about both your fascination with the roots of trees, but then tell us about your own roots as well and what formed you into who you are. So I don't, the past maybe three, four years, I have been studying my family history.

And I feel like most of us sort of just, we only know what our parents and grandparents have told us. And, you know, some families, they do have more information about, you know, the family and the roots and like where everyone comes from. But my family is from all over. And I just remember hearing so many different things that when I, you know, like I said, maybe four or five years ago, I was like, I really want to figure out for myself, you know, and really study this, my family history. And so I did the DNA thing on Ancestry.com and the results were like, what?

Like these are, you know, like the results basically, I didn't know a lot of that information. So within that site, they take you to different records of the people in your family. And then it just keeps going deeper and deeper and deeper. And so those roots, I of course got super intrigued by, and I just felt more of myself and seeing pictures of, you know, these relatives that I knew nothing about, you know, even more so they pull up people that share your DNA. And so they'll about, you know? Even more so, they pull up people that share your DNA.

And so they'll pull, you know, first cousin, second cousin, third cousin, fourth cousin, fifth, sixth. And you see these people and you get to message each other. And I don't know, it's just such a fulfilling feeling to connect with people that are your family that you didn't know about, you know, and just learn about family. And I think part of me feeling more grounded today is discovering that my roots are so deep and so widespread. And so now when I look at trees and I see the roots, I'm just like, oh, this is like,

I'm a tree. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. It's such a grounding feeling. It's such a centering feeling of realizing that your roots are ancient and old and you've survived and your family's like thrived for this long. And the amount it's got through, I remember doing the test too, the ancestry.com test. And I remember finding out I was 77% South Asian, which is what I expected. But then I saw that I was 1% Native American. And that for me was just, I didn't realize that there was any part of me that was from anywhere else. And I agree with you when I started tracing it too,

it's phenomenal to see how interconnected we all are. I don't know if you've heard about one of my teachers, one of my monk teachers always talks about the redwood forest and the redwood trees. And I don't know if you've heard about their roots. So their roots do something really interesting. You've just sparked this. Their roots do something really interesting you've just sparked this their roots do something really interesting they don't grow down and far they actually grow across and

wide and they intertwine with other trees and so the other redwood trees that are like baby redwood trees they tie up with the big redwood trees and then all the trees share their nutrients through their roots across the whole network which i think that's amazing yeah it's unbelievable so yeah your fascination with roots is very uh it's very justified there's there's there's there's a lot to learn there but i was speaking to you earlier when we were just chatting briefly before about how you've really been bringing this spiritual energy into your music and and i i've really genuinely admired and had so many amazing meditative experiences listening to your work uh and and uh i want i want to start with where did your spiritual journey begin where did that journey for you kind of ignite before you

even thought about bringing it to your music my spiritual journey was ignited when I was I think I was like four or five Miyoko do you remember when um grandma passed away right I was maybe like four or five, I think. Didn't get to spend that much time with her, but I fell in love with her immediately. She, this little Japanese lady, she used to let me play with her wrinkles. She didn't speak a lot very quiet very just like cute to me she was like a kitten and she passed away and I was just like hmm and I remember asking my dad my dad who is a pediatrician he always would explain things to us in a very like science, scientifical way.

Is that the word? Yeah, scientific. Scientific. I'm sorry. Let me say that again. He would always explain things to us in a scientific way. So he, I'm like, well, where did she go? And he's like, well, she went to sleep

and she didn't wake back up. And I'm like, well, she went to sleep and she didn't wake back up. And I'm like, okay, so and then what about like her body? And he was like, they burned her body. And so in my mind, I'm like, they burned her body. Huh? You know, so I'm thinking of all of these things. And at the same time, we were preparing for her funeral, which was a Buddhist funeral. And I guess that was my first, that was my first funeral for sure, but my first sort of spiritual, you know,

encounter. And at the same time, my grandmother would take us to Sunday school to a Christian church and so I would hear about you know how I would hear about praying and praying to Jesus and God and so I was like so you know I knew the story of Jesus and now I'm learning about Buddha and I'm five and my grandmother has passed away and they said that she's burned you know they burned her body and but I'm like but I don't think that she just went you know she's not gone so just from that moment I was like almost even fascinated with death you know and like okay not not even necessarily trying to figure it out, but just kind of like, yeah, fascinated is the word. And loss as well.

Just, you know, always trying to figure out what different feelings mean. and I remember, sorry to jump back, but I remember when she passed, I think one day after, because our whole family would have to get together and practice like the ceremony for the offering of the incense and everything. And one day we were all doing that and I remember I went outside and I saw like butterflies flying around and I saw, like, butterflies flying around, and I was, like, talking to the sky.

Like, I literally remember being this little baby and, like, out loud saying, like, you know, talking to God and saying, you know, you can bring my grandmother back. Like, it's okay. I won't be scared, like, if she falls from the sky, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. bring my grandmother back. Like, it's okay. I won't be scared. Like if she falls from the sky, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I saw two butterflies go by and I was kind of like, when they flew by, I looked up in the window and my cousin, my older cousin was looking at me talking to myself. And so I was like, okay. But then I saw the butterflies and something about that moment kind of made me feel like, oh, okay, she's here. You know, she didn't have to like drop out of the sky type of thing. And just from that moment on every, I don't know, I've always been contemplative. You know,

I've always, when I was little, even I'm the youngest of five or I grew up in a household of five older, I mean, four older siblings. And so it was really loud. And most of that time I would just be like observing and just, you know, trying to figure things out or just staring at things. And just like, I feel like really I was like meditating on them now that I think about it. But yeah, so it really started at that moment. When was it where you started to realize this connection between your spiritual interests and music? Was that always there from the beginning of when you started your music journey? Or was that more when you felt a certain level of personal growth and personal confidence in what you were finding? When I first started my musical journey, I was 12 going on 13. personal growth and personal confidence in what you were finding?

When I first started my musical journey, I was 12 going on 13 and it was just fun. It was, you know, I was traveling and, you know, just meeting new people and it was just more so fun for me. I didn't really start to incorporate my own personal story into my music until I started going through my first little heartbreaks. And then when I had my daughter, by that time, I had been through a few things and I was really focused on putting my real story and my personal story into the music. And, you know, as you get older, you know, the more things that you go through. So obviously having my daughter was a spiritual experience. So I started, you know, making songs about that and just my love for her. And then when my brother passed in 2012,

that was like a, that was probably like the most pivotal moment in my life, but also in my, you know, music because I had so much to express. And it was such a, you know, I don't know the word. It was like a, it was soul changing. You know what I mean? It was something that really reworked my whole being and my whole perception of life and, you know, family and love and all of these things. my whole perception of life and, you know, family and love and all of these things.

And so as I started trying to figure out my emotions and how I felt about losing the closest person to me, I started, you know, like self-medicating and trying to escape and like trying to forget about it. And then obviously I'm like really small and I'm also just really sensitive. And so that took a toll on me for sure, like mentally, physically, spiritually. And having a daughter and watching as she got older, it was, you know, I recognized the responsibility of having, you know, a whole human being that I was really solely responsible for, you know. physically and mentally not all there because of how I had been trying to heal myself with these substances, I realized, okay, that's probably not the best way to get through this. And so, you know, throughout my life, I've read books about meditation and I've, you know, tried it and all these things.

But once I got to that point where I really was like, OK, this is like a life or death situation, then I really, really got into it. And, you know, my music is just a reflection of me and what I'm going through at that time. And so, you know, for the past several years, that's what I've been going through, you know, trying to heal and just evolve and ascend and, you know, be my, be the highest form of myself. Hola mi gente, this is Wilmer Valderrama, executive producer of the new podcast, Date My Abuelita First, part of iHeartRadio's My Cultura Podcast Network. Each week, host Vico Ortiz and Abuelita Liliana Montenegro will play matchmaker for a group of hopeful romantics who are putting their trust in Abuelita to find them a date. Your job right now is to get on Abuelita's really good site. Our Abuelita definitely knows best.

On Date My Abuelita First, three single contestants will buy for a date with one lucky main dater, except to get their heart, they have to win over Abuelita Liliana first. Ay, Liliana. Yes, we are ready for love. Through speed dating rounds, hilarious games, and Liliana's intuition, one contestant will either be a step closer to getting that pan dulce, if you know what I mean, or a step closer to getting that chancleta. Let's see if cheese puffs will fly or if these singles will be sent back to the dating apps. Listen to Date My Abuelita first on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. The Therapy for Black Girls podcast is the destination for all things mental health, personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. Here, we have the conversations that help Black women dig a little deeper into the most impactful relationships in our lives. Those with our parents, our partners, our children, our friends, and most importantly, ourselves. We chat about things like what to do when a friendship ends, how to know when it's time to break up with your therapist, and how to end the cycle of perfectionism. I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. And I can't wait for you to join the conversation every Wednesday.

Listen to the Therapy for Black Girls podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Take good care. Listen to Comeback Stories. You may have seen the work that I've done through my foundation. And you may know my friend and co-host Donnie Starkins as well. He's a mindfulness teacher, a yoga instructor, a life coach, a man fully invested in seeing people reach their fullest potential. And we've come to form this platform of Comeback Stories to really highlight not only our own adversity, but adversity in the lives of well-known guests with amazing stories. Catch us every week on Comeback Stories on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to be honest with you that sitting here listening to you is is um it's it's transforming

internally for me like it's it's wonderful to hear you think through and hear about reflecting on pivotal moments in your life because none of them sound easy and you're going through them so young and so to hear you actually share them in this way, I'm hoping that everyone who's listening and watching right now is feeling the same way, that they're feeling like they can reflect on their own life and find how these moments have made them stronger or made them more reflective or more meditative

or more introspective. Because as you said, all of these things that are happening are just trying to help us learn something and help us find something more about ourselves. And so when I hear you say that it was that moment where meditation became more real for you,

what else do you think happened at that moment that you feel like at such a young age, you've been able to develop that curiosity, but also resilience and that strength of who you are? I think a very pivotal moment in my life was, and I don't even remember, I think I was just in a bookstore and I liked, I was probably in the astrology section and right across from it was the

Eastern religion. And I saw a Thich Nhat Hanh book, Pieces Every Step. And at that point I was probably like 17 or 18. And I think I just liked, I. And I read it probably in two or three days. And when I was younger, I used to read books like that. But at that age, 17, I wasn't reading books, especially in two or three days. And it was so simple, so poetic. And I applied it immediately. And I just felt good. I felt good. I felt happy. And from there on, I would always get his new books and give them to people. And I think with meditation, it was the same thing. When I felt how it made me feel, then I was like, okay, this is something that I want to exercise. I want to practice this because I can feel physically, mentally,

I can feel physically, mentally, spiritually, everything. I just feel better. And the reason why I know we were probably going to talk about him, but this is just on my mind right now. The reason why I love Thich Nhat Hanh. Shout out to Julian for teaching me how to pronounce it correctly. I hope I said it right. You did. He states things so simply that anyone could understand. And the beautiful stories he tells to arrive to the lesson that he's teaching, it just makes it so much more impactful for me. And I love his

meditations as well. They're so simple. The red light meditation, take that moment to breathe into your belly. Things like that, that have helped me practice more of a meditation as more of a way of living and not just like meditate every day for this amount of time. It's more like breathing through every moment, difficult or not, you know? And, you know, it's something that I'm not perfect at or the best at or even in the top, you know, percentage of people that are great at it. But it's something that, like I said, as I get older and things get even more real, it comes in handy for sure. Can you share with our listeners the red light meditation so that they understand it more and then they can apply it too? Okay, so Thich Nhat Hanh says,

instead of viewing it like you're in traffic, you have to understand that you are the traffic. The red light meditation is every time you arrive at a red light, you come home to yourself. You take that red light as a bell of mindfulness to, you know, center yourself instead of viewing it as, oh, this red light is making me late and letting it frustrate you. It's more it's a moment to take for yourself and just breathe. Yeah. That's how I take it.

Yeah, that's wonderful. I share, we definitely share a love for Thich Nhat Hanh in a special way. I think he's absolutely phenomenal in the books that he's written, the work that he's done. And that example is a perfect synopsis of why he's so powerful because it takes a very simple concept

and something that we all deal with on a daily basis and turns it from how we usually view it to something that's so much more profound and meaningful for each and every one of us. And I think that's almost like what all of us need to become is every day we need to be able to take these very ordinary daily things and turn them into these extraordinary experiences rather than the other way around.

And so, yeah, thank you for sharing that. I love that. I hope everyone's going to try that, especially in LA traffic. I love driving too. So I feel, you know, when you said that, I was like, I feel the same way. I can go on a long drive for hours and just feel completely, you know, satisfied and fulfilled and hit as many red lights as I have to. Yes, exactly. I love that. So it seems like you've just, and I love what you said then. By the way, there's no one who's the perfect meditator or,

you know, we're all learning and working and figuring it out and and what I love about meditation is that when you feel you've reached a level there's just another level and there's just always this continuous awakening and I want to talk about how you've put so much intention into your creative expression because you're not just making music. You're actually creating art to help people heal. And when I view your, and I want my invite next time. I'm telling you that right now. I'm putting it on the record, but I was watching this video on YouTube and anyone who's listening or watching right now, you can go and check it out. It was your experience. You designed an immersive experience, Wisdom LA. Yes.

And I loved it because you had everyone like lying down and looking up and these absolutely phenomenal designs that look like the inside of someone's mind and then you were playing the soundball and the harp and chanting and and uh and singing and I was just like wow like this is a healing experience tell us about how how you came to create that and feel that that was how you wanted to share it yes that was a dream come true that hopefully I can take on tour sooner than later. When I was probably around the same time I started reading Thich Nhat Hanh, there is a store that my father loves.

It's not there anymore, huh? In Santa Monica. But they have lots of sound bowls, and it's like a spiritual, you know, new age store. And there was a Tibetan singing bowl. I picked it up, started playing it. I was just like, oh my God, this is the best feeling ever. Literally, like, I loved the feeling of my wrists going in a circle,

and obviously loved the sound and how it was making me feel. So I bought one and then I kept buying them. And I would just, you know, play them when I was feeling away or just when I was bored even just because I loved how they sound and how they make me feel. and fast forward to maybe five years ago, my friend Chrissy sent me a picture of this woman with all of these really pretty crystal bowls. And I was like, what? Like, what are these?

Cause I've seen the big white crystal bowls, but I had never seen them like so iridescent and just like in all these colors and sizes. And so I looked it up and I found the company and at the same time, you know, have been working on music and I guess even my album before Chalumbo, I wanted to incorporate more acoustic instruments, Before Chalumbo, I wanted to incorporate more acoustic instruments, you know, live drums, live flute, live. And I would collect these instruments from like different festivals and different places that I would travel. Because I just felt like you could feel them more than, you know, computer sounds.

And so I'm already incorporating those into the music, and then now I find these bowls, and I'm just like, duh, this is what I have to, they're so easy for me to play, and I thought they were easy for everyone to play, but I've actually seen, or have friends try, and they're like, oh, and I'm like, oh my God, maybe this is my instrument, you know? And so of course, yes, I'm going to put it in the music. So people would always come up to me and let me know, share stories about how my music helped them get through

something or help them, you know, make a decision or just, you know, all of these things that felt so much more than just someone saying, oh, like you're a great singer or, oh, you're so pretty or whatever. It would always be, you know, we would like a lot of times end up crying together because we, you know, their stories are so like touching to me. And they'll always say, your music really helped me. And when I'm creating the music, it's really just to get through, you know, what I'm going through and helping me, you know, express myself and transform whatever the feeling is into some type of art. And it's a release for me. So I started to realize that the reason why I'm so compelled to share that is because I think my purpose or one of my purposes is to help people

deal, you know, and heal, you know, deal and heel. When I discovered these crystal sound bowls and started playing them and then seeing how beautiful they were, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into my live shows. I started having this idea of like a lot of people listen to a lot of other types of music to like distract themselves. But that is no solution, you know, to distract themselves, but that is no solution to distract yourself. So I'm like, if I can give people experiences like this and music like this that maybe you do want to just put it on to forget about what you're going through or whatever, but when you're listening, there's that intention there and that real healing in there that is really going to resonate within your body and your spirit and actually help, you know, and help center you or ground you or, you know, whatever it is really

that you turned on the song for, that's what it's going to help. And so, yeah, I think that answers that. It does. It does. It does beautifully. Yeah, I recommend everyone go and watch the video and try and imagine you're in the experience. Craig Ferguson, the grandmaster, the architect of wisdom, Maharishi of mirth goes in search of joy. I'm here to help. He'll be speaking with actors, doctors, comedians, and scientists, artists and athletes, and people of faith in search of extreme happiness.

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When I started coming across mantra and frequency and vibration in these conversations around how healing could take place through music and through words and through language, now I can't sing to save my life. wanted for incredibly talented musicians uh to hopefully one day use their platform to do that because i just think that music's the most powerful thing in the world and as you said it's it can just be a distraction or it can truly be something that deeply touches the heart and and heals the heart even more than just touching and and uh to see you do it is just extremely hope-giving for me. And by the way, and it's different for different people. And this sounds totally random and strange, but like for me growing up,

listening to rap music was extremely healing because for me, being able to listen to someone who had a tougher experience than I did, but giving me the permission to be able to express how I felt. And so I would sit and write poetry or spoken word when I was younger. Again, I can't sing, but I would write and I would share and I would think. And I think even now when I journal or when I wrote my book, or even when I do the podcast, for me, language is so powerful and words is so powerful. And when you put that to music or you put that to sound, it's, it's out of this world. And so, yeah, I felt like that was a universal experience

that you were putting people into. There was, there's also the other one that I've used of yours before, which was the, uh, the one that was for triggers. And, and that's another great example of how you're creating stuff that's very specific for people. Tell us about why you created that one and where that one came from. So I was working on my album, which just means I'm living life and creating music at the same time. I was going through a period of time where I felt very triggered. When I was at the peak of feeling triggered, I recorded a song called Triggered. And it was a freestyle. And I just kind of just like,

let it all out. And immediately after I felt, you know, a release and I felt calm. And I was working with my sound bowls at the time as well. And I'm like, I'm going to do a mantra or a song. We call it modern mantra that can hopefully help people not reach that point of feeling enraged or chaotic or out of control. Because I know for me, I can overraged or chaotic or, you know, out of control. Because I know for me, I can create a song when I'm feeling like that, but, you know, other people need other outlets or a lot of the times they'll, they will turn to music. And so that was the, that was the cool down of feeling triggered or the, you know, or for me, yeah, it was, it was more like a, my intention was to have it be, when you feel triggered, turn this on. And I use it for myself too. I still do.

Like on the plane and stuff like that. If I just need to calm down for anything, I'm like, oh, this actually is working. Because I got with my sound bowl teacher, Gerilyn, and picked bowls that were very intentional. my sound bowl teacher, Gerilyn, and picked bowls that were very intentional, you know, picked notes and alchemies of the bowls that were really going to aid in how it resonates within everyone that listens to it. So. Yeah, no, it works. It's awesome. Like I said, I've used it. I've shared it with people. I think it's beautiful. And again, if you're listening or watching, we'll put the links to all of this that I'm recommending because I'd love for you to use it.

And I'd love for you to share with Janae and I on Instagram how you're finding it because I think these are just really powerful tools. Like we always need something. I often say to people like when you're hungry, you don't panic because you know if you eat that you'll be satisfied. But when we're anxious or when we're triggered

or when we're nervous or when we're stressed, we just create more panic because we haven't yet found the tool, the substance, the mindset that satiates that hunger. And so, but we have to view it the same. There's no need to panic. It's about finding that connection of what activity or mindset can help with that.

Kind of circling back to you talking about your roots and obviously this album being called Chilombo, which is your name, your second name, your surname, your family name. It's interesting that we started talking about roots. And you can see that in your work again, of going that, tell us about the importance of using that name and why that was so symbolic for you right now? So my father chose the name Chilombo for himself when he was in his 20s, I believe. And growing up, I don't remember when I learned that, but it was pretty early.

And I don't know, it made me feel like disconnected from it. And then being in school, people would not really make fun of it, but they couldn't pronounce it. And so it was kind of just like always annoying to me. And I always would say, I can't wait to get married so I could change my last name. And as I got older, I really started to love it and love how it sounds and love how it looks.

And I started asking my dad more questions about why he chose that name. And he has lots of different breakdowns of why he chose the name, the spelling, everything. And then doing my own research, I found out it was a word and I believe it's pronounced Chichua Chilombo means wild beast in that language and I was like oh that's cool I like that I like that and so for me it was all kind of like a metaphor for me like accepting myself and really acknowledging all the different parts of myself that make me who I am and embracing my wildness and embracing all that I am. Whether people don't understand it, whether they can't pronounce it, whether they think that I'm not really connected to that last name because it's not, you know, because my father

chose it himself. So yeah, that was me just embracing all that I am. And the fact that it means wild beasts, I loved because I love dragons. I was born in 1988, which is the year of the dragon. and just dragons are like cool obviously I always wanted to be in the year of the dragon I'm 1987 so I just missed out almost

but no I just I think it's a beautiful creature but it can be destructive but it's also graceful and I'm just like yes I feel like I'm all of these things and I feel like Chilumbo represents all of these things. And I feel like the album also represents all of these things. It's not just me pretending to be perfect and, you know, I'm this healing, this healer. You know, it's like I'm going through these real things and I'm dealing with them and

I'm practicing how to heal and it's just you know all of that coming together is Chalempo. That's a beautiful definition. I love that. Yeah it's so interesting because I guess we live in a world of chosen names as well whether people are actors or musicians or you know and the fact that your father chose a name it's it is it is almost powerful to come up with our own names and our own identities or because so often we don't feel connected right or we don't have a vision or a or a symbol for who we are. And it's almost like getting closer to that

is such a powerful thing. Like as we've realized that icons and symbols and visuals are so important in our lives, whether it's as simple as an emoji or whether it's a real, you know, it's a real emblem of who we stand for and what we are. Like, but we see mascots, we see that visualizing of who we are

everywhere and sometimes the only visual we don't have is of us facts and uh yeah it's it's it's nice to hear that definition of salambo we also came up with um me and my dad who i've gotten closer to as an adult um we came up with our own little breakdown of it. So chi is life, energy, force. What comes after chi? El. So love. The L is for love.

Om. The sound of the universe. B, which comes from the foot in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian hieroglyphics. B, which comes from the foot in Egyptian hieroglyphics, is the base, foundation. And then O is everything and nothing, all encompassing.

Circle of life. Yes, circle of life. And so that's how we broke down, Chilambo. What do you think is a message that the universe has had for you over and over again that you've been learning surrender um let go probably yeah which same thing but let go and i'm constantly because that's constantly in my head but i don't think it's in my,

I think it's coming from the universe. Let go and love, love. It definitely has an O in it. Let go or love. Just be. just be I think I think that I get a lot of messages from the universe

one thing that I used to do when I was younger that I didn't understand was probably considered now a meditation is I would sit in the sun because it felt good and just breathe. And every time after maybe five minutes, I would start getting these

very clear, in my head head they were just like one liners you know it would be like um like little quotes almost and I would be like

what you know it might just it didn't feel like I was thinking of them it just felt like they were coming to me and it's something that I still do now

that just feel like little downloads from the universe from the sun from just the atmosphere I don't know. So yeah, when I do that and when I'm really there in that moment breathing, it's just very clear messages that I usually write down. I used to tweet them um at one point when I was younger and then I felt like I couldn't give

it away as soon as I got it I had to like process it process it and meditate on it and and really understand what what does that mean and so now I do that a lot more I still write them down for myself but um yeah yeah I love that you when I. When I'm hearing you speak today, like I feel like, and obviously this has taken work, but you feel very in touch with your intuition and your like inner voice. Tell us about that journey because I think a lot of people who listen sometimes struggle with like, well, I don't know whether this is really my intuition or whether it's my ego or whether it's my ego or whether it's my inner voice or actually, is it just my mind that's just how, yeah. Tell us a bit

about how you clarify the difference between the two for yourself and how you've become closer to your intuition. Yeah. I think that is more of a recent development within myself. I think naturally when I was younger, like, you know, in like grade school, it was my intuition and I knew it. But as I got older and more jaded by life, the voices grew and they multiplied and I just felt like, oh my God, I'm crazy, you know? And then in the line of work that I do, I just started to get a lot of anxiety about things and just really doubt myself. And I feel like people close to me recognize it and um my friend felicia who um she's amazing she

actually has well yeah okay my friend i always go on like a go off topic um my friend felicia we were that's what podcasts are for you could You can go as many tangents as you like. We're not, yeah. Yeah, okay. So me and my two friends, Ari and Felicia, we decided to go on a trip to the Esalen Institute. Have you heard of that? I have.

I haven't been there. It's amazing. A little retreat. And she got me this book called, I think I remember the name of the book, Silencing Your Inner Critic. Because she was doing my makeup at the time. And, you know, it would always,

she would see me so stressed before shows or after shows. And I would be like, how was it? Like, oh, I felt like, yeah, you know, I would just be like so frustrated. And she she we never talked about it she just like gave me that book so I'm like oh okay you see that I'm dealing with something right now um and really that book had so many great um points and really helped me realize that I'm not these voices I'm the observer of these you know I'm I'm that I'm not these voices. I'm the observer of these.

I'm listening. I'm not them. And so from that point on of reading that book, I started listening to my thoughts differently and saying, okay, hi. Okay, that's fine. But you don't decide who I am or how I feel. And reading more books that are, you know, just started yours.

Thank you. You're familiar with Dr. Joe Dispenza. Yes. He's been on the podcast too. Oh, amazing. Amazing. Becoming Supernatural. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. the podcast too oh amazing amazing um becoming supernatural um the seven spiritual laws of success just practicing because i was once again realizing that the habit of um listening to these

voices in my head and letting them control how i feel about myself and how I move daily, I was mindful enough to see that it was not the best, you know, it wasn't the best practice. So now I just practice, you know, the right things. Now I practice doing things that I feel like are best for me and my development as a person. More audio books in the car opposed to music or no music. Silence. Yeah, silence.

I drive in silence all the time. There's never really silence also, I realize. There's always something. We usually end every episode with something called the final five. This is a fast five round, which means every answer is either one word or one sentence maximum. One word or one sentence. Correct. Okay. Are you or one sentence. Correct. Okay.

You ready? Yes. Okay. Sine Aika, this is your fast five. The first question is, what has helped your mental health this year? Sleep. Second question,

how do you personally refuel after pouring your heart into an album? Sleep. Sleep again? Third question. What's the biggest lesson you've learned in the last 12 months? Through difficult situations, when my energy feels all tangled up inside of me, up inside of me is rather than try to get through it with that anxious energy to slow down and to breathe through those moments. Question number four, what's something that you are

confident about that others may disagree with you on? There's nothing cuter, nothing more precious or magnificent as a cat. I always wanted a little cub, like always. Get a cat. Yeah. Or a lion cub. Just get a cat. Probably a cat. All right, fifth and final question

if you could create one law that the whole world had to follow what would it be? share your food share your home share your ideas

share everything and it'll be always in exchange and no one would go without that's a beautiful answer very unique we've never had anyone say that that's awesome And it'll be always in exchange and no one would go without. That's a beautiful answer. Very unique.

We've never had anyone say that. That's awesome. Everyone, Janaye Aiko, Chilamba, the album. Please, please, please go and check out all the links that we're going to put into the bio here. Janaye, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for having me. This was so beautiful, so special. Thank you.

I hope it's the start of a lifelong friendship. I look forward to it. And I'm so deeply grateful to have had you on the show. Everyone who's been listening or watching back at home, or whether you're at the gym, or whether you're walking, or you're walking your cat or your dog, please, please, please tag me and Janaye on Instagram and share what resonated with you, what connected with you. What is it that she mentioned that you're going to practice or try out in your life? We'd love to hear. We'd love to see that. And again, I'll see you next week on On Purpose. Thank you again, Janaye. Thank you. Thank you so much. this podcast was produced by dust light productions our executive producer from

dust light is misha yusuf our senior producer is juliana bradley our associate producer is jacqueline castillo valentino rivera is our engineer our music is from blue dot sessions and special thanks to Rachel Garcia, the dust light development and operations coordinator. Thank you. ministry and I know that well about me. That's the G, honey. Whoever it is, you can bet we get into it. My guest and I, we go there every single time. I can't help it. Listen to the Laverne Cox Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On his new podcast, Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon, join Kevin for inspiring conversations with his friends and

fellow celebrities who are working to make a difference in the world, like actor Mark Ruffalo. with Kevin Bacon, join Kevin for inspiring conversations with his friends and fellow celebrities who are working to make a difference in the world, like actor Mark Ruffalo. You know, I found myself moving upstate in the middle of this fracking fight, you know, and I'm trying to raise kids there. And, you know, my neighbor's like willing to poison my water. Listen to Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.