AYO HANDY KENDI SENDS GREETINGS TO THE AFRICAN DELEGATION IN MOBILE FOR JUNETEENTH

MEET AYO HANDY KENDI


AYO HANDY KENDI has assisted in the growth and development of individuals and communities for over 30 years. PositivEnergyWorks™ is her recent venture which is a health service focusing on breathwork, alternative therapies and life coaching using PositivEnergy™ Principles - a charged-up, wholistic approach to wellness, offering breathshops. transformational breathing, workshops, demo/lectures & diversity trainings. PositivEnergyWorks has acquired a wholistic health studio located at 3000 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

As a Certified Transformational Breath Facilitator (CTBF) since 1996, she has witnessed the impact of the "power of the breath" while coaching conscious breath techniques to hundreds of people helping them transform, heal relationships and bring peace to the planet. She has appeared on radio, t.v. and in print as an authority on the breath. Her life coaching concepts to help others "relearn how to breathe for better life and health" has re-ignited Sister Ayo's, 1982 concept of PositivEnergy™. The updated PositivEnergy™ approach integrates breathwork and alternative therapies such as aroma therapy, meditation and visualization with 13 basic principles of wellness. She continues to champion the belief that wellness, especially for marginalized people, must emphasize spirituality, culture, community empowerment, stress management, conflict resolution, violence reduction and addiction monitoring along with health prevention concepts like good nutrition and exercise.

Since 1989, Ayo Handy Kendi has served as Founder/Director of the African American Holiday Association(AAHA), which perpetuates and preserves culture through traditional and non-traditional holidays, celebrations and rituals. She has been blessed to appear on radio, t.v and in print in the Washington Metropolitan area and globally as a recognized authority on cultural holidays, celebrations and rituals. In 1982, she founded the African American Holiday Expo which today provides a learning and earning experience for her Youth Entrepreneur Project (YEP). Furthermore, she is the founder of three commemorative wholydays, Black Love Day, Unity in Diversity Day and Ancestor Honor Day, in addition to a new tradition, "The Ritual of Reconciliation". Renown as "Mama Ayo, the Kwanzaa Griot", she has presented lectures, workshops, and cultural performances as a Griot (storyteller) before thousands. She also officiates ceremonies and rituals such as Libations, Kwanzaa Candlelighting ceremonies, Juneteenth celebrations, African Weddings and Rites of Passage programs.
Since the '70's, she has used her expertise as an organizer/public relations consultant, human services worker and entrepreneur to benefit the development of numerous community and business efforts.

As a communicator, she has produced "A Show of Unity" on D.C. cable television; has authored, compiled and self-published two books, "The Black Love Book" and "Positive Energy - Motivational Messages from a Sister in the Struggle". She further founded and served for 9 years as Publisher/Editor for "Positive Energy Newsletter", a cultural, health conscious, community publication.

She is a Certified Transformational Breath Facilitator (CTBF) from the International Breath Institute, Certified in Reiki I, II, Qi Gong I and is a Diversity Trainer, certified by NCBI, FECES and NMCI. She also holds a BA in Community Organizing, AA in Human Services and is spiritually degreed in overcoming the life challenges of physical abuse, domestic violence, addiction and the violent deaths of her teenage son and oldest brother. Contact her at 202-667-2577.