According to Wu-Tang Clan frontman and hip-hop legend, RZA, “Meditation can be better than medication.” Can we get a namaste?
It is with this understanding that the mogul created 36 Chambers Wellness—a brand under 36 Chambers, which is the rapper’s record label and lifestyle company. As the multi-hyphenate is a meditation practitioner himself, it follows that the RZA would create a brand to promote mental and physical health.
Today, 36 Chambers Wellness is the home of virtual content, including meditation sessions, yoga tutorials and sound baths, hosted by Shelby Adina. It also seeks to create a safe space for Black practitioners to “pursue wellness.”
Adina is a 30-something-year-old yoga instructor, sound healer and meditation guide. While she has been practicing yoga and meditation on-and-off for over a decade, the instructor began teaching in 2019. The Atlanta-based yogi says that this career transition wasn’t easy for multiple reasons. First, she left a corporate job in retail to live a completely different lifestyle. Next she was looking to break-into an overwhelmingly white field of work.
ESSENCE sat down with Adina to discuss Black professionals in the wellness industry: The hurdles to overcome, insights for aspiring wellness professionals and her hope for the industry.
What, exactly, is the work of a meditation instructor and a sound healer?
I got into wellness/ fitness through cycling and really found my passion through yoga. So it’s the movement that really drew me into this practice. Eventually I was able to start to peel back those layers of wellness and get into the breath practice and get into the meditation. And it just really, it changed my life. So that’s what I do for people. I lead them through creative movement. I challenge them physically, I challenge them mentally and just try to get people to change their perspective and start to believe in themselves and apply these practices off their mat and enter their lives.
You’ve been a practitioner for over a decade and an instructor for three years now. How have you seen the wellness industry change in these years?
I think 2020-2021 was a really interesting time to see corporations being held responsible and accountable for the culture that they created. People were saying, ‘Hey, what are you going to do about this?’ And so it was a pivotal moment and I think there has been a lot more focus on representation in the wellness space. And at this point in time, I feel like there’s still a lot of work that can be done. There’s still a lot of space that can be made for authenticity. I think it goes beyond just hiring Black people, but giving them the tools that they need in training and creating the space for them to actually influence the culture.
What is 36 Chambers Wellness and how did you get involved with the brand?
36 Chambers is a wellness brand, it’s a lifestyle brand, and they’re kind of doing the same thing that I’m doing. So we’re super aligned through our mission in just creating space for us—for Black people to pursue wellness. We want to be in this space and be fully us and be Black and be hip-hop. And there’s no part of you that you have to leave behind to be in the wellness space to be a healthy person.
I have really been focusing on building community through yoga meditation, through sound healing. And 36 chambers reached out to me and they’re doing something really cool. We’ve collaborated on some virtual projects where I am just hosting sound baths and yoga class, and you can do them from anywhere. So it’s been an amazing opportunity and platform.
As a wellness professional, what are the barriers to getting into the industry?
I think the biggest barrier for me was the community factor. I took my first yoga class in St. Petersburg, Florida and I just don’t remember seeing one other Black person in that class. And it was a huge class, so that was the most difficult thing for me. It was a practice that I was connected to and it was beneficial for me, but there was something about it where I felt like I didn’t fit. And so it was very hard for me.
It was over a decade before I found a community that I felt like I vibed with. And that is definitely a first step before you can even get into wellness—to build your own community and connect with other individuals. You have to find that yourself as a student. And so that was definitely the biggest hurdle for me.
The brighter you shine your light, people are going to find that and gravitate towards it. So the opportunity is there.
Do you find that being a meditation instructor is sustainable, financially?
Well, it’s rough. Not going to lie. And I should say it can definitely start out that way and it may be that way for a long time. You really have to get your foot in the game, but that doesn’t have to be the end all, be all.
I really believe the first thing you can do is use your resources to invest in yourself as quickly as you can. That’s going to help set you apart from everyone else: Your knowledge, your experience, your ability to connect and lead your community. And my business model (if I can even call it that), I’m super community-based and I feel like if I take care of my people, my people are going to take care of me. So whenever I have a community event, it’s rarely ticketed–it’s mostly donations, but I think it’s about building trust. I’m doing this because this is my lifestyle and I’m going to be doing it regardless if you show up or not. I think my students know I’m in the trenches with them, I’m doing this work for real, and that makes me a more captivating teacher.
Any insights for aspiring wellness professionals?
First, create your own opportunities. I think it can be hard to access the training. There’s lots of scholarships that have come up in the past few years. As soon as you get the training, start to create your own opportunities. If you can’t get hired at a yoga studio, pull up to a park and host your own class and get into your community and provide your services and get your own practice.
And just don’t take no for an answer. If there are yoga studios in your community, find the one that you conneåct with and start teaching there and building from there. But start where you can start and build steam from wherever you are. It’s going to feel like an uphill battle sometimes, but that’s just the way the game goes. I wish I had a better answer for that, but show up as authentically as you can and remember your why, because if you are disconnected from your why, then forget about it.
Responses were edited for clarity and brevity.