An interview with AjahDae Edmunds (black text), administrative assistant at the Institute of Integrative Health Specialists. Conducted by Sophia Peng (pink text), Public Relations Director.

Hello! Welcome to another episode of our podcast here at the Institute of Integrative Health Specialists. I'm your host, Sophia Peng, and I'm the Public Relations Director at IoIHS. And today I'm here with AjaeDae Edmunds. She is our Administrative Assistant, and she works at the front desk and in administration. But she also does a lot of super cool other things which you'll he'll hear all about in the rest of this episode. Yeah. Hi, AjahDae. Hi.

Thank you so much for having me on today's podcast, Sophia. I feel so honored to be here.

Oh, we're so happy to have you. Do you want to quickly introduce yourself a little bit more? Yeah.

So, as you know, I am AjahDae. I currently work front desk and I do administration. And just like behind the scenes work at our Institute of Integrative Health Specialists. I am currently a studying herbal medicine student, and I essentially want to, in the future, become an acupuncture and naturopathic doctor. And I also run a blog, which you will probably get into a little bit later. But yeah, that's essentially who I am. And that's like who I am right now in the moment.

Okay, so I know not very much, but I remember in our Homebase group chat, you had texted about something related Yoni steaming before, and I was very curious. Can you tell us what that is?

Yeah, definitely. So essentially, yoni steaming has to do with the womb area. Yoni is Sanskrit for "sacred space." And just like, I don't want to say vagina because that's a bit explicit, but it's essentially just like healing of the womb, healing of the vagina, like good for detoxifying, good for womb healing. And it's also really good for if you are about to start your menstrual cycle, or if it's really good for when you're coming out of your menstrual cycle. Because yoni steaming has a plethora of benefits. It's been around for centuries. It's been used as a form of healing in different cultures across Africa and Asia and all of the above. Just for women all around.

How did you hear about it?

So funny enough, I actually initially signed up for a program to center around natural skin care and learning how to formulate like skincare, beauty, DIY products and stuff like that. And the program that I was in actually had a course centered around Yoni steaming, and I knew a little bit about it before I signed up for the program, but I found it was like I found it to be like a really nice, like, really interesting program to add. Especially if you are a very spiritual person and you're into just divine femininity and sensuality, that would be a really great program. And I know women's health is a very important factor, especially since we're all women here. And I wanted to learn a little bit more about that and see how I can incorporate that into my practice in the future. So that's kind of how I knew about Yoni steaming and how it came to be.

Would you say that you're a spiritual person?

I'd like to say that I'm a spiritual person. I am on a forever journey of learning because I know that I have a lot to learn in the future. I'd like to say that when it comes to my spiritual journey, I'm definitely rookie level when it comes to it, but I'm just very open to receiving and learning so much every day. And as life experiences come on and pass, I'm just growing more and more into the person that I want to become. So I'd like to say that I'm pretty spiritual. I could always get more wisdom and knowledge from like, teachers and people who I encounter in my lifetime. But yeah, I'd like to say I'm a spiritual person.

How would you define your healing philosophy?

My healing philosophy. That's a great question. Because I know that. With my philosophy and with healing like a lifetime goal of mine when it comes to being a doctor. Like, I don't want to just be like a doctor. Like I want to also be a healer. I want to be a teacher. I want to bee a practitioner where I can actually take the time and just hear out my patients and not just see them as another number and not just see them as a patient, but somebody who is on their own journey as well, too, because I like to believe that we're all on our own healing journey. We're all on our own journey at some point, and I just want to be able to just be there as, like a guide, an assistance. Because when it comes to healing, it's all inside. It's all up to you. So just being able to sit there and just spend time with the patient, be able to talk with them, to hear them out and just be like...I have this funny thing I had a conversation with a patient the other day, and we were talking about birthmarks and like how the placement of birthmarks on our body is so important. And it's like it can be like a representation of who you were in your past life or what you were called to do in your current life. And I have a few on my hands. So I always say, maybe in this lifetime I'm meant to be a healer and have kind of like a Midas touch when it comes to that. So when it comes to my philosophy, I want people to feel good and love to heal, love to have like a healthier, more holistic lifestyle and just feel good and confident in that and improve their health for the better.

Yeah, I feel like that makes a lot of sense for you especially too, because I know when Doctor Micah was talking about like, oh, I'm looking for an office assistant, and I'm looking for someone who just has the right energy and, you know, like healing is a calling. That energy that they can kind of radiate off into the office. And I definitely feel like that applies really well to you.

Yeah. Oh, I appreciate it. It's just because everybody there, it's just such a healing and an amazing environment, just being surrounded by so many healers and so many people just like going different paths of medicine and everything. Like even you going into medical school. Like you can just learn from everybody there. And I feel like that's a space where you can feel open to be more in tune with, like, that calm presence and just wanting to be a better practitioner, just a better person overall and just help people in the way that you can.

Absolutely. And because I know you mentioned that healing feels like a calling to you, but do you have kind of particular stories or moments that helped you realize that you wanted to go into healing?

Actually, I do, so the concept of time is a little warped for me, but I remember it was January of last year because I have people in my family like who have been like. That's kind of like, what kind of want to put me on the path to become a healer in the first place, because I've had family members and I still have family members who can definitely benefit from a practitioner who actually hears them out and hear their story. Because I've had like instances like I had an uncle who passed away, he had a colon cancer, which was originally Crohn's disease. And he was being like very like, terribly like mistreated and neglected in the hospital, like his last few moments, like constantly like changed around, like in different hospital settings, like to the point where he was just, I don't know if this is a bit explicit, but like to the point where his bones were breaking and he was just like breaking apart, like he was in so much pain his last few minutes of his life. And I saw the toll that it took on my grandma. And even to this day, I know that's still something that she struggles with—losing her son. And I did have like an epitome moment last year of January, because even on my spiritual journey and on my healing journey, it's been pretty like much up and down.

Like I know it's something I'm passionate about, but there are times where I'm like, okay, is this something that is like truly meant for me, or am I like on the right path? But I remember I was with another friend of mine. Shout out to Briana if she's listening to this. And I went to a what is it called? It was like a youth night at like a church, like they have it on Thursdays. And I went there with her for the first time, and we were just having, like, a worship service. And I felt like the answers that I was looking for, I was able to hear through like God for the first time in a while because as the worship music was playing and everything, I just remembered that like when my uncle passed away, I was sad about it, but like, it never really hit me emotionally until that night. I just. I just cried tears and I didn't know why. And then I realized, okay, this was meant for me. I heard the voice, like God's voice, like, this is what you were meant to do. Like, this is why you're on the path that you're on right now. So that's been my story. And what gave me motivation to continue as a healer and feel that this is the career field that I'm meant to be in.

Why do you think herbal medicine and naturopathic medicine are important modalities?

I just feel like they're really important because when it comes to herbal medicine and natural medicine, it's not just about prescribing a patient an herb or prescribing a patient some supplements. It's also a field where you can actually sit and talk to the patient and come up with underlying causes, not just on surface level with symptoms. You can actually just sit there and hear the patient's life story, hear the patient's out fully because I know in medicine that is so important. Just hearing the patient out because sometimes every now and then they're not fully heard. And then complications and stuff that can arise later in the future. So just simply just being able to hear them out. And I really like that. It's a career field where it actually puts emphasis on the importance of just lifestyle and not just taking supplements or pharmaceuticals that might only take care of the symptom, but the patient still struggles even deeper. So I really like how it takes a more deeper approach to that, because lifestyle is so important. It's just what you live with every day. So I really liked that when it comes to like healing in general and medicine, that it really touched base on that because then it just focuses on the whole thing, not just a Band-Aid cover up. So that's what I really liked.

Did your uncle have an opportunity at all to use herbal medicine or natural medicine in his health journey, or is that something that you, knowing that story and that history, would wish and hope that had been an option.

So he had a potential opportunity to go meet with an herbalist and a natural doctor. However, I think—and this is one of the things in holistic medicine that I, I like that we're working on currently being able to have access for that for patients because we did have an opportunity. We were telling him and talking to him about seeing a herbal doctor and a natural doctor. However, it was not as accessible and herbal. It was a bit expensive because he was living in the Caribbean. He lived in Tortola at the time, so it was a bit hard to get him to come up here to the US and all of that for a specific amount of time. So we had the opportunity, but I kind of wish it was a bit more accessible for him, so that way he could have access to those herbs. And just have access to, talking with a practitioner, on a deeper level than just like take this, take that, take this, take that.

Where are you currently at in your journey to becoming a healer?

So the phase that I'm in right now, I feel like I've been a bit dormant. But right now I am currently a herbalist student. I am with, I think. I've taken so many programs that have to count. I am currently studying with two programs, um, online Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, as well as Evolutionary herbalism. So that way I can learn as much herbal knowledge as I possibly can and look at herbalism, but go like on a more deeper, holistic standpoint, because I know with herbs you can prescribe like there's like two herbs that might be good for the same thing, but depending on the patient and maybe their tissue state or their bodily constitution, they can use one herb but not the other. But right now, yeah, I'm currently like in a gap semester, but hopefully, well, not hopefully I'm speaking into existence by September. I wish to go to Seattle to continue my studies in herbal medicine, and eventually go to naturopathic medical school and dabble into acupuncture.

Also tell everyone how old you are because this is phenomenal.

I am 20. I'll be 21 in June. Yeah.

Isn't that crazy? She's already got so much experience, and I feel like you're just a very wise person. Really? Yeah. When I kind of, like, talk to you or. Right. It's all about energy still, so I'm. Yeah, I admire you very much. And I really, really excited to see where you go.

Words like that just make me feel so good because sometimes I'll be like, I'll just randomly wake up one day and I'm like. What is am I? Am I all right? Is there something like. Am I on the right path? Like, am I like going backwards on my journey? But I love this because I was actually telling my friend Jocelyn as we were on the way here, like we were having this exact conversation, so just having everything aligned. And then you have to sometimes take a break and realize like, hey. Even though you might not be where you want to be at the moment, or you're at like a rocky start, you're still on the right path and you still accomplish so much. Sometimes we tend to forget that when we want to constantly think about the future. So I received your words and I appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah.

No, I feel like especially when you're young or like our generation and being in like such a digital and like fast paced age, um, it can be really, really hard to like step back and check in with yourself and recognize that oh, I'll be okay. You know, the cards are confusing, but they'll fall into place as they'll fall into place.

Yeah, definitely. And I feel like we have a bit more stress on our part when it comes to that too, because nowadays, like, especially with social media, because, you know, social media rules the world, we are expected to have like three kids, $1 million, like two houses by the time we're 25. So that can be really stressful as well too, to where you're like, am I doing enough? But then you have to just sometimes sit back and be like, well, you're 20. In our 20s, we're still figuring stuff out, it's okay to not have to have everything together because that's just life. We're on our own timeline. We're on our own, like. Path. We're on our own journey. Like what looks like for something somebody else might not be for us. Because we're destined for something else. So. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes we have to realize that. Definitely 1,000%.

What is your brand? Sunny Dae.

Uh, so Sunny Dae. Sunny Dae is my blog. I initially started my blog in 2021. I've been bit stagnant with it, which is something I'm trying to work on this year to be more consistent with. I initially started it because. In high school, I had a passion for writing. I loved to write. I recently dabbled back into it, um, like a few days ago. So I initially started it as a writing blog for like self-improvement, self-help, and inspiration. So that way people who come across my blog, they feel like they have like a safe space and they feel like they found their community that they relate to. But lately, as I progress, I still want to be able to have that platform. But as time progresses, incorporate a little bit more into like holistic herbal medicine, learn as I grow and put it on my blog, just so that way people can have like the information if they're interested in everything. But yeah, Sunny Dae is my brand. Hopefully in the future I pray to have an apothecary of my own in the future. Um, within the next ten years or so. It's still a work in progress. But yeah, that's Sunny Dae lifestyle and everything.

Do you view your blog because I know you mentioned you like writing, so it makes sense that you want to do a writing project, but this is a very big kind of project. Or like you said, a brand or a lifestyle kind of project. Do you consider documentation or having that as maybe some sort of charting of your journey as part of why a blog appeals to you?

I think so, definitely, because even with Sunny Dae, I know I usually post content for people to reach out. But even me, I see my blog. I'll go back and read my old blog posts and I'll see how far I've how far I've come. I feel like it's also because Sunny Dae, the way I spell it is like sunny and then D because it's the last three letters of my name. So it's kind of like a piece of me that is just like manifested into a blog. Because Sunny Dae is a growing, it's growing. It's going to be forever growing. So as I progress in time, the blog is growing with me. So it's like a reflection of my progression and how far I've come. Kind of like a digital journal, but public.

Yeah, no, that's so, so cool. I also do a little bit of writing, and so I always think like, yeah, it's really nice to have things to look back on and just to like, see how much you've grown.

Yeah. You feel better even, like looking at old journal entries and everything. You're like wait, I manifested this and I have it now. Or like wait, I overcame this because sometimes we forget. We block out those things. So it's great when you're having like documentation and journaling from one writer to another.

When you say that, you kind of write about some of this herb stuff and use this like educationally as well. Just out of curiosity, do you have a favorite herb for personal use that you—or what are sort of the herbal practices that you engage in for your health?

Favorite herb I'm looking at...I'm thinking about my at home herbal apothecary shelf right now. It could be because we work at the Institute of Integrative Health Specialists. But I did dabble a lot with hibiscus, especially like when it comes to hair care, because that's kind of…

I didn't know it could be used for hair. Whoa.

You can use it. But it's like one of those herbs where it'll color your hair. It's really good as like a moisturizing agent. And hibiscus is actually like when we talk about yoni steaming is one of the moisturizing herbs as well too, that you can add into your yoni herb combo if you wanted to use it. So yeah, it's a very moisturizing herb. So I was using it for my hair, but I stopped because it colored my hair. So now my hair is like a little bit like a reddish brown in the light. But yeah, I initially yeah, I was using it for that type of stuff. But right now, like because I was also dabbling into Ayurveda as well too, because it's a really good like first of all, the whole like healing system of Ayurveda is absolutely wonderful and amazing. I had the beautiful opportunity to intern under an Ayurvedic chef, so I was immersed in learning about different foods, different categories for like the three doshas of your body which are vata, pitta and kapha. But learning about it as well for haircare has been like absolutely life changing and game changing. So I used to like use like a lot of herbs like henna. I think right now I use like amla, Brahmi and stuff like that. Aloe as well too is really good. But if I had to, I know I'm like kind of just talking a lot, but if I had to say like an herb that I use, like in the now moment, really like consistently, I'd have to say I love chamomile and I love lavender.

Those two are so good.

It's an amazing combination. I have them together, like in a hair oil that I like to make for my scalp, and it's heavenly. It's amazing.

That is so cool. Yeah, I'll drink a lot of chamomile tea but I hadn't. Yeah, I feel like hair care is not something I've looked very much into, but maybe I will now that's so exciting.

I mainly use it because I love, like a nice lavender chamomile scent combo. But I think chamomile also is like really good as a light moisturizing herb as well too. Lavender is one of those disinfectants. Well, any herb in the mint family really is also like a really good disinfectant herb. Like whether for yoni steaming or if you want it for like scalp health and cleaning. Which is why I like using those. And I just, I just love the scent of lavender right now. It's well period. It's amazing.

I didn't know lavender was in the mint family. This is very cool. Wow. Let's talk a little bit more about your work at IoIHS. What has that meant to you or what has that looked like?

Working at IoIHS has definitely taught me a lot. It was actually my first. Well, aside from interning with the Ayurvedic chef, it's actually been one of my first jobs. It definitely taught me a lot. It's trials and tribulations, but being at IoIHS was just like an amazing opportunity coming to life. Because not only did I learn like so much about, like communicating and talking with patients just to see like what patient flow is looking like and being able to get like hands on, but not exactly hands on experience with patients, learning a lot about insurance and how that works as well too, when it comes to like being in a clinical practice, but then also being around so many amazing practitioners and learning little bits on everything, like from chiropractic care to acupuncture from them as well too. I found it really nice and amazing. And actually Kiana, the acupuncturist there, she actually was the one that getting practice with her and also getting to kind of like literally watch her do her work a little bit is what actually pushed me and gave me the motivation to want to actually pursue acupuncture. So being able to gain experiences like that and just be in a family of people who all they just want is to see patients and people just be like, feel good and just be on their own journey and just be the best versions of their selves they can possibly be. It's all just been a very rewarding experience, and has definitely solidified my desire to want to be a practitioner myself.

Yeah. I think everyone there is just so awesome. And so you mentioned, because you're in a gap semester right now, and I know you're spending a lot of time at the office in this time. What else have you been doing?

I don't know, literally just been working on my blog, working. And right now I'm actually just trying to figure out how to just incorporate more hobbies into my life. [00:23:21] Sophia Like, what?

I recently got back into writing. I would just write every day, so healing and therapeutic. But actually I've been wanting to do more, getting more...I like to read too. My bad habit is I like to buy books, but they'll just stack them.

Oh my gosh, my "to be read" list is so long.

Mine is too, like I have—I kid you not, when I go home, it's like a stack of books and they're just collecting dust because I bought them. But I haven't gotten a chance to fully read them. So dabbling into reading and I'm kind of a grandma, I want to get into knitting and crocheting too. I just it's such a it looks like such a cozy hobby that I want to pursue and do. I realized, I'm on my own spiritual journey, on my own personal journey, even my healing journey. Everything that I want to do hobby-wise, I want it to be something related to like nurturing. Something very like calming, cool, collected. Because that's the type of person that I'm striving to become a very nurturing person. Because when you're a practitioner, you have to be nurturing. You have to be kind. You have to be empathetic. So that way you can be able to fully hear the patients and see them for who they are and not just, oh, a symptom, a sign, money like all of that. So just wanted to do very nurturing hobbies like baking, knitting, crocheting. I bought a lyre. Well, I thought it was called "leer", but apparently it's a lyre.

Oh yeah?

Yes, and I bought it, but I barely got time to practice it. So I think I want to do that a little bit more to especially during the summer.

I didn't know that they just like sold lyres because I feel like that's a very, like Greek mythology instrument, you know, like it's like an old timey instrument. But that's so cool.

You can, I got mine on Amazon. Maybe you can find anywhere. And then eventually I want to gravitate to maybe like learning to play the harp or something.

I can see you play the harp. You totally look like someone who would know how to play the harp. Because you know how people are like. Oh, like different people. Like you can give off like vibes of, like, different types of instruments or like musicians or something. I can see you playing the harp, I see it.

I have like, this funny fantasy of just me just randomly in the middle of the woods, just like, like the harp and all of the forest animals are just coming and circling. It's like a Snow White moment. And I'm just playing. Or I play for like, the town children or something like that. That's kind of why I bought the lyre. I was like, when I bought it, I was like.

Hey, you know, that's the first step to manifesting it, so, you know.

But yeah, it's been sitting in my room as well, just collecting dust. So I need to get back into that.

But those all sound like fantastic hobbies because I also think, like, I had a mentor who once told me, like, really importantly, she was like, don't monetize your hobbies because, you know, you see, I mean, I think it works in whatever ways it works because like, sometimes you get a kick out of, right, like posting things online or, you know, talking to people about it, making, you know, whatever hobby you have, be it like writing or art or music, like more social or collaborative. But she was like, yeah, because you want to kind of have some work-life separation or balance. And I think especially in the field of medicine or healing, because the work you're doing is already a really "giving" kind of work, you're using a lot of energy and putting it into other people. You got to have those things that you do for yourself 1,000%.

Because then it feels like you it it turns from a want to an obligation. And it doesn't become fun anymore.

Exactly.

And that's kind of what happened to me with my blog, because I was like, okay, I want to do this. I want to make money from it. Like, oh my God. And then it became so stressful to the point where I didn't even want to blog anymore. And now, like, of course, eventually, like I want to see it as a source of income in the future. But now I'm just like when I make those blog posts or when I create those Pinterest pins for my blog post. It's something I genuinely desire to do, because I just want people to be able to have access to it. Because I remember, I think it was like a few months into when I initially started my blog. I that was when I was just like creating a lot of like self-help, self-improvement blog posts. And I remember there was this girl on Instagram, she DM'd me and she was like, I really like your blog. This post made me feel so good. Um, I really appreciate it. And that made me feel great.

Things like that are so rewarding. And that's also what I loved about IoIHS too, because patients would come out and they would just, they might come in feeling stressed or they might come in feeling overwhelmed or sad or anxious, or they might even just come in feeling happy. And then they come out feeling even better. And they're like, yeah, I feel so heard here. I feel so seen. It's amazing. It's beautiful, it's wonderful. And it just makes me feel great. Because when you love what you do, you don't just see the patients as people, you kind of see them as your children, like those are your babies. You want them to feel good. Kind of like that. So just being able to get like that, feedback of people just loving what you do. It's all like it's basically better than getting paid for it because it's just like you did what you're supposed to do. You did what you feel called on this earth to do, and that's just to help people feel better and feel good.

That's perfect. Yeah.

That's why I was saying, hobbies, like making it just like a monetary thing because there's so many more rewarding aspects than just monetary. It's getting all that feedback. It's just so worth it.

I love that. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and quickly wrap up then. But it was such a pleasure to talk with you. I think this the first time we've really like sat down and talked. So this was so good. Okay. So just super quickly, you can find AjahDae for the time being until she's booking off to school and being super awesome in September at our office in Bellaire. That's 2950 South Gessner Road. And we are Suite 208. Feel free to give our office a call or schedule on our website. Our office number is (832) 363-5588. And our website is integrativespecialists.com. Do you want to do a plug for any of your socials?

Right now I've kind of been a little bit off social media, but if you're interested, my Instagram is ajahdae_. And then my Pinterest is just iamajahdae.

I love that you have a Pinterest to plug. That is amazing.

Pinterest has been my life lately. I love Pinterest, I will love Pinterest till the day I die.

It's so good. It's so aesthetic and so just like so calming.

Everybody on there is just like "I'm manifesting my life." Oh my god cupcake recipe. Oh my god. Stack of money. Oh my god. Like Paris you know like.

As they should.

They're like the girls that get it get it. Girls that get it get it.

No truer words have ever been spoken.