“Being activated and guided by Mama N'yame in the Lotus Chakra meditation has been profoundly life changing. She has supported me in the elevation of taking my self realization journey to a level that encompasses and fuses every faucet of my entire being. She is a very wise and innocent soul and I AM so grateful to have had the pleasure of being able to sit at her feet. Mama N'yame is a rare jewel that is truly of the highest quality.”
—SheSheta El M
Michigan
“There is much to reflect on as our nation enters a new political cycle. There are many hopes for social justice and equity in the world. As a retired Black urban educator, I have been engaged in community organizing. I was fortunate to meet Nyame Adama Selassie approximately 12 years ago. We were at a social justice forum and I immediately knew I had met a “kindred spirit”. Years later, what I have shared/learned from her has been instrumental in fortifying my legacy in the demand for a better world.
As the first president of the O’Hair Park Community Association, I found Nyame Selassie to be an invaluable resource in our NW Detroit community. As someone who has lived and taught internationally, she brought much wisdom and experience to us. She had women’s wellness circles, involving yoga, natural nutrition and meditation for a number of seasons.
Nyame was frequently away from Detroit, giving yoga retreats and engaging in environmental building projects throughout the U S and Mexico. Over time I read her published writings and discovered the depths of human experience she had endured: federal prison for over 10 years while raising a family. She returned to society with strength and endurance, with much to share. She is passionate about women’s conditions in the US and uses her life as a cautionary tale.
Nyame celebrates her African, Indigenous, Canadian roots with wise candor, reassuring POC of their “right to be “ . She writes about justice and human dignity. She even taught me how to rise up off the floor after yoga 🌞.
It has been my pleasure and a reassurance to know her. She gives us all support for the coming difficult storms. Strength and courage to us all always ☮️!”
Patricia Taylor Braxton
Founding President of O’Hair Park Community Association
“I have known Nyame for almost 20 years now and over this long period of time I have not seen her once waver on her commitment to becoming a better person, more conscious, more connected to her soul, more at peace with herself and the world around her. That for me is huge, because most of us come and go. Not her. She does not falter either in her gift of helping women all over the world to embrace their feminine energy and power. Listening to Nyame´s voice and wisdom is enough to produce change and connection deep within our feminine soul.
When I first met Nyame in Mexico City, my soul was impacted with a silent realization I was in the presence of a unique soul. I was right. Over the years, we met in different places: in the middle of the forest and the archeological ruins of Palenque, on the mountains of San Cristobal, Chiapas, in La Puerta, Amatlán and in Detroit, Michigan, among others. Every time, without fault, the experience was powerful. Nyame’s sole presence connects you with the whole universe of ancestral feminine energy and thus to the Earth herself.”
Veronica Fernandez
Mexico
“Whenever anyone ask me where I went to college, I’d respond with, “I went to the school of Nyame”.
I met Nyame over 20 years ago when I was only 20 years old, just moved away from home trying to find my way in Atlanta, GA. While most of my friends were working toward a degree of some sort I was in “spiritual boot camp” with Mama Nyame. I’ve walked closely enough with her to be considered one of her Godchildren, quite an honor.
I’ve experienced many first during my time walking with Nyame. My first sweat lodge experience, first meditation including my palm and heart chakras being opened, and learning the spirit world through meditation, floating on my own personalized lotus flower. The sacred foot washes where I learned how to detox heavy metals from my body were always healing.
I’ve circled with women from Atlanta to New Jersey to all the way in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on the island of Oahu, with Nyame as the guide.
I think I might have googled what a pilgrimage was when she asked me to go on one with her. After our time on the Big Island of Hawaii in search of Pele, the fire Goddess, I can now say I’ve experienced a pilgrimage. Mother Nyame has navigated the role of spiritual teacher, mother, friend, and Gigi to my 2 children with consistency, wisdom and love. I was fortunate enough to meet Mu guru so early in my 20s. I can honestly say meeting her changed my life’s trajectory for the higher, and I am always humbled and in full gratitude, always.”
—Diehwidii
Hawaii
“Nyame is a clear example of the opportunity that we all have to change and spread that inspiration to others. I met her nearly twenty years ago and the teachings of the importance of self sustainability have remained in my weaving thread until nowadays. In a world where many people feel hopeless, the service that she delivers is fundamental to enhance the natural gifts that each one of us have to be useful in this transition times, we are all jewels that have a lot to give but have forgotten to go inside and take care of ourselves in order to follow that natural law.”
—Joscelyn.
Mexico
“Mama Nyame's retreats are life changing and unique due to her knowledge and integration of sacred earth sciences. Her uniqueness as a "Gangster" Guru gives her a niche specialty in understanding the intricacies of how we operate through trauma and why the Earth has the solutions. My experience with Mama Nyame's teachings and facilitation has been life changing and ever evolving.”
—High Priestess, Maat em Maakheru Amen, Author of Whatz in Your Womb & UnWombded: Unlocking the Universal Uterus.
North Carolina
“I met Mama Nyame in 2006 when she was living in the jungle outside of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico near the sacred complex of Nah Chan Kan where the renown Temple of Inscriptions is located. At that time, she was guiding various spiritual seekers in the Lotus Chakra Meditation and related rituals. We remained in contact in the years to follow, and collaborated on some events in Oakland, California a few years later, to help raise awareness about the 13 Moon Calendar and the Maya and Olmec cultures. It was my great honor to invite Mama Nyame’s participation as part of Synthesis 2012, a gathering in the village of Pisté, Yucatan and Chichen Itza, to commemorate the completion of the Mayan “Great Cycle” of 5,125 years, on December 21, 2012. She, along with a group of esteemed elders from around the world, gathered with thousands of souls to welcome humanity into a brand new cycle of renewal and transformation, crossing the threshold from the old into the new time cycle. Mama Nyame’s work in this world is truly revelatory and heart-centric; and, she has consistently demonstrated a profound commitment to the spiritual, mental, and physical wellbeing of those whom come to her for guidance and support. I am ever grateful for her love, light, and devotion, as a way-shower and living embodiment of personal healing and transformation.”
—Mikuak Rai, Co-Founder Global Council for Calendar Awareness
Washington D C
“I first met Nyame in the early 2000s in Atlanta Georgia. During my time there, over several years, she was a pillar of the community, leading conversations about spirituality and community and healing. She made herself available to many and was out in the community frequently promoting and leading meditations and healing. She was always surrounded by creative, generous, adventurous people and so it was always uplifting to be around her. And so when her invitation came to join her at her new location in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico (home of the Mayan Calendar) for some community-building activities, I was there. During my three months there I saw her work in action around a cluster of beautiful bamboo structures that she had built, including a restaurant, accommodation huts and an upstairs place for yoga, meditation and gathering. My time there was filled with so much magic and for that I will be eternally grateful. Thank you Nyame.”
—Ratsack
Australia
“Nyame was the source of freshwater for my Spirit when I needed it the most. The women's circle she organized when we met created the space for me to reconnect with my source, my womb, my soul, and fellow sisters. The exercises, rituals, and meditation techniques brought me back to my center and fueled my new adventures and projects. She provided me with the tools to embark on my every day already aligned and fully charged. Thanks to her I also met one of my best friends. As a young woman, the guidance of Nyame, my elder, was all I needed at the right moment and at the right time. I am forever grateful for her teachings and her insights into my soul's journey!”
—Valentina Arce
Belgum
MI ENCUENTRO CON LA MAESTRA NYAME SOPHIA
“En el año 2005 tuve la oportunidad de hacer un viaje a Guatemala y México, en una búsqueda para canalizar una vieja e intensa inquietud respecto a la cultura Maya. Primero, visité Tikal en el Petén de Guatemala, donde logré conocer y sentir mucho de esta sabiduría. Luego, desde el Bethel crucé la frontera, hacia México.
Llegué hasta la zona Palenque. Y en una hermosa zona boscosa, dentro de un variado reparto turístico conseguí una cabaña acogedora para alojarme. Allí dejé mi equipaje y me dispuse a buscar un lugar donde comer, esa tarde. Recuerdo que caminé revisando las opciones disponibles, y encontré un amigable restaurante vegetariano que llamó mi atención… Para entrar al lugar, había que subir una par de escalinatas, y allí estaba ella, con sus largas trenzas rastas por debajo de la cadera… Una mujer, mitad afroamericana, mitad cherokee, con una intensa presencia espiritual. Fue impactante para mí, que casi me caí de los escalones… Nos miramos, y con una familiaridad inexplicable, nos dimos un largo y sentido abrazo de hermanas. Fue una reveladora conexión, y a la vez, un lado de mí tenía la certeza de que ese encuentro me había estado esperando desde tiempos remotos.
Conversamos mientras yo comía. Le conté que venía desde Venezuela en una búsqueda sobre los mayas, por sueños que yo había tenido años atrás, y que asociaba con esa sabiduría. Ella me dijo que su nombre era Nyame: “Lo que es y sabe que es”… Durante ese primer encuentro, la maestra me ayudó a comprender el mensaje plasmado en el Templo de las Inscripciones en la ciudad Maya de Palenque, que legó el hermano Pakal Votán. Y mediante sensaciones sutiles y claras señales que ella me invitó a interpretar, pude conectar con una profunda sabiduría… recordar: La ley del tiempo, el encantamiento del sueño y la convergencia armónica. La sincronía desde el corazón. Hablamos también de la Noosfera o cubierta mental de la Tierra, para reconocernos como co-creadores de la Creación.
Luego, detallando en conversaciones siguientes, me supo revelar con claridad por qué la sanación de una sociedad o nación, y del planeta entero, depende directamente del estado de conciencia de nosotras las mujeres. Entonces, me habló de Sansau, que significa útero o matriz en un antiguo idioma que tiene raíces con mezcla de sánscrito y amárico. Con este nombre, fue fundada una orden femenina, a la que pertenecen mujeres de varias partes del mundo, cuya práctica está basada en el corazón, y que independientemente de la tradición espiritual o cultural de la que provenga, la mujer de Sansau elige conscientemente vivir la vida “procurando que el corazón pese menos que una pluma”, y así, trascender las barreras que nos limitan y separan como hermanos y hermanas. Ella, me invitó a formar parte de esta orden, y en una hermosa y sutil ceremonia, con limpieza del sagrado copal, realicé mi iniciación. Un compromiso que dio comienzo a la apertura y la sensibilidad de mi escucha a mi propio corazón… Así mismo, a la conexión con la Tierra, con otros corazones humanos y de todos los seres sintientes. Aún lo voy comprendiendo… Paso a paso, se va despertando mi sensibilidad y compasión. Entiendo que es una camino, y por eso, elegí transitarlo sin angustia, permitiendo que se me revele en el mismo andar. Confiando en mi corazón y en la guía sutil de la Conciencia. Dios, Universo, Madre Universal.
Es el tiempo del despertar la conciencia Crística, naturaleza Búdica o esencia Sofía, a partir del amor y la defensa de la vida. Esto, logrado a través de la comprensión de las fuerzas de la naturaleza, escuchando nuestro corazón, y reconociendo lo sagrado en toda acción y todo pensamiento. Amor e Integridad, para asistir en la creación del balance y la armonía en la Madre Tierra. Es la invitación de mi Ser.
Me enseñó en una especie de canto, que “no hay otra realidad, que la realidad última“. Así mismo, me dio varias herramientas, como técnicas de limpieza energética y una técnica de meditación muy poderosa, basadas en la energía uterina y los chacras, en conexión con la Tierra.
Aunque no nos hemos vuelto a ver, a veces, nos comunicamos mediante los sueños… Ella me siente en la distancia, y entonces recibo de ella una forma de acompañamiento e inspiración, que reconforta en el camino. De hecho, ese acompañamiento me preparó para reconocer este tiempo complejo de profunda transformación que atraviesa el Planeta, con energías cósmicas intensas para el ajuste vibracional de la humanidad en armonía la Madre Tierra… Sigo aprendiendo… Abriéndome a sentir. Y así, aprender a comunicarme de corazón a corazón. Y saber que este momento, nos mueve hondo desde adentro, para sanar, para conectar unos a otros. Para despertar la conciencia de cuido.
Así, me he abierto a recibir la guía y las bendiciones de la Maestra Nyame Sophia, en gratitud. Honro y agradezco aquel revelador encuentro, y sigo en el camino, aprendiendo a escuchar mi corazón, paso apaso, en presencia radial, amorosa y sanadora. Y resonar respetuosamente en nuestras hermanas, para contribuir a la evolución colectiva, reconociendo la responsabilidad que tenemos las mujeres en la concreción de esta necesaria transformación.
Gracias infinitas Nyame, por estar en mi vida. Por tu amor, guía y bendiciones.”
—Guiber Elena
Venezuela
“Since the moment we met in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico in 2009, I’ve known Nyame to illuminate portals of elevaion. Receiving the Lotus Chakra meditation that same year kicked off a journey of hard work, life challenges and joyful realizations. In the years that followed, we were together for numerous Ocean, Moon, Earth and Fire ceremonies. We planned rootical gatherings that centered spiritual health and sovereignty with economic sustainability. The events and spaces, including Dia de Los Posibilidades, Hilo de Oro and Eco Barrios, we produced while we lived together in the Bahia de Banderas. When we returned to the California Bay Area we collaborated on alternative economic and sovereignty projects through Cowrie Village and the People’s Grocery Growing Justice Institute. And in 2012, I had the honor to accompany her for the Synthesis 2012 event in Piste’ where hundreds had come together at the ancient Mayan ruin to witness the opening of the new epoch.
When Nyame entered my life, I’d just gone through a divorce and was thirsty for spiritual guidance that would affirm my decisions. Instead, the hard lessons and profound healing were in self reflection, heart breaking and reopening… and service. Working with Nyame was a steady diet of meditation and ceremony, inner balancing, future forward, deeply rooted practice. To this day, she and I call ourselves “The 5 Minute Women” because it takes that or less for us to find resonance. But don’t get it confused, being rooted in spirit does not diminish Nyame’s laser sharp awareness of the systemic issues that disproportionately impact Black and brown communities around the globe, and in the US in a particular way. That awareness was forged in real life and is chronicled in her memoir, Gangster to Guru. Still Nyame’s generosity with her lived-experience wisdom and compassionate heart, her ability to laugh… these are her abundant gifts. Give Thanks!”
—YaVette Holts
California
Nyame Adama Selassie reveals the secrets of the soul.
Sees into the future and turns challenges into gifts. A medicine woman who sees the medicine woman in me. You give me tools to empower the medicine I came to give to the world. Your books, your gifts, your meditations, carry within them unconditional love and they are tools for me to heal myself and others. The encounters with Nyame gave a name for the power within me, gave me tools to spread the light within me, and strengthened within me an ancient root attached to the womb of Mother Earth. She accompanies me as a guardian angel who directs and illuminates my right path and encourages me to continue in my
— Karen Levana.
Israel
Nyame Selassie has been a member of the O’Hair Park Community Association Square Mile Association in Northwest Detroit for several years. She has participated in community meetings, helped to teach the Yoga class in O’Hair Park since 2023, brought family members to community clean-ups, and held celebrations and other events in a small neighborhood-created park on a nearby lot where a house once stood.
Her environmental, social, and spiritual knowledge has contributed to community discussions on future neighborhood goals. Prior to the pandemic in 2020 she was part of a small group of women focusing on wellness. Recently she joined with a group interested in creating a community center from an unused house in the area, to support after school enrichment for neighborhood children.
She has been a member of the Civic Action Committee since 2020.
Susan Stellar
O’Hair Park Community Association
Board Member Emerita
Detroit Michigan