Icess is a writer, professor, and blogger. She is a graduate of Goddard College's MFA program. Her work has been published in Rabble Lit, Minerva Rising Literary Journal, and the Feminine Collective's anthology Notes from Humanity. Her nonfiction has appeared in Dear Hope, NBCNews.com, HuffPost and the Guardian. She is a recipient of the Owl of Minerva Award, a VONA/Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation alum, and is also a Kimbilio Fellow. She's currently working on her first novel.
Hello fellow yogis! Usually, in this space, I write about my latest practice and what I learned from it. But I’m doing something for writers that may appeal to yogis! I am teaching a Blogging 101 class through Houston’s WriteSpace. The blogging class will help you not only figure out what the heck is blogging … More Blogging? But isn’t that a writing thing?
My mother has cancer. That is a surreal sentence to write and admit to. My mother, the woman who fought every barrier in her life and every obstacle, has cancer. The news wasn’t really something big or even devastating until recently. See, she was diagnosed with cancer last month after something showed up in … More How yoga is helping me be a warrior
Look, I haven’t been back to my studio in weeks. WEEKS!! Part of me is laziness, of course, but the larger part of me is that I want to work on focus on what I need from my practice. As I wrote recently, a close family member of mine was diagnosed with cancer. I am … More Confession: Not sure I’m going back to a studio
Can we talk about how much I love special yoga events? One of my absolute favorites is anything that the Melanin Yoga Project does. I wrote about them before and attended their rooftop yoga event. It was an affirming event for me, seeing so many yogis who looked like me both in ethnicity and in … More Getting my Glow Up at the Melanin Yoga Project
I am a HUGE Doctor Who fan. Seriously, when I had a desk at work, I used the Tardis as decoration. And when Hurricane Harvey took everything from my office I lamented few things. Among those things lost and wish I had back was my Funko Tardis. Man, I loved that thing. And now … More Tardis Pose: Doctor Who-inspired yoga things for your practice
So…you’ve decided to get into yoga. Congratulations! I think it’s the best decision ever, but I am biased. This is a question that is probably the most asked by people who are curious about the practice. How do I start? Do I sign up at my local studio? Do I stay home and use Youtube … More How to start your yoga practice
During my latest practice, I was mad. I didn’t set my intention to be less mad or to get over it. I didn’t want to discover why I was mad; I knew it before stepping on the mat I wanted to stay good and mad through sun salutations, balances, and heart openers. I wanted my … More Mad Yoga. When you’re so upset the flow just happens.
So one of the great things about a home practice…you don’t have to do it at home. I took my practice on the road, sort of speak and went to my neighborhood park to get my downdog on! That’s adho mukha svanasana for those learning sanskrit. View this post on Instagram Empty park!!! Time for … More Outside practice: Focus on the answer, not the challenge
I don’t know about you but I’m in the middle of the going back to school crazy. I’m a college professor who advises a pretty active student group so I’ve already technically been “back to school”. But darn it, I still want my final days! So I’ve been balancing the final, precious days of my … More Black Girl Yoga Instagram Challenge
My Groupon is done. When I started my yoga practice back up in May, it was fueled (funded?) by a Groupon to my nearest neighborhood yoga studio. But that Groupon has expired and with school the year’s start around the corner, I’ll need to wait before I can become an official member of my studio. … More Returning to a home practice: Options to continue the yoga journey
Dreaming in Asana 