Disrupting Your Spiritual Evolution for Liberation

In this episode I get vulnerable and share my transformative journey exploring kink and embodiment, revealing how embracing all parts me have enhanced my authenticity and leadership skills. I’d like to invite listeners to explore their curiosity, challenge stereotypes, and embody their true selves for greater power and fulfillment.

Topics discussed:

• My journey into kink and self-exploration
• Acceptance and self-expression in the kink community
• Embodiment beyond stereotypes
• Insights from the “Being a Dominant Woman” workshop
• Connection between self-embodiment and leadership
• Challenging societal masks and embracing vulnerability
• Spirituality, kink, and personal evolution
• Practical invites to explore curiosity and authenticity

This episode was produced by Six-Two Studio

Mariama Roberts is an Energy Healer, Psychic Guide, and Lifestyle Mentor with over 15 years of experience in the corporate and non-profit world. She helps high-achieving women rise above the grind, find deeper meaning, and live into their most fulfilling life possible. Through energy healing, coaching and private mentorship, Mariama places focus on healthy activations that welcome more balance and joy.

Resources:

Matrix of Destiny Reading

1:1 Mentorship

All Other Offerings

Website

Find Mariama:
Instagram - @kalo.mariama
Linked In - @mariroberts

Transcript

Mariama (00:02.53) Before we drop into this episode, I want to share with you that this episode is a growth edge. As you know, if you've been around here for a little while, over this past couple of years, I have been in the process of fully embodying all aspects of who I am. And this episode...

is talking about something that I haven't shared before. And being honest, it feels a little scary. So I just want you to know that I am sharing something that is crunchy for me. But I also know that it's really important for me to share. And I know that

Being fully embodied in who you are requires that sometimes you step outside of your comfort zone. And this is one of those times where I'm embracing being uncomfortable because it's part of the transformation. It's part of the journey.

Mariama (01:33.934) I've been struggling to record this episode. So funny. And it's just a lot of mind drama going on in my head. Appears to being fully embraced, to sharing all of the things that I believe are important with talking about this year-long journey, year two year journey. It feels a little crunchy.

So here we go into this episode. Imagine my surprise discovering that the kink community helped me to feel more accepted than anywhere else. I know, I know you just heard that and you said, oh shit, do I need to rewind? What did Mariama just say?

I know, I know. I have been exploring kink. And I guess I should tell you a little bit about that, but I guess we'll start with that. I'm exploring kink, hi. When I got to the Bay Area after I got divorced, actually before that, I guess, technically,

I just had this realization that I think I was kind of kinky before, but I don't really know. And I thought, let me explore. And this is something that happens for me. I might learn about something or get exposure to something or something in terms of synchronicities might continue to show up. This is even how my, you know, I rediscovered or reconnected with my psychic gifts was literally following synchronicities and listening to these pings.

that drew me into something that took me down into, you you might call it a rabbit hole, into a space. And the same is with kink. It was literally this thought that popped into my head that then took me to explore and uncover a new world that helped me to be more me, is helping me to be more me, is helping me to embody who I fully am. And so taking you back to the days of

Mariama (04:00.418) Getting into the Bay Area, I'm covering this thing called a munch, which sounds way wild and kinkier than it is. It's honestly just a social meetup. It's a social gathering. It's truly just, you know, in the corporate speak, networking, in the non-corporate speak, it's just a social gathering. It's a meetup of such. And I go to this wonderful first

gathering this much and I meet these people who honestly have become some of my dearest friends in the community. And I go curious because I don't know what to expect. I don't know what's going on. I just think I might be a little kinky. I don't know what that means. I know that maybe it's BDSM, maybe it's not. Honestly, I'm just trying to uncover and discover. And I want to invite you to uncover and discover.

Also, anything that you are feeling a nudge to explore or interest in. I think we have perceptions about things in life, BDSM, even art, music. We have a perception of what that means to be in a community or to be a part of something or to explore something. And because of something that we have been taught or that we've seen on TV, which is usually a stereotype of something that is untrue,

or a segment of a reality, we then decide that it's not for us or that we couldn't do it or that we can't explore it. And I just want to make this first invitation to you to say, that's BS, that's not true. And the only way you're gonna know is if you explore, if you get curious. So I just wanna start with that big opening right here, right now, right there. So I go to this event.

this munch and I meet a whole bunch of nice people who look just like you and me, who are either where I am, curious, trying to figure out like, this for them, or are deeply into the community. And guess what? I just want to make sure you know they're your coworker, they're your boss, they're your kid's teacher, they're your teacher, they're your therapist. They are just everyday humans who have another side to them.

Mariama (06:21.922) that they are embracing and have the courage to embrace. Just putting that out there. I go to this munch and I discover that there is the very next week, one of the largest kink conventions on the West Coast that's gonna be happening. And I'm like, what? What is this thing? Tell me more. Should I go? Everyone tells me, gosh, Mariyama, it's gonna be a lot.

It's gonna be overwhelming. I don't know if that's the first thing you should do, exploring the kink community. So of course I'm like, oh, okay. Well, they have a day pass. Maybe I'll just go to one day event because why not? I'm exploring, I'm curious, I wanna know. I was honestly prepared for it to be like super overwhelming. And I think because you know what happens when people tell you,

my God, it's gonna be so amazing. my God. And they hype it up and then you go to it and you are highly disappointed because it wasn't all that and a bag of chips. This is exactly what happened for me when I went to this convention. It was not overwhelming at all. And I think it's because everyone told me I was gonna be so overwhelmed. So I prepared to be overwhelmed and I wasn't at all.

actually happened was that I felt fully accepted as who I am and who I was in that moment. I walked into this space, I was fully clothed, I had on this long dress, fully covered, and I had people coming up to me telling me that my energy was beautiful, telling me and acknowledging that I was physically beautiful. And by the way,

I should say that there were people in all different forms, all different shapes, dressed, some with no clothes on, some in fetish wear, some, you know, and when I say fetish wear, I mean anything from your stereotypical, I'm doing quote unquote stereotypical BDSM wear to, you know, which that could be leather, that could be pleather.

Mariama (08:42.059) That could be plastic. That could be, there were some furries. That could be lingerie to absolutely nothing. There was the gamut, truly. And I was definitely one of the more overdressed humans there. But I could not help but notice and be really blown away and taken aback by how people saw me.

saw my energy and were not afraid to share it, but also welcome me. Like I said, I felt so welcomed, so myself. And I have never been in a space where I felt so welcomed and fully embraced. This is the first time that that was

my experience. It was a really beautiful experience. Also, I have to tell you, never in my life, single or married, have I ever been told that I am sexy. And I don't know what shifted. I don't know if I started to feel more sexy and beautiful, or if me being in this space, allowing myself to be seen,

allowed me to or allows me to feel more sexy and beautiful. Because in this moment of my life, I do feel sexier. I do feel more beautiful. And I just, I put that out there even for myself because it is something I'm still processing. Is it because people see me more fully or is it because I am embodying and being who I am more? I don't know.

I'm just sharing this with you because it's been an interesting journey and revelation, especially as a person who's never been told that they were sexy. So now I want to talk to you about this workshop I went to at this convention. It was literally, if you know me, first of all, if I go to a workshop, I'm probably taking copious notes, even though funny enough, in my design, I'm actually not meant to take copious notes. I'm meant to just allow the information to wash over me.

Mariama (11:06.358) I'm able to take in information passively. And it's good for me to take in information passively. But there was so much there that it was nice for me to take notes. It was almost like this way of me embodying the information that was being shared. It was this workshop called Being a Dominant Woman. It was the only workshop I attended. It was actually one of the reasons why I picked going the day that I went. And I am sitting there taking all these notes.

this workshop is blowing my frigging frag in mind. And the biggest piece for me was realizing that it wasn't just about sex, it was about life. It was about realizing being a dominant woman can be done any way that you choose. So, you know, again, this workshop is about, it was about BDSM, right? So was about being.

a dom and how do you want to be a dom? How do you want to dress as a dom? You don't have to dress in a stereotypical way. You don't have to present or do what stereotypical doms do. You get to be a dom in the way that you choose, which means take this back. As a woman, as a leader, you get to be a leader in the way that you choose to be a leader. You get to decide

what version of you is present. You get to decide what kind of leader you want to be. You get to decide what power looks like in your life. It was literally mind blowing. And what I realized in this workshop and in my understanding of this expression of where I am right now in

terms of these different aspects of myself is that embodiment and understanding embodiment isn't just about spirituality, right? It isn't also about bypassing. It means it includes all aspects of who you are. It includes me being okay with being sexy and embracing the kinky sides of me.

Mariama (13:32.916) includes me being okay with holding space and being soft and showing up in ways that work for me. And it's also why I believe that when we are or you are or we, however you want to say it, we, you, me, whatever, it means when you are suppressing parts of who you are,

inherently, you are limiting your authentic power. And it is important for women, I believe, to embrace all parts of who you are so that you can be and lead as you're meant to lead. Again, I don't mean this only in life as you're in your business world or

in your, you know, that corporate space and that visionary space. This is all areas of your life. If you are not owning all parts of who you are, there is no way for people to connect with you. There is no way for people to, for you to connect even with yourself, to know yourself fully. You know, this is what I think is so interesting about the kink.

world and the revelations that I'm having, you know, is like, you can be, I could be a dom if I wanted to be a dom. By the way, I just will tell you that I'm not actually a dom. I would love to like embrace that a little bit more, but there's so much more to kink. That's a whole nother conversation. Good Lord, if you want to talk about it, reach out. But to be a woman, for me, who is this leader,

in a soft, flowy dress and can still own who I am and take up space and lead in that space. If you are a visionary corporate woman and you are showing up to your workspace in a suit that you feel is aligned with the image perception of what that looks like, not fully embracing all aspects of yourself,

Mariama (15:57.836) it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be hard when you are wearing masks to fit in, to be professionally appropriate, versus being embodied in who you fully are, embracing all aspects and allowing that to show up. And again, I don't mean that it has to be, being defiant to be defiant, right? I just mean that.

This is an invitation to look at, are you allowing all of yourself to be seen? Are you allowing yourself to embrace and explore all parts of yourself? know, I think about embodiment in general, you know, I think that it extends beyond meditation and breath work. And I think that even when you think about BDSM, you think about

Again, I'm going to take a step back in this, right? Again, talking about BDSM, it is not the stereotypical thing that you think about. Not everyone is a masochist, not everyone is a sadist. For me personally, it's about being embodied. It's about actually feeling my body. It is not the perception of what you think it is. And when I again go back to embodiment and thinking about this work,

It does extend beyond breath work. It does extend beyond meditation. Not everything has to be painful for you to feel. Your spiritual embodiment, your evolution gets to be whatever works for you, you know?

I do think, and maybe this might be a later conversation, I do think there is something to the connection to spirituality and the connection to kink and embodiment, the connection to being fully who you are, empowered, embodied, embracing all aspects of yourself that is a part of spiritual evolution.

Mariama (18:24.738) that's going kind of deep in a different direction than I was planning on even going in for today. But I do just want to say again, this episode was about sharing more how kink has helped me be more me and how I want to invite you to embrace aspects of yourself and to see yourself in different ways. Because, you know, when you suppress who you fully are,

It is limiting your authentic power. It is limiting who you really are at the core. And embodiment work doesn't have to look the way you think it looks. That's the other thing I want to say. All right. This was an edge for me. Thank you for being here and listening to it.

Mariama (19:31.214) If you are a leader who's been trying to compartmentalize yourself and you really want to bring all parts of who you are to work, then I just want to tell you that my one-on-one work helps people to do just that. To unmask those parts of yourself that you've been maybe too afraid to see or expose or to lean into. We can start with an illumination call that can be found in the show notes.