Imani Cohen A.K.A The Hood Healer chats with Essence about living in an answered prayer, being a new mom, her relationship with God, being at Essence Festival of Culture and more. You don't want to miss it.
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00:00 As long as you have breath, you have options.
00:02 As long as you have breath, you have options.
00:06 Breathe deep.
00:07 Feel the life, feel the love, feel the opportunity,
00:12 feel the spirit.
00:14 As long as you have breath, you have options.
00:18 (upbeat music)
00:20 (upbeat music)
00:23 - Hey, it's the Hood Healer
00:46 and you're checking out the essence of me.
00:49 The Hood Healer came from the hood.
00:51 I went by Imani Cohen
00:54 and I started doing readings at Simply Wholesome
00:56 on Slauson and Overhill.
00:59 And the neighborhood just started calling me
01:01 the Hood Healer and it stuck.
01:05 And here she is.
01:06 I've always had these gifts.
01:10 I've always had spiritual gifts,
01:12 but I did not have spiritual confidence.
01:15 I did not have a spiritual relationship.
01:19 I was not,
01:20 I didn't have that type of spiritual nurturing.
01:25 I went to church.
01:26 My parents were,
01:28 I like to say holiday Christians.
01:31 You know, we went to church on Easter.
01:35 We went to church for Christmas,
01:36 but it wasn't really giving devotion in the home.
01:41 And also my gift, borderline schizophrenia as a child.
01:46 So it was embarrassing, I feel like for them.
01:51 And the embarrassment caused it to be dormant.
01:54 And I didn't really feel the presence of spirit
01:58 the way that I do now until my father passed.
02:02 And that's when I started to see apparitions again
02:05 and started to kind of tune into the soft voice
02:10 and personal journey,
02:16 but I gotta say,
02:18 my spiritual conviction has also come from validation.
02:25 Fondest childhood memory.
02:28 There's many, but the ones that stick out the most to me,
02:33 I feel like is sitting in my mother's chair.
02:37 My mother was an esthetician.
02:39 Don't make me cry.
02:40 Sitting in my mother's chair,
02:43 she was an esthetician,
02:44 but she was also a proprietor of the first black-owned spa
02:48 in Los Angeles.
02:50 And I felt like that was when she was most proud of me.
02:53 I feel like that's when my parents were most proud.
02:56 It started off very rocky.
03:03 When my parents passed, there was no provisions.
03:07 Is that the word I guess?
03:08 For me.
03:11 And that was jarring because I would say
03:16 that they were a financially affluent black family,
03:21 but just no preparations for death.
03:24 And I'm adopted.
03:26 So when my parents passed,
03:28 I was on my ass on the streets.
03:31 I couch surfed for a little bit.
03:34 I could not deal with the shame of my circumstances.
03:41 And I took myself to Skid Row,
03:43 which is crazy thinking back on it,
03:48 but it was so pivotal and such,
03:53 it was so pivotal and exactly where I needed to be.
03:57 My early start was actually not a start at all.
04:02 I was really just trying to figure it out.
04:06 I was waitressing actually at Simply Wholesome
04:09 and playing with these cards,
04:10 trying to get myself together.
04:13 And just the consistency of that attracted other people.
04:18 And I started pulling their cards
04:21 and I realized like, I might be kind of good at this.
04:25 And we just continued to develop.
04:28 But it really was haphazard.
04:29 It really was in pursuit of my own peace and stability
04:34 that brought me to this.
04:36 (upbeat music)
04:39 First, I wanna preface and say I'm not a tarot reader.
04:44 I'm not a card reader.
04:45 I do use cards, but that is not my medium.
04:49 Spirit communicates to me
04:51 and I communicate what spirit has communicated.
04:54 I feel like the astrology, the tarot, the crystals
05:01 are all extensions and expressions of the most high.
05:06 That really bring out our magic
05:10 and our magic has been suppressed.
05:13 And I feel like black folks have got,
05:16 I always say black folks,
05:17 we gotta go watch "Birth of a Nation."
05:19 That is my homework to folks.
05:23 We have to watch "Birth of a Nation."
05:25 I think that we have to, as people of color,
05:28 recognize how religion, how Christianity
05:31 has been manipulated to suppress our magic.
05:36 So, not saying that I don't identify with Christianity.
05:40 I'm not saying, obviously, that I don't believe in God,
05:43 but I do feel that we have been truly manipulated.
05:47 And through these modalities, I've gotten closer to spirit.
05:52 I've gotten closer to my spirit, my essence,
05:56 you know, and the essence of God.
05:59 So I want us to be open-minded.
06:02 I want us, as people of color, to recognize
06:05 that we have a plethora of modalities
06:09 that we can rely on, that can support our journeys.
06:14 And I speak about God so much
06:17 because I know that there is apprehension
06:20 and I know that there is resistance,
06:22 but when we hear that sweet name, okay?
06:26 ♪ Something about the nation ♪
06:28 Okay.
06:30 I know you didn't ask for all that,
06:31 but (laughs)
06:34 Okay, but I feel like it disarms folks
06:38 and they're a little bit more receptive.
06:40 (upbeat music)
06:43 Sometimes I feel it's both
06:50 because your girl just talks on live sometimes
06:53 like it's just you and me.
06:55 Okay, and so sometimes I've looked back like,
06:57 damn, shoulda, shoulda, shoulda, you know?
07:01 So sometimes I think I can overshare
07:05 and I feel like I have to be cognizant
07:10 about the fact that this could be the first time
07:12 somebody's watching me and I forget that often.
07:16 So that aspect can curse me sometimes.
07:20 I have been very willy-nilly with the mouth.
07:24 (laughs)
07:27 It doesn't always rub people the right way,
07:29 but I feel that the good outweighs the bad.
07:33 I think that people can just really feel the transparency
07:37 and just feel my energy and they gravitate towards it.
07:42 I think that really Instagram, social media,
07:46 reality is missing authenticity.
07:48 And even if it's a little messy,
07:51 they still rockin' with it.
07:54 (upbeat music)
07:57 (keyboard clacking)
07:59 I'm picturing myself.
08:01 It's just God, God is so good.
08:05 God is so good.
08:06 God is so good.
08:09 And I feel like a magician.
08:11 I feel unstoppable.
08:13 (keyboard clacking)
08:17 So integrity is a big, big thing for me.
08:21 And I like to, I not only like,
08:24 I only operate in spiritual integrity.
08:28 I feel that my readings are very clarifying.
08:32 And I feel like providing someone that is so young
08:37 with so much clarifying information can alter their journey.
08:43 If somebody had told me at 19
08:46 that I would be a millionaire at 30,
08:49 the steps that were necessary to take to get to that point,
08:54 probably wouldn't have been taken.
08:56 So I feel like in those Tinder ages,
09:01 you need to have some experience.
09:04 Now I still offer my services.
09:07 You can still, you know, cop on a live.
09:09 You can still come see me at an event.
09:12 You can still be on OnlyFans.
09:14 But I just think that it's just too much information.
09:19 (keyboard clacking)
09:22 Going through homelessness, you know,
09:26 housing is a big thing.
09:28 And prior to the goal of having a house,
09:35 I really just kind of stopped at a luxury apartment.
09:39 Just wanted a luxury apartment.
09:42 I just wanted, just, the just word.
09:45 I just wanted, and I realized that my trauma
09:51 had impacted my manifestations.
09:54 So I, through partnership also,
10:01 my divine, delicious partner had the foresight, okay?
10:06 And the faith and the vision
10:14 that I didn't necessarily have for myself
10:17 that really helped in the manifestation.
10:20 I think because we're manifesting for ourselves,
10:25 it's one thing, but when we're collectively manifesting,
10:28 that's another thing.
10:29 So initially I wanted an apartment.
10:32 As I said, I was homeless.
10:34 I didn't see it for myself.
10:37 And I also, you know, this was my first year
10:39 is having a coin.
10:40 So your girl had to get the credit together.
10:43 You know, we had to get some things right.
10:46 And I just felt intimidated by the entire process.
10:50 But I knew that God wanted more for me.
10:55 And I envisioned the pool.
10:57 I envisioned my closet,
11:00 which maybe I'm trying to work on not coveting so much.
11:03 Okay, but I envisioned the kitchen.
11:08 I envisioned it.
11:09 And I knew that there was more for me,
11:12 but I just didn't know how.
11:14 And spirit said, baby, it's not for you to know how.
11:19 And when I got that message, I packed my apartment up.
11:23 I packed my apartment up and I will go live in the boxes,
11:27 in the chaos, in the mess.
11:29 Okay, very transparent about this transition.
11:33 And in the midst of this, I was very weary.
11:37 The collective doesn't know
11:38 because I was getting rejected, rejected, rejected,
11:41 rejected, and I told my husband, you know what?
11:45 We just need to go ahead and apply for this apartment.
11:48 Okay, because my spirit can't take another rejection.
11:52 And just as we were about to apply for the apartment,
11:55 we got approved for the house.
11:56 And the house is my dream house.
12:00 And it was my dream house, actually.
12:03 Now the dream has expanded.
12:05 I've been really working on honoring my partner,
12:09 honoring my partner's needs
12:11 because the support is unwavering.
12:14 And I'm so thankful to him for the way that he uplifts me,
12:22 the way that he uplifts my business, my career,
12:27 my passion, my purpose.
12:30 He's right now doing daddy daycare
12:32 so that I could be here in New Orleans with y'all.
12:35 So right now, in full transparency,
12:40 your girl's doing her best.
12:43 I'm trying, I am really trying to.
12:46 I'm only a year in, a year and 10 months in the mommy game.
12:53 I got a full-blown toddler.
12:55 So baby, she figured it out.
12:59 She's figuring it out, but I'm so thankful for the support.
13:01 And right now, I'm prioritizing and honoring the support.
13:06 Ocean has taught me patience, truly.
13:19 And Ocean is such a mirror.
13:20 My girl and I are eight days apart.
13:24 We are really little, mini twins.
13:28 We have many similarities.
13:30 And she just shows me myself in all of the ways.
13:35 Ocean is the greatest force on earth.
13:43 It's a mysterious force, but it's a magical force.
13:47 And I feel like that's what children are.
13:50 That's what our daughters are.
13:52 And so Ocean just represents the majesty and the magic
13:58 that we need to exist.
14:02 (upbeat music)
14:05 Being a part of anything Essence-related is such an honor.
14:12 It's such an honor.
14:13 It's just such a standard of Black excellence.
14:17 And just to be under that umbrella
14:19 and to be amongst such beautiful, intelligent,
14:25 intellectual, creative, successful people
14:29 is just phenomenal.
14:31 The energy is beautiful.
14:33 I feel so blessed and so humbled.
14:38 Since I started, I haven't been able to do events
14:43 and connect in the ways that I truly enjoy.
14:52 So this experience really feels like
14:55 Simply Wholesome Days for me,
14:57 which is really pouring me up, filling me up.
15:02 And while I think folks think that I'm pouring into them,
15:07 they're really pouring into me.
15:08 (upbeat music)
15:11 (whooshing)