The Making of DeAlmas
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DeAlmas is 26 years old!
I remember our first meeting with the 5 founding members in 1998
when we named our ourselves, DeAlmas Latinas - one of the first
community based groups of its kind in NYC. We later changed our
name to DeAlmas Women’s Institute – providing intergenerational
women of color with programs, educational events, cultural travel
and femtoring (feminist mentoring) for personal and spiritual
development, empowered leadership, healing and holistic well being
– providing tools for self-awareness and transformation.
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Throughout the pandemic, we continued to offer virtual community
workshops and spaces for connection, care and support for our
mental and emotional health and wellness - making possible the
opportunity for women from all over the country and the Caribbean to
participate. Our weekly meditation group, De ‘Corazon
Connection, continues to this day as an intentional space for sacred
stillness. And our support group, Sisters of Flow and Fire began
again in early 2023, along with our first DeAlmas Book Club! Our
annual signature programs, Visiones, Women of Light, Peace and
Power and our Spring Natural Woman Retreat continues to expand
with both in-person and virtual formats serving hundreds of women.
I invite you to peruse our website and check out the innovative
programs/events (past, present and future) thematically focused for
the present moment in global and human evolution. Join our mailing
list and receive information on our upcoming Webinars, Community
Collaborations, and so much more!
Our mission provides women and girls with tools to reconnect
and deepen their relationship with the heart of their inherent feminine
power and unconditional love, which impacts broader communities
and helps create a more humane, just, equitable and compassionate
world. And in the words of Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes, “One of the
most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a
stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines
like gold in dark times”. This is the work of DeAlmas.
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A warm and loving hug of gratitude to the thousands of DeAlmas
women and girls – light workers and change makers – near and far
that have participated in the courageous transformational work of
radical healing, self-awareness and whom embody and embrace of
the full range of their Divine Feminine Power from the Inside/Out.
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We Are because You. Are. A. Gift.
I look forward to being with You!
Love and Abundant Blessings,
Gloria
Founding Director
DeAlmas Women’s Institute International
Celebrating 26 Years
Events Highlights
Visiones 2023
January 2023
Hearts of Fire, Ignite Your Passion - Expand Your Vision
An Intergenerational Retreat for Women of Color
D'Corazon Connections
2020 and onward!
A virtual community for women to meditate, share space, ground and manifest. D'Corazon Meditations are held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:00 am - 8:30 am.
Natural Woman Retreat
May 2023
Our 2nd annual nature retreat centered on creating deep rest and rejuvenation for women of all ages. Participants poured into their spirits with love, restoration, resource, play, and connection while enjoying 55 acres of the Trinity Forest in Connecticut.
Goddess Fest
August 2023
One of DeAlmas's newest traditions, this is a day retreat celebrating Women, Water, and Wellness. Held at Orchard Beach in The Bronx, participants embodied their Divine Feminine energy by creating a Goddess Mandala, grooving to Egyptian Belly Dance, and participating in rituals of renewal and release with water.
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Goddess Fest was done in collaboration with Sweet Water Dance & Yoga.
Women of Light
December 2023
Our 15th annual gathering of Women Light, Peace, and Power. Virtually, over 30 women met for our yearly peace meditation, candlelight ceremony, and celebration of DeAlmas.
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Women of Light is a International meeting of women to Radiate our Divine Feminine Essence and Energy into the World. We raditated high-vibrational love, compassion, and healing to ourselves, families, global communities, and Mother Earth.
DeAlmas Women's Book Club
October 2023 - Present
We started our FIRST DeAlmas Women's Book Club!
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Aligned with the mission of DeAlmas programs, we created a new virtual space for women of color who want to make more time for the joy of reading amongst a community of like-minded, deeply soul-full women.
We envision reading a variety of selections written by diverse women of color – fiction, non fiction, memoir, personal and spiritual discovery – themes that reflect the expanse of our humanity, experiences, herstory and breadth of the divine feminine spirit – inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender, geography, culture.
Visiones 2024
January 2024
We celebrated our final 25th anniversary event with our annual Visiones Retreat focused on embodying the power of our Diviine YES!