09/02/2026
DNA IS DATA, NOT DESTINY (AND I HAVE THE A1C TO PROVE IT)
ANCESTORS
My grandmother was Mexican, and baby, she could cook. My father was Black American — soul food, the whole spread. I loved these two people fiercely, and they taught me almost everything I know — how to love hard, how to feed people, how to show up. Diabetes was the one lesson I learned by watching what it cost them: a stroke, amputations. They gave me so much. This is the one thing I decided not to inherit.
THE GOAL
Most people want to out-earn their parents. Respectable. I wanted to out-health mine.
RECEIPTS
Diabetes is written into my DNA. It just never got the memo. My last A1c? 5.1 — optimal. My doctor calls it beating the odds. I call it 20-plus years of doing the work on purpose, one class at a time.
THE MAGIC
A doctor friend told me it best: every time you roll out your mat, your body throws a little internal party — circulation gets moving, your nervous system chills out, even your kidneys get some love. All of it helps keep your blood sugar in check. Yoga’s basically been running damage control before the damage ever had a chance.
THE HUSTLE
Yoga built the foundation, but I didn’t stop there. I read Glucose Revolution like it was gossip. I drink water like it’s my job (hot yoga will teach you that fast). And these days, what I eat after class leans a lot more “nourish” and a lot less “nachos at 11pm.”
THE FLEX
I’ve met people with PhDs, seven-figure businesses — genuinely impressive, no shade. But my favorite flex isn’t a degree or a bank account. It’s this: I prevented diabetes in my own body. That’s the feather in my cap I’m proudest of, and nobody can take it from me.
Your story doesn’t have to look like mine. But if there’s something in your family history you’re quietly trying to outrun — this is where you start.
Footsteps. 5 classes, any Yoga or Pilates, $39.
📍 301 Basin St. | 📞 504-302-2304 | magnoliayogastudio.com
