Let me first of all say it out loud, this word is POWERFUL!! The words have the meaning we give to them, but girl, this one has many positive feelings and words in one!!

Every women has a Dushi within, you may feel lost, in physical and emotional pain, or stuck in life but you have a Desire to Unlock your Potential, to create Self Love practices and Habits in which you need implementation to truly feel DUSHI.

Where I am still a work in progress, the journey of self-love is never ending. If self-love is a lesson, then we are in school and we are lifelong pupils of self-love and self-care.
And that is where #IamDUSHI® was born.

My journey with the Dushi word started in one of my darkest times and it has given me the light I was so looking for.

Depression and Anxiety is something that has been with me my whole life, I used to battle it, now I accept it as a part of me that shows up sometimes, it is not about giving up on me, is actually just giving up the resistance of negative thoughts and embracing all parts of me, which is the true sense of being Dushi.

Accepting ourselves just as we are so we can show up our authentic selves and drop the “mask” so many of us wear.

Sounds complex? Let me explain…

When it comes to the word “DUSHI”, Dushi is a Papiamento word, Papiamento is the main language of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, known as the ABC islands of Curacao near Venezuela. It comes from a mix of African, Portuguese and Spanish.

The word has several meanings and there is no literal translation for it, but one thing is clear: it is ALWAYS POSITIVE. The word is much like giving or receiving a hug. It is often used by people in Curaçao to express their Kindness or gratitude for someone, if they think that person is “lovely”. They use it to describe all the good things in life. 

For me, it is a source of Authenticy,Self Love and Empowerment.

I heard that word during a trip to Curacao. Throughout the year before that trip, I was having suicidal thoughts circling my mind almost everyday...

How was going to do it, what time, where, what would my family and loved ones would feel. I wrote goodbye letters, I was deeply suffering but on the outside I still needed to keep a positive outgoing attitude towards my “perfect” life.

I would cover all these thoughts by keeping myself busy with work, or planning different trips away. When I was not working I was planning escapes from my own reality. Not saying that I don’t enjoy travelling, but looking back, I was just keeping myself busy to not deal with the real problems…

Well, until this Caribbean Cruise trip had changed my life and something shifted inside of me.

Just to give you a bit of context: I am originally from Portugal. My mum is from Venezuela, she is a great cook and occasionally for special events she cooks traditional food from Venezuela and I always wanted to visit where she grew up.

One of the stops in the cruise was Curacao, one of the islands that belongs to Venezuela, so guess what they had? Traditional yummy food.

I got out of the ship for 10 hrs and made the most of it, I swam with turtles, I had a ride in a bus without windows to as the locals say, “let all your stress go” through the windows, I tried iguana soup, I wandered around the colourful city with all the art painting on the walls that truly are fascinating and amazing.

The following years were just a ride of up and downs, I did a tremendous soul searching of inner work, finding who I was, developing habits that I could stick to, to help me go through this period of life, which also included the uncertainty of being a nurse during the Covid Pandemic in a foreign country, so with the help of books, personal development seminars, therapy, surrounding myself by positive people that helped me to get massive insights and breakthroughs in my own life.

The most powerful way of coping I found was like the way children play, I created my own Adult Alter Ego, my New Identity:

Which is more
powerful,
unique,
beautiful,
confident,
worthy of happiness
which always felt loved,
calm,
authentic
kind to herself and others

AND I BECAME HER!!!

I named her Dushi because Dushi brings me to my essence, brings me “home” and reminds me of who I am deep down.

That I am enough. That I am Love. We are all Love. Love heals everything.

One day I was doing my mirror work as part of my new habit, when I said to myself looking into my eyes and I put my hand on my heart “I'M DUSHI” and I felt like a switch inside of me.

I found something I could switch on, even in the worst moments there is vitality in our bodies and I could feel that life, that blood pumping inside my heart, pulsing through my veins and there is light through us, but life happens and can turn that switch off. This is the way I remind myself of my true power! It took me back to who I am!!

Every since then, I look myself in the mirror daily, put my right hand on your heart and say it out loud with confidence " I AM OK, I AM SAFE, I AM LOVED, I AM DUSHI", even on most difficult days I do it, it works for me. 

I shared this tool with my clients that are lacking confidence and they found that it helps them tremendously too. 


I highly recommend you try this out, just for a week and see how life becomes kinder to you. Life Loves You. What do you have to lose?

Being Dushi is being the best version of YOU! It is accepting you are perfectly imperfect. 
Dushi is a way of life!!

And I want to share with you how to be DUSHI!!!

Sharing is caring right? :)

Bellow are the 5 Elements of living a Dushi Life:
Discovery
Unleashing
Self Acceptance
Healing
Intention

Dushi is more than a Powerful word! This is how I live my life. It is what fuels me and runs in my veins, so forgive me if I just say “ Hey Dushi!” because I know there is a Dushi inside of every single one of you!