Finding the "Climate of Ourselves" through Wellness
Inquisitive. Thoughtful. True to himself.
These are the words that bubble up to the surface to describe Tremaye Jones--a resident of San Leandro who is working toward creating his own business grounded in holistic wellness coaching. For Tremaye, his identity goes beyond his wellness persona. He thinks of himself as a lifelong student learner of the human experience.
“I have a deep curiosity within me,” says Treymaye. “I listen to stories about where people come from... people who have been incarcerated, people struggling with mental health issues, [and] people with a different viewpoint than me. Mostly, I just try to learn about how people experience the world.”
Tremaye expands on this idea, noting that rather than focusing on our deficiencies, we need to find the “climate of ourselves” -- a term he thoughtfully coined as a way to constantly reflect, self-improve and grow as a person. This ideology, coincidentally, is how Mandela Partners grounds its wellness education program to show the connections between the mind, body and spirit. It didn't take long for Tremaye and Mandela Partners to cross paths.
"We only have one life so we need to take better care of our health."
Tremaye moved from Oakland to San Leandro in early 2021. One of the items on his “wish list" items for his new community is having more health and grocery stores. “Most of the time, I have to go all the way to downtown Oakland or Fremont if I want to buy whole foods, “ Tremaye comments. “Luckily, there is always a community farmers’ market on the weekends, so that gets me by if I can’t get to the store for good produce.”
In the first few months of living in San Leandro, Tremaye started working as a maintenance technician at Ashland Place Apartments. One day during his shift, Tremaye spotted a group of residents in the event room.
“I decided to poke my head in, and Aliyah and Mariah started waving me in saying ‘cCome in, sit down with us!” mentions Tremaye.
Tremaye is referring to Mandela Partners’ Communications & Outreach Associate, Mariah O’Rourke, and Wellness Education Coordinator, Aliyah Bey, who were presenting the workshop.
Aliyah centers the Heal(thy) Self workshop curriculum on healthy eating to fuel the mind, body and spirit while--shifting away from conventional nutrition education that focuses on calorie counting and behavior modification.
Instead, Aliyah embraces the fact that whole, local food plays a major role in healing, and creates workshops that foster a wellness mindset in the community. In the four Heal(thy) Self workshops he attended, Tremaye discussed several different topics with the group--the culture of our food, the ways our food is produced, and how food we eat impacts the overall bacteria in the gut.
“I had already started to eat differently and wanted to change. The workshops reminded me of the tools to start making those changes, and helped me become more aware of what I eat,” says Tremaye.
For Tremaye, he sees wellness as a major part of his journey.
Tremaye practices healthy rituals by following eating a vegan diet most days, such as cutting out sugar, and eating a more variety of vegetables. His interest in becoming the best “climate of himself” is fueled by his willingness to learn.
“My health is my number one priority, and so I feel like it is my job to find out more information than the ‘Average Joe’.,” says Tremaye,.
“We only have one life so we need to take better care of our health.”
Tremaye shows us that practicing wellness isn’t stagnant. Rather, it's a way to continue to grow and nourish our bodies, and Mandela Partners is here to support that.
