Biography
Early Life
In 1994, Queen Afua founded the Sacred Woman Rites of Passage program. This was after publishing the bestselling book Heal Thyself: For Health and Longevity in 1987.
For over four decades, Queen Afua has led, practiced, advocated, and taught holistic wellness and healing.
The former Helen Robinson was born in 1953 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was a Garveyite, a dental technician, and a real estate entrepreneur.
In her early years, Queen Afua was a dancer and a singer. She says, “my life was to be an artist.” She was involved in the Black nationalist movement and worked as a community organizer in Harlem.
Unfortunately, at an early age, she was beset by various illnesses. These included asthma, hay fever, and eczema. In addition, she suffered from extreme premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
Wellness Journey
Queen Afua says, “the journey began in 1969 when I was sixteen years old.” She went on a weekend healing retreat. While at the retreat, she began to detox.
She drank water mixed with lemons, limes, and grapefruit. She also discovered the book by Dick Gregory, Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin’ with Mother Nature.
By the end of the retreat, Afua says that she “walked into another life.” It was a life of intentionality and clean eating. She used these practices to address and overcome her own ill health.
Health Advocacy
Afua developed a holistic model of living that benefits the mind, the body, and the spirit.
In 1987, she published her first book, Heal Thyself: For Health and Longevity. It became a New York Times bestseller.
Queen Afua wrote seven best-selling books. She founded the Sacred Woman Rites of Passage program in 1994. In 2000 she opened the Queen Afua Wellness Center in Brooklyn.
In addition, the Queen Afua Wellness Institute founded in 2010 offers virtual and in-person retreats and training.
Spiritual Leadership
Queen Afua is a priestess of the Kemetic faith.
Kemetic Orthodoxy is one of the many African Traditional Religions embraced by people of the African Diaspora who desire to recover the spiritual practices of their ancestors.
Afua describes herself as an “evangelist” who brings the “good news” about a whole and healthy mind, body, and spirit. Her approach to holistic wellness is unique because women are her primary focus.
Afua advocates attention to the self to sustain contributions beyond oneself. She believes the womb – the reproductive system of the woman – is the source of women’s holistic healing and health.
Afua says, “When a woman’s womb is in a healthy state, her life is a reflection of this balance.” In the book Sacred Woman: A Guide to Healing the Feminist Body, Mind, and Spirit Afua writes, “To have excellent health you must invest time and energy into the transformation of your Sacred Body Temple.”
Queen Afua has led retreats and workshops and made presentations in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.
After more than four decades of spreading the gospel of holistic health, Queen Afua shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, her life exemplifies her words: “The healing of a nation begins with oneself.”
