We Heal Together with Aya Nikole Cook of Haji Healing Salon

Ep 125: We Heal Together with Aya Nikole Cook of Haji Healing Salon Part of noseyAF's 31 Days of Black Business series 🖤 Recorded live on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM What happens when the person who built the healing space finally has to heal herself? Aya Nicole Cook built Haji Healing Salon because everything she needed growing up on the South Side required leaving the South Side to find.

Ten years later, she's in the middle of what she calls a death portal, undoing a decade of go-go-go and rebuilding the space and herself at the same time. What We Talk About Why the healing at Haji happens out in the open instead of behind private doors, and how watching a stranger nap through acupuncture lowers the barrier for everybody in the room What she gave up all at once — caffeine, meat, dairy, gluten, sugar, cannabis — and what being fully present made possible The new tea salon: a tech-free space where you check your phone at the door and journal, nap, daydream, or just sit The unexpected turn: ten years as a one-woman show nearly took her out, and she wants you to hear the cautionary part If you love origin stories that don't skip the scary parts, this episode is for you.

All about Aya Nicole Cook You're gonna love Aya — she's a plant whisperer and sacred spacemaker. Ten years into building Haji Healing Salon in Bronzeville, she's an artist, mother, community herbalist, reiki master, yoga nidra priestess, and death doula who has made acupuncture, herbalism, reiki, and yoga accessible on Chicago's South Side.

Things We Mentioned Haji Healing Salon → — 4448 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago The Healing Wisdom of Africa by Malidoma Patrice Somé Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM → @lumpenradio Chapters: 00:23 - A New Beginning in Chicago 01:35 - Building a Business Around Care and Community 11:27 - Creating Inclusive Healing Spaces 16:33 - Creating Sacred Spaces: The Journey of a Yoga Teacher 23:34 - Healing Spaces and the Role of Plants 29:55 - The Importance of Community in Healing 40:02 - The Vision of a New Space 45:00 - Creating a Healing Space: The Design of Haji 49:17 - The Healing Space: A New Paradigm 53:17 - Transitioning into Elderhood and Balance This series is supported by Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing their clients. Find them at offthegrid.fun 🖤 Connect with Aya Nicole Cook IG: @hajihealingsalon Website: Stay Connected 📬 Get the noseyAF Dispatch → Subscribe here 🏡 Grab the Good Neighbor Playbook → Download it free More ways to connect Email: stephanie@ Follow on IG: @stephaniegraham Listen to more episodes: Support & Feedback noseyAF is listener-supported ; thank you for being here. 💛🫶🏾 ⭐ Rate & Review the Show 📣 Share noseyAF with a friend who needs to hear this Episode Credits Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham Lyrics: Queen Lex Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick