About Self-actualization thru Women's Empowerment

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Aurora is the owner of Mana Keepers and Dewdrops Images. She is the founder of In the Flow Studios and Self-actualization thru Women's Empowerment. Creator of the I Love Shelter Dogs org and artistic director for PME and ITFS performing arts.

She is the author of Broken Yet Indestructible, Dewdrops of Inspiration, Arco Iris del Ser, a contributing author to Miracles One at a Time and contributing poet to Complex Allegiances and Dewdrops in the Winds. A career and personal highlight was being interviewed by Dr. Maya Angelou on Oprah Radio regarding her poetry and the immigrant experience.

She was a martial arts studio owner for 30 years specializing in Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Filipino Martial Arts, women’s self-defense, leadership training and child development.  She is a martial arts practitioner, teacher, program developer, studio and art director. She uses the martial arts as a tool to elevate individual virtues by incorporating its (martial arts) philosophical and ethical principles to the physical applications and lessons. Aurora was co-awarded The California Police Activities League Volunteer of the Year in 1993 for her work with high-risk youths.

The body/mind/spirit connection has always fascinated her. Aurora became a certified Reiki Master Teacher in 2000 under the system created by Dr. Mikao Usui Sensei 1865 - 1926. She has been a student of Self Identity Through Ho'oponopono since 2001, developed by Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, a Hawaiian Kahuna Lapa'au. Aurora also studies the tribal/native teachings of The Americas, The West Indies, India, Australia, Polynesia, Tibet and Africa. She has spent the past 28 years studying, researching and practicing Reiki, Pilates, Structural Integration, Proprioception and Meditation. She became a certified Pilates instructor in 2001 and has also trained in movement therapy, proprioception, meridian work and core stability.

She hosts workshops and classes on a variety of subjects. Her most popular are: Energetic Meditation, Women's Empowerment Series, Vision Book Workshop, Chakra & Stones Workshop, Pilates Deep Core, The Vibration of Water, Animal Totems and In the Flow Proprio.

Aurora organizes and hosts arts open houses, open mic nights, poetry circles, music jam sessions and meditation circles. She has been organizing and hosting fundraisers for, individuals, charities and nonprofits since 2008.

Aurora is an advocate for child safety and health, animal rescue, conservation and women's and LGBTQIA+ rights. She has made numerous television and public appearances as a spokesperson for Children's Miracle Network and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She has appeared on Spanish television as a special guest sharing information on topics like: Child Development and Movement, The Power of the Spoken Word, and Women using the martial arts to find their personal power. 

A Cuban born American, she is bilingual and offers many of her courses in both English and Spanish.

Aurora established her Self-actualization thru ​Women’s Empowerment in 1992. Workshops, seminars and class series have been taught at her studios, colleges, sororities, on local cable, health care companies, women’s groups, city councils and to women at Maravilla Housing in East L.A. and the Carmelitos Housing in Long Beach. Her Woman’s Empowerment program has provided a place for women of all walks of life to come and rediscover their dreams and personal power.

Our programs once primarily focused on preparing women mentally, emotionally, and physically to defend themselves from physical attack (Women’s Self-defense). But over the past 30 years we’ve found that emotional, financial and mental abuse, coercive control, financial abuse, gaslighting and isolation are also devastating forms of assault that need to be addressed. 

Empowerment.WS has expanded to address these insidious forms of abuse as well as continuing to teach women how to physically defend themselves from would-be-attackers. Together we can help lift each other up and create a safer more equitable world. 

Aurora's Self-Actualization thru Women’s Empowerment Programs are unique women’s self-defense and empowerment programs that view the mind, body, emotions and spirit as equally important components to develop for personal growth and physical safety. 

What sets this program apart from most other "women's self-defense programs" is that we believe that to create lasting and applicable change we must address the whole of the person. Most programs or systems focus on teaching their students physical self-defense techniques and having the student memorize the movement. Some may even add physical conditioning and assailant attack simulations. These programs can help many women feel more independent and self-reliant in a potential assault situation. We applaud the efforts of all these organizations, but we feel that most of these programs don't focus enough time on the important roles that our daily mindset and decision-making play in our response conditioning. 

We believe that the decisions we make moment to moment are mini-training-sessions for the types of decisions we will make in a crisis. Our program engages the four major components of the self with fun, inspiring and challenging exercises to help each of us to understand our unique subconscious tendencies. In understanding ourselves better we can find new and better ways to solve problems. 

Learning to say “no” when our personal space and boundaries are being disrespected, we are doing "mini self-defense" exercises. Each time we move our bodies in a new way we are not just physically expanding, but mentally and emotionally expanding as well. Each time we take a moment to find our center and quiet our thoughts we have the opportunity to ground and renew ourselves.

Our program honors the innate wisdom and power born of the feminine. We strive to create space for each woman to realize that she is more powerful, courageous and wise than she had known.