8 Latinas Making Waves in Wellness

As a Latina myself who's worked in the wellness space for years now—both as a writer and a spiritual life coach—one thing I know for sure is that the wellness industry seriously lacks diversity. Not enough women of color (and Latinas, in particular) are spotlighted for the incredible work they're doing in wellness. I, for one, would love to help change that. So, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15), below, find eight Latin women who are unapologetically making waves in the wellness world.

From destigmatizing vaginal health and educating Latin folks on financial literacy to helping people live more intuitively and ditching the diet mentality while still enjoying delicious cultural foods, these women are changing the game in different arenas and show no signs of slowing down. Take notes.

Conversations around vaginal health have long been a taboo topic, especially in Hispanic households. Now, however, vaginal wellness has never been so cool, and we have Daniella Levy, CEO, and co-founder of Happy V, to partially thank for that. Happy V is a vaginal wellness company on a mission to destigmatize the conversation around vaginal health with educational content and a safe and affordable line of probiotic supplements. Levy founded the company based on her experience with bacterial vaginosis—something millions of women also struggle with—and aimed to create effective products that addressed the root causes of different vaginal health issues.

Finding a Latin leader in the nutrition space is rare. Finding one that caters primarily to a Latin audience and encourages you to savor the flavors of your culture is even more so. Dalina Soto is the embodiment of that ethos. Soto, who describes herself as an "anti-diet dietician," is a Spanish-speaking registered dietician with a master's degree in nutrition and is based in Philadelphia. Her specialty: teaching her clients (and 62,000+ Instagram followers) how to ditch the diet mentality and eat without guilt while keeping their cultures alive and loving their bodies. In other words, no need to swap your tortillas for whole-grain bread.

Christine Gutiérrez, MA, LMHC, is a licensed psychotherapist, life coach, spiritual mentor, and author of I am Diosa: A Journey to Healing Deep, Loving Yourself and Coming Back Home to Soul. Gutierrez's work, which encompasses her writing, coaching, and transformational retreats, centers around guiding women to own their worth, embrace their inner diosa (Spanish for goddess), and overcome love addiction, self-sabotage, and low self-esteem. If you're craving more magic and healing in your life, definitely give her a follow.

When the conversation of wellness comes up, it's typically focused on mental and physical health. Financial wellness is a subject that also greatly affects people, especially the Latin community. Enter Jannese Torres-Rodriguez who aims to make financial literacy mainstream among the Latin and BIPOC communities. Torres-Rodriguez is the host of the Yo Quiero Dinero podcast which focuses on educating modern Latinas and people of color on investing their money, running a successful business, and creating generational wealth for themselves and their families. Watch out, world—she's just getting started.

As a certified breathwork teacher and healer, Ana Lilia helps people create inner transformations through breathwork. According to the Los Angeles–based intuitive guide, your breath is your superpower and one of the best tools for clearing the mind, improving your mood, and releasing stress and anxiety. Her healing magic comes from focusing not just on the physical aspect of breathing, but also taking a therapeutic and spiritual approach to the powerful practice by also incorporating intuitive guidance, guided meditation, visualization exercises, and journaling.

There is a spiritual wellness revolution happening as more and more people are awakening their mystical side. Alex Naranjo and Marlene Vargas have been at the forefront of it all. Naranjo and Vargas founded the fan-favorite metaphysical brand House of Intuition in 2010, long before spirituality became mainstream. The brand began as a small shop filled with all the mystic goodies you can think of, including crystals, tarot cards, intention candles, and more. They've now expanded to include multiple shop locations throughout California and Florida, a cosmic classroom teaching esoteric subjects, and a book—all designed to help people heal and live more intuitively.

Inspired by her struggle with an eating disorder and background in grassroots feminist organizing, Gloria Lucas founded Nalgona Positivity Pride in 2014. NPP is a body liberation organization dedicated to raising awareness and creating resources for communities of color around eating disorders and body positivity. The NPP movement encompasses lectures, support groups, an Etsy shop, and a community of over 100,000 social media followers.

Next: How Spiritual Wellness Has Helped Me Heal as a Hispanic Woman

This article was originally published at an earlier date and has since been updated.