The Metamorphosis of a Man

This article is written by guest contributing writer Rodney Salomon.

This week on YTC’s #wellnesswednesdays blog post we have a special guest. A guest who may be familiar to you! We were honored to have him on our podcast back in August and now we are honored to have his journey in a written account.

YTC proudly reintroduces to you Rodney Salomon. He is an individual passionate about yoga, mindfulness, and holistic practices. Below he shares how this path of holism changed his life and further enhance his purpose. With that, he was able to co-create and work within a nonprofit organization called Konscious Youth Development and Service (K.Y.D.S.).

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” - Rumi

This is the essence of Konscious Youth Development & Service and how we came into existence. This is why my Soul Brotha, Mychal Mills, and I created this non-profit in 2014 to transform our communities through SEL, Equity, Mindfulness, and Movement.

All my life, I had this idea stuck in my head that I was going to change the world, that I was going to make a difference, but the biggest challenge was I did not know-how. I was just a single man in a world full of billions of people, no greater than all the phenomenal leaders who have walked this path before me. The more I asked myself this question, the more the universe's magic opened up to the possibilities.

In 2010 I graduated from Monmouth University with an Undergrad Degree in Social Work. Playing college football for 5 years and being a "Regular" College student cutting class, partying, chasing girls, I was lost. My ego was shattered after graduation; the identity I clung to for so many years no longer existed. I was sad, depressed at times, confused, and yearned for more out of life. Little did I know that these were the moments that would shape and mold the creation I would soon bring into this physical existence, KYDS.

Flashforward to 2013, I worked as a Youth Development Specialist at Asbury Park High School, a small inner-city dealing with poverty, violence, and generational trauma. During one of our community service outings at a local soup kitchen, I connected with my future Soul Brotha Mychal Mills. Once a month, we would visit the soup kitchen. Once a month, Mychal and I would talk about all the issues happening in our communities, our education system, political system, and, ultimately, the world.

We complained about the racial injustices that seemed to move in a loop from generation to generation with no sight of solutions. We complained about the politricks and the deceit in our government systems. We complained some more until we came to a realization. All of this complaining was doing nothing for our own mental health and the issues we were facing at a larger scale.

Fortunately for both of us, we began a much deeper journey, a journey into self. I separated from the world in 2011, or what I like to call the matrix, from partying, playing video games, hanging with friends, watching football on 3 TVs at once on Sunday, and devoted my time to me. Not the version of me you see on the surface, but the self at the core of my being, essence, and soul. This was a lonely road that we traveled at the time but much necessary for the future work I was set to engage in.

Before I could change the world outside of me, I needed to transform the world within. This path first began with the pruning of people and resources that no longer served my highest good. From friends that no longer aligned with my path to playing video games and indulging in TV. My focus shifted to people and experiences that allowed my consciousness to grow and expand.

Soon after, I began to shift my diet and nutrition, releasing the pleasure of fast and processed foods, and starting fasting and cleansing my internal body regularly. These dietary changes made a significant difference in my ability to perceive the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that I have suppressed. The final step to this transformation was when I began to meditate and reflect daily. The stillness opened me up to a world I didn't even know existed. It also connected me to a power that no one could take away, my internal peace, and well being.

Fast forward back to 2014, my body, mind, and soul made a complete 180-degree shift. The person I once was, was barely recognizable. By transforming my inner being, I soon began to see that energy reflected in my external world. Everything in my life began to evolve as I did. Holding this energy within me, I needed a way to express it out to the world. After meeting for months regularly, Mychal and I birthed Konscious Youth Development & Service. Our personal practice of holistic balance created a blueprint that, over the years, we learned to perfect to support others in finding balance within themselves.

KYDS' mission is to transform youth, schools, and communities through holistic practices. The tools we use to support this work are connection, breathwork, mindfulness, equity training, etc.

Our vision is a world where all individuals have the internal tools necessary to deepen their relationship, gain the ability to self regulate through mind-body practices and breathwork, and the ability to consciously release the pain and trauma that disconnects us from our source.

More than talking, posting, or protesting, we create practical SOULutions that have impacted over 5,000 youth, 2,000 educators, and thousands of community members in Asbury Park and beyond.

Our full-time school-based program in the Asbury Park School District, serving elementary, middle, and high school youth, has created an innovative way to guide youth, educators, and parents to access a more excellent version of themselves.

As the growth of my inner being expanded, it reflected in the evolution of programs and staff in our organization. We have grown from Mychal and I taking sick and vacation days from our 9-5 job to pour our energy into creating KYDS, to now where we have expanded to 19 staff members creating innovative school and community-based programs. More than a non-profit, we are a family, a frequency of consciousness representing wholeness, balance, and love.

As I reflect on my journey today, the idea of me changing the world is not as complicated as I once thought it was. The more time I spend in stillness, the more time I connect to myself; I begin to discover my being's true nature.

With that discovery, I have found a purpose to build a bridge between what we individually experience as heaven and earth, so we all can come to the realization of who we indeed are.

Please use the links below to connect with Rodney + K.Y.D.S. further:

Rodney Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brotha_ra44/
Rodney Website: https://www.rodneysalomon.com
K.Y.D.S. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyds_nj/
K.Y.D.S. Website: https://www.konscious.org