An ecosystem of deeply transformational containers that serve to support
and amplify the evolution of the soul, the heart, the body, and the mind through masterful
facilitation, true sisterhood, ceremony, intuitive guidance, and love.
Growing up, Zahara was an elite martial artist training for the Olympics in Taekwondo. Simultaneously, she was diagnosed with scoliosis and wore a back brace 20 hours a day with the aim to stop the spine from progressing. The only time she could take the brace off was to shower and go to The Dojo.
The Dojo was literally the place Zahara would go to GET FREE. On a somatic level, she would move daily from LIMITATION inside the brace to LIBERATION inside The Dojo. This reference point of The Dojo being the place of freedom, the place of liberation, the place of passion; is the foundation upon which this field was born and the seed that would bloom into The Liberation Dojo.
The Dojo Field is also very much supported and inspired by the intelligence of our master plant teachers and the spirit of the Jaguar.
In a plant medicine journey back in 2017, Zahara was presented with the spirit of the Jaguar. She experienced full incorporation with its energy and soon after was invited to sit in the Columbian Amazon with the indigenous Kofan Tribe, also known as “The People of the Jaguar.” It was in the Columbian Amazon, amongst the elders of the Kofan tribe, that Zahara received the seed vision for the first Liberation Dojo which would become the foundation for and ultimately unfold into the entire ecosystem of Dojo Transformational containers, programs, and events that exist today.
The Dojo field magnetizes women who stand for self, purpose, others, and planet. Year after year, the depth of this field and the devotional work done together have proven to yield true sisterhood that totally transcends any container.
Every year, the women who enter this work choose to stay—stay connected to the Dojo, to one another, and to the trust that this ever-evolving ecosystem has a place for and greatly benefits from their fully activated and unique zones of genius.
As we grow, we are welcoming in the brothers too. A multitude of co-ed spaces and experiences that intentionally welcome the masculine, including The Dojo Artist Event, The Liberation Dojo, and Dojo Retreats.
We truly stand for the collective heart. The collective genius. The collective wisdom. Knowing that with our powers combined, we always have everything we need to serve whatever is needed most for all.
Naia, who was drawn into the very first cohort of The Dojo Core Initiation in 2019, birthed an exquisite membership called “The Undenaiable Sisterhood” while also standing with Zahara in service to the growth of the Dojo field. In 2024, the two decided to partner and have joined forces to create The Dojo Woman Collective, a membership space that empowers women from all over the world to take a first step and weave in AT DEPTH, at any time.
The Dojo Initiation houses an ecosystem of ceremonial and deeply transformational containers that serve to support and amplify the evolution of the soul, the heart, the body and the mind through masterful facilitation, true sisterhood, Ceremony, intuitive guidance, and love. These containers work in collaboration with the emergent field that is the curriculum of your life, in order to inform where support is needed most for each individual participant. Each part of the ecosystem has been designed and refined in direct reflection to and in service of the needs and desires of the actual women who have journeyed through them. It is a living, evolving field that will meet you exactly where you are and support your truest expansion from there.
This is an initiatory field, which means that the you who lives on the other side will not be the same as the you who entered. "What the caterpillar calls the end, the butterfly calls the beginning". This is a space where the art of liberation and expansion through love and sisterhood becomes a life practice. Here, you will connect so deeply to your purpose for being alive that you become willing to undergo the micro-death of any parts that have been obstructing the full expression of your design.
When you are deeply connected to your purpose in this way, everything becomes wildly synchronistic and all of life begins to open up to support you in doing the "heavy lifting".
Zahara is a Martial Artist turned Liberation Artist, transformational mentor, and ceremonialist. She is the founder of The Dojo Initiation, an ecosystem of transformational arenas that shatter limitations while offering safe and emergent spaces for participants (who become family) to expand beyond their edges and embody their highest design while being deeply championed and held in community.
Once an elite martial artist and Olympic hopeful who ultimately overcame a debilitating spinal fusion, Zahara is passionate about helping others turn trauma into triumph and wounding into warrior wisdom.
A practitioner of spiritual psychology, intuitive channeling, and shamanic arts, she has found her purpose in deep study with master plant teachers and in creating safe spaces for others to heal, transform fear, and remember themselves whole while reclaiming true empowerment in all areas of life.
Naia Kete is an accomplished artist, song healer, and Certified Transformational Breathwork Facilitator and coach. She is the founder of Song Healing Trauma and co-founder of the urban-reggae band SayReal. Naia is also an alumna of NBC’s The Voice. Her journey from being a broke street performer in Los Angeles to performing on some of the world’s largest stages such as Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and SXSW has fueled her passion for empowering women and young people to express their true voices and share their gifts with the world.
A gifted and prolific songwriter, Naia has written thousands of original songs and collaborated with artists like Linda Perry, Colbie Caillat, and John Forte. She has opened for A-listers including Ziggy Marley and Michael Franti and toured nationally with “A Bowie Celebration”.
Her work with Zahara Zimring and the Dojo container helped her cultivate a deeper understanding of true sisterhood, which she now brings to her own initiatives. Recently, Naia was a featured speaker at the Grantmakers in the Arts Conference in New York City and SNF Nostos where she spoke alongside notable figures such as former President Barack Obama and Goldie Hawn. Hailed by Rolling Stones as “An Earthy-Soulstress”, Naia continues to inspire and uplift through her music and transformational work.
Have all committed to and graduated from THE DOJO CORE INITIATION. Each year, one group of 10 women is invited into the 8-month Core Initiation. Upon completion, the fully initiated women are invited to join The Dojo Council where they are qualified for facilitation roles within the Dojo ecosystem and experience ongoing deepening and expansion via our signature shared leadership model of mutual support, devoted sisterhood, and next-level collaboration.
(noun)
an epic, unapologetic, artistic, and fully-expressed woman who embodies the persistent, resilient spirit of a warrior; fearlessly EXPANDING INTO GREATER AWARENESS AND LOVE by exploring the far reaches of her energetic, spiritual, and emotional capacities with the aim of embodying her greatest expression and truest design in service of self, purpose, planet, and sister.