"I release..."
singer, actor, educator, writer and founder of Reclaiming Savage, Maya Savage on releasing urgency, following spirit, and reclaiming your power ✨
This is a Beginner’s Mind interview, a series that explores the intersection of mindfulness and creative practice. Zen master Shunryū Suzuki Roshi said, “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind, there are few.” This series shines a light on the practices that sustain people in their daily lives and open the path to new possibilities. Subscribe below to make sure you don’t miss any future interviews. ✨
Maya Savage is a singer, actor, educator, writer and founder of Reclaiming Savage, a healing-centered creative practice that merges storytelling, somatic wellness, and ancestral reclamation. I met Maya this winter during our “Refuge in Community” Meditation and Writing Workshop. I had long known that Maya practices and teaches Raja yoga with an antiracist framework, and that she is a force for good in the Pittsburgh community and beyond. What I didn’t know until we met is that Maya is also a talented writer, storyteller and community builder. Even from a tiny box in our Zoom room workshop, she exuded authenticity, warmth, creative power, and a deep sense of ease. Maya is passionate about using her many gifts to empower others to move toward transformation, not merely as individuals, but also collectively. So, read on, friends, to learn about Maya’s wisdom on releasing urgency, following spirit, and reclaiming your purpose and power. ✨
What are your writing/creative practices? Do you have any rituals or habits that help you?
I write at least once a day, whether that’s processing through my journal or working on my two books of creative nonfiction; one a collection of essays and a memoir. I have learned that I must practice processing my thoughts as I continue to write to release anything that comes up in my writing. The night time is my favorite to write as the stillness of the world gives me the chance to fully tap into my inner world and memories. I enjoy having a sparkling beverage or tea to settle into the moment, get cozy in bed and begin typing, like I am in this moment. I have two hours a day blocked out on my calendar to hold me accountable. The days that I am feeling very tired I give myself a break while noticing what shifts need to be made to engage gentleness toward myself.
What are your mindfulness practices? Can you describe your practices and what they bring into your life?
As a yoga instructor of over 18 years and being born into the Raja Yoga path of holistic practice, mindfulness is integrated into everything that I do.
From eating to streaming shows I only engage with the frequency that aligns with my goals, purposes and values. I believe mindfulness is being present to what is coming up for each of us in our body, spirit and mind. It is a noticing practice releasing judgement. I meditate daily in the morning and in the evening to check in with myself and I love taking my nature walks to appreciate the natural beauty of this world.
Do you have a mantra or motto related to your creative/mindfulness practices/life?
My mantra right now as I cycle through what I feel are spaces of growth or surrender that I need to engage is:
I release urgency and embrace my creativity in its fullness.
I am aligned with my highest purpose and allow spirit to flow through me.
This mantra has come to me many times in the form of dreams and affirmations from my world in my waking hours. At times I have felt that I needed to complete something given a deadline that I put on myself due to the feeling of missing out on an opportunity. I now focus on my intention and ritual of practice and engaging when I am rested, grounded and present to myself. I understand that one of my purposes in this life is to share my stories with others. When I remember this intention my motivation shifts from being capitalistic or engaging urgency to speaking from my heart and soul.
Creativity can be anything from the fabric I choose to wear on my skin that day to the jewelry I adorn myself with to the words that need to be written in the form of journal entries, essays, stories or text messages. Seeing creativity as expansive allows me to be in flow in all capacities. Also, one of the reasons I got a mermaid tattoo is to remind myself to be in flow and release resistance.
What does the phrase “beginners mind” mean to you? Does it connect to your creative/or mindfulness practices? How?
The idea of “beginner's mind" is one of my favorite phrases. I use this as a starting space for facilitation and organizing spaces. Every time I come back to my pages I allow myself to be present with what is happening in the moment and how narrative distance shows up.
All of my practices are interconnected so the pause that I might engage in leading a session are going to be integrated into the moments where I feel I need to take a step back in writing so that I can return refreshed and renewed.
Are there any books / writers / teachers / approaches that have been transformative for you that you would recommend to readers?
Damon Young’s book What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker and Samantha Irby’s Wow, No Thank You have been the books that remind me of my own writing style and the ways I get to show unapologetically on the page.
Also, Audre Lorde’s Uses of the Erotic gave me a safe space to explore the ways that I had held back my creative womb energy and the liberation that occurred through releasing and surrendering to the page.
What advice would you give someone who is trying to start or restart a creative or mindfulness practice?
Listen to spirit/intuition and do the thing you are being called to do; the thing that keeps you up at night, the ideas that flow naturally; Follow them.
Is there something you were hoping to share that isn’t here?
I believe as someone who was not classically trained in the institution as a writer, I sometimes navigate feeling enough. As I began to write my first novel, my voice was clear and I realized that no one could have taught me. I had to go through the trials and tribulations of life so that I could write these stories. As I write, I feel that I am healing generational curses about work, creativity, being and rest. I write to reclaim my power. I write to call my power back to myself from my ancestors and the future babies and humans in the world.
Maya Savage is a singer, actor, educator, writer and founder of Reclaiming Savage, a healing-centered creative practice that merges storytelling, somatic wellness, and ancestral reclamation. Rooted in Black queer feminist thought and grounded in community engagement, Maya’s work exists at the intersection of rest, literature, ritual, and cultural organizing. She draws on her experiences as a science teacher, school dean, yoga instructor, and community organizer to craft trauma-informed, justice-rooted offerings that center historically marginalized communities. Her projects often blend hybrid storytelling forms—poetry, photography, oral history, and stillness—to activate collective memory and embodied healing. Maya has facilitated experiences across classrooms, detention centers, gardens, and retreats, always asking: how do we return to ourselves and each other through rest, ritual, and reclamation? As a digital nomad and “Curator of Peaceful Moments,” Maya uses Reclaiming Savage as a mobile practice that responds to the needs of each community it touches. Her current work-in-progress, The H.O.E. Fables, a memoir in essays and The 13th Grade creative nonfiction, explores sexuality, joy, grief, rage, and magic. In educational and communal spaces. Through all her work, Maya calls communities into deeper presence, creativity, and collective healing. She works with YogaRoots On Location as a Director of Programming and the Human Solidarity Project as a Senior Consultant.
For more from Maya ✨
Follow Maya on IG @sumatisavage
Follow Maya on TikTok @reclaimingsavage
Join Maya for the YogaRoots on Location One Day Retreat on July 13th in person at Tree Pittsburgh!
Learn more about Maya and her work at her website.
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Be Where You Are is a newsletter about how to use writing and mindfulness to live more fully where you are. To reply to this newsletter, just hit reply. I’d love to hear from you! I read and respond to every comment. You can also find me on Instagram / Facebook / Bluesky or find more info at my website.
The flow and grace here in Maya’s approach is palpable 🌊🩵 Thanks to you both!