The Long Way Back to What Was Always True
Oneness Wellness Lifestyles did not begin as a vision for an organization. It began as a response to the body — and to a level of suffering that, at the time, had few meaningful answers.
As a teenager living with severe eczema, Shifa Ali-Scott began paying close attention to her body. In the 1970s, there was no mainstream conversation about listening to bodily cues, no language for nervous system regulation, no cultural understanding of the body as an intelligent communicator. Illness was framed as malfunction, and healing was framed as fixing.
That was the world as it existed — and it was the world we worked within.
How it unfolded
Doorways: Herbology & Apothecary
Herbology and apothecary became early doorways. They were practical, tangible ways to intervene in a body that was visibly suffering. And while those doorways mattered, what slowly opened beyond them was something deeper: a way of listening that did not separate body, spirit, source, or daily life.
Guidance and shared responsibility
People came because they were in pain. They wanted relief. We met them as guides — helping them understand what their bodies were asking for and what work they needed to participate in themselves.
1991: the work takes form
By 1991, it became clear the work could function as a business model. People were willing to pay, and sustaining the work required resources. Oneness Wellness Lifestyles was named in this moment.
The friction with business
We followed mainstream marketing. We pushed. We promoted. We rushed. And still — the work did not respond. Money stopped flowing. Stability eroded.
The cost was real
- Money stopping
- Losing homes
- Losing cars
- Periods of homelessness
- Not being able to pay the light bill
- Closing the door to pray, fast, burn incense
- Questioning everything while still serving others
This was not ease. This was hard. And we stayed.
We were ahead of the curve
Long before wellness became an industry, we were living its questions. In 1973, organic carrots had to be ordered from California. In the early 2000s, juicing and spa gatherings were considered strange.
We weren’t following a trend. We were pioneering a path.
The Stewards
Mz. Felicia Muhammad brought structure, visibility, research, joy, and deep subconscious and somatic work.
Rashidi Nisu Bey brought amplification, technology, and unwavering devotion.
Paul E. Scott Jr. Financial intelligence without domination.
Together, we are family — and together, we are the foundation.
Four pillars. One living trust.
Today, Oneness Wellness Lifestyles Foundation Trust exists to protect the lineage and tend coherent conditions where wholeness can be remembered.
Wholeness remembered. Welcome home.