ThePrideStore.com is an LGBTQ-owned & operated e-commerce platform partnered with Pride.com's parent company equalpride, offering a curated and always evolving selection of products sourced from businesses that are owned, operated, or founded by members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.
New on The Pride Store, meet Francisco Ramos, the owner and founder of Zen Casa, who boasts a decade of expertise and a deep commitment to holistic well-being. Francisco's diverse training in yoga, meditation, and spiritual principles, coupled with his compassionate teaching style, creates a nurturing space for self-discovery and growth. Known for fostering community and serenity, Francisco invites you on a journey to inner peace, balance, and self-realization.
At Zen Casa, Francisco offers personally tailored virtual tranquility yoga sessions, providing exclusive one-on-one instruction to cater to your specific goals. From mastering foundational postures to addressing individual concerns, Francisco's holistic approach extends beyond physical practice to include breath work, meditation, and mindfulness.
Zen Casa
Additionally, Zen Casa offers private meditation for renewal sessions, where Francisco guides individuals in cultivating a profound connection with the present moment. These one-on-one sessions, adaptable to all levels, bring calm, clarity, and emotional well-being. Also, you can dive into a transformative six-week journey towards your best self with Zen Casa's immersive workshop, led by Francisco. Explore mindfulness practices, stress reduction, and mindful living principles, gradually incorporating them into your daily life.
Below, Francisco sits down with Pride.com to share his journey with Zen Casa and the holistic wellness philosophies he offers to his clients.
“When I first moved to California I was a personal trainer,” Francisco begins. “And I realized that a lot of my clients not only wanted to physically train, but that they needed to share what was going on in their lives.”
Francisco continues, “Sessions would become very deep and I asked myself, ‘How can I be more of service to my clients?’ and I focused my attention on 1-on-1 sessions while going through a ministerial program to help others connect with their spirituality.”
Zen Casa
Specifically when it comes to queer identity and queer spaces, Francisco sees that need for spiritual reconnection and has fostered a place where queer identity and spirituality can coexist.
“After practicing for 10 years, I’ve seen a disconnect with older generations of queer people and their spirituality,” Francisco shares. “A lot of that is caused externally through societal factors, as well as it being internal due to shame and guilt.”
A great solution to reconnecting that rift is through yoga. Francisco explains, “Yoga is a powerful tool to help you be more mindful of your thoughts, emotions, and your physical being, like breathwork for example.”
“When in this space, we’re able to focus our attention on what’s happening internally,” Francisco says. “We can work on consciousness and perception, and identify the energy that one possesses.”
Concluding, Francisco summarizes, “Having done this for a decade now, my journey has been building a bridge between people and their spiritual selves and helping them connect with themselves.”
Zen Casa
Going back to how Francisco has helped queer individuals connect with themselves and not only accepting, but embracing their identity, he shares how he helped one couple connect individually with themselves as well as strengthen their relationship.
“I work with a couple that’s been together for 40 years and neither of them are out in their jobs,” Francisco starts. “It was mind-blowing for me, because I’m in a relationship and we’re out, so it was helpful and really interesting to hear about their struggles in being out and working together on accomplishing baby steps to feel open with coming out to more people in their lives.”
But Francisco can identify with his clients having been raised Catholic.
“There was this external force of being taught shame and what I was doing was wrong, or that I was going to be damned,” Francisco explains. “But what helped me was experiencing how other people practiced spirituality and being exposed to different ways of thinking when I left home for college.”
Francisco goes on, “I found the common throughline across all these beliefs and universal principles that these beliefs share, and that really helped me learn the value of self-love, and gratitude, and the power of the mind. And it’s really beautiful to see that unfold in other people and to see them experience that also.”
One of the main issues Francisco has with organized religion is how they take the power from the individual, negating their ability to find spirituality within.
“Many religions and practices that purport to offer you this state that it’s their power that offers you connection to the spirit and blessings,” Francisco begins. “But any practice that takes that power from you and offers the benefits of spirituality conditionally, that’s not going to help someone find that connection within. It negates the self and shuts you out.”
Zen Casa
With The Pride Store, Francisco is hoping that he can amplify this message and increase how he helps others connect with their spirituality.
“With Zen Casa, I wasn’t sure if The Pride Store would work as a platform for virtual offerings beyond the goods you offer, like hair/skincare and apparel,” Francisco said. “But I appreciated the holistic vision that The Pride Store offers, understanding that true wellness goes beyond physical. Holistic wellness also includes support mentally with education and emotionally with mindfulness practices.”
Francisco continues, “We are creating happy and whole individuals by having this space exist, nurturing that development in a place that is usually only known for shopping.”
It’s not lost on Francisco how the wellness Zen Casa offers can help people who are struggling or are in a dark place.
“Even in our darkest places, there is a glimmer that is tied to the connection that you have to yourself and the world around you,” Francisco explains. “Shifting your mindset, your perspective, to understand the connection you have is an important first step to improving your wellness. It doesn’t have to be a major change, just that small shift is all you need to start.
“Step towards what brings you joy, what brings you life, what makes you feel alive. Remembering that and the connection it brings you is the difference between life and loss,” Francisco shares.
Zen Casa
Concluding his thoughts, Francisco shares one valuable lesson that people should be mindful of when seeking wellness.
“Wellness is a journey and it is a process,” Francisco stresses. “We have wins all the time and we can make some great progress, but we also stumble and hit roadblocks. That’s normal. The important thing is to keep at it, making those small changes at a time and to be kind and patient with yourself. Life is a journey, not a destination.
“And I can’t wait to help people on The Pride Store start their wellness journey, it’s just one click away,” Francisco says with a gentle smile.
Start your journey with Zen Casa on ThePrideStore.com and save 15% off your total order with code ‘2024’.
