The Joy of Devotion
Celebrating Nikki Nie and the divine feminine frequency of practice, play, and trust
The first time I met Nikki Nie, I was at a friend’s birthday party.
I felt so magnetized.
But only because she looked so familiar.
I knew I knew her.
I could feel it.
There was this recognition in my body before my mind could catch up. Like some part of me had already placed her, but my brain had not received the memo yet.
So I kept asking her:
“Have we met before?”
And she was like:
“No, I just moved down here two days ago.”
I was living in San Diego at the time, and I kept trying to figure it out.
“Yeah, but I know that I know you.”
We kept talking, laughing, trying to trace the thread, and eventually it clicked.
She was one of the instructors from this dance cardio and yoga series I had been watching on YouTube.
Not only that, I had actually been having my company do her videos because her energy was so awesome.
Out of everyone leading the classes, Nikki’s energy was the most buoyant to me.
The most fun.
The most alive.
The kind of energy that makes you want to move your body not because you are trying to fix yourself, but because being alive suddenly feels like something worth celebrating.
Once I realized, I was like:
“Oh my God.
Nikki.
It’s you.”
And we both started laughing.
That was the beginning of our friendship.
And looking back, it feels like such a perfect introduction to who Nikki is.
Recognizable before she is known.
Joyful before anything is explained.
A woman whose light enters the room first.
Above
This series and this song exists to show love to the divine feminine reflections in my life.
Above is the heart of the Deluxe version of my album MMXXIV Deluxe, and it was born from a feeling I swim in often.
That feeling of being blessed by the women whose presence makes life feel more alive.
Women who remind you that devotion does not have to be heavy.
That spiritual practice can be playful.
That God can move through laughter.
That discipline can become freedom.
That a life rooted in service, alignment, and joy can become more beautiful than anything we were taught to settle for.
Each entry in this series is a story.
One woman.
One moment of recognition.
One honest account of what her being called forward in me, and what I believe her light offers the world.
Today, I want to celebrate Nikki Nie.
Dharma Glow
At the time, I was in the early stages of developing the online Dharma Glow community platform.
I had this idea to film yoga classes out in nature.
On the beach.
In beautiful places.
Spaces that carried the ambience and energy of California.
I wanted it to feel different than a traditional studio. More alive. More elemental. More connected to the beauty we were lucky enough to be surrounded by.
Nikki was down.
So we started filming these beautiful classes together.
One of my favorite ones was on the beach.
There is something about Nikki teaching outdoors that just made sense.
Her energy has that kind of openness.
She could bring depth and instruction, but also this lightness that made the practice feel joyful, accessible, and bright.
It was easy to laugh around her.
We were often being silly.
There was a lot of play in our friendship.
But underneath the play, there was also depth.
Nikki was devoted to her path.
She was doing yoga teacher trainings.
She was studying.
Practicing.
Refining.
Living the teachings, not just presenting them.
And you could feel that.
The Devoted Yogi
I asked Nikki to come on a podcast and talk about her journey.
I wanted to understand how she became who she was.
How she became such a devoted yogi.
How she cultivated that blend of lightness, discipline, wisdom, and joy.
We had a really beautiful conversation.
She shared her story.
Her path.
Her devotion.
And she gave these really juicy downloads about self-love.
That is one of Nikki’s gifts.
She can make something that might sound abstract or overly serious feel embodied, honest, and alive.
She can speak to the deep work without making it feel like a burden.
She can guide you into yourself without making you feel like something is wrong with you.
Her energy says:
Come as you are.
Breathe.
Move.
Listen.
Open.
Remember.
And maybe laugh a little along the way.
The Glow Up
I also invited Nikki to bring her energy to The Glow Up, the spiritual wellness and music festival I host every year.
And of course, she brought her amazing energy.
It was such a fun experience.
Nikki has this ability to activate a space without forcing anything.
Her joy is expansive.
Her presence is bright.
Her movement is infectious.
And yet, you can feel the reverence she has for the work.
That balance is rare.
Some people bring joy without depth.
Some people bring depth without joy.
Nikki brings both.
She can make spiritual practice feel light without making it shallow.
She can make movement feel fun without losing the sacredness.
She can make people smile while also guiding them into something meaningful.
That is a real gift.
Language Buddies and Entrepreneurial Dreams
We were also partners on Duolingo for a while, learning languages together.
Which feels like such a sweet little detail in the story of our friendship.
There was always this thread of exploration with Nikki.
Languages.
Movement.
Travel.
Practice.
Possibility.
We could be playful and silly, but we could also dive into the deeper layers of what we were both experiencing as budding entrepreneurs.
At the time, some of the gigs she was working were not the most resonant.
She had a much bigger vision.
A vision of creating her own platform.
Her own offering.
Her own way of sharing her gifts with the world.
I watched her ideate on it.
Dream into it.
Question it.
Doubt it.
Return to it.
And eventually bring it to life as Wavelength Wellness, her personal platform.
That process was not always easy.
There were bouts of self-doubt.
Moments of not knowing if she would be able to make it work.
Moments where the vision was clear, but the path was still unfolding.
But all the while, she kept showing up.
Creating content.
Building community.
Guiding people deeper into themselves.
Sharing a very deep understanding of ancient yoga practices.
Leading retreats.
Yoga teacher trainings.
Surf retreats.
Traveling around the world.
Continuing to trust the calling, even when the outcome was not yet obvious.
Designing a Life
Over the course of a few years, I watched Nikki build a life for herself.
Not accidentally.
Intentionally.
She designed a life that matched what she saw in her mind’s eye.
A life filled with yoga.
Service.
Travel.
Play.
Practice.
Community.
Love.
God.
Alignment.
Freedom.
And that is not a small thing.
So many people carry a vision for their life, but then talk themselves out of it.
They compromise.
They settle.
They convince themselves that what feeds their soul is not practical enough.
They tell themselves they have to keep doing things that drain them because that is just what adulthood requires.
Nikki showed me something different.
She showed me that you can follow your heart.
You can follow your soul.
You can serve deeply.
You can build something meaningful from what you love.
You can let your practices become your profession.
You can trust the process long enough for your heart’s desire to become your lived reality.
And most recently, after many years where we were both single through different seasons of knowing each other, Nikki met a great man.
And she moved to Australia to share a life that she is now living so beautifully.
To witness that felt like watching another piece of the prayer land.
Not just the business.
Not just the platform.
Not just the travel.
But love.
Partnership.
A new chapter.
A life continuing to bloom in alignment with her heart.
The Lightness of Devotion
What I learned from Nikki is that devotion does not have to look rigid.
It does not have to be heavy.
It does not have to be austere.
Devotion can dance.
Devotion can laugh.
Devotion can travel.
Devotion can surf.
Devotion can teach yoga on the beach.
Devotion can build a platform.
Devotion can guide people through dark places with a smile that still honors the depth of what is being held.
Because Nikki is very learned.
She knows her craft.
She has studied deeply.
She understands the ancient practices she shares.
And she can guide people through real transformation because the joy she carries is not avoidance.
It is embodied faith.
It is what happens when someone has done enough practice to know that lightness is not the opposite of depth.
Sometimes lightness is what depth becomes when it trusts God.
That is the divine feminine reflection Nikki has offered me.
The reminder that when you stay devoted to God, your path, your practices, and your service, your life can become the prayer you kept choosing before anyone else could see it.
A life of meaning.
A life of play.
A life of travel, novelty, love, and alignment.
A life that proves you do not have to abandon your soul to survive.
You can follow it.
You can trust it.
You can keep showing up until the thing you once imagined becomes the life you are actually living.
Above
This is why I want to share Above in celebration of her.
As a song.
As a prayer.
As an offering.
As a way of saying:
I see you.
I honor you.
I celebrate the divine feminine frequency you carry.
Nikki Nie, thank you for your friendship, your joy, your silliness, your reverence, your devotion, and your service.
Thank you for reminding me that God can move through laughter, movement, practice, discipline, and play.
Thank you for showing what becomes possible when a woman trusts her path and keeps walking it until the dream becomes real.
You were sent from above.
And I appreciate and love you, sister.
Listen to Above
Above is available now.
You can listen to it wherever you stream music.
And if you want to support the album more directly, you can buy it on Bandcamp.
Above is the heart of the Deluxe version of MMXXIV, but the full journey is there too.
Let this song be a celebration.
Of Nikki.
Of the divine feminine.
Of the women who turn practice into freedom.
Of the women who make devotion joyful.
Of the women who remind us that alignment is not just something we talk about.
It is something we can live.
A Gift for Someone You Love
Don’t just stream this one for yourself.
Share Above with a woman in your life you want to celebrate.
A woman whose joy has lifted you.
A woman whose devotion has inspired you.
A woman whose path has reminded you to trust your own.
A woman whose light has blessed your life.
Send her the song.
Buy her the album.
Let the music be the message you didn’t know how to say.
An Invitation
Is there a woman in your life whose divine feminine frequency has called something forward in you?
A yogi.
A teacher.
A friend.
A guide.
A sister.
A woman who reminds you that devotion can be joyful and freedom can be sacred.
Tell me about her in the comments.
This series is not just my story.
It is a reminder of what becomes possible when we actually see each other.
Wake up. Create. Ascend.
— Dijon
