“What if you were to find ease inside yourself?
In tired joints, behind sad eyes, in tense hips?
One day, I hope you know just how much ease your tender heart and bones can hold.
Ihotu Jennifer Ali (she/her), Massage Therapist, Doula, and Student Chiropractor
Family & Culture
Ihotu is pronounced “ee-ho-too” and means love. 🖤
She is the granddaughter of a traditional Nigerian chief who led his community through the Biafra Civil War, and she is the grandchild of Polish-Irish farmers living in Minnesota through the Great Depression.
Ihotu was raised by a loving single mother, lived with her family in Section 8 Housing, and was a caretaker for her sister with disabilities (Prader-Willi Syndrome).
She is a proud survivor of depression and sexual assault. Ihotu has been auntie and mentor to hundreds of young people as a doula, youth camp counselor, and healer. She loves lakes in the summer, saunas in the winter, and Afrofuturist novels.
Her family motto is “No Mud, No Lotus.”
Services at Oshun Center
Ihotu offers drop-in (no set appointments) massage therapy, prenatal and postpartum bodywork, cupping, gua sha, moxa, acupressure, and chair massage for returning clients only on Fridays 2-5pm.
She integrates indigenous, eastern, and western medicines into a specialty practice treating chronic physical and emotional pain, with a focus on the abdomen, pelvis, and low back.
Ihotu does not offer chiropractic at Oshun Center yet, but plans to integrate it after graduation in 2026.
Elle parle français!
Instagram: @ihotuali
www.ihotuali.com
Training & Experience
Ihotu is the Founder and Director of the Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing, co-founder of the MN Healing Justice Network, and a former Evidence Based Birth Research Editor. She offers training in Reproductive Justice Bodywork, sliding scale and health equity practices, and is an appointed member of the MN Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
Ihotu is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of Public Health, and conducted maternal and child health research with the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Morocco.
Disenchanted with global research, she transitioned into entrepreneurship in 2010 as a birth doula, yoga instructor, and prenatal massage therapist. As she traveled over 30 countries, she studied African and Caribbean cultural practices for birth, ancestral and womb healing that inform her work today.
Testimonials
“Coming Soon.”
— TBD
“Coming Soon.”
— TBD
“Coming Soon.”