Dr. Lakeeta Watts
Dr. Lakeeta Watts is a holistic health practitioner, educator, community leader, and maternal health advocate committed to creating healing-centered pathways for individuals, families, and communities.
She is a Doctor of Natural Medicine and Doctor of Holistic Medicine, Board Certified Natural Wellness Practitioner, Advanced Master Herbalist, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Iridologist, HTMA Practitioner, and trained Pelvic Floor Psychosomatic Therapy practitioner. Her work integrates natural and holistic medicine, herbalism, nutrition, mind-body wellness, reproductive and maternal health, and culturally responsive approaches to healing.
Dr. Watts serves as the Executive Director of Essentially Empowered Inc., where she leads initiatives focused on maternal and infant health, full-spectrum doula care, community health, family advocacy, workforce development, and addressing the social determinants that influence health and well-being. She is also a co-founder of Aja Healing and Masika Health Wellness Clinic, where her work centers on integrative wellness, education, and helping individuals better understand the connections between their physical, emotional, nutritional, and environmental health.
Education is a central part of Dr. Watts’ work. As an instructor and mentor, she has trained doulas, Community Health Workers, holistic health practitioners, and emerging community leaders. She is passionate about expanding access to knowledge and creating opportunities for people from historically underserved communities to become trusted health professionals and advocates within their own communities.
Her work extends beyond individual wellness into systems change. Dr. Watts advocates for greater equity, accountability, access, and cultural responsiveness within maternal health, community health, and publicly funded systems. She believes sustainable health requires more than treating symptoms. It requires understanding the whole person, strengthening families, addressing barriers to care, and building communities where people have the resources and support necessary to thrive.
Across every aspect of her work, Dr. Watts brings together science, holistic healing, education, advocacy, and lived understanding. Her mission is rooted in helping people reconnect with their bodies, recognize their own capacity for healing, and gain access to care that honors the whole person.
Virtual | Breakout
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
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Facilitated By: Dr. Shanice Baquet & Dr. Lakeeta Watts
Audience: Open to Everyone
Returning to Our Roots: Healing the Body Naturally
This session will explore how our ancestors cared for their bodies through food, herbs, movement, rest, community, traditional practices, and connection with nature before many modern healthcare systems and manufactured products became the primary approaches to wellness.
Areas of Exploration:
Herbal traditions — learning how plants have traditionally been used for everyday wellness.
Food as nourishment — understanding traditional foods, preparation methods, and seasonal eating.
Growing our own medicine — gardens, medicinal plants, foraging, and learning where our food comes from.
Traditional bodywork — massage, acupressure, laying of hands, baths, steam, and other cultural practices.
Mind-body connection — breathwork, meditation, movement, sound, and emotional wellness.
Ancestral knowledge — preserving wisdom passed down through families and communities.
Traditional birth and postpartum care — honoring the knowledge of birthworkers, midwives, mothers, and elders.
Community healing — remembering that wellness was often supported collectively rather than individually.
Traditional knowledge + modern understanding — teaching students to respect traditional practices while also understanding safety, evidence, contraindications, and when professional medical care is necessary.