The woman with the world’s longest dreadlocks has shared her life story. 62-year-old Asha Mandela revealed to the Guinness Book of World Records that she has been growing her hair for over 40 years and insists that she will “never-ever” cut it.

Her record-breaking dreadlocks reach an astonishing length of 19.5 ft. Asha carries her hair in a bag when she walks to prevent it from dragging on the ground and cannot keep it up for more than two hours due to its significant weight.

“I don’t like the term ‘dreadlocks’ because there’s nothing dreadful about my locks. I call my hair my royal crown of love or my cobra,” she shared. Asha says that people often assume her hair is dirty or unhealthy, but she insists this is not the case. She explained that she chose smaller locks because she knew she wanted to be able to wash her roots easily.

Living in the USA, Asha spends a lot of time caring for her locks. She even wraps them into a bun and hugs them at night, showering them with kisses. She added, “The number one tip for healthy hair is to keep it clean and love it—kiss it and show it plenty of affection. My advice to people who decide to grow dreadlocks is to treat them like a plant. If you don’t water or nourish it, it will die and not grow properly.”

Asha admits that her hair-growing journey began with a spiritual experience: “I started having dreams, or what others might call visions, where a giant cobra would appear and speak to me, letting me know that I was chosen. I met my husband Emmanuel, a professional stylist from Nairobi, Kenya, and as soon as we became one, he became my cobra coach.”