New Year, Evolving Mama

We are well into the New year, and I wanted to start off this post by giving thanks and gratitude. With the support of my loved ones, the infinite love of my child, and belief in myself, I have been unlearning, releasing , and evolving into person I was always meant to be. It's no easy feat but I try and try everyday to continue to push for my dreams and to spread my son's legacy. And most importantly, I am extremely compassionate, gentle, and forgiving with myself.

I was not always so forgiving with myself, and sometimes, I have my moments where my mind slips back to those dark and heartbreaking times and I feel so inconsolable. I have lived almost 2 physical years without my son and this path is has been challenging, filled with grief, anguish, and spontaneous bursts of compassion and hope. I owe majority of my progress to not only my support system, but to my therapist, and my will to always speak up and share with the world of my amazing boy.

I have also started to honor my feelings. In the last several weeks, I got real honest and raw and reassessed my goals with my therapist. As many of you have know, I have began to softly launch my non-profit Yoa's Place, bringing awareness to bereaved mothers by selling my unique handcrafted bags and products to fund our first ever live bereaved mama's retreat that will be coming late in 2022. And while I enjoy the process of creating and growing my non-profit, its important that I learn to manage my moods and emotions while doing powerful work.

Being a bereaved mother has created emotional, physical, and mental challenges that I could have never anticipated. And let me just say, no mother anticipates becoming a bereaved mother. I've learned to honor the moments when I regress and I feel in shock, stuck in disbelief and absolutely unmotivated to do absolutely anything! But with those feelings, I have learned many tools from my therapist, books, and other bereaved mother's that I try to incorporate in my daily life that I would love to share with you all!

Morning Routine:

• wake up

• spray face with refresher spray

• brush my teeth

• make a cup of cinnamon tea

• take my drops ( I practice Bach Flower Therapy)

• take 2 table spoons of my strong woman syrup

• lay on my yoga mat

• say my affirmations

• meditate/deep breathing for 10 minutes

• transitions to 10 minutes of wake up yoga

• Listen to my playlist of positive affirming songs that uplifts my spirit

• Write for 15 minutes in my healing journal

• go for morning walk about 20 minutes for 1.5 miles (-more if i'm feeling motivated! always listen to you body)

• I also rotate my aromatherapy by burning incenses, using my oil diffuser, or burning candles.

• I also have a face washing regime, wash and moisturize my face twice a day, 2-3 face masks per week

• I prep cook for myself because I know there will be days when I have no energy, so fruit and veggies are always available to me

• also aim to drink 64 oz of water..a day! and every week I have therapy session ranging from 1 -2 hours.

• and at least once a month i receive a body massage.

• And of course, I cry. Because I will never run out of tears for my child.

This is absolutely a lot! A lot of maintenance. And I just want to say, No, I do not follow this method every single day. In fact, I haven't been consistent with my routine for a few weeks now. But that is absolutely OK. I am gentle with myself and I am forgiving. I aim to do my routine everyday. So I will try again and again until it no longer serves me.

Being your own advocate is vital and understanding yourself and what you need. I know that is I do this routine, I will be in high and positive spirits-or at least it will raise my spirits if I am feeling down. So my question to you is, what is your routine when you are feeling down? What is your go to method when you are feeling overwhelmed with grief?