Tag: grief

Navigating Vulnerability & Grief During the Holiday Season (Check-In Resources)

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How are you doing now that the holiday season has begun?

After my mother Theresa made her transition on July 9, 2023, the months of November and December became filled with tons of memories and reminders that she was no longer physically present on Mother Earth.

These months have become some of the most emotionally vulnerable times of the year for me because they are filled with a mix of emotions ranging from gratitude to grief. I am grateful for having my mother for 58 years of my life. I am grateful I feel her love, hear her wisdom, and experience her presence and protection as my loving + wise + well ancestor each day. I also grieve her physical absence and miss sharing the holidays with her.

Navigating my vulnerability and grief each year can be messy, hard, and scary, especially when I try to avoid feeling or hide from my emotions. Over the past three holiday seasons, I have learned to cope by embracing and practicing self-vulnerability.

For me, self-vulnerability is an INVITATION to open your heart to yourself.

Self-Vulnerability is also a CHOICE you can make to tell yourself the TRUTH about your emotions, thoughts, grief, beliefs, fears, doubts, weaknesses, imperfections, experiences, and relationships instead of hiding from them.

Self-Vulnerability is also healing and liberating because it creates space for you to embrace your birthrights of self-awareness, self-love, self-kindness, self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-acceptance.

RESOURCE #1

If you are feeling vulnerable and/or experiencing grief during the holidays, I invite you to use my holiday check-in list of questions to get in touch with yourself below.

RESOURCE #2

Listen to my new spoken word song, “G.R.I.E.F.” that is included on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter (released on November 20). Go here to get more information about, buy, and download the album

RESOURCE #3

If you need more support, sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14 and January 4 from 3 p.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST via Zoom. Get more information and RSVP here.

sign up to join me

RESOURCE #4: NEW SPOKEN WORD ALBUM

Go here to get more information and listen to and buy Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter album on Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except for Amazon Music and Spotify.

GET more information about, listen to, buy & download album

If you missed the virtual listening party that was held on the New Moon in Scorpio on November 20th, watch the recording.

Finding ways to honor & nurture yourself during Spring

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Hey there! 

How are you welcoming the Spring season into your life?

I am welcoming the Spring season into my life by celebrating the new Astrological new year, Spring Equinox, and the Aries season that began on March 19th at 11:09 PM ET.

My celebration includes setting an intention to continue my Thriving Mindfully with death, loss, and grief by taking a deep dive into self-nurturing (self-care) rooted in my Akan ancestral wisdom that lives  in the Adinkra symbols. The wisdom is a part of my ancestral medicine. 

FYI The Akan are the largest ethnic group of present-day Ghana, and the Ivory Coast located in West Africa. My paternal loving + wise + well ancestors are the Akan people in Ghana. 

FYI Adinkra symbols are deep truths reflecting proverbs, concepts, and wisdom in a visual form that appear in cloth, clothing, artwork, architecture, furniture, and more.

I picked six Adinkra symbols to guide my self-nurturing through the Spring season. I used them to create affirmations that support  my intention. See below. 

What intentions do you want to set for the Spring season, new astrological new year, or second quarter of 2024?

What’s one action step you can take to jumpstart your intention setting?

I am also diving deep into some of the traditional Chinese Medicine, astrology, and other spiritual and self-care practices I have used in previous years.

I thought you might like to know more about them.

Read on…

In Chinese Medicine, the Spring season corresponds to the wood element and yang energy. Spring represents the beginning of new astrological year (Aries season) and a time of birth and new beginnings.

The wood element represents a transition from a yin season to yang season, death to growth, and cold to warmth. It is a time of expansion growth, development, and moving forward unapologetically.

Yang energy is masculine, hot, active, and connected to the activity of doing. The wood element is an invitation to cultivate vitality, creativity, and emotional resilience.

Wood is associated with the emotion of ANGER. ANGER can be a helpful and harmful emotion.  As a harmful emotion, anger can cause you to become reactive or full of rage in challenging situations. You can learn to be skillful in how you work with anger. As a helpful emotion, anger can drive you to make necessary changes in your life.  Wood is also connected to forgiveness.

Wood is associated with the color green. Nurture your wood connection by wearing different shades of green. Use them to decorate your home and office. Spending time near trees with green leaves, plants, and flowers. Eat green vegetables and fruits. Drink green juices, tea,  or smoothies.  

The wood element is associated with the Anahata (heart and fourth) chakra in the heart center of the body. It is located in your heart center. In Sanskrit, anahata means unstruck, unhurt, or unbeaten. It is associated with unconditional love, compassion, acceptance, and gratitude. It is connected to the colors pink and green. Use rose quartz, rhodonite,  rhodochrosite, green aventurine malachite, and green jade gemstones. The seed mantra is YAM. 

The wood element is associated with the Ajna (third-eye and sixth) chakra located in between the eyebrows. In Sanskrit, ajna means command center, perceive, and beyond wisdom. It is associated with intuition, wisdom, insight, and concentration. It is connected to the color indigo blue. Use lapis lazuli, soldalite, iolite, azurite, and kyanite gemstones. The seed mantra is OM.

The wood element in the body shows up in the liver and gallbladder.

The liver (yin) is in charge of the smooth flow of your life force energy (qi, chi, or prana), blood, and emotions in the body. The liver controls the tendons. It stores blood during periods of rest and releases it to the tendons in times of activity. You can maintain your tendons with stretching exercises. The liver is connected to proper eye function. Use eye yoga to support this area.

The gallbladder (yang) stores and excretes bile. It governs your planning, decision making, and the courage to take action and see your decisions. It is connected to your stability, boundaries of self, passion for life, inspiration, action, The gallbladder is connected to the connective tissue in the body. Use stretching exercises (yoga) to take care of your connective tissue.

Aries is a Fire sign (March 19-April 19) that offers energetic support for passion, willpower, initiative, and taking brave and new action. It is governed by Mars, the planet of energy, action, and desire. Aries season offers you energetic support in your role as a leader and abilities to initiate, tap into your willpower, and be aggressive and spontaenous.

Aries governs the head.

The head is connected to the sahasrara (crown, violet and gold) chakra. Tap into the crown chakra for being the highest version of yourself. Chant SOHAM to connect to the crown chakra’s seed mantra. Nurture your crown chakra with amethyst, moonstone, clear quartz, and selenite crystals.

Aries’ fire energy is conected to your manipura (solar plexus; yellow) chakra which governs your willpower, persistence, and self-confidence. Chant the the seed mantra RAM to connect with the solar plexus chakra. Nurture your solar plexus chakra with citrine, pyrite, yellow or bumble bee jasper, mookite, or tiger’s eye crystals.

Journaling & Meditative Music

I invite you take a moment to explore the journaling prompts below. Listen to the meditative music in the solar plexus chakra video. May they help begin to nurture yourself in the ways you need. 

-How can you nurture yourself during the Spring season?

-What type of support do you need to nurture yourself during the Spring season?

-What 1-3 steps you can take this month to get started on your Spring season nurturing?

Death, Loss, and Grief Resources

Are you struggling with death, loss, and grief right now?

Click on the video below to listen to the latest episode of the Thriving Mindfully Podcast that discusses how I am learning to understand, deal with, and nurture myself while experiencing grief in my body.

Grief + You 2-Day Retreat Series

Do you need more support with your death, loss, and grief journey?

Join me for the 2024 Grief + You 2-Day Retreat Series on April 13-14, May 4-5, June 29-30, July 27-28, August 24-25, September 28-29, October 26-27, November 16-17, and December 14-15 at 2-3:30 PM ET via Zoom.

Click the sign up button below to register.

REGISTER