Hi friends, I’m writing to you this week as I visit with my oldest and closest friend, who lost her dad, Aziz, this week to dementia. I’ve known her family since I was 7, and our families spent a lot of time together growing up. They are chosen family to me. Aziz was a really fun person. He was a sweet, and loved to tease people. His humor is what I remember most. Towards the end, he couldn’t verbalize anymore, so he would make faces at people to make them laugh. He also worked as a pharmacist for 40 years, and loved being a pharmacist. He was super proud of me for going to pharmacy school. He always asked what I was up to in my job. He teased me when I took a corporate job saying “you don’t stand for your job? You’re not a real pharmacist.” chuckle-chuckle-chuckle. It makes me simultaneously want to cry and laugh writing this. Grief is a topic that continues to come up again and again as we shift into midlife. The grief hits in ways we didn’t even imagine: we have to grieve our youth. Grieve old relationships. Let go of plans we had that we know (for various reasons) aren’t going to be realized. We may even grieve how living in our bodies used to feel- the sleep we once had, the resilience in the mind (which, I’ve been told, comes back post-menopause), the capacity for digestion, the easeful orgasm. And of course, we must grieve the people we lose, including our parents, siblings, friends, partners, and eventually, come face to face with our own death. Sometimes as the losses start to pile up, there is also anger. I want you to know it is okay to feel whatever you feel, and it can be ALL over the place right now. One of the things that is so hard about this time of life is that things are changing so fast. It won’t always be like this. It won’t always be like this– whether it’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’ right now, so BE in your life as much as you can. For me, one of the biggest reminders from this loss is that people each have their own beautiful signature they bring into our life. Their presence is everything. Nobody is asking right now if Aziz checked off his whole to-do list last week, if he got that promotion or wrote that book, or if he did his life perfectly (he didn’t). Everyone is just missing him being here. And that is YOU, too. None of us can see for ourselves how precious we are to those that love us. Please remember how precious you are, especially during this messy midlife time. P.S. If you were forwarded this email, click here to continue receiving these little notes in your inbox! P.P.S. I love hearing from you- always feel free to hit reply with any thoughts or questions. Practice Yoga with Me- Karma YogaAll Levels Flow, Thursday afternoons 5:30 pm Decrease stress with a gentle flow at the end of the day designed to ground and steady. Sunrise Yoga Flow, Friday mornings 6:30 am Start the day off right with an invigorating flow practice designed to help move kapha and stimulate prana. Register here. If you don't live in Denver and are interested, Karma offers an online streaming option for all their classes. Banyan Botanicals DiscountI'm a proud participant of the Banyan Tree Collective. If you're not familiar with Banyan, they are a certified B corporation committed to providing products that support the Ayurvedic lifestyle and are organically grown, sustainably sourced, and fairly traded. Below is an affiliate link which supports my business every time you use it, as well as a one time 15% off coupon. 15% off discount code: MARIAG15 |
Maria Gabriela is a certified Ayurveda Health Counselor, a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.), a 200 hour certified yoga teacher, and founder of Intuitive Ayurveda. She specializes in helping women prepare for, celebrate, and manage the transition into menopause. The eastern and western perspectives of medicine each have something to offer us, and Maria Gabriela understands this dance. Her goal is to educate on Ayurvedic tools that can (and should) be individualized to each complex person. She strives to help her clients tune into the messages their bodies are sending them. Ultimately, she believes that every person is the expert on what is best for them, and can be empowered to hone in on which tools they need to support themselves in mind, body, and spirit. She shares stories, inspiration, and of course, Ayurveda tips on managing perimenopause + menopause. She sends out a weekly newsletter and sometimes an additional email per week with upcoming events. Check out the Starter Kit below!
Hi friends, At the retreat center I was recently at in Costa Rica, the man who owns the retreat center gave us a “longevity talk.” It was filled with gimmicky, on-trend treatments that were available for purchase at the center. He spoke with passion, zeal, and confidence, and all I could think was: this man is deeply afraid of death. Okay, well I had other thoughts too, but the main one I want to focus on is related to a question I got once from a student in a workshop: what have you given up...
Hi friends, Warning: my email is a bit ranty today. You might enjoy that. I’m working on clarifying and sharing my point of view on perimenopause/menopause treatment as I see it. Something I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately is competing messages around perimenopause and the Eastern/Western medicine world. There are many allopathic, Western docs out there now on a big bullhorn practically screaming about how great hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and how it can take care of your...
Hi friends, I’m coming to you on just the other side of my cleanse. I feel like my body has processed and released some emotional residue from the past year (and gotten into a layer of even deeper stuff). Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and talked about in my yoga classes, is that we don’t have to clearly intellectualize what we are releasing. With attention, intention, and space, we can shift. Cleansing gives the body a break from so much physical digestion, and allows it to...