# generational trauma

For me, yoga/self-care, motherhood, and dismantling oppression are inextricably connected. A decentering of the self as well as a decentering of whiteness is crucial for collective liberation. Here, some thoughts and resources.

We're meant to feel like we can’t handle horrible news or effect change. We focus on our self(ish)-care and we invest more in "wellness." We don’t truly heal because these systems rely on the energy we generate from endlessly running on our hamster wheels of trauma.

I spent most of my life thinking I was fine - independent, strong, so accepting of my mom's "condition." When I became a mother and realized that I had never had and would never have a mother I could rely on, it broke me. Pain must be seen and held - with love. Then, space is created for healing.

The words we say to ourselves and to each other are so important. As we all become more informed about mental illness, we can all learn to be a source of validation and comfort. It starts simply with listening and discarding harmful platitudes.

When I first became a mother I would never have believed what I do now, that parenting can potentially be a portal of healing. As I mother in ways that I was not mothered, I get to rewrite the script. While this doesn't erase the past, it brings opportunity for peace to sit alongside the sadness.