My beautiful & Schizophrenic Mom

Namaste Beautiful Souls 🙏🏼 For Mental Health Awareness Week I would like to share awareness about Schizophrenia. One of the most serious and difficult mental disorders we know. Many with people who suffer with Schizophrenia require a lifelong treatment, including my mother who’s been treated for about 30 years. Because it’s such a complicated and wide mental illness where symptoms changes from person to person, it’s very difficult to treat and heal from this illness.

My mom was hospitalised for Schizophrenia and depression when I was 6 months old. My dad has told me stories how I wouldn’t stop crying for hours and hours after she was gone, because I was breast feeding at the time and from one day to another she was gone. I have some memories about visiting her in the hospital, but what I really remember is nightmares growing up about her disappearing. I remember when I was in kindergarten and she was living close to the school, I ran away on our break to go to her house. All I wanted was to be with her.

My beautiful mom. Who would have been the best mom in the world, if she could have been. What I’ve accepted is that my mom never had a choice to be there or not. My beautiful mother who had so many traumas in this lifetime that I can not even begin to imagine how she managed to stay healthy for so many years before she got sick. Loosing one of her first boyfriends in an overdose when she was only 15 years old. Loosing her little brother, her only sibling, who was only 21 years old when he committed suicide. Her parents divorce that was never processed with any therapist. You gave birth to 4 children within 5 years, and the world didn’t know as much about postpartum depressions.

I guess none of your heartaches where really healed or processed, which breaks my heart. It was a different time where therapists and professional help was not as common as it has been for me. I’m grateful that my mom is living at a care home where she has staff 24/7, drinks coffee everyday with the other people who lives there and we write letters every week. A lot of people with Schizophrenia don’t want to talk on the phone so we have written letter to each other for as long as I can remember.

If you need someone to talk to about mental health, I’m here for you 🙏🏼

Namaste 🙏🏼

My Wellness & Yoga Letter

Namaste Beautiful Souls 💙

On the first Saturday of each month I will send out my Wellness & Yoga newsletter, it’s only send out once a month so don’t worry I won’t spam you weekly.

My newsletter is filled with Yogic wisdom, health insights and updates on Yoga classes, workshops and retreats. It’s made to inspire you, lift you up and to share the magic of a Yogic life.

I would be honoured to send my newsletter to you to sign up just comment with your email below or sign on the first page on my website.

Share your thoughts on what you would like to read about in my newsletter.

Namaste 💙

Becoming a Eating Disorders Volunteer

Namaste Beautiful Souls,

Hope you're having a beautiful weekend!

I have just finished a 7 hours Online Course on how to become a Volunteer to help people and families with Eating Disorders. I had an interview this week with a lovely woman from the organisation Frisk & Fri that I will volunteer for by taking calls on their help line and maybe becoming a Mentor to someone.

The Online course was very special. It was telling the stories of five children and their families. They were all in different ages and had different types of eating disorders. One of the children in the course was called "Lisa, 12 y/o". I was 13 but it felt so real. Reading about her feelings, watching videos about her eating dinner with her family and seeing her go to the doctor. It felt like reading about myself.

Of course it makes me feel emotional but I'm reminding myself that this isn't really about me or how I feel. This is to help all the children, families and young people needing to talk to someone who's been through what they are going through.

Have you ever done something that is really hard but you do it anyway to help someone else? Would love to hear your story, comment below or send me a DM.

Thank you for reading 💗

With love,

Santoshi