Following the birth of her youngest daughter, Maria Mercedes experienced postpartum depression and crippling anxiety, leading her to yoga and meditation. After becoming a certified yoga instructor, she says she realized her clientele was mostly women struggling silently. After taking many courses, attending retreats, and working on herself, she took a leap of faith and found her soul’s purpose: leading women through self-healing journeys.
What caused you to make gathering women part of your life's work?
"I am 52, so I have lived through a lot. I am a mother of two beautiful women and grandmother to five amazing beings. I have been 'initiated,' which I call the transcending that occurs when a woman faces obstacles and accomplishes the unthinkable."
How does ancient wisdom inform how today's women live?
"I bring ancient wisdom to the modern woman to help her recall, release and renew. I use a somatic approach to help women connect to their bodies and process suppressed emotions. Huge shifts occur when women are permitted to feel it all. I guide women through yoga, breathwork and meditation to find their strongholds."
How do you help women discover their worth?
"I want each woman to heal the parts of her that were not given space to grieve and feel. No more self-degrading due to people-pleasing, feeling unheard due to not speaking their truth, or apologizing to make other's lives more comfortable. I want women to start living their most unapologetically authentic lives, knowing they are worthy of all the joy, all the peace, and all the love they desire. Truly learning to love themselves builds so much self-confidence. This is when the self-sabotage stops, and the healing self-love begins."
What can women expect when they attend a retreat?
"At my retreats (I call them soulful pilgrimages), women can experience full transformations. The woman who arrives is not the same one who departs. A powerful shift occurs. Each day focuses on a theme, something women can relate to, resentment, forgiveness, or overwhelm, and I strive to create a safe space or a 'container' for women to share freely and without judgment. Women come to me because they find themselves at a crossroads and are unclear about the next steps. My retreat is a perfect place to discover how to move forward."