Ep. 28 | After the Flowers Fade: Healing for the Ones Who Hold Everyone Together

Mother's Day is over. The flowers are fading. The texts have quieted. And the ones who held everyone together through the celebration are already back at it — cooking, managing, showing up, making sure. This episode is for them. For you. In Episode 28 of The Aya Way™ Podcast, Dr. Malaika Brown has an honest conversation about what it actually costs to be the one who holds everyone together — and what it means to learn, finally, to hold yourself with the same devotion. Rooted in the R.E.S.T. framework and the cultural inheritance of Black women's caregiving, this episode names what wellness culture rarely does: that strength, when it becomes the only thing you are allowed to be, can quietly become a cage. And that learning to receive care — from yourself, from others, from a practice — is not weakness. It is the most advanced form of rootedness there is.In this episode, Dr. Malaika covers:What chronic caregiving does to the nervous system and allostatic loadThe myth of the strong one — and the ancestral weight it carries for Black womenWhat we inherited about care, and how to extend the lineage instead of repeat itWhat it means to mother yourself with the same consistency you offer everyone elseThe Aya Pause™ as a daily caregiving practice — three breaths, three times a dayThis is not a self-care episode. This is a root system episode.🎧 New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe, leave a review, and share with someone who needs it.Listen on Your Favorite PlatformApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-aya-way-with-dr-malaika/id1838551749Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29L2qwPbBikR95v2BAAr6cYouTube: https://youtube.com/@theayawayiHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-aya-way-with-dr-malai-293830782?app=listenDeepen the PracticeSubscribe to The Aya Way™ on Substack: https://theayaway.substack.comStay ConnectedListener Voicemails: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheAyaWayDr. Malaika's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/doc_mbreezee?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=4ef7ca6e-f156-466b-af56-b07f0a2993a8Read the BookRooted in Resilience: A Journey to Collective Healing — by Dr. Malaika: https://malaikambrown.com/store/p/rootedinresilience