In the spring of 2025, I began creating Ayni Mama, a new kind of mother-daughter retreat rooted in reciprocity.
The idea came after a week in the Andes, meditating and reconnecting with my heritage and ancestry. I wanted to design a retreat that could help me and other mothers live more mindfully and move through life with greater lightness.
I knew that if this movement was going to mean something, it had to begin with me. I had to embody a calmer, more present way of being and accept that life brings both joy and struggle.
But as I shaped the vision, a theme kept surfacing that I couldn’t ignore: Was I truly living in self-regulation?
Then summer came, the kids were out of school, and our daily routine unraveled.
Between travel, camp schedules, and never-ending obligations, the days suddenly felt very long.
By August, I was losing patience over the simplest things.
My expectations of conscious parenting were far from my reality, and that realization became a wake-up call. If Ayni Mama was going to be meaningful, it had to begin with me choosing a calmer, more grounded way of being.
I had been living on the go, overbooking, overcommitting, and saying yes to more than I should hold, for far too long. I needed to understand what I was even reaching for.
And when I finally slowed down enough to ask myself how? I found my way to an Art of Living breath course. Learning to breathe with intention became the entry point into a new way of mothering.
To me, becoming a self-regulated mother meant noticing my emotions before they spiraled, responding with intention rather than reacting from stress, and creating a calmer environment for myself and my kids by learning to pause and breathe. This practice is becoming the foundation of how I show up, for myself and for my kids. Some days are harder than others, but living a little slower is already changing the way we connect.
At Ayni Mama, the tools and practices we share—mindful breathwork, movement, reflection, and intentional rituals—are rooted in the principle of self-regulation. These practices help mothers: reconnect with their inner calm, cultivate patience, and create space for presence.
In turn, daughters experience a love that is consistent, grounded, and unwavering. They learn safety not through perfection, but through the steadiness of a mother who knows how to come back to herself.
Through these practices, self-regulation becomes more than a concept; it becomes a living experience.
It is the daily choices that shift our relationships from reactive to connected, from distracted to fully present. And it is the starting point for the deep, lasting bond that Ayni Mama is designed to nurture.
If you’re ready to take that next step and cultivate a loving relationship with yourself and your daughter, join our first retreat in Asheville, NC, April 23–26, 2026.