Por l'Amor de Mis Hijas – Balancing Mind, Body and Soul

Lucia Grajales, of Team Mexico in Landmark Education’s Team, Management and Leadership Program, has created a safe space for children to discover themselves newly and for their parents to learn new ways to be great. Her Game In The World, “Integrated Health” was created as a gift to families to have them explore what a “healthy child” really is: one whose emotional, physical and spiritual selves are in total balance. Lucia is providing the keys for parents to identify and address well-being challenges that are beyond a physical ailment. Her intention: Creating awareness and responsibility in our children for their well being.

Lucia explains, “The family is the basic unit of society. Many of the problems of our world originate in the family, so it is important to begin to care for the health of our children in a holistic manner.” She continues, “In the fast-paced world we live in, the health of our mind is often violated and neglected. It is not unusual that physical disturbances and imbalances result.”

It is because of her amor de mes hijas~ love of her daughters~ that the project came to be. Lucia, an architect, wanted to know how to help them with troubling emotions. Her 8 year old daughter, Lucia del Pilar, was coming to terms with insecurity from being chubby, and her 10 year old daughter, Luisa Fernanda, was grappling with the grief and guilt from the loss of a beloved pet. “My husband and I had no idea how to communicate with them,” shares Lucia. In asking friends for guidance, she realized how ill-equipped parents are to handle such issues. The four workshops with specialists were designed to bring parents and children together to engage in the inquiry and in dialogue.

Her daughters were the first ones to be on her team. Then her friends became her teammates and the specialists who led the workshops. The first workshop taught the power of sound, breath and simple exercises through Yoga philosophy and postures. The course allowed the families to learn about the power of their bodies and how to build trust in one another. The second workshop explored how the self esteem of their children is a direct result of the parents’ self-esteem, so it was strictly for parents. The third workshop will teach the children the laws of life, the natural cycles from birth to death to help children deal with grief and loss. The final workshop will confront the emotional unrest behind eating disorders.

Due to the size of the location, the workshops have been limited to ten families. However, Lucia is putting together a magazine of the contents of the workshops’ wisdom, exercises, shares from participants and pictures to be distributed at three private schools so that all families in her community have access to what was taught.

After two workshops, Lucia’s daughters started pouring their hearts out about what they were feeling. A new depth to their trust and affinity has opened up. “I couldn’t be more happy,” gushes Lucia, ever so grateful.

—written by Anasuya Isaacs, edited by Shash Broxson