There is a sacred kind of grief—the kind that doesn’t just hollow you out, but clears the field. The kind that doesn't only hurt, but makes space. The kind that cracks your chest open not to destroy you… but to free what was locked inside.
This month, as I’ve sat with the Heart Chakra and worked closely with Oya, the Orisha of storms, winds, and transformation, I’ve come to understand grief in a new way. Not as something to run from. Not as something to “get over.” But as a divine teacher. A guide. A cleansing storm.
🌪️ Oya Came with the Wind
It started with a sudden heaviness in my chest—one I couldn’t explain with logic. It wasn’t tied to a specific event or person, but it was ancestral. It was hormonal. It was memory. It was heartbreak, long stored in my cells.
During a simple ritual—lighting a candle, playing my drum, calling Oya by name—I felt her presence like wind rushing through a room that had been closed for far too long. The kind of wind that knocks papers down and slams the door behind it.
And it brought a wave of grief that I didn’t see coming.
Tears flowed for the version of me that held everything together for so long. The younger me who thought strength meant silence. The single mother in survival mode. The student who never felt like she could rest. The woman who kept saying “I’m okay” even when her heart was breaking.
I cried for her like she was someone I had just lost. And maybe, in a way, I did.
The Heart Cracks to Let the Light In
Working with the Heart Chakra this month reminded me that our hearts are not made of glass—they are made of soil. They’re meant to break open. That’s how the seeds take root.
As I allowed myself to grieve, I began to feel space open inside me. Not the kind of space that feels empty… the kind that feels ready.
Ready to receive softness. Ready to trust love again. Ready to feel the full spectrum of joy—not the surface kind, but the bone-deep kind that only comes after we’ve let ourselves feel it all.
Oya didn’t come to destroy me. She came to sweep away the remnants of a life I’ve outgrown. The grief was just the broom she used.
What I’ve Learned Through This Release
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Grief isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s a quiet ache that lingers in your heart until you give it space to breathe.
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Oya’s presence can feel intense, but she always comes with purpose. Her storms are sacred.
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The Heart Chakra heals through breath, tears, prayer, and touch. Through letting go, and letting in.
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We do not need to apologize for breaking down. We are not broken—we are blooming.
A Ritual for You
If you're feeling heavy in your chest, I invite you to try this:
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Light a green or pink candle.
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Play soft music or let silence hold you.
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Place one hand on your heart and the other over your womb or belly.
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Speak aloud: “I allow my heart to feel what it needs to feel. I am safe to grieve. I am safe to heal.”
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Call on Oya, if it feels aligned, and ask her to take what no longer serves.
Let the tears fall if they come. Let the silence speak if it doesn’t.
You are not alone in this sacred release. We are healing, together.
If this moved something in you, share it. With a friend. With yourself in the mirror. With your ancestors. Let’s normalize the beauty in breaking open. The miracle in mourning what we’ve outgrown.
Because grief, my loves, is not the end.
It’s the clearing before the new season begins.
With an open heart and sacred winds,
Amalia