As a Mormon (a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), raised in a predominantly Mormon Community, I feel there's a bit of a stigma about "tea". Per our inspired Word of Wisdom, many teas and coffee are strongly discouraged. And I fully stand behind those reasons, BUT, lemme tell you about my herbal teas and infusions. Because they are truly inspired concoctions that I believe everyone should consume on the daily.

What is Herbal Tea? "Herbal teas - simple infusions of healing herbs in water - offer a daily reminder of our place in nature and open our hearts and minds  to the ways in which plants can align us." SO there it is. Herbal teas and infusions are simply herbs (dried plants) that are steeped in boiling water, strained off, then consumed. Health benefits of drinking herbal tea are soo varied. A few I've seen are; seasonal allergy relief, hormone balance, anxiety release, and digestive issues soothed.

​I first came to love loose-leaf teas when I wandered into Natural Philosophy (a store owned by my dear friend Amy Choate). The walls of herbs in glass jars instantly soothed my soul. And that's why I'm BEYOND pumped to be able to start offering a similar experience to ladies who come to The Revival Room for services + Tea.
My favorite thing to do as the weather warms up is to make an infusion or "Sun Tea" and let it cool off, add some mint, honey, lemon and ice, and have a refresing, nutritious drink. 

You can buy a billion different kinds of tea in most grocery stores. The tea bags sold there are great for convenience, but the reason why I love loose- leaf herbal teas is because they are more cost-effective, they are more effective for healing purposes, they are simple to make (with one-two other purchases), and they just have a better vibe because they aren't as processed.

Besides the health benefits of drinking herbal tea, a large part of my obsession with it is the more ritualistic part. It's one of THE most inexpensive (time and money wise) and accessible forms of Self-Care that I participate in. For busy mamas, all it takes is a few seconds to brew it and then a few minutes to kick back, take a few deep breaths and soak in it's goodness. (Even if you do have to reheat it 12 times to be able to have this moment haha!) 

So, tell me.
Do you drink herbal tea? I'll be posting more about the blends I'm making that will be available for sale... I hope you will give it a try!

In the words of Sarah Farr, "The practice of drinking herbal teas to support wellness connects you to your little spot in the world, but it also empowers you to participate in and own your health. Despite what the media tells you, we are all capable of responsibly caring for yourselves and our place through our lived experience. Like the rest of nature, our bodies are incredibly intuitive and designed to heal themselves, but we experience many moments of fear and discomfort when we stretch ourselves too thin, which causes physiological imbalances. Tea can provide beauty, motivation, and direct therapeutic support that the body needs to shift its forucs back toward healing and balance on a physical, emotional, and energetic levels."

With Love and Light, Mal

Blame it on genetics, lifestyle, or just label me as weak or "mentally ill", but I've always had a tendency leaning HARD towards Depression and Anxiety. It probably became a "thing" around my Junior year in high school when my health problems started, and realllly hit hard after my first daughter (bless her sweet soul and those d a m n hormones).

I don't remember her first six months of her little life. I don't really remember much, except LOTS of Grey's Anatomy and feeling too stressed to leave our little apartment with her because I was worried about the air quality. It was a bad combo of feeling anxious and overwhelmed, and depressed and lethargic. Bad combo, my friends.

Through the next few years I was led on an amazing healing journey that has brought me to where I am today.

Unbelievably Happy. On Zoloft. And 1000% on board with every woo-woo practice I can get my hands on. So how did I come to this unseemingly perfect balance, you ask? Let me tell ya....

While pregnant with my second ladylove, I was so prepped for the Postpartum Depression that I was sure would strike again. But my lovely little brain did a little flip on me and after she was born; straight up ANXIETY hit, and oh man, it hit hard. And it was a whole new beast.
I took a deep dive into learning meditation techniques and yoga instruction because so help me, I had felt what anti-anxiety and anti-depressants did to people's liver (via foot zones) and I WAS NOT going on anything of the sort!

The anxiety would be alleviated from time to time but I truly started to see how it was driving me and all my actions. I finally was able to come to terms that maybe, just maybe, a teensy dose of that Western Medicine would help. My awesome CNM was able to help me with the dosing phase where I wanted to rip my hair out because it "wasn't working" and now I can happily say my baby dose of Zoloft is my BFF.

My Zoloft Helps Me Function; My Woo-Woo Helps Me LIVE.

Now, would I rather that I was on some regimen that was 100% all-naturalll? Heck yeah. But at this point in my life, this balance is perfecto for me. My medication has taken off "the edge" so to speak, so I can see clearly enough and be able to help myself in all the ways I truly want to.

Regular Yoga, Meditating, Energy Healing, Crystals, Herbs, Essential Oils, Mindfulness Practices, and Supplements help to truly give me the day to day JOY I've been seeking for years now.

Every person and situation is different, and I am by no means a healthcare professional, but I really just felt the nudge to post this post. I guess to tell all you mamas and ladies that you're not alone in this. And to shed some light on the stigma that you're not "lazy" or "weak" if you are on any type of meds.
​
If you're in the throes of Anxiety, Depression, or some other mental h e l l hole. Know you're not alone. You've got this. And all the answers to how you can make it through, are within you. You WILL find your perfect balance. Mentally, Emotionally, Physically, and Spiritually.
​Because YOU, my love, are pure, perfect Light. Just take a minute to listen to your Inner She, and you'll know where you need to go, what you need to take, or who you need to talk to.

With Love and Light, Mal


(PS: I'd LOVE if you would share this on Social Media or send to any loved ones that you feel could benefit.)

The last week was rough.

It's silly, really, but because I coach women on ways to simplify their lives and connect to their TRUE purpose, I feel like I should "know better" or should be more "equipped" to handle when the big stresses hit.

Since becoming a Wife and Mother I truly have added many skill sets, exercises, and tools to my Revival Kit that usually help me through the gunky parts of my day to day.

But, like everyone else, sometimes I get sucked into the adrenaline rush of BUSY. Opening up new opportunities for my business, building our new home (we are SO close to being done) and the every day momming and wife-ing plus an added layer of anxiety was big, nice recipe for a breakdown. I was snappy. I was hormonal. I was angry. I was more than a tad overwhelmed.

BUT THEN I CALMED MYSELF THE FREAK DOWN.

How, you ask?

By giving myself a big, heaping, dose of GRACE.

Grace has always been a subject that fascinated me. That after all we can do, something, someone, can help us make up the difference. From a religious perspective it helps me massively. But what about from a day to day viewpoint?

How can we give ourselves some of that Grace-ful quality?

Realizing that We truly, and legitimately do NOT have to do it all.

I was frantically looking outside of myself this last week. Thinking, "If they would...then I would feel less stressed." "Once I get these collaborations done, I can relax." "When we are in our house I'll feel more centered."

But, you guys. That's not the way life works. (Or at least, I haven't figured out a way to completely control others/my life circumstances yet:).

BUT, I am 1000% convinced that if we can take a BIG, nice breath and give ourselves the luxury of turning INWARD for a second, we can find a solution to the crazy.

Mine this last week was tapping into that Grace. It wasn’t my circumstances or people in my life that needed to give me a freakin break, it was ME.

Some ways I applied this concept:

-Pulled out my “big girl pants” (aka the ones I bought myself for the awkward phase between maternity pants and my “normal” size. Nope. Not pregnant. Just having some #tightpantprobs after the holidays still. 😂). UGH this made me so happy. To be comfortable. And give my body gratitude for all it does for me by not restricting it because of a stupid concept of fitting into “my size”. I’m not discounting the fact that, yes, I need to re evaluate my eating and connect more with myself so I feed myself more nourishing foods. But I have been slipping into feeling lots of anger at myself because of the stage my body is in. Today as I did some yoga; I stripped down and lovingly gave that squishy belly of mine some LOVE. Because my body is a freakin miracle. And I’m not going to discount that just because of a little flab.

-Universe + Me To-Do Lists. Instead of overwhelming myself with all that needed to be done, I simply labeled the FEW things that literally only I could do, and wrote the rest on “The Universe’s To-Do List”. It’s amazing what things can get done when you release the need for YOU to do it all. People and things magically made that to do list take care of itself usually.

-Gave myself permission to say “No”. I said no to some social obligations, said no to being the best homemaker (messiest house ever this week) and said no to trying to dial down screen time. And ya know what? WE ALL CAME OUT ALIVE!

I hope that you all can give yourself a bit of Grace this next week. Love on yourself and the ones around you a bit more. On your own terms that are best for YOU. I’d love to hear how you apply this in your own life. Comment below if that resonates with you. ❤️

✨Love and Light, Mal

Guys. I am SO pumped to finally get this blog up and running.
A few years ago, I was working on rebranding my business. I chose to go with simple. Mally Griffin, LLC. HOWEVER, one of my husband's suggestions was to do "The Revival Kit". I've been waiting for the perfect "project" to put this name on, and my new content fits it perfectly.
I feel that many times, women are living purely in "Survival Mode". They wake up early to work out (gotta get rid of that poochy belly) make it through their work day (have to model what a "successful" woman looks like) , take care of their spouse or significant other (we ARE the more capable sex, after all😉) run the kids to dance and piano (super mom!), and then rush home again to make a dinner (which of course has pressure added onto it that it needs to be a healthy, organic, non-GMO dinner every night.)
*EYE ROLL*
We do the' necessary' things, and then by the end of they day, we have to 'revive' ourselves with things that, in reality, aren't really that 'reviving'. (i.e. Netflix binge-watching, Diet Coke, or mindless Social Media consumption).
WHO CAN RELATE!?
Since becoming a mother, I have seen this cycle rise up time and time again in myself AND my clients. My hope is, that on this page, I can share weekly tips, tricks, and my (seemingly) random topics that I'm currently adding to My Revival Kit. I hope that you, dear reader, will take these things and add them to YOUR Revival Kit, so we, as women, can not only just survive whatever phase of life we are in, but live a life where we feel REVIVED.
-With Love and Light, Mal