My Guest, Moksha, is the founder of Sovereign Eats, a wellness and raw food company where she advocates for health and wellbeing. Born and raised on the Caribbean island Country, Grenada, just north of Trinidad and Tobago, her relationship with the earth and indigenous foods of Grenada are still dear to her heart. When you hear Moksha's stories you'll find that from a very young age she thought outside the box, outside of the traditions of her culture and I admire that quite a bit. She held her ground according to her beliefs, not those based on her country's historical past. Moksha will share stories of her mother, Cecilia, through out this episode.
"Grenada is very traditional" says my guest, Moksha, who was born and raised on the island and now lives in the US. "A large portion of Grenadians still believe that 'little girls should be seen and not heard' and girls should concentrate on domestics and house keeping," continues my guest. Coincidentally, that 'saying' about little girls is an English proverb. Grenada was colonized by the English from 1763 to 1974 and then by the French from 1979 to 1983 so they still have a residual effect of these different ruling cultures. "House, car, land," those were the presupposed priorities for a young married woman.
I love that Moksha say "mothers are the culture keepers," and it's so very true. What would we do without our mom's telling us stories about the generations before us. There was definitely some conflict between Moksha and her mom because my guest often questioned things from a very young age. In particular, she had questions about spirituality and religion which she explained was way too complicated to cover in one episode of SHLTMM.
An overprotective mother believes she's doing what's best for her daughter, but not so in Moksha's case. It created more conflict around the house and that wasn't beneficial to anyone. What seemed to be the hardest part was her lack of freedom. She was never a daughter to sneak out at night, instead she just told her parents that she was going out. She just knew who she was and what she needed out of life from a young age. And when it came to Moksha dating or meeting new male friends, that was definitely NOT going to happen based on her parents beliefs.
Cecelia's mom always believed in the benefits of higher education, so she continues to study to learn and improve her opportunities with her own business, "Celebration Cakes." With a high school education she began different jobs but keep in mind "girls were supposed to stay home with domestic work,"Moksha says. It was the boys, who continued with school and were able to take jobs.
Moksha is dialed into nutrition/diet and wellbeing and it all began with her mother's knowledge and love for native foods in Grenada. Food is an important part of the culture and family in Grenada and traditions are handed down generation to generation. Moksha's business "Sovereign Eats," is all about food and it's healing properties. It's unfortunate, but Moksha feels that so much of the cultural ideas of her home land have been left behind. She's hoping to keep those traditions alive by sharing her knowledge through Sovereign Eats.
When asked if Moksha thought her mom had regrets about her limitations as a young girl, she said "yes, absolutely, most likely based on her mom's past and boundaries put on her when she was a young girl."
Check out Moksha's Sovereign Eats website at 'sovereigneats.com.'