I would like to share with you the story of how Solstice Holistic came to be. It was founded by me, Marissa, on December 21, 2019, hence the name Solstice. It felt very symbolic for me and as though it was the right moment to finally give form to this vision and idea I’ve had in my mind.
For me, Solstice Holistic is meant to represent and share with you the all encompassing passion I have around wellness and holistic and alternative care. I have always been drawn to working in service of others, healing, and utilizing natural remedies for the health and wellness of mind, body, and spirit. My story and journey into this world is full of my own battles and how I intuitively found and forged my own path to health, abundance, and growth.
I would like to briefly share with you part of my story now, and much more later and throughout other posts, but will focus on areas which I feel have given me much insight, development, as well as understanding and compassion when working with others.
When I was 12 years old, my mom almost died during what was supposed to be a minimal surgical procedure. She had actually flat lined and they had to go to extreme lengths to even get her back. She was in a coma for weeks, in the hospital recovering for months, and by time she was out she had to do rehabilitation for another few months before being able to go back home.
During this time, me and my sister lived with our aunt and uncle, while our grandparents were taking care of my mom and that side of things. Most of it, I didn’t fully comprehend at the time, I was so young, and it was a confusing thing to go through.
Our life was never the same after this. My mom has suffered and lived with constant medical problems and disability since then, and throughout the early years after this, during my teenage years, it shifted the dynamics of our home so much that it was extremely difficult for all of us. I have always been the nurturing type and try to help anyone in anyway I can, and so naturally I picked up a lot of responsibilities for my mom, and through the years took on a caregiver role.
It hasn’t been easy as I watch my mom struggle with her health. She lives with COPD, severe spinal degeneration, osteoarthritis, depression and anxiety, and this is just what I consider the biggest health problems she faces, she has many more ongoing conditions.
I share briefly this story and my experiences, because I feel that this has been one of the most defining aspects of my life. My life really has never been the same since that day, and it’s rippled into my future in the paths I took and choices I made. It has also given me a deeper understanding on so many levels of the struggles one can face with health or medical problems, and I have also been able to see and experience first hand the lack of compassion, understanding, and even knowledge at times from professionals when faced with either multiple types of health conditions, or conditions which range outside of what’s commonly treated. When someone is living with any type of illness, health or medical problem, it can become extremely isolating when there is a lack of understanding, empathy, or support, and I saw my mom go through this in many ways over the years, and I also have my own experiences with this.
I have lived with endometriosis since I was 16. Unfortunately, the only advice you will get from a doctor on this is to take ibuprofen and birth control, and this isn’t in any way a cure, simply a band aid and a poor one at that. I tried taking birth control when I was 17 after being resistant to this form of treatment; I have always felt uncomfortable with taking most types of medication and also have an extreme sensitivity to it, and even then I think I intuitively knew that.
What ended up happening was that the birth control started to cause mini strokes to occur, I had this happen twice to me and it was absolutely terrifying. Not only that but it caused my hormones to get even more unbalanced, causing terrible mood swings, depression, I had a list of horrible symptoms and experiences which lasted a year from this one shot of birth control that I was recommended. The best part was when I went in to see my doctor and told her the experiences I was having and how awful it was, she couldn’t have cared less and basically told me, yeah that happens, and then wanted to give me another dose right then and there. I walked out and never went back, I was disgusted at the complete lack of compassion, empathy, or even listening to what I was saying.
Over the years, I didn’t find any better results in reaching out to doctors for help with this condition. It wasn’t until I started to take it into my own hands, and did thorough research on the condition that I started to finally get results, and this has been a process for me over the past several years.
Between these experiences I’ve just shared, and many more I have had in my life, I ended up in school studying psychology. I graduated with my B.S. in psychology and human development in 2017. Throughout my studies, I took advantage of having access to libraries and research, and learned so much in areas ranging from chronic illness, neurobiology, to effects of stress and trauma on not only our immune systems but in the impacts in makes in our daily lives. I took multiple courses focusing on stress and trauma as well as biology and neurobiology, as I wanted to understand deeply the connection between our experiences, thoughts, and beliefs, and how this effects and interacts within our minds and bodies.
I’ve always taken all of these subjects and areas seriously because I feel so passionate about it and know exactly how it feels to not have answers, to struggle, to find that balance in life and fall short or be given well intentioned but not the best advice.
It is why I have founded Solstice Holistic, as it is meant to be an all encompassing health, wellness, and spiritual haven. It is a place where I hope to share not only knowledge and information towards living a healthier life, but also giving you the access and insight to tools and resources, which can help you to heal, grow, and become more balanced and aligned. The importance of aligning all areas of our lives, through what we consume, what think and believe, to the habits and routines we set, all are integral to the quality of life that we lead.
Thank you for reading, and I hope that you’ll join me on this healing journey!
Marissa ❤
Solstice Holistic
Solstice Holistic 