What does it mean to inherit the wisdom of the women who came before you? Sometimes, it lives in a family recipe, a home remedy, a dream, or the instinct to care for someone who is hurting. In this episode of Reclaimed, Silvia Hazel shares the stories of the medicine women in her family: her grandmother, great-grandmother, and mother. Their lives and the knowledge they passed down continue to shape how she understands healing and the work she does with clients today. It begins with a cookbook her aunt made, filled with her grandmother’s recipes. When Silvia cooks from it, she can almost smell her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother, Serafina, was a compassionate, intelligent woman with an infectious laugh and a gift for making people feel cared for. After leaving Cuba with four young children, she built a new life from scratch, keeping her family fed and her home filled with warmth. But Silvia also wonders about the feelings that may have remained unspoken beneath her grandmother’s strength. What happens to grief, anguish, and rage when a woman has to keep going? When everyone depends on her, is there room for her to fall apart? These questions connect deeply to Silvia’s work today, helping people make room for the feelings and experiences that previous generations may not have had the freedom to express. She also shares the remarkable story of her great-grandmother, who was denied a formal education until a tutor insisted she deserved one. As she grew older, she began dreaming of letters, numbers, and chemical formulas that she eventually recognized as remedies for people in her village. She became known for her ability to help those who were ill. Two women named Serafina, each carrying a different expression of healing: one who dreamed of remedies for her community, and another who carried four children across the water and kept the stove burning in a new home. Silvia also honors her mother, whose medicine lives in the food she prepares, the kitchen remedies she shares, and her desire to make sure everyone is fed, cared for, and held. She may not call it medicine, but Silvia recognizes the healing in these everyday acts of love. In this episode, Silvia explores ancestral healing, generational wisdom, family traditions, and the complicated legacy of being strong. She reflects on how the women before us shape our understanding of care, and how we can honor their resilience while making space for the emotions they may have had to carry quietly. A gentle invitation: Think about the healers in your own family, even if no one called them that. Perhaps it was a grandmother with a home remedy, an aunt who always knew what to say, or a relative whose cooking brought everyone together. Ask an older family member for a story you have never heard before, and write it down so it does not get lost. If you would like to keep exploring what your body has been carrying, join Silvia for the final two sessions of her free workshop series, The Body Is Not Overreacting, on Monday, October 26, and Monday, November 2. Register here: https://www.silviahazel.com/workshop To the women who came before us, thank you for the laughter, the cooking, the courage, and the care. And to the women who carry that wisdom forward, may we remember that healing takes many forms, and some of its earliest lessons begin at home. Welcome to Reclaimed.
