We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Iya Mystique . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Iya Mystique below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Iya Mystique with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic comes from being raised in a Caribbean Indigenous home. My grandmother, “Mother Canada”, was from the Caribbean, and her upbringing was passed on to my mother, who is a true Capricorn at heart (laughs) and my dad was a true Gemini who believed in the value of rest, recuperate, and shift if things don’t feel aligned. However, although my work ethic was centered on “pushing through when it gets tough” it didn’t center on the luxury and privilege to find time to rest and recharge. Living in a Caribbean-led home while facing daily barriers (i.e. racism, classism, ableism, etc) in America was something that pushed me to be a little too hard working for my own good.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, that is what forced me to rest and in that rest, I learned how to balance myself and know that my worth does not equate to jeopardizing my holistic health (especially physically and mentally) by being overworked and underpaid (and let’s not get into the lack of accessible benefits) as well as my happiness in order to “feel” I’m worthy or a “hard worker.”
Now, I take time to align myself with not only what brings me joy and aligns with my passion, but also align myself to spaces that respect that I am human with human needs and experiences (i.e. family, health management, mental health and spiritual wellness, etc).
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As a holistic full spectrum professional, my work is centered on Caribbean Indigenous practices for birth and postpartum (including grief and loss as well as medical termination), as well as healing and social justice. I am also a childbirth educator, lactation specialist, P3 (Pathway 3) IBCLC mentee, death doula, lactation educator, and healing justice facilitator.
The expression of joy and celebration of healing in my community is what excites me about this work. It holds a special place in my heart to see the people and families in my community thrive in a way where we are conditioned to fear birth and healing, as we have every right to. However, my mission is to continue to bring sweetness and nurturing energy in my work to my community so that we all can transition from just surviving to finally thriving.
My work is dedicated to my egun (ancestors), especially my first teacher and mentor of healing and reproductive work, my grandmother, Mother Canada. My grandmother was my guide to this work before she passed away. To this day people remind me how much I embody her and my egun as they can “feel” the energy of feeling safe to birth and heal during their postpartum journey.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Finding balance is a major key in this work. I feel that this work can take a lot out of you if you are not careful with setting boundaries with yourself and for yourself. Speaking of setting boundaries, that is another piece of knowledge I had to learn the hard way. Many times in this work, it is hard to say “no” because you always feel “called” to “save everyone.” However, in reality, you can’t save everybody. That’s where staying connected and leaning on your community of supporters (or creating a network of unified community support) comes in too. If I didn’t have my community to have my back or to hold me accountable to hang my cape up and just rest, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. Thankfully, my community continues to always show up and remind me to not be afraid to stand by my worth and speak up about my needs. Many times people will “pick your brain” or guilt and possibly gaslight you into doing too much while not compensating for the fact of how heavy this work really is while trying to take care of yourself and your family.
For those who are early in this work, I highly advised learning how to find balance, do some major healing (because this work is not all sunshine, rainbows, and sprinkles), and take your time into finding what aligns with you. You do not have to do it all (i.e. have all the certifications and training) because you shouldn’t. The “hustling mentality” can place you in some unhealthy situations that could burn you out and get you burned. My community and I always say, “Healers need healing too” so please make sure you have a community or are developing a community that will not only have your back but also hold you accountable to become a better person (i.e. dismantle problematic perspectives and behaviors, remind you of your worth, etc).
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
My decision to pause my midwifery journey has been very difficult. Being a Black, queer student midwife with low income, no financial support to pay for tuition, no accessible childcare, and lack of mental health support have been a very heavy barrier in my life. With this work, I feel many do not understand and/or are not aware of the choices that are really sacrifices that have to be made in order to become a midwife in this country. Dropping out of my midwifery program was one of the hardest and most upsetting decisions I had to do in order to provide for my family due to my co-parent working in low-income employment.
Many of us (as Black student midwives) do not have the privilege to have no income or only one income-based home like most who succeed before us or even succeed better than us. We also lack the support not only financially with school but also the support to heal while becoming midwives.
Mainly, I continue to attend midwifery assistant trainings and continue to have a wonderful relationship with my midwifery mentor as well as continuing to do social justice and healing justice in full spectrum birth work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iyamystique.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbirthhealer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackBirthHealer
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blackbirthhealer/
Image Credits
Kendra Knight Photography
