Meet Santana Chevel

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Santana Chevel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Santana, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My purpose wasn’t found in a single moment of clarity (& even in writing this that purpose is continues to unfold day by day). It has been shaped by grief, by rebirth, and by the whispers of my own body guiding me home.

I stepped onto a yoga mat in 2018, right before both of my parents passed away. At first, it was just a practice to ease physical pain & health challenges I was facing at the time, but it quickly became the lifeline that carried me through loss. In 2019, I got married. By 2021, I had separated. And just this month, October 2025, my divorce became official. Through all those chapters, yoga was the thread stitching me back to myself.

When my son was born in January 2024, I started building Whispering Soul Sanctuary while still in the rawness of postpartum. All of my meetings/sessions with my then business coach & mentor took place with me still in bed, oftentimes nursing my son or changing a wet/pooped diaper. He was only weeks old, and I was tender, tired, and determined not to repeat the story of women I had seen before me — women who gave everything and had nothing left for themselves. I wanted a different experience of mamahood, one rooted in rest, ritual, and recovery.

The fire inside me ignited even more around 18 months postpartum, in 2025. I remember telling another mama how absolutely exhausted and burnt out I felt. She said: “You just had a baby — get used to it. This is the new normal.”

That did not sit right in my spirit. In fact it sparked a rage inside me that I can’t say I’ve ever felt before. Was I supposed to accept a life of waking up every morning feeling like I’d been run over by a truck? A life stripped of joy, of rest, of vitality — all in the name of motherhood? Rage rose inside me. But instead of letting it consume me, I chose to transmute it. That moment became fuel. It reminded me that this mission — Whispering Soul Sanctuary — is not just important. It is vital.

Now, at 34,(I will be 35 in November 2025) I look back and connect the dots of my life. Every loss, every unraveling, every rebirth brought me here. And the more I share my practice, my story, and my journey, the more I see other mamas nodding, crying, whispering “me too.” Their stories, layered with exhaustion, silence, and sacrifice, only affirm mine: this is my purpose.

Whispering Soul Sanctuary is more than a business. It’s my offering to mamas and women everywhere — a space where softness is medicine, where joy and rest are reclaimed, and where motherhood and also womanhood is not a slow death to self, but a conscious return to wholeness.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am the founder of Whispering Soul Sanctuary, a space created for women navigating the tender thresholds/transitions of life — from pregnancy and postpartum to divorce, grief, burnout, or simply the quiet moments when you realize you’ve been living on autopilot.

What makes this work unique is that it’s born from my own journey. Yoga became my lifeline through the loss of my parents, through divorce, and through the profound initiation of mamahood. Each season of unraveling taught me that the body holds the story, and healing begins with slowing down long enough to listen. Whispering Soul Sanctuary exists so women don’t have to move through these chapters alone, but instead have a sanctuary of softness, ritual, and support.

Today, I offer three pathways inside the Sanctuary:

The 28-Day Reset: a self-paced journey to reconnect with your body through yoga, breath, and mindful movement.

The Sanctuary Circle: an intimate monthly community for women seeking grounding practices, connection, and ongoing support.

Private 1:1 Mentorship: a deep, soul-led container for women ready to reclaim joy, vitality, and sovereignty in their lives.

For me, this isn’t just about yoga or wellness. It’s about rewriting the story women have been told — that exhaustion, silence, and self-sacrifice are the “new normal.” Whispering Soul Sanctuary is my love letter to every woman who longs to feel whole again, who longs to breathe, balance, and bloom in her own rhythm.

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?

Looking back, the three qualities that shaped my journey most are: resilience, gratitude, and self-love.

1. Resilience — the art of rising from unraveling.
I’ve walked through grief, divorce, postpartum depression, and burnout — and resilience didn’t come from pushing harder, it came from learning how to bend without breaking. For anyone building this quality, I’d say: start small. When life feels overwhelming, ask yourself: What is one thing I can do today to remind myself I’m still here? Over time, those small acts become the backbone of resilience.

2. Gratitude — finding the sacred in the simple.
Gratitude has been my anchor in seasons of darkness. Some days it was as small as being thankful for a quiet breath, a cup of tea, or the way my son’s laughter reminded me that joy still existed. Gratitude doesn’t erase pain, but it softens it and helps you see that even in unraveling, there are threads of beauty. For anyone cultivating gratitude, I suggest starting a simple daily practice: name three things you’re thankful for, no matter how small.

3. Self-Love — reclaiming my worth as non-negotiable.
Self-love has been the most radical practice of my life. It meant allowing myself to rest when the world told me to push harder. It meant saying “no” without guilt. It meant looking at my body — stretched, scarred, softened by mamahood — and choosing love instead of criticism. Self-love is not indulgence; it’s survival. To build it, begin by noticing the way you speak to yourself. Would you say those same words to someone you love? If not, choose softer ones.

Together, resilience, gratitude, and self-love don’t just shape my business — they shape the way I live, mother, and serve. And they are qualities every woman can begin to build today, one whisper at a time.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed, I return to the simplest thing I can control — my breath. I remind myself: I don’t need to fix everything right now. I only need to be here. Sometimes that looks like lying on the floor and letting the earth hold me. Sometimes it’s putting on music and moving my body until the tension softens.

My advice is to release the pressure of “big self-care.” You don’t need hours. You need presence. Five minutes of conscious breath or movement can change the entire energy of your day. Overwhelm begins to dissolve the moment you give yourself permission to pause.

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Image Credits

Stacy Ann Brown-Johnson

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