The Break I Didn’t Know I Needed

Life has a way of sitting you down when you won’t sit down yourself.
And over the last two years, life sat me alllll the way down.

I didn’t realize how much I was carrying until my body, my spirit, and God told me, “Baby, rest.” Not the cute bubble-bath kind of rest — I mean real rest. The uncomfortable kind. The healing kind. The kind nobody posts about.

Let me tell you why I needed that break more than I realized.

Losing My Sister Changed Everything.  When my sister passed, a part of me shifted forever. Grief doesn’t just show up — it rearranges you. It pulls everything out of your hands and forces you to figure out what actually matters. For months, my creativity was gone. My motivation was gone. My joy was barely flickering.

I wasn’t in a space to create, to pour, or to nurture a business when I could barely nurture myself. And honestly… I wasn’t supposed to be. Sometimes grief is the assignment and honoring it requires stillness.

If I’m being completely honest, my health went through it too.  Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Stress has this way of starting off as a whisper, trying to get your attention gently and when you ignore it, it comes back louder.

For months, my body had been sending me signals that something wasn’t right. The fatigue, the pressure, the stomach issues, the pain in my back and neck, -all the signs were there. But I kept pushing, kept answering my phone, kept pretending I was okay because I didn’t want to slow down.

Then came the moment I couldn’t ignore anymore. The pain hit so hard and so suddenly that I ended up in the hospital, barely able to stay conscious on the ride there. My symptoms were so intense the ER staff thought I might be having a stroke.

That was my wake-up call — the moment Spirit, my body, and life itself said, “Sit down before you fall down.”

And I finally listened. I needed time to reset. Time to listen. Time to reconnect with myself on a spiritual level, not just a productive one.

You know how we do — Black women carry entire worlds on our backs and still worry about dropping the ball. I was running multiple businesses, managing family life, writing books, supporting others, trying to create content… and trying to do it all while grieving and quietly falling apart.

I had to finally say, “I can’t be everyone’s strength while ignoring my own.” So, I stepped away. Not because I quit. But because I needed to heal the parts of me I didn’t even realize were tired.

What did the break give me? Time. Stillness. Awareness. But also: clarity.

I found my spiritual grounding again. My creativity returned with purpose. My vision sharpened. And I reconnected with why I started Bodied in the first place:

To create from love, not survival. To pour intention into everything I touch. To help others feel seen, supported, and spiritually nourished.

The break wasn’t a setback — it was a reset. A rebirth.

Why I’m Back Now Because the season changed and Spirit said, “Now.”  I had NO intentions of coming back!  But when spirit speaks, you obey!

So, I’m back, but not as the same woman who left.
I’m softer.
Clearer.
More grounded.
More intentional.

And everything I create moving forward — from the soaps to the sessions to the spiritual content — is aligned with this new version of me.

Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your love.
Thank you for growing with me through what you didn’t even see.

Here’s to healing.
Here’s to new beginnings.
Here’s to the next chapter — and baby, it’s blessed.

— Shann 🤍