curls – mayah's site

look on the bright side

gratitude is a deliberate choice. i’ll say it again, gratitude is a deliberate choice. you get to choose how you want to view situations. you get to choose how you want to talk about situations. you may not get to choose the situation. but you get to choose how you react to it.

i woke up this morning feeling very grateful and loved. i had ideas for rebranding and connecting my blog, twitter and instagram. i’ve been getting excited because i have more time to exercise, do yoga and do my hair. excited to sleep and get to recharge. i was feeling grateful for my family and my partner and overall feeling very happy. i had already done one of my workouts and some meditation.

then i had a thought of a situation that happened that made me feel unloved. it was time for me to follow a yoga class (one of the studios i thought about doing YTT at has free online classes right now), which i was also very grateful for. as i started the class i released the sad thoughts and started focusing more on my breath.

after the class was over i felt much better and went on to complete my morning routine. while i was doing it, anytime the sad thought would come back i would not give it any attention. i have so much to be grateful for and so many situations where i feel loved. why would i focus on the ones that i don’t?

i decided to focus my energy on being grateful. gratitude allows you to reflect on the good. there’s always something to be grateful for.

my message of the week for myself is take care. so the message of this post will be to take care of yourself by focusing on the good, investing in it and centering yourself in love and light. you got this!

i’m writing a book (maybe? yes? no?)

yoga is the one thing in my life that will always make me feel better. writing sometimes makes me feel better, but always helps me think through what i’m going through. last year i started writing a book, about heartbreak and healing. it’s a collection of poetry that looks at heartbreak from multiple lenses, all from the perspective of the individual experiencing the pain. the collection in and of itself is raw, it explores many emotions that are painful and complex. i’m a few days into editing and honestly i love it. i can’t wait to see how the collection grows, what changes i make and how publishing works. while life is forcing me to sit and be still, i will be using my time to create, meditate and expand my yoga practice. i pray i grow stronger mentally, physically and emotionally. and i hope the same for you.

please enjoy one of the pieces from the book:

for years i was searching for someone like you
for someone to love.
i wanted more than anything to find you.

and today i looked up and i realized that i was the person i was waiting for all along.

that the universe was right that everything i needed truly was within me.
and i’m so sorry it took me so long to see it. but so grateful i see it now.

because my love you are amazing.
you are beautiful on the inside.
your heart is big and kind.
you think before you speak. you are deliberate with your words and on the occasion you are not you reflect. you think critically about what happened and why and what you were supposed to learn.
you work to diminish your ego, so that lesson may be easier for you.
because of your sensitive spirit words hurt you. and people hurt you. but you allow yourself to feel the pain and try very hard to get over it. even when it’s hard.
you admit when you are wrong. no matter how embarrassed it makes you feel.
and it took you a while to learn to admit when you needed help, but you’re learning it.

you love unconditionally and you set firm expectations
the act of you loving is healing to yourself and to others
you give just to give, but you demand to be respected.

you work hard to protect yourself and those you love.
your anxiety makes it so that you are prepared for every scenario possible because you made a promise to yourself over 7 years ago and you still work EVERYDAY to keep it your dedication to yourself and your growth is unparalleled.

you are loyal and honest. you hold the people you love to the highest standards because you know they can do it. you support without pushing, for you understand that everyone is learning where they are and if you interfere, they may not learn as much as they could. and to you, learning is the most important thing.

you know when it’s time to go. you leave early and return to a world that you created for yourself. you nourish your body and your soul, on purpose.

you stay away from things and people that have hurt you. you want more than anything to protect yourself. your boundaries with yourself may not always be easy to adhere to, but you know it’s worth it.

my love you are the greatest blessing in my world. you are a blessing to the world. and i promise that know that i see that, i will always remember it.

rice water

so what are the benefits of using rice water? you may have heard that rice water defines your curls. it does! so i’ve started to incorporate rice water into my weekly routine. below i’ll go into why and how i use it

WHY-

i started using rice water because i was reading about the benefits of protein treatments and how the proper moisture protein balance really is what will define your curls. so i wanted to incorporate more protein. rice water is a low grade protein treatment- it’s not heavy like the ones you can purchase. i like that because i don’t have to worry about it making my hair super hard. since using it, i’ve had less frizz and more definition.

HOW-

so normally the day before i want to do my hair i put a mix of rice and water into my mason jar. i leave it sitting out on the counter til i use it- i make sure it sits for at least eight hours. OR i’ll boil rice and add extra water and pour it into a cup. from either method, i pour the water into a cup, making sure that there is little to no rice in it. then once it’s cool (if it was boiled). i shampoo my hair. then i pour it into my hair (like a rinse) and then tie it up with a pony and put a shower cap on. i leave it in for 15 minutes, then i rinse it out. I will either then rinse it out with water or shampoo it out (it depends- if feels like a residue is left, just shampoo it) and then i DEEP CONDITION. this is essential!!! it keeps your hair from getting hard. remember the goal is the moisture protein BALANCE.

I then style as normal- i’ll make an update post on my hair care regimen- it’s changed so much.

protective styles

protective styles help your hair grow because they help you retain moisture and reduce manipulation. the biggest question is: how do i choose the right one? for me, I started with braids because I knew braids worked for my hair. as a little girl, I wore braids all the time and it grew my hair out. I always only used my natural hair, so i didn’t consider adding weave to my hair. while i do think weaves are beneficial, it’s just not for me. so I used to braid my hair often, until one of my friends twisted my hair. I barely shed at all and my hair lasted very well. Since then, twists have been my go to protective style. Here are some examples of how I do my hair!

These two pictures are my current hair style! I did three french braids after washing and deep conditioning. I then pinned them up and made it into a halo braid. I’m currently on day 2, and my hair is looking great!

This was my style last week! I washed, deep conditioned then flat twisted my hair. For work, I pinned the flat twists up, into a halo twist.

These last three are results from a flat twist out as well. I always flat twist to make sure my roots are moisturized and catch the curl.

I’ve found that picking a protective style that looks like your natural curl pattern makes the style last longer! I would say if your pattern is looser, try braids and if it’s tighter do twists!

hair types

There are a variety of different factors that affect how your hair works. Let’s look at the ones I have found most important.

Density- your hair is either fine, combination or coarse. This is literally regarding the size your hairs. For me, my hair is coarse, meaning it’s very thick stranded. Density is not affected by your hair pattern.
Porosity- either low, high or normal. This is how your hair absorbs moisture. You can test your porosity by placing a strand of your hair in water. Try this link to check out more information!
Curl pattern- determined by the shape of your curls! This is important mostly for protective styling. I have type 3c hair; meaning that my hair resembles a twist. So twists are the best option for me for protective styling!