The Methods and Messages of Traditional Mayan Textiles

    Over the course of 500 years, the Mayan people have struggled to maintain their cultural and traditional practices in an increasingly Westernizing world, however, despite all odds, the Mayan people are thriving today with a deep faith and initiative to revive their cultural and traditional practices! 

    With the colonialization of Guatemala by Spain, and the involvement of the U.S. government and corporations that has led to warfare and to the dwindling number of traditional practices of indigenous peoples, it seemed that the only form of expression and resilience would be left in the hands of the weavers and artisans. Often times, the individual will have to choose economics over culture out of sheer survival. However, the women and men of these communities have indeed gone far in order to preserve their diverse and unique ways of life, and as cultural and eco-tourism grows, there seems to be emerging the perfect niche for these fabrics and designs.

    As a yogi, I have always been focused on allowing my body to feel free and comfortable, to breathe and to move and stretch out of the boundaries created by a restless and relentless mind, and this included wearing natural fabrics full of colorful designs that make my heart sing and my soul soar! Sharing this energetic vibration of color and design, lifestyle and freedom with others truly is a driving force in how I express myself, and as my mom raised me visiting Guatemala and spending time with my family in the markets parks and on the sidewalks of Asintal El Xab and Retalhuleu, and seeing gradeschool photos of mi mama and mis tias in her mayan typical atire and uniforms at school events, the designs and fashion of the Mayan people and life in Guatemala imprinted themselves into a familiar place within my memory. It has shaped the woman that I am today.

    As I get older, and I study more the history and culture of Earth's people, these designs return again tenfold for me, in a crucial moment as I find who I am, and in a world where expression and symbols mean everything to the emrging conscious being, the message that I wish to share is freedom of expression, love and compassion for ourselves and others, in every form that they
appear, and the equal right everyone has to a quality of life. 

    This is my mom, Linda del Rosario Avila Wilson, born and raised near the southern Pacific coast of Guatemala, in the 1970's & 80's.