Ria Tanjuatco Trillo: Making Room, Holding Space
In a time greatly defined by lockdowns and cabin fever, Kabbalah instructor and CNN news anchor Ria Tanjuatco Trillo chooses clarity and faith to guide her and her brood through the chaos.
It’s business as usual in the Trillo residence where Ria and her husband, Luigi are teammates in creating a safe and loving space for their four children. A few minor improvements had been recently made to suit the changes happening in and around them. Ria opines, “It’s just one sign that there’s been quite a lot of growing up in our house in the past year.” Poolside has also become the most heavily utilized part of their home. It’s now the background for many cherished memories spent on lockdown with family.
Time with Family at Home
“Like almost everyone else, we have spent an immense amount of time at home, I have really loved it. As moms, we tend to worry about where the kids are. This year, whether they like it or not, I pretty much know exactly where they are,” shares the Kabbalah instructor and Spirituality for Kids (SPK) teacher. She’s relished in the long days and nights spent with her brood—swimming, running, doing basketball drills, orchestrating movie night, or simply holding space for each other. “When the kids need to vent about their worries and frustration about pandemic life, I let them. I listen and let them know their feelings are heard and valid, and that I am here to help in any way. I try to hold space for them to feel what they feel and know that they will always be taken care of here.”
Spirituality as her Guide
Knowledge, wisdom, and tools of Kabbalah have guided her throughout this journey as an individual, parent, and educator in a time of crisis. She recalls, “I had a tough time just thinking and worrying about the future during the first week of the lockdown. I was playing some seriously apocalyptic scenarios in my head. It was pretty ridiculous in hindsight. Thankfully, I was able to settle down, did more Kabbalistic study and meditation, and came back to the basics—reminding myself that we actually have everything we need right now, we are all together and everyone has their health.”
These days, workouts are an intrinsic part of the daily schedule not only for Ria but for every member of her tribe. “The pandemic has made me really consistent with my workouts. I’ve never exercised this regularly in my life. I also recently started doing Kriya Yoga meditation which is a lot of breathwork so it’s very grounding and balancing. It helps you let go of all the clutter in your head even if for just 30 minutes at a time. It’s very subtle but powerful.
Luigi does basketball drills with the boys, my eldest Rocio runs almost daily and Raquel does fun workouts for kids on YouTube,” she details.
Maintaining a Grateful Mindset
A mindset for staying grateful and present inspires Ria and her family to hone mind, body, and soul. It has also created more room for clarity and faith. She ends, “I’ve learned that every challenge has a blessing concealed within it. The pandemic has brought me the gift of time with my family. It allowed me to weed out things I didn’t really want to do, things I didn’t need to have, made me prioritize my health and fitness, given me work from home options that would’ve never existed before, and deepened my certainty in the Creator – that He is guiding (what looks like) chaos into order.”
As seen on Modern Parenting: The 100 List Anniversary Print Issue available on OMG Newsstands on Lazada and Shopee. Digital copies are also available through Magzter, PressReader, Readly, and Zinio.
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