Bernard Alvarez

I'm back! Let's explore how early emotional wounds shape how we love, trust, and walk through the world. I'll see you then!
Podcast Premiere: "The Shadow of the Inner Child – Reconnecting with Our Youthful Self"
🗓️ June 3, 2025
🕓 4:00 PM ET
📍 Streaming on all major platforms – join me live in the chat!

✨ You're invited to a sacred listening experience...
In this heartfelt episode of Shadow, I open the door to a tender and transformative conversation about the wounded inner child. We’ll explore how early emotional wounds shape how we love, trust, and walk through the world. Through storytelling, reflection, and a gentle guided check-in, you'll be supported in reconnecting with the youngest parts of yourself—the parts that still long to be seen, held, and healed.

💬 I’ll be live in the chat during the premiere, answering your questions and holding space with you in real-time.

Come as you are. Bring your heart. And if you can… bring a photo of yourself as a child.

Let’s journey into the shadow—together.

With love,
Bernard

#BernardAlvarez
#ShadowPodcast
#InnerChildHealing
#SpiritualAwakening

1 week ago | [YT] | 12

Bernard Alvarez

When life feels heavy or you're drowning in a sea of “too much,” the way through isn’t by doing everything at once—it’s by slowing down.

Take a breath.
Focus on just today.
Then just one thought—maybe the kindest one you can find.
Then one small task.
Then just this one moment—the one you’re in right now.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just need to be here, gently, step by step.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 29

Bernard Alvarez

You know, a lot of us—especially those of us who’ve been through some heavy stuff—were taught to avoid our uncomfortable feelings. We numb out, distract ourselves, keep busy, or just push it down and hope it goes away. But here’s the truth: feelings don’t just disappear because we ignore them. They hang out in the shadows, waiting for a moment to be seen.

The only way to get over something is to go through it. That means sitting with it—yes, even the ache, the grief, the shame, the anger. These emotions show up like messengers. They're not here to punish us; they're trying to point us toward something that needs healing, something that needs our attention.

So, how do we do that?

First, we slow down. We get quiet. Maybe we light a candle, breathe deeply, and create a little space for whatever's rising up. No judgment. No rushing to fix it. We just say, “Okay, I see you. I’m listening.” That’s the beginning of the alchemy.

It might feel like a wave crashing over you—but it always passes. And each time you sit with those feelings, you take a little of their power back. You remind yourself that you're not broken, you're becoming.

This is sacred work. It’s how we transform pain into wisdom, wounds into gifts. So don’t be afraid to feel it all. You’re not alone in it—and you’re strong enough to sit with whatever shows up. ✨🙏❤️

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 20

Bernard Alvarez

“Grief is sacred. And I’m learning to walk with it, day by day.”

I've been called by my higher self to express my grief through a new spiritual series. This short-form video series, “Grief as a Spiritual Path”, explores the deep intersection of grief and spirituality—how loss can become a teacher, a threshold, and even a form of devotion.

Twice a week, I’ll be sharing reflections on topics like ritual, the body’s memory, ancestral healing, and living with the ache of absence. Each video is a tender offering—short, honest, and soul-centered.

I’m creating this series in honor of my beautiful son, Daniel Amado Martinez, who passed on April 6th. He was only fifteen. A brilliant spirit, a gifted musician, and one of the great loves of my life.

This is part of how I’m learning to survive this loss. I’m hoping that by speaking my grief aloud, I can not only begin to heal—but maybe help someone else feel less alone.

If you’re grieving, walking through shadow, or holding space for someone who is—these offerings are for you.

We walk together, even in the dark.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 20

Bernard Alvarez

Hey friends,

I’m starting to slowly ease back into things over the next week or so. I’ve opened up a couple of client spots and will be returning to my work with the Roanoke Diversity Center this Thursday and Friday. You’ll probably start seeing some videos and posts trickling back onto my feed soon, too.

Honestly, I’m still feeling things out. I want to keep showing up with love and inspiration, but I also need to honor where I’m at in my grief. So, what you’ll see from me might be a mix—some joyful, some tender, some spiritual, maybe even a little political. Just real.

Sharing my journey with you has always been the heart of my work, and I hope whatever flows through me in the coming days is of some comfort or use to you.

Thank you for your love. I love you right back.

—Bernard

1 month ago | [YT] | 29

Bernard Alvarez

We'll be flying up to Massachusetts this afternoon. Daniel is finally on his way back to Amherst from NYC. I believe the funeral will be tomorrow or Wednesday. I'll be there till Thursday with Elizabeth Parsons to hold space for me and point me in the right direction as I wander aimlessly through these next few days. Thank you to all of my friends who have supported me, comforted me, donated to make these last minute travel arrangements possible and allowed me the time to grieve. To my coven, to my Roanoke Diversity Center family, to my Al-Anon community and to all of my life long friends who continue to send me words of comfort and encouragement and love. Thank you. Send me strength during these next few days. I love you.💔😔

1 month ago | [YT] | 22

Bernard Alvarez

Thanks to my 'bereavement manager' Elizabeth, it looks like we're almost to the goal. Thank you friends. Please share with anyone that might be able to help with this. These last minute flights, and hotel rooms in New England are SO ridiculous. (My therapist wants me to be accompanied by a friend and get a room I can retreat to if things get too overwhelming.) thank you everyone for really taking care of every aspect of this awful time. I love you all so much. 💔😔🙏 If you are able to help me get to my son's funeral please go to: gofund.me/ea93071a

1 month ago | [YT] | 19

Bernard Alvarez

For Daniel, My Beautiful Boy

Daniel…
My son.
My beautiful, brilliant, beloved boy.
Only fifteen years in this world,
And yet—
You carved your name so deeply into the walls of my soul,
The echo of you will never fade.

I was not your everyday, not your morning alarm or nightly tuck-in,
But oh, how I cherished every second we shared.
Every FaceTime ping, every text—
Each one lit me up like fire in my chest.
You called, and I sang inside.

You—
So sharp, so dazzling with thought,
So loud with justice,
So full of love it spilled out in quiet kindness,
In passionate words,
In that look you’d give that said, “I see it, Dad. I see the world. I want to change it.”

Your compassion could shake mountains.
Your beliefs, strong like our Seminole roots,
Proud like the warriors we come from.
You were proud—of us, of you.
And Daniel, I was—I am—so proud of you.
You amazed me.
You always amazed me.

Your smile—God, your smile—
It lives behind my eyes now,
Flashes in the dark when the tears won’t stop.
And they won’t stop.
My heart is shattered,
Grief has swallowed me whole,
And yet—I would choose this pain a thousand times
For the joy of being your father even once.

The world feels wrong without you.
Bent, incomplete.
But I feel you still…
In the hush between breaths,
In the morning sun,
In every hawk that flies high above our grove.

I will always be your father.
Always.
In life, in death, in memory,
In every whispered prayer,
In every song I sing for you from this broken place.

Thank you, Daniel.
For choosing me.
For loving me back.
For every moment—
You are my miracle and my mourning.
My gift, my guide, my sacred son.

And I will love you,
Forever.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 44

Bernard Alvarez

My dear friends,

I've been meaning to write something to you for days now… but the words just haven’t been there. I keep hoping that soon I’ll feel that familiar flow of Life Force energy again—that spark I love to share with you when I’m feeling grounded and whole. But right now, I’m empty. I’m doing my best to be gentle with myself and to allow space for what’s here.

Thankfully, my short videos are already scheduled for the month, so you’ll still see me pop up. But beyond that, I just don’t have anything else to give at the moment.

I want to thank each and every one of you for the love, the messages, the gifts, the prayers, and the healing light you’ve been sending me and my family. It means more than I can ever say.

Please also hold in your hearts his mother Eileen, his sister Gabriella, his Tía Cachi, his cousin Chelsea and her daughter—all of whom were constants in his life and are just as heartbroken. And his Tiger family—he was just beginning to connect with them and was so excited to have found that circle.

For now, I’m giving myself at least two weeks to grieve, to rest, to begin the long process of saying goodbye to my beautiful son Daniel. It may take longer—I just don’t know yet when I’ll be ready to return to work or show up in the ways I’m used to.

Your support has given me something so precious: time. The gift of time to grieve without the stress of finances pressing down on me. I can’t begin to express how deeply grateful I am.

I’m doing my best to find the silver lining, to trust that strength and wisdom will rise from these ashes. I love you all so much. Thank you for walking with me through this.

With love always,
Bernard

1 month ago | [YT] | 32

Bernard Alvarez

My heart is shattered beyond words.
On Sunday, my beautiful 15-year-old son Daniel crossed over, and I can barely breathe under the weight of this loss.
I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to feel. I only know the ache... the emptiness... the numbness that has taken over me.

Please, I ask with all the tenderness I can muster—don’t ask me questions right now. I don’t have answers. ( We are asking members of our Cuban family to please not reach out to his 99 year old grandmother at this time. )

My spirit feels like it’s dissolving. I am lost in this grief, and I don't know how to move forward.
Hold space for me. That’s all I ask.

My coven, Al Anon, Roanoke Diversity Center and my neighborhood friends are all taking very good care of me. I'm so grateful for you my online friends and everyone who loves me and loves him. 💔 I love you Daniel. 🫶

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1 month ago | [YT] | 36