About

The Origins of Sweet Like Honey by Miele

The Mission Sweet Like Honey is a small-business rooted in healing through ancestral practices and traditions of the African and Indigenous diaspora. Our liberation and healing is interconnected to the liberation and healing of the earth. We are committed to creating and living sustainably through a reciprocal relationship with Mother Earth based on connection, reverence, protection, & stewardship. The mission of Sweet Like Honey is grounded in integrity, honesty, vulnerability, reciprocity, grace, accountability, and sustainability, and we strive to reflect these values in our work. Sweet Like Honey offers a holistic approach to healing by gently holding space for the complex, cyclical nature of healing with grace, faith, love, and a sense of humor. Healing is a collaborative effort. We work with nature, our ancestors & spirit guides, and our community for our collective well-being. Sweet Like Honey offers products and services such as herbal teas, smoke blends, salves, candles, spiritual products, herbal consultations & spiritual readings to give our clients a holistic healing experience for the body, mind, & soul. Holistic healing is the model for sustainable wellness for ourselves and the earth. The Vision Our vision at Sweet Like Honey is to create revolutionary and sustainable change in our community. We have seen how capitalism has destroyed our sense of connectedness with the land and our communities; we have been pitted against each other and made to be self-centered for the cost of survival. But it hasn’t always been this way… As humans, we are communal, social beings who have survived by forming communities. Our ancestral practices are rooted in the ideals of community and mutual aid, because the health and well-being of the individual depends on the health and well-being of the community, and vice versa. There’s an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” The idea of being “self-made” is a hot mess because no one can do it alone; it literally takes two people bring life into this world, which goes to show how much we need each other. By creating a strong sense of community, in both the spiritual and physical realms, we can regain our sovereignty and alignment to nature. ‘The community exists, in part, to safeguard the purpose of each person within it and to awaken the memory of that purpose by recognizing the unique gifts each individual brings to this world. Healing comes when the individual remembers his or her identity–the purpose chosen in the world of ancestral wisdom–and reconnects with that world of Spirit’- Malidoma Patrice Somé, The Healing Wisdom of Africa

 

Sweet Like Honey by Miele was born out of my own healing journey towards wholeness. The name was inspired by my middle name "Miele" meaning honey in Italian. As an Afro-Indigenous woman moving through a society designed to my detriment, I often found myself at odds with the western medical system. My pain and symptoms were dismissed or treated without searching for a root cause of the condition I was experiencing, and as a result of the latter, any recovery was often temporary.

Due to the treatment I received, I often left encounters with doctors feeling unheard, unhealed, and with hundreds of dollars in medical fees. I decided to take my health into my own hands by thoroughly researching symptoms and using herbal remedies to treat my concerns. Plant medicine offered me more success in my healing journey than pharmaceutical drugs, without the side effects. I found that by thoroughly researching my health concerns from a holistic approach, I was able to get to the root cause of the condition I was experiencing.

To be clear, I am not against modern/western medicine, in fact, I believe that some of the advancements in modern medicine are beneficial to health. However, there are limitations to treating health conditions from a symptomatic or allopathic lens. I believe that modern medicine and ancestral medicine can inform each other and work together in tandem. As a healer, I have the ability to integrate traditional ancestral remedies with modern medicine and create a healing experience that is not only effective but also practical. Using my background as a certified athletic trainer (sports medicine) and spiritual herbalist, I blend the scientific and the spiritual, two concepts that at first glance seem contradictory but in reality are complementary, and I use them to inform my practice. To me, healing is about balance and finding common ground.

Sweet Like Honey’s core mission is to inspire, uplift, and empower communities to take their health & well being into their own hands through a holistic approach. The vision is to see the collective become empowered through a holistic sense of wellness and use that energy to create a sustainable future that centers the health of the individual, the community, nature, and Mother Earth. Our liberation and healing is interconnected to the liberation and healing of the earth.

Sweet Like Honey approaches healing through an ancestral lens of Afro-Indigenous practices and is committed to creating & living sustainably through a reciprocal relationship with Mother Earth based on: connection, reverence, protection, & stewardship. 

Sweet Like Honey offers holistic healing products & services through a multitude of both ancestral & modern healing modalities, including: herbal remedies, personalized wellness protocols, spiritual consultations, athletic training (sports medicine), healing arts, and education.

Sweet Like Honey is grounded in values of love, respect, integrity, honesty, vulnerability, reciprocity, grace, accountability, and sustainability.

The Symbolism Behind The Logo

Sweet Like Honey by Miele's logo is rooted in embracing ancestral wisdom by honoring the divine feminine and divine mother. The breasts are one of many embodiments of the nurturing, healing, and life-giving energy of the divine feminine energy. This reflected in the way not only mothers nourish their babies with their breast, but also have the natural ability to adjust their breastmilk in response to the baby's health. When the baby sick, the mother's immune system responds by adapting the breastmilk composition to increase nutrients and antibodies to help the baby fight off illness.

The snake represents healing and regenerating energy. The caduceus (the common symbol of medicine featuring a winged-staff with two snakes intricately wrapped around it) is often associated with the staff of Asclepios, the ancient Greek God of medicine. However, this symbolism can be traced back even further as the staff of Heka, god of magic and medicine in Egypt. He is said to have killed two serpents and entwined them on a staff as a symbol of his power. The two snakes represents the dualistic nature of medicine being both healing and poisonous balanced by the staff which represents wisdom. The color of the snake, green, represents abundance, prosperity, balance, love (heart chakra), and nature energy. 

The honey symbolism is simple representing sweetness and the brand's namesake. The leaves represents plants and nature, one of the main energy sources that powers Sweet Like Honey's products and services. The moon represents healing, maternal energy, psychic powers, emotional connection, flow, and cycles. While the waning phase of the moon represents release, reflection, rest, rejuvenation, and letting go what no serves you. All of these elements in the logo encapsulates the energy of Sweet Like Honey by Miele. 

Logo designed By: Marissa Falanga | Instagram: @marissatattoos 

About Yahna Miele Tullis

My name is Yahna Miele Tullis. "Yahna" meaning "God is merciful/gracious" in Hebrew, "Miele" meaning "honey" in Italian, and "Tullis" meaning "mighty people" in Gaelic. I am the daughter of D'Ta-Relle & Harold Tullis, granddaughter of Willie Lucille Reaves & Winston Johnson and Bertha & Carl Raymond Tullis Jr., and great grandaughter of Ella Mae Lovelace. I name those who come before me because without them there would be no me, my parents and ancestors are integral to my journey. Born and raised in New Jersey and currently based in Bridgeport, CT, I am the product of the land I live on and the community I live with. I am a certified Athletic Trainer with a B.S. in Athletic Training from the University of Pittsburgh, and a current Level III apprentice with Karen M. Rose at Sacred Vibes Apothecary in Brooklyn. As a healer, I integrate the knowledge I've acquired from both athletic training and spiritual herbalism to create holistic herbal medicine & healing protocols. Human anatomy & physiology, injury evaluation & treatment, evidence-based research, principles of plant energetics, properties, & constituents, medical astrology, traditional chinese medicine, ayurvedic medicine, chakra healing, and ancestral African & Indigenous healing practices are all reflected in my work. My purpose in life is to heal myself and my community through a multitude of mediums such as spiritual herbalism, spiritual healing, rootwork, dance, music & film.

Yahna Miele Tullis is a New Jersey native from Elizabeth & Union and is currently based in Bridgeport, CT. She is the product of the land she lives on and the community she lives with. She is the daughter of D'TaRelle & Harold Tullis, granddaughter of Bertha & Carl Tullis Jr. and Willie Lucille Reaves & Winston Johnson, and the great-granddaughter of Ella Mae Lovelace. She is an Afro-Indigenous healer whose work is rooted in love and liberation.

 

She is dedicated to uplifting the community with products and services created with divine intention and guided by God & her ancestors. Yahna describes herself as "an iridescent soul exploring the possibilities of healing through many mediums." She is a holistic health practitioner, certified athletic trainer (sports medicine), spiritual herbalist, reiki practitioner, educator, spirit medium, craftswoman, and multidisciplinary artist based in Bridgeport Connecticut.

Yahna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training (Sports Medicine) from University of Pittsburgh with holds active licenses in the states of New York & Connecticut.

She has completed Levels I, II, & III of Sacred Vibes' Spiritual Herbalism Apprenticeship Program. 

She has completed Usui Reiki Levels I & II with Master Reiki Teacher, Paola Guerrero of the Mystic Vanguard.

She has 9 years of experience in healthcare.

Yahna integrates the knowledge, wisdom, and experiences she has acquired throughout her many walks of life and uses it to curate a holistic healing experience for the body, mind, & soul. She believes that wellness is a communal effort that should be filled with grace and sweetness and lives by the motto “let’s heal together.”

Photographed taken by: Gary Falanga | Instagram: @noeticproductions