Yolanthe: ‘After the divorce I had to reinvent myself’
Photography: Mark Groeneveld
Yolanthe Cabau lives with son Xess (7) in Los Angeles. In this column she shares her experiences as a single mother and career woman.
At this point, I’m completely settled in Los Angeles and plan to live here for an extended period of time. LA fits very well with my son Xess and me in terms of positive energy, the nice people, the sporty lifestyle and of course the work in the film industry. Xess goes to school here and has his base here. He has friends, his sports and his hobbies. I think this is very important to him. However, things didn’t always go so well for us.
A difficult point in my life was my divorce from Wesley. When you promise your loved one eternal fidelity, you don’t expect your life to look completely different ten years later. I had to find myself again. This personal journey eventually resulted in the creation of Cabin Lifestyle in 2019. A lifestyle brand that focuses entirely on mental wellbeing, health, body confidence and inner peace.
Balance
I keep the balance in my life by listening to my feelings. There is always someone who disagrees or sees things differently than you. The most important thing is that you believe in yourself and in your decisions. Meditation and self-care help with that. Sometimes we are so busy that we forget to spend time with ourselves, when this is the most important thing. Exercising, eating healthy and meditating is not only good for feeling physically fit and healthy, but also for experiencing more peace and balance mentally.
“I keep the balance in my life by listening to my feelings”
Meditation has helped me to let things go more easily and to find peace in stressful periods such as during my divorce. My healthy lifestyle helps me to keep up with long working days and to be able to combine work and motherhood well. After busy or stressful periods, I notice that I have a great need to meditate and exercise to find that peace again.
Stay to yourself
For me it works to stay close to myself. I can’t do more than my best. Not everything in your life has to run at 100% all the time. It’s important that we forgive ourselves if we can’t do something or not 100%. If we put less pressure on ourselves, we experience much more peace and balance.
And remember that you don’t have to do everything alone. Sometimes you have to dare to ask for help; when you’re going through it, lost your balance or need advice. At the moment I am designing a new clothing collection. Many decisions have to be made for this: from the label, the seam to the fitting, the designs and lookbooks. Fortunately, I have a very nice team that helps me with that. I couldn’t do it without them. I am thankful for my team and items we create. Psst.. June 28th we launch the collection.
