We were lucky to catch up with Leticia Luna recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leticia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Twenty years ago, on September 29, 2003, my journey began bringing forth life into this world a set of twins, Mia and Landin Luna. Little did I know that one of the twins would be born with Down Syndrome, a boy. His sister was born first via C-Section; such adulation occurred when she was born. The room was filled with such Joy. The time had come for the second baby to come out a minute apart, and the room became deadly silent, with no laughter, no joy. The only thing I felt was sadness, and something was wrong. I was soon told that my son had Down syndrome, a heart/lung condition, and since I was going to tie my tubes, I was rudely told by the Neonatal Physician who first touched him to try again for another. I
Before this, I had been an RN for 15 years, and it was the worst possible way a doctor could treat a human life.
From that day on, I soon realized how the world would view Landin, my beautiful son. He became a marginalized citizen of the United States. His beautiful neurotypical sister would always be given preference for no fault of her own. The cards were not stacked in his favor. I had a mini-stroke after delivery from the devastating way Landin was treated and the cruelty of how he was treated. I only knew my son was seen as lesser than his sister.

I am the youngest of seven children, and my parents were from Mexico. My beautiful mama quickly came to my side and reminded me why I became an RN. Before I entered nursing school, I had told myself that I never wanted to be at the mercy of a doctor. She again reminded me of my WHY and consoled me in such a way that I stopped all my fear and crying and said to me words that I will never forget…” So why mija (daughter) in Spanish? Will you believe them now? You are stronger and have a mightier power to believe in Our Lord; he is greater, so do not let them define your son!

My biggest challenge as a mother and an RN has been to bring up my beloved son in a world where Down Syndrome children are not valued and given the same opportunities as typically developing people. I am a mama crusader and have been on a long journey of educating people with limited capacity to see beyond their disability.

As Landin grew, I saw such a love for art, and he started drawing these amazing rainbows, as he would call them, and they took everyone by surprise as they saw him create them. He would spend hours working on them. He then started painting “Christmas ornaments,” as he calls them, blending so many colors. I took him on outings in the community and discovered he is an amazing photographer. I soon realized I could do something with his artwork and photography. It is in our DNA.
I come from a family of artists where my amazing mama would allow her children to paint murals on wooden closet doors, concrete patio floors, and garage doors. Art was always encouraged.

Years went by, and now Landin is an adult, and I am a semi-retired RN. For fun, I took a candle-making class and became passionate about it. I come from a long line of many healers. My grandmother was a midwife/healer, and my mother and myself have been gifted spiritual hands. Throughout the last 35 years, I have been at the bedside of many sick people, and the most challenging was my son, who had a debilitating autoimmune crash to his system and lost all his hair, and his white blood count dropped significantly. Through my quest to do things holistically, I healed him to health without medicine. I used food, supplements, herbs, flowers, essential oils, prayer, and natural things to heal him.

As a child, candles always fascinated me, so my journey began. I am also very curious, and I love learning new things about how to heal to heal the body. I learned about essential oils, holistic healing, herbology, and Reiki classes and furthered my spiritual practice through Yoga and breathwork. I am an avid Gardner who loves and uses flowers and herbs medicinally. The candles I make soon became an interpretation of Landin’s art and photography. I use the crystals in a very healing way, as well as the herbs and flowers. The essential oils I use are of the highest grade, blended intentionally, and used holistically to heal the body. I have combined the elements of the earth, fire, and water.
All the elements I use again are intentional and spiritual. It is a labor of love. I see my son’s art, and it inspires me. Every candle is a piece of art; I can’t replicate them. It’s a feeling of something deeper in me that resonates outward with each crystal, herb, flower, or jewel placed where the spirit of artistry leads me. The smells of the candles are also very intentional. My first candle I named Joy Syndrome. I decided a long time ago not to accept the label of Down Syndrome because the man who happened to discover the 21 chromosome had the last name Down. Hence, Down syndrome. Landin is also on the spectrum of autism as well.

Landin is Joy and fully able to sell his artwork, and it brings him so much peace and Joy as he is painting each art piece or taking a photo of beautiful scenery.
The Joy Syndrome tag has such happiness built into it. This scent is made of Grapefruit/mint/White Tea. It smells light and fresh and happy. My other scent is called Grounding. The scent is made of Palo Santo/Topaz/Lavender. It is earthy and smells of a sacred forest after a light rain and the sun shining through the trees.
I am starting on a line of candles to invoke each Chakra separately. The blended essential oils give out a beautiful aroma that will invoke healing and tranquility. I sold out, and now I am preparing for the Holiday season. Each candle and artwork comes beautifully packaged and has a personalized note card. I can make special requests for prayer or spiritual intention for my clients.
I have come full circle in my life. I have brought my Holistic RN healing hands, Master Reiki frequency spiritual self, in partnership with the noblest and purest person I know, my son Landin Luna.
When someone purchases our candles and artwork, they genuinely buy a legacy of love and light that will brighten anyone’s home.

I aim to bring awareness of our special needs children’s artistry onto Canvas/Rebel.

Leticia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The name of my Business is Healinglighttouch. My Logo resonates Sol y Luna, traced to my Mexican roots and my namesake Luna. Healing has been my lifelong purpose and my career. I have worked in the ICU, Heart Unit, Neuro Unit, Catastrophic nursing, home health and Hospice. My legacy has always been to leave a person better than I found them. At the end of the day, all of us humans want the same did you treat me kindly and did you emanate love and respect?

My brand of candles has this at the inception of creation as I pour the wax and blend the essential oils, and I see the wax as it hardens my canvas to start my art. The music and prayer are a supplication for whoever receives this candle will be blessed to the highest. I am sending love and the highest humanly possible frequency of healing.
My son’s artwork is the same. The minute I ask him do you want to paint? It is always a resounding yes. Off he goes into our backyard on our patio table as he crisscrosses his legs like a limber yogi. He starts with the purest of intentions. I say that because he does not have a bad vibe in him, only good vibes. The sun on his back, the birds flying, the bees buzzing, and the butterflies twirling around him. He becomes one with nature, the sweetest vision to look at. He comes in after he is done with the most satisfying smile of complete Joy.
Our gift is mama and son labor and journey of love.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I believe I covered it in the first question. I can only add I had to leave a very abusive ex-husband after my twins were 3 for domestic violence. My resilience has been my devotion to my children and using my RN background to support us. I gave up my dreams of becoming an RN instructor. I graduated number one in my class, but my son needed my support now.
I see starting this Healinglighttouch as an accumulation of all my greatest strengths and gifts metaphorically and literally poured into a healing light vessel of love. My son is my inspiration. I am finally getting my art form through him. I have a new passion just for me, and it will carry me into my golden years.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn is not to be afraid and to see through the forest through the trees.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Healinglighttouch
• Facebook: lunaplus3
• Other: I am in the process of getting my website up in the next week