Writings about postpartum holistic healing; holistic preparation for childbirth; the wisdom of women’s circles; village building for new mothers; birth trauma healing; perinatal mental wellness; perinatal anxiety and depression; art making as healing; mindfulness; seasonal and cyclical living; ceremony and ritual; womb healing practices; traditional women’s folk medicine; and ancestral connection and reverence… and other topics that arise!
How Pregnancy Counselling Can Help You Prepare For Birth And Postpartum
Pregnancy is an incredible time of transition in our lives, whether this is your first pregnancy or you’re already a parent. There are many reasons why seeking emotional, psychological and social support can help you cope during pregnancy, as well as better prepare...
Reclaiming Yourself After A Challenging Birth (Part Two)
You can read part one, BIRTH AS INITIATION GROUND FOR DEEP HEALING here. “Our job is not to deny the story, but to defy the ending—to rise strong, recognize our story, and rumble with the truth until we get to a place where we think, Yes. This is what happened. And...
Birth As Initiation Ground For Deep Healing (Part One)
“Women are not the cause of unnecessary and unwanted medical intervention in birth. Interventions are rising because the maternity system was never set up to promote physiology or support evidence-based, woman-centred practice. It evolved to sustain medicine...
Birth Trauma Awareness Week Reflection
It’s Birth Trauma Awareness Week (2020) and there are so many things I could say about birth trauma it’s hard to know where to start. Do you start at the systemic level, where we have a culture of ‘care providers’ with so much unhealed vicarious trauma and...
Seeds of Emotional Birth Trauma
"By courageously diving into your wounds, patiently allowing the suffering to do its work, neither indulging nor repressing the pain, you reach the deeper levels of the psyche where you encounter your larger (soul) story." - Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of...
Postpartum Doula FAQ
I have a history of anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, sexual violence, or other mental health issues - how would a postpartum doula help me? Mental health challenges can be difficult to manage during a vulnerable time like birth and early parenting. As much holistic,...
Just had a baby? Why you need a Postnatal Doula!
Maybe you’ve heard about doulas who attend your birth and who provide continuous support (like massage and help to cope with pain) during your labour. But have you heard about doulas who come and serve newborn mothers and parents with their newborn babies?...
Radical Self-Care for New Mothers
Let’s talk self-care. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before - you need to fit your own oxygen mask first, etc… But really most of us aren’t that good at doing this. And for good reason, we’ve got little people (and others) depending on us. And we’ve been taught to...
Placenta Remedies: 3 Ways to Use Your Placenta Without Eating It
Much attention has been given lately to placenta encapsulation and consuming placentas through smoothies. These practices have been said to help with the postnatal transition. When I was planning for my son’s birth I didn’t feel interested in encapsulation. I knew I...
Calling for Visions: Womancrafting in the Wilderness
It’s a sweet feeling when all of your being sinks into remembering. A deep, in-the-bones kind of remembering. A state of knowing who you really are and what you need to do. This is how my visions came to me. As a series of awakenings that I felt so viscerally in my body that came during dreams and meditations over this time.
What is Womancrafting?
I study with the School of Shamanic Womancraft, and this is a wonderful explanation of what that's all about! From the website, What is Shamanic Womancraft. Shamanic Womancraft is the art of facilitating transformation. The School of Shamanic Womancraft creates the...
Can Castor Oil Help Heal my Womb?
Castor oil packs for womb health are for women who are NOT currently pregnant. Do not use castor oil packs during pregnancy. Castor oil can stimulate the uterus and may induce labour. How is the health of your womb right now? Do you experience...
Vagina Steaming for womb well-being & fertility
I’m always speaking with pregnant women and new mums about the importance of self care. Taking the time to care and nourish our bodies through times of stress and busyness is a challenge most of us know well. One practice that I return to when I’m feeling tired,...
Holistic Birth Preparation (part 3) Learn Ways to Cope With Pain!
In my work with pregnant women one of the most common things I hear is that women are afraid. Afraid of pain. Afraid of not knowing what will happen. Afraid of birth. There is lot to talk about with this and why this might be the case socially and culturally, but I'm...
Holistic Birth Preparation (Part 2) – Birth as a Journey
“The Labyrinth is an ancient, universal symbol representing our journey through life ordeals and initiations... The journey into the labyrinth’s center is symbolic of death (psychic and physical), and the journey out of the labyrinth represents birth or rebirth.”...