Sex Birth Trauma with Kimberly Ann Johnson

What You'll Hear: The inspiration for Molly's memoir Her exploration of postpartum rage The connection between storytelling and healing Anger in our culture today, how it connects to the postpartum period and what it can teach us about ourselves What Molly Shares: The provocative title of Molly's book and why she chose it (2:00) How Molly's journey through birth and early motherhood inspired the book (3:45) Her exploration of and questions about rage (5:45) Childbirth as a portal to access hidden, unconscious psychic material (6:20) Even a little bit of anger is extremely threatening for many women to express (7:12) We are all dealing with anger (8:07) The necessity of questioning the integrity of the family unit in order to move forward with creative work (10:10) Molly's relationship to her mother and how this appears in her book (10:40) Kimberly's unique relationship with her midwife (13:20) Why Kimberly had to tell her story and the importance of knowing it's not the only story (14:19) The struggle to gain the capacity to deal with anger without misdirecting it (17:20) "What do we do with this anger that's really ours to work through that doesn't need to land on another person?" (17:50) The current cultural experience of anger (18:20) How childbirth disrupts the ideal of gender equality (18:48) The need to adjust expectations, which may not happen until the embodied experience makes it happen (19:58) The tendency to train ourselves out of our innate biological intelligence (20:45) Couples today are trying to rescript a lot of engrained ideas of family and it's complicated (21:43) A new emerging archetype of womanhood (20:51) "How do we give people permission to talk about the real experience without it becoming the race to the noble victim position?" Molly's process in finding the balance between sharing both positive and negative truths (23:50) The "meeting of the minds" between the generations of mothers (25:07) The different challenges and benefits between this new generation of mothers and the last (26:40) What lower expectations look like to Molly (30:07) How the embodied experience of birth will never be shared and the tension this creates (31:20) Where in Molly's path of recovery she started writing her book (33:39) Her practice of taking notes (34:35) She wrote the first draft in 12 days (34:40) What her writing is doing now (36:23) Kimberly shares the concept of pendulation from Somatic Experiencing (37:17) Rage is the fullest expression of the sympathetic nervous system (40:43) The physical feeling Molly experienced after she finished writing her book (42:08) "The telling of the story is not what's healing, it's how we tell the story and if the body is a part of that." (44:00) How do we shake the narrative in order to create space for something new? (44:47) Kimberly and Molly's workshop on somatics, writing, and womanhood (47:07) Who is the workshop for? (49:17) If Molly had a megaphone she would share…(50:38) Healthy rage and aggression can go into the creative process and action (52:29)

EP36: Christiane Pelmas on Menopause, Sexuality, and an Emerging Archetype of Womanhood What Christiane Shares: - her personal experiences with her cycle, abortion, perimenopause and menopause—and the intelligence of these initiations - how her experience with menopause informed major decisions in her life including her living arrangement with her partner, her pace, her work in the world - the potential for whole listening, erotic sex, generative power and a QUEEN existence from our menopausal years and its deep purpose globally What You Will Hear: - Christiane shares her own menstrual and perimenopausal cycle and the significance of discussing in our culture, her relationship to her cycle - Kimberly shares about aging and the wishing she had known the wisdom of her cycle earlier - Realizing the empowering and embodying experience of birth and breastfeeding more deeply once reaching perimenopause - Giving bleeding the respect it deserves, the products we use to disguise menstruation, and what this says to our youth - How this lack of respect affects women today regarding fertility, inability to reach orgasm, painful periods - Why Kimberly challenges modern Postpartum Depression, her own personal story of "Russian Roulette'' when it came to having a child - The blindspot around birth control and our daughters (including those who are 'sex positive' or in wellness profession) - What Christiane comes across in her practice, the messaging around perimenopause and menopause - Christiane shares her personal story with abortion, fertility and birth/postpartum experiences, and menopause - Description of menopausal rite of passage and initiatory shift from Christiane's experience and perspective, sending children out into the world and circulating Kundalini, orgasmic experience, fire and warriorship that is born when bleeding stops and it's offering to the world - Christiane challenges the mainstream advice of moving into quiet, self care hibernation and calls women at this time the 'warrior class' and potential 'enemies of the state' meant to bring necessary change toward the feminine - Why regardless if a woman stays in her relationship the old must die and what looks like 'falling apart' is actually refinement and a new expression of self - How even holistic doctors are treating menopause (much like pregnancy) as a series of symptoms rather than of initiatory experiences - Christiane's experience with Holistic and Functional Medicine care and bioidentical hormones during a difficult last year and despite great results to cease care and listen to an internal voice saying "this is not for you" - The small yet 'radical' lifestyle changes she made to accommodate her body - The vast potential of pleasure beyond clitorial stimulation available to women before during and after menopause, the ridiculousness of the word 'foreplay', the potential to enjoy sex beyond menopause and the exploration - The 'cougar' metaphor Christiane's and Kimberly's perspective - "Is sex better now?" - How we've learned to silence our longing, or made wrong our dissatisfaction is actually the most important information to listen to especially during menopausal years - Christiane shares about the importance of 'whole listening' and how and where to resource this and the courage to act on it, our place historically as a female population - The inspiration for her podcast OneWoman Radio References: https://www.christianepelmas.com/ https://www.onewoman.org/ http://www.susunweed.com/WiseWomanHerbals.htm#meno

What You'll Hear: The relationship between holistic health and optimal fertility What's missing from the current medical approach Dr. Zagone's unique, holistic work combining environmental, physical and emotional components How the fertility journey can be a process of internal growth and maturity Success stories from her practice What Dr. Zagone Shares: Her definition of fertility (1:56) What's missing from the current conversation about fertility (3:40) How cultivating health is cultivating fertility (4:39) Kimberly's "foundation of okay-ness" and how it relates to fertility (6:45) Self-responsibility vs. self-care (7:56) Physiological stress and its effect on fertility (9:28) We have a built in compass for how our fertility is doing (11:40) "How much of our biology are we willing to push against?" (12:45) Age and fertility (14:20) What traditionally defines an infertility diagnosis (14:50) How genetics and epigenetics play a role (16:00) How we make a "problem" out of fertility (16:54) The role of environmental toxins in shifting rates of fertility (18:15) The importance of talking about sex with her couples (21:45) Tapping into what is really true in the moment, finding the creative power which is the fertility (23:20) Why it's important to work with the couple as a unit. Fertility is a team sport! (25:46) The holistic components to fertility that Dr. Zagone examines with each couple (27:38) "If the baby is meant to come it will come." (30:00) What goes on in the forest!? (31:45) It's important that all women understand postpartum health, whether they have kids or not, because we have all experienced some kind of loss (37:15) How the fertility journey helps women and couples cultivate the skills that will help them in parenthood (39:30) Her success rate with women under 40 (45:00) How the medical model focuses on managing symptoms instead of total healing (46:28) The importance of honoring the body and the emotions in the same context (47:20) The importance of working on your relationship (51:45) The first two questions Dr. Zagone asks her couples (53:55) Where you can find her work online (54:43) http://www.theholisticfertilitymethod.com/

Jaguar Round Table- Five women share what changed for them from Activate your Inner Jaguar - Sex is better - Stopped picking skin on their hands (a longtime habit that had been addressed many different ways) - Learning to how to stay present with what feels good during sex (instead of what doesn't) - How to learn what her system needs and to ASK for it- changing her relationship - Sexual intimacy more open and with more possibilities - Learned better boundaries and said "no" and the person accepted it! - How to deal with introversion when you need to be social

Nicole Coffelt, PhD is a Licensed Psychologist, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, provocateur and shamanic artist. Nikki has had the opportunity to travel and experience many diverse cultures including her own ancestral American Indian roots and brings this experience and wisdom to her healing work. Nikki has extensively worked through her own addictions and trauma and offers the gift of her capacity to transmute pain and suffering into healing energy. Nikki is the sole owner of a private psychotherapy practice in San Francisco and the artist of Emboldened Expressions:: fine art by + for the Unapologetically Savage.What She Shares: phD and post doctoral fellow at Stanford University Medical Center by 28 her personal journey with addictions and how this has contributed to her work and art a new perspective on addictions and the gifts that can come from them with embodied guidance her identification as a 'two spirit' and gender discussion her experience with ancient wisdom and what she describes as 'primal reclamation' her upcoming exhibition in Australia and a spoken word piece What You'll Hear: Nikki shares her journey to a PhD in Psychology at Stanford, getting sober and the "soul fracturing" experience of academia the 'headiness' of psychology, her initial goal for education and the disconnect between academia and practice her shift from academia to art, a diagnosis of Complex PTSD and how this label led her to Somatic Experiencing and embodied healing high achievers and trauma, compensation and the lack of whole person healing in our current culture how Nikki's therapist's observations led her to deep reflection on her relationships and sexuality Nikki opens up about her addictions and recovery process that included her study of nature, meditation, shamanism and Somatic Experiencing substances as entities and our apprenticeship with them to receive messages/lessons lack of elder guidance and how it leads to compulsion Nikki shares an Alan Watts quote about psychedelic drugs cultural shaming and stigma when it comes to addictions Kimberly shares Somatic Experiencing perspective on addiction, self regulation, self blame and will power the charge of the word CHOOSE when it comes to addictions and the misunderstanding in cognitive behavioral therapy Cohesion and congruence between fight or flight limbic system and the neocortex as it pertains to choice The trauma Nikki experienced within the spiritual community due to a lack of trauma training and the power of her SE training and her art EGO strength definition and how it relates to SE and healing work with clients Kimberly and Nikki discuss Steve Hoskinson's 3 Phases Nikki and Kimberly discuss how sharing her story is 'breaking the rules' as a psychologist, the importance of transparency and embodiment in a care provider and the 'we-ness' of Somatic Experiencing Nikki's identification as a 'two spirit', the definition and spiritual role of a two-spirit in tribal culture and the history of violence towards them the current violence against transgender and non binary individuals, the biological and social function of binary and non binary and the colonial construction of 'man' and 'woman' Kimberly asks Nikki to comment on the implications of widening the gender scope and how it plays out in her own life gender fluidity, sexuality, healing trauma and the full circle of healing Nikki shares her personal experience around her sexuality the grey area, the #METOO movement, the loss of nuanced understanding and polarization regarding race, gender and sexuality, the pressure for surgery, Nikki's support and concern for surgery Nikki talks ancient wisdom, the power of art, soul retrieval, ancestral healing and her journey back to Australia Martin Prechtel and the 'shimmering amnesiacs' What Nikki recommends to get in touch with a non neocortical existence Nikki's move from the city and her introduction with nature in Australia, estrangement from the land and rites of passage Nikki's upcoming art exhibition at The Other Art Fair in Australia Melbourne powerful spoken word! To purchase an original, custom print, merchandise or watch some live painting videos: www.emboldenedexpressions.com References:Nikki's website - https://www.risedown.comGabor Mate - In the Realm of Hungry GhostsSteve Hoskinson - https://organicintelligence.orgAlan Watts - "If you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to the microscope, he goes away and works on what he has seen."Eduardo Duran - http://soulhealing16.com/Animus Valley Institute - https://animas.org/The Other Art Fair, Melbourne Australia, August 2-5 @ The Facility, http://melbourne.theotherartfair.com/

Ale Duarte is a somatic educator who travels around the world offering training to professionals who work in the fields of psychology, education and body-oriented therapy. What Ale Shares: How he came to work with children combining his experience teaching physical education, Rolfing, and Somatic Experiencing Trauma Therapy. Examples of Ale's work with children and their families. The importance of using simple solutions, play, and seeing the world through the child's eyes. The challenges facing parents in a digital age. How boundaries and protection have changed in a virtual world. Ale's definitions of trauma and self regulation as they relate to children's nervous systems. What You'll Hear: Ale's background teaching physical education and psychomotor skills in Brazil. (2:30) How he moved from teaching to Rolfing and then Somatic Experiencing. (5:20) How he came to combine his many skills to help children in Thailand after the 2008 Tsunami (8:55) How he used games, play and interaction to help children release their trauma. (11:15) Ale's definition of trauma and the spectrum of trauma. (16:30) How even small events, such as a forgotten gift or a broken agreement, can't create significant disruption in the nervous system of a child. (18:00) Children are simple, it is often adults who overcomplicate the situation. (22:50) How the parents style of play affects the child's own ability to play, an important way for children to regulate their systems. (25:30) Ale's definition of self regulation. (30:35) The important difference between exhausting a child's energy and helping them digest their energy. (32:05) His perspective on the increase in diagnoses of ADD, autism, etc., in children today. (32:50) How children's naturally curious nature can be viewed as a problem in schools or in medicine. (35:00) The importance of creating an open dialogue with teachers and doctors, who are not always right. (37:30) Boundaries, protection, and the new challenges facing parents on the digital age. (38:30) The importance of checking on the parents, not just the child. (43:30) His sessions include working with the parents and the children together. (45:30) What adults in general are missing when dealing with children. (47:45) Let children make mistakes. (49:00) Insight, without interference, opens up new channels of creativity and energy for a child. (51:30) The role of touch in Ale's sessions. (54:20) Countries where there is great work happening with children. (1:03:13) Don't think everything is urgent! (1:05:30) The mistake of viewing "doing nothing" as being lazy. (1:07:40) Some kids need close proximity and one-on-one attention to connect the dots. (1:12:50) The importance of having patience when children say, "I don't know" or "I can't". (1:14:45) Learn about Ale's workshop, Tune into Children. (1:19:20) Children are always trying to release their trauma. (1:21:00) Ale Duarte is a somatic educator who travels around the world offering training to professionals who work in the fields of psychology, education and body-oriented therapy. His specialty is experience in child trauma, and the inherent ability of a child's body to recover from trauma impact, through highly tuned somatic consciousness within the therapeutic relation. As part of his professional career, Ale provided logistic support to professionals in areas of natural disasters and conflicts in many countries, such as the tsunami in Asia in 2005, Hurricane Katrina in 2006, the earthquake in China in 2008, the tsunami in Japan in 2011, and the civil conflicts in Sri Lanka and Syria.

"People don't know they have the permission to mourn [a miscarriage] the same way they would for someone who had lived longer." Eileen Rosete is the founder of Our Sacred Women and a Marriage and Family Therapist. She is the mother of one daughter and has experienced two losses, which I was honored to be a part of. This episode is about honoring all kinds of births- how to do that and what that process is like. Eileen has an enormous heart of service and is infiltrating the fashion world with her message "Women Are Sacred." What Eileen Shares: Her journey from working as a healer to owning her own business. Her company, Our Sacred Women, and its important mission in today's world. Her two miscarriages and her intuitive, holistic approach to healing herself afterwards. How our culture does not acknowledge this event like it does with other kinds of loss. Advice to those who have had or are going through a loss. What You'll Hear – Eileen Rosete Eileen shares her journey from working as a healer and a clinician to a business owner. (2:10) Her background in volunteering at a crisis hotline and domestic violence shelter, teaching yoga, practicing marriage and family therapy, and most recently the creating her business Our Sacred Women. (2:30) How giving birth to her daughter brought clarity to the mission of her company. (7:30) Her conviction to "create something that would restore women to a place of reverence in our culture." (8:05) The gems of wisdom from her birth experience that Eileen wants women to know. (9:10) What Eileen did to prepare for her birth that worked. (10:50) How she learned different tools to work with her empathic sensitivity and how this served her during her pregnancy. (12:13) How motherhood changes the nature of the work a woman is available for and how this can bring balance and integrity. (14:42) How she recognized the need for the message "Women are Sacred" to be digestible and found that through her own personal aesthetic. (18:13) Eileen's experiences with her miscarriages and recovery. (24:05) Her intuitive ceremonies for her babies. (27:16) How long it took to feel healed and ready to welcome another pregnancy. (28:30) How grieving time and the postpartum time both thin the veil between the spirit and material world. How Eileen felt able to feel at peace with and for the spirit of her babies. (29:35) How often miscarriage is treated as too tragic to deal with directly and how Eileen stayed fully present to her experiences. (30:30) People don't know that they have the permission to mourn this the same way as they would for someone who had lived longer. (32:46) How Eileen is hopeful for a cultural shift that will lead to this loss being revered as much as any other. (33:50) Her experience as a Filipino-American and how those cultural traditions served her during her postpartum time. (37:35) How Eileen felt during her grieving from her miscarriages. (42:33) The importance difference between Eileen's approach to her losses and the cultural conditioning around loss. (43:00) Suggestions for self care during and after a loss. (46:58) How touching yourself in a healing way can help you stay connected to and compassionate towards your body. (48:30) Advice for those with friends who may be experiencing a loss. (50:55) Every culture needs people who don't work to support those who are working. (54:00) If Eileen had a megaphone she would say…(54:39)

Ellen Heed and Kimberly Johnson, co-founders of STREAM School for Postpartum Care talk about what's missing in the dialogue about sex postpartum, the biological realities of the postpartum time, and how these affect libido. "Postpartum can be an initiation into deeper sexual potential." What Ellen Shares What she is hearing from postpartum women in her office. How attachment, or lack thereof, between parents affects the dynamics of the family and the health of the child. What's missing in the dialogue around sex postpartum. Biological realities of the postpartum time and how these affect libido. The need for a redefinition of a woman's sexual self after birth. How sex can improve after the birth of a child. The four domains of pelvic health and how these affect libido, sexual function, and a woman's overall feeling of physical wellbeing. What You'll Hear What Ellen and Kimberly are hearing from postpartum women (1:30) The need for a new sexual definition and the challenge of finding it (2:30) Why we should care about this issue (4:11) The importance of occupying your own pleasure and not losing oneself entirely to mothering (4:45) The difference between managing child rearing in an extended family network vs. staying isolated in a parent-parent bubble (5:30) How family dynamics are reorganized after the birth of a child into a pyramid (8:00) The importance of maintaining the bond between parents instead of only with the baby (9:26) How only bonding with the baby can put too much pressure on the baby's system (10:00) "There is no equality, biologically, when it comes to birth and parenting." (10:48) The cultural confusion around "all things being equal," and the false democratization in family dynamics (11:00) Kimberly shares an example from her own life when the natural family hierarchy was out of balance (13:00) Children need domination and appropriate hierarchy to feel safe (14:50) Children need the circuit between their parents to be complete in order to ground themselves (16:15) What Ellen and Kim are NOT hearing in the dialogue around postpartum sex (17:00) Breastfeeding as an example of hormonal competitive inhibition – how prolactin subdues estrogen and consequently sexual desire in favor of lactation (17:45) How neurotransmitters are also preferentially releasing dopamine in contact with the child instead of the partner (19:00) The importance of redefining the sexual self in the postpartum period (19:30) The difference between "hot sex" and "warm sex" (19:49) How the pleasure response in the brain that once was triggered by the partner becomes subsumed by the bond with the baby (20:20) How scientists resist applying research on maternal behavior in animals to humans (21:40) How birth trauma effects the mothers nervous systems ability to move smoothly from bonding with the baby back to bonding with their partner (24:14) How much chemical information comes off of our bodies (25:40) The difference between hormones and pheromones (26:36) How women put pressure on themselves to return to sex after the birth in spite of these biological changes (28:04) The importance of acknowledging the biochemical realities in the postpartum period, particularly in breastfeeding (29:00) Couples need to have the full conversation about how birth and breastfeeding is going to change the sexuality between them (31:08) Women need to redefine their sexual identity...who they are as sexual beings that grow and change after the birth of a child (31:24) How women put too much pressure on themselves to return to a sexual norm that will never exist again (32:05) Good news! Sex can be better after birth (32:19) Laura Gutman's concept of the feminization of sex (32:53) Changing old sexual patterns after birth (33:38) The importance of communicating about sex (35:00) What men want in the postpartum period (35:29) What's possible in sex due to the physiological changes from birth; increased capacity for arousal, engorgement, ejaculation, etc (37:08) The postpartum period can be an initiation into a deeper level of sexual potential (38:15) The four domains of pelvic health and how they effect sex postpartum (38:55) Examples of how scar tissue can effect sexual function and the functions of the pelvic organs (39:10) Ways the pelvic bones, organs, and muscles can be misplaced after birth and how this effects sexual function and pleasure (43:10) What the new ACOG guidelines about postpartum care don't include (44:45) The importance of readjusting the psoas muscle postpartum (45:50) The long history of reorganizing pelvic bones and organs in several massage traditions (46:50) How biochemistry effects sex postpartum (47:48) Proper nutrition specific to the postpartum body (48:10) The effect of this increased nutrition on the breastfeeding child (48:50) The challenges facing vegetarians and vegans when healing postpartum (50:10) Pain in the introitus and its connection to the emotional body (51:03) Emotion is the fourth domain of pelvic health (52:05) "The narrative of the birth may be one way and what the body has to say about it may be completely different." (52:45) The incidence of pelvic floor dysfunction after a mechanical delivery (53:35) The importance of physical contact with appropriate tracking when working with the pelvic floor (54:24) How quickly the tissue can change when it's given a chance to speak for itself (55:00) Sometimes recovery takes a long time and sometimes it doesn't (55:50) How possible it is to address these domains of pelvic health without surgery (56:28)

"Birth is normal and it is biologically meant to work, it can feel incredible and you can have an incredible postpartum; but it takes a level of curiosity, courage and willingness to take responsibility for yourself that we have been hypnotized not to do." Emilee Saldaya founder of the Free Birth Society boldly challenges the conventional birth process and refers to the 'amnesia' modern women embody when it comes to biological natural birth. She discusses why birth is a feminist issue, why Free Birth has become more popular, her own birth and postpartum process and the reverence it deserves and why it's a mother's right to forego choosing a doctor or midwife to preserve her birth experience. What You'll Hear: -Emilee's journey attending births, the trauma she witnessed and how it influenced her birth preparation -How abuse, trauma and lack of consent are normalized in birth setting -What does the term 'birthing in captivity' mean? -The difference between an unmedicated birth and natural birth -Unnecessary surgical births and doctor's incentives -The connection between birth and feminism -Emilee's ethical dilemma with doulas and midwives in the system and her decision to attend and have a Free Birth -How she defines her role in supporting women in a Free Birth as well as more definitions and range of Free Birthing -The connection midwifery has to government and how women worldwide are Free Birthing in secret due to lack of support ie; VBAC -The lack of awareness around the autonomy of our body and the lack of consent we're accustomed to in medical setting -Women centered humanized birth, maturation process, forgoing the good girl way and taking responsibility for our birth experience -Emilee's move to Maui for her birth and postpartum period and snippets of her birth story and postpartum time -Birth as a Rite of Passage, being 'selfish', planning and prioritizing your birth experience -Emilee challenges current midwifery, discusses licensing and regulation and the traditional birth attendant -How Emilee's birth outcome would have looked had she been in midwifery or OB care vs what she had -Kimberly's opinion of midwives -What Emilee wishes everyone would know about birth, resources about Free Birthing and how to advocate to family and friends -Emilee distinguishes between power and empowerment -The amnesia of birthing and working through it collectively

"If you actually understood what a woman has been through: the conception journey, pregnancy, birth, the whole process—what's happening demands full respect and a deep care. To imagine that people would just snap back into their size 0 jeans and walk out, it begs disbelief. There's no respect for what's arisen. And in the yoga world, we've fed right into that." Uma Dinsmore-Tuli is a yoga teacher, a yoga teacher trainer, and wrote the tome Yoni Shakti: A Woman's Guide to Power and Freedom through Yoga and Tantra, which connects feminism, blood rites, and yoga. What You'll Learn: The postpartum woman just did the biggest stretch there is - Birth What yoga IS appropriate for postpartum women About the yoga patriarchy About why it matters to be a woman and what stage of life you are in for yoga practice. What You'll Hear: -She needs stability nurture and a real sense of being mothered -Postpartum period is 5 years. -Deep inner work of breath and awareness to the pelvic floor and breastfeeding -Stability practices, using the closing practices of yoga in a community, grassroots environment. -When the advice "take care of yourself" is all you get when you go to a group yoga class doesn't meet a woman's needs -What is the yoga patriarchy? -The feelings of exclusion in the yoga sangha -The yoga can subtly welcome the whole range of our life as humans -Postpartum is messy, dirty, tiring and grumpy, and the extraordinary capacity that yoga has to help us through this. -Anchara mauna- Inner silence, tuning to the present moment, while breastfeeding and tuning in to the senses. -The Fourth Trimester- whole process of healing is being overlooked -You can't tell how healed a woman is after having a baby — "All those ladies that look so great in bikinis, you don't know what's in their underwear" -Postpartum energy is present after miscarriages, stillborns, and near-death experiences -The goddess of the Fourth Trimester -Postpartum care is not a mental health issue: it's a body issue -Even if you don't have a traumatic birth, birth is still a heartbreaking, heart-opening experience -The yoga world hasn't helped with judgments around birth -Birth images: to hire a photographer, or not -If you have great postpartum care, you'll metabolize the birth experience, no matter how it went -Even the most gentle birth is a powerful experience and needs healing at a cellular level -- you are in shock during the fourth trimester -You are a new woman after birth -- you need the presence of wise women, to help you make the best choices for your healing -New mothers need everything new babies need -Learning to be okay in the not knowing, and learning to rest: menstruation, birth, postpartum, and menopause -Repair is always possible