What a ride y’all. Being pregnant, giving birth and coming into motherhood - all during a global pandemic. I’ve been trying to make meaning out of it all, and part of my way of doing that has been to plan and lead pandemic grief support groups and workshop series for fellow “pandeparents.”
I have learned a lot along the way. And it’s left me with more questions than answers. But that in itself is an answer.
Let me explain.
Read MoreOur dear Erin is so intentional with her monthly themes. When she told us all that she planned to focus on rest this month, and tapped me to write our newsletter’s monthly greeting, it felt as close to kismet as writing a newsletter intro can feel. I LOVE rest. Over the years, I have come to claim it and own it and nestle into it. In a world where life moves at the pace of words I don’t even know because they were invented yesterday by people 20 years younger than me, rest is kind of anathema.
Read MoreOctober is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. This is an important and tender month for many as we remember the pregnancies or babies we have lost. It’s a group I never wanted to be a part of, and my loss was much more difficult than I ever imagined.
Read MoreThere’s a great irony of motherhood and parenthood. It starts in pregnancy and it continues until (well, from my experience until at least age 7, but I suspect much, much longer than that.) The irony is that although I am less active (less fit, ahem), and my life offers more chances to be sedentary (all those early months sitting and nursing, rocking, nurturing baby, all the days now of watching soccer and gymnastics), I am always tired. Despite all that sitting and ostensible restfulness, I am wandering through life in need of deep, deliberate rest.
Read MoreI am a working mother. I balance my flexible work schedule with my share of the domestic work required to run a household, the self-care required to resource my body, and my share of the caregiving required to love & nurture my two-year-old son. Sound familiar? This summer I found myself in a position of less work and more caregiving (but unfortunately the same number of laundry baskets full of clean clothes yet to be folded). Here is how I survived.
Read MoreWhen I was pregnant, I would nap all of the time. I took luxurious, middle of the day, afternoon sunlight dappled naps like it was my job. And to be honest I considered it to be just that. Taking care of my body, which included getting a lot of rest, was something that I took very seriously while I was pregnant. Rest may not look the same way it did while you were pregnant, but you are still just as deserving.
Read MoreI don’t sit still easily. As a yoga teacher this might seem counterintuitive, but I love a moving meditation and a vinyasa (flow) more than anything. It helps me find my center. Sometimes though, I just have to sit still.
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