Thursday, April 30, 2015

Trust


Sometimes a line is enough... for a #meditationformothers

"And suddenly you know: it's time to start something new and trust the magic of the beginnings."
~ Meister Eckhart



#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

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Photo credit:
http://melissajean.com.au

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Learning with Yoga


Yoga lover? Yoga is part of the Sacred Beginnings program, inspiring mothers to practice this kind of... Self-Love (yes, more than anything else I believe yoga is about self-love!), and empowering them to start a yoga path with the little ones, sharing postures as an amazing way to CONNECT and gently guide our children's lives, honoring it's #sacredbeginnings . 
Yoga and sharing yoga, fully, mindfully present with your loved ones is truly a #meditationformothers 


"As children learn about their bodies through yoga postures, they learn about their minds through meditation.  They learn that they can control their thought patterns, their emotions and their well-being."


#meditatingwithchidren

images from Kari's INSPIRING page on #yogimama yoga and motherhood:

#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Mothers writing


For me #sacredbeginnings is about INSPIRING, empowering, supporting, nourishing... Mothers.

Photo credit: www.ivetteivens.com

 For me a huge part of this is SHARING, holding space to just be, to just give, to just listen...
And one of the most amazing tools we can use to hold space for ourselves is WRITING. Journaling our feelings, our thoughts (our lives!) is incredibly HEALING, for ourselves, and for the sisters that read us! How many of us started writing (or writing more! Or sharing what we write! Or publishing!) since we became mothers? Yes, I believe it is one of the #motherhoodawakeninnings , this ability to CREATE with words, and without a doubt a powerful #meditationformothers !


A few days a go I asked our #sacredSisterhood to share their blogs and this is the list that BLOOMED from there:

From Gauri

From Cheryl

From Rachel

From Kate

From Molly
and 


I add a few more motherhood blogs that I follow and LOVE:

From Kari

From Stephanie

From Kelle

From Nirrimi

From Paala

From Falan

From Helen

From Ara

...
This list is not over! Do you have a blog? Share it with us!
Enjoy these amazing texts on what I like to call "motherhood, and it's awakenings" <3 

Photo credit: 
www.ivetteivens.com

#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Growing pains


Growing pains.

Photo credit: http://melissajean.com.au

Yes, growing can be painful sometimes... And during the rough patches it takes deep trust, endless patience and unconditional love to surrender to this process, to just let Mother Earth do the work, with it's timings, it's laws, it's mysteries, yes...

Yes we all know about the muddy days, the dark nights, the helpless times.... 
Yes we all know it will pass, it will change and... It does happen for a reason. Trust yourself, trust your baby, trust that you are growing together.

Photo credit: http://www.ivetteivens.com

Yes, growing can be painful, sometimes.

Motherhood is a blooming path, a transformation trip, an awakening process, a spiritual journey, full of challenges and full of joys.

The pains of recovering from giving birth, and it's scaring, the physical and the emotional scaring;
The pains of adjusting to the new dynamics of the family life;
The pains of the postpartum times, it's precious golden light and it's foggy blues;
The pains of getting the baby to latch on properly;
The pains of all day diaper changes, round-the-clock feedings...
The pains of the sleepless nights...
The pains of the helpless crying; the colic crises; the teething attacks; the tantrums, the meltdowns...

Photo credit: Bigley 
https://m.facebook.com/bigleyphotography

Yes, growing can be painful, sometimes.

#sacredbeginnings is here to help healing together; to give gentle touch; to guide you massaging your baby; to help you CONNECT; to nourish you in a skin to skin, Mother to Mother HUG; to HONOR your path; hold space to all your fears; to uplift your days; to play the soothing sounds only mothers know...

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:



#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Mothers meditate



How does this sound to you? Essential? Impossible? A daily routine? Nothing but an intention in your "to do" list...?

Meditation doesn't have to be sitting crossed legged, eyes closed, prayer mudra, empty mind...  For me it hardly ever is!


It can be the wind in your skin, and the way it feels like a caress from Mother Earth;
It can be cooking and the way it allows you to be creative and forget the rest; 
It can be writing and holding space for yourself, your fears and your joys;
It can be just looking at your child sleeping... and how intense, how fulfilling, how perfect this can be...


It can be... walking! Mindfully walking.
It can be... Tell me, what are your motherhood meditations?


Gorgeous images from Megan Soto
(www.megansotophotography.com) at our last LIVE RETREAT! (Want to know more about our NEXT one? Leave your email HERE!)

#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Celebrate Mother Earth


Today is Mother Earth Day, how are you going to celebrate it? Share with us your #sacredrituals !


Will you meditate in nature, smudge your house, honor your sacred connection to Earth as a Mother?


Sharing words that inspired my day:

When the world came to being
mammals' trace was not seen
then formed trees, oceans, rivers and seas,
which now everyone comes to see.
The human generation was born 
from a troop of monkeys at dawn
cutting trees and consuming all seas,
makes the world die including fleas.
If we don't change our wasteful habits,
the earth's feelings will change,
and life will perish in range,
and so the atmosphere will burst,
thus all of us will get cursed.
So save mother earth! Save mother earth!
 ~ Aditi, 9 Years Old (Andhra Pradesh, India) 

“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."
~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Magical image from www.ivetteivens.com

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” 
~ John Muir

Photo credit: www.ivetteivens.com

Sit with Nature, today, let Mother Earth speak,  just listen.


#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Baby Love


Do you write?
Here is a poem honoring our path.
#motherhoodpoems

Baby Love

Look deeply at your baby and say OUT LOUD! 

Beautiful image from Belle

I will ALWAYS be there to SNUGGLE you close

I will nourish your SPIRIT with my love 

I am BRAVE enough to let you stumble

I will allow you to blossom into who you are NOT who I want you to be

I will LOVE YOU more than all the wild flowers that ever graced the earth

I will GIFT you with my PRESENCE

I will HONOR my own needs

I will show you what being strong + BEAUTY-filled is all about

I am the best mama for YOU + YOU are the perfect baby for ME

xoxo~ Anni Daulter
Mother to four

#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:
www.sacred-beginning.com

Saturday, April 18, 2015

New Moon vision board


Are you ready? 
Today is re-birth day! 
Time for #sacredbeginnings .


Do you follow the moon and it's magic? I've heard today is a great day to create a vision board... I am thinking of getting those crayons and invite my son to join me drawing and writing what I wish to welcome into my days, what I want to manifest in my world.
What about you?
Share with us your #sacredrituals .


Grateful for the Moon, for it's changes and new opportunities to dream, plan, meditate, celebrate, and manifest.

Grateful for these images from Paulina 
(More on her work:
Breastfeeding photo by Paulina Splechta Photography, Breastfeeding Photographer http://www.facebook.com/paulinasplechta ).
And for the so, SO inspiring Goddess Circle page 

#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy


Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:

Friday, April 17, 2015

Doula Love


I can't tell you how much it moves me the Love work and support birth workers and postpartum caregivers do. How SACRED it is to be able to GIVE like this, with such HEART, with such PASSION and MAGIC.

An AMAZING text and INSPIRING work from a #sacredsister .
(And if you have a story on postpartum care, as a giver or a mother please feel free to SHARE it with us, we are here to share, EMPOWER, inspire!)

"Although not all birth workers are mothers, the ones who do have children typically find their passion for birth work as a result of their own birth story.

There are as many unique, beautiful birth stories as there are mothers, and if you listen to a woman's birth story, a memory which stays with her for life, it was either a wonderful empowering birth or a memory that has left her feeling sad in some way.  Something was not right in how she might have been treated, or maybe she felt powerless in her experience.  

During the birth of my third child, it was the loving touch and words of a female companion that made all the difference in the world.  When she told me I was doing a beautiful job, I felt like Angels were speaking to me.  Her words made me feel strong, powerful and beautiful.  

Ever since I became a mom, and because of the impact those words of encouragement had on the way I felt during labor, a passion for everything pregnancy & birth started to grow inside me.  I wanted to become involved in this work and I knew I wanted to be a birth doula and/or a childbirth educator so I could impact other women in the same way.  

I am a birth doula and a childbirth educator because I want to support pregnant & laboring women through their journey, so they can be blissfully concious about what is going on with them both physically and emotionally.  I love sharing information about comfort measures, teaching HypnoBirthing and simply just reaching mothers-to-be and their partners in any way possible.  

As a birth doula and childbirth educator I also work with the woman's partner to ensure they are confident in their natural ability to support the woman they love.  My role as a birth doula is to compliment what they do, to become a team with them and offer them support as they are supporting the mother-to-be. 

Supporting Mommas during their pregnancy,  and being with them during their labor & birth as well as honoring & being witness to their journey during their postpartum healing is WHAT I LOVE TO DO. 

This is what birth doulas do, and it is both fulfilling and rewarding beyond words. Pregnancy, labor & delivery are intense experiences which stay with the mom and last a lifetime. My passion is being a part of this journey by offering support & comfort to the Mommas with whom I work and making the experience as wonderful as possible.

In addition to the prenatal and labor work I do, I am absolutely fascinated with the importance and impact that a mother's postpartum healing carries with it. Gentle and appropriate postpartum healing and caring is not only needed for the baby, but for the new mother as well.  In the United States, we are finally starting to realize that HOW a mother feels and cares for herself as well as the love and nurturing SHE receives after giving birth is of utmost importance.  A happy mom means happy baby and happy family. Because of this, I started to make Bengkung Belly Binds.  


A Bengkung Belly Bind is a traditional Malaysian way of binding the mother during her postpartum recovery.  The benefits of a Benkung Belly Bind are not only physical, but also emotional and spiritual.  Our Bengkung Belly Binds are hand-dyed in beautiful color combinations and made with the most care.  Our stitching is second to none and all of this is done because we know she deserves the best and most beautiful healing available.  Hours of selecting colors, and rinsing, stitching and ironing result in a bundle of love that the mother can wrap around her abdomen.  This long piece of fabric offers her support, comfort, warmth and love.  She feels held.  While each piece takes close to 6 hours to make, we make it hoping that the beauty of the fabric reminds her of her own beauty.  My dream is that one day EVERY new mom wears her bengkung belly bind with pride and a smile, I want her to feel beautiful and strong and powerful and if i can help this happen by making beautiful belly binds then I have done something special.  Women should celebrate who they are and what they do, because we are totally amazing!!!!"

Hands stained from Love

~ Precious Birth Doula
Mother to three


This is #BellyMagic #postpartumLove
#bengkung LOVE!
Check more of this amazing work here (and enjoy how the colors on the fabric look like... Art! Search for images, insights, inspirations, enjoy!)


#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program:

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Yoga is your daily life mama


#yogimama series 

This is my motherhood yoga...


My best yoga moments? 
Being at peace during a tantrum.

I practice yoga for more than ten years and only now I come to know the true nature of this path... The hardest asanas, the more uplifting mantras...

The yogi toes:
To be in perfect balance in a slippery floor; coming out of the shower holding my baby; reaching for the coffee pot while nursing; or jumping on the bus with the baby in the sling - oh this is what the yogi toes are for!


Core muscles:
Getting up and sitting down with no hands (because you are carefully holding a sleeping a baby).

Arm strength:
Picking baby up, putting baby down. Repeating (many times repeating).

Calf muscles strength and flexibility:
For comfortable Malasana, squatting in the playground, to play; 
squatting at home, to pick up books, to put away socks, to collect pieces of food...

Balance asanas:
Motherhood, just like yoga, is all about balance.
Not only how to keep in balance, I learned, but also how not to get attach to it. Because, think about it, embracing your chaos, honoring your motherhood messiness, is also a form of balance, no?

Yes, finding balance, inside and out.

The best yoga world help on the motherhood path? 
I can tell you that the Ommm sound is soothing for a baby; 
the exercise ball is great for rocking kids to sleep; 
yoga mats make great car tracks (great grip); 
mala necklaces are good to play with (and can even help with teething); and the yoga studios... 
Well, are not an option for me anymore... Now I am into babywearing yoga, stroller yoga, playground break yoga...

I can share with you that Vajrasana is good for kneeling in the floor with your little one after a meal (will help to digest your food); 
and that the Virabhadrasana (the warrior) can be done with a baby on your breast.
Viparita Karani (legs up against the wall) will be copied by your child and is rejuvenating for both of you (even if you need it more than he does); 
The dancer can be used for making chai;
And the tree pose practiced while doing the dishes...


 Motherhood for me is yoga in my daily life, and I found it to be nothing but a spiritual path. I even believe that in a way or another every mama is a #yogimama
Maybe it is not the spiritual path that takes me to follow a guru somewhere in a temple in Asia, but it's the one that allows me serenity in the middle of a busy market, so many times balancing baby and groceries on my shoulder; 
helps me to find kindness in the aggressive crowd on a bus, often having to ask for a seat;
slows me down with calmness during toddler's playtime, and all the meltdowns it can involve;
inspires me with beautiful songs in a baby sleepless night; 
grounds me in a city made of nothing but cement and skyscrapers...

This is my daily yoga, and my son is my master;
my routines my asanas, my parenting words my mantras.

Yes, I lay down my mat as often as I can and occasionally my son joins me (mainly climbing on my back, mostly using my hair tied up in a bun as a horn, but yes, joining me) but yoga is, more than ever, my daily life.

With it's sweetness and it's challenges. With it's sticky sweat and it's bliss. Because no, I don't love it all. Just like in yoga class I want to skip the hardest sequences sometimes;
I feel stiff and blame the tiredness for my aches and pains, often...
And some days I just can't manage anything deeper than a shallow breath, forgetting all pranayama techniques...

But I do, wear yoga pants more often than ever ;-)
And I do... Fell motherhood is here to help me evolved and awaken.

I do practice THIS yoga everyday but I also make it a priority to spend some time, everyday, alone with my mat, nourishing myself. 
During my son's nap I do not clean, cook, or work, I lay down my mat and practice MY yoga. I nourish myself while he rests, and sometimes this can mean having a cup of coffee and stare out the window, enjoying the rare moment of silence; it can be talking to a friend on fb; it is often reading something inspiring; appreciate beauty... Or it can be one hour of uninterrupted Ashtanga, it can mean... Taking a nap with him.

Choose your nourishment, mother yourself first, bring yoga to your daily life #yogimama

~ Joana Fartaria
Mother to one



Yoga is fun and we Iove this "kitchen yoga", cause any space is good, for a little bit of bliss.
Namaste

#sacredbeginnings
#sacredlivingmovement
#sacredpregnancy

Explore more of Sacred Beginnings program: