Mother Birth

There is no way we can get to a place of accepting and embracing our full Selves with one hour of [fill in the blank] per week. Instead we need consistency, patience, reverence, and ritual in the ways we learn to be in the not doing.

That's Sadhana. Sadhana means daily spiritual practice.

It's the point of yoga and meditation, because yoga is inherently about honoring your whole being - body, mind, and spirit. And, we have to cultivate this type of practice every day. Maybe not an hour everyday. Maybe it's five minutes, 20, 30.

If you want to learn to accept yourself, to find inner harmony, to release harmful thoughts and anxieties, to find safety in unknown places, to learn how to embrace rest and pleasure, and to eventually love yourself...then you need Sadhana. And no one else can give it to you, but you. Sure, there are guides, but the gift is one you learn how to cultivate.

I recorded this episode one night this past week to welcome you into the Cultivating a Practice 21 Day Journey. We start December 18, 2022.

Postpartum isn't six weeks or 12 or even a year. From an Ayurvedic and yoga therapy lens, we expand the definition of "postpartum" to really mean three years post-birth. The true reality, though? Postpartum is for life.

At 10 months postpartum, I share a little of my personal journey, struggles, the way through and hopefully forward as I see it. I also share the phases of postpartum I'm bringing to modern perinatal care as inspired by the ancient wisdoms and the clients I serve. These are:

• Initial + Immediate Postpartum
• Primary Postpartum
• Secondary Postpartum

We talk about ways to embrace postpartum, rather than resist it. We talk about what it really means to slow down to the pace of an infant, and how that by honoring your healing, you are really honoring all of life. When we resist postpartum, we can set ourselves up for more emotional strife, physical injury, and states of dis-ease for years to come.

Show Notes:

Please write to Leanne at leanne@leannematullo.com or go to her website for further details about her work - www.leannematullo.com.

Buckle in, dear friends, for a conversation about how to be a better birth partner with my partner, husband, best friend, and co-parent, Eugene Matullo. 

What's a birth partner? Essentially, it is whomever is accompanying the mother or birthing person during her labor or birth. Eugene speaks candidly about his role in the labor and birth process as a husband, partner, lover; and also about what it means to consciously show up as a partner throughout the perinatal period.

We really dig into it ALL in this conversation. You'll learn:

• What it means to really be there for your partner during birth
• How the birth partner can prepare for birth practically, emotionally, and spiritually
• Eugene's experience from one labor to another
• What surprised him as the birth partner
• The challenges of labor and birth as witnessed from the partner's point of view
• A little about our birth choices and preferences for both of our babies
• What Eugene really wants you to know about pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period

You'll hopefully giggle and cry with us as we take you on a beautiful journey that discusses this very important role during the portal that is birth. We also swear during this episode on occasion so listen away from sensitive ears.

Show Notes:

Here's a short, but meaningful conversation about following your instincts as mothers, particularly as our children move into educational settings outside of the home and beyond Pre-K.

• How are we denying the wisdom of tears in favor of logic and/or societal norms?
• Are our children really ready for Kindergarten as we know it?
• Are we pathologizing ourselves? Belittling ourselves?
• Why are we measuring our children so early on, and how does this measuring and monitoring affect their adult lives?
• Are we attuned to the true needs of our children? 
• Are we attuned to our own true needs?

Let's reimagine the education and learning environments for our children. The only way we can do this is by getting to know ourselves. Are you doing that work? 

Remember, that the problem isn't YOU. 

I even drop a personal vision into this episode (to my own surprise!) that I'd love to continue to discuss with you.

Show Notes:

Email Leanne at leanne@leannematullo.com with thoughts, reflections, and to inquire about she works with individuals.

If this resonates, research nature based schools, Waldkindergarten models, Waldorf schools. 

In this episode, I share this wisdom tradition as it has been passed down to me and how it can (and does...if you let it) support your healing. Yoga Therapy applied to the perinatal period has the ability to change the health of whole ecosystems, including humanity and the land.

We ask questions like:

What is Yoga Therapy? Is it a new field?
What is Ayurveda?
Who is a yoga therapist? Will a yoga therapist "heal" you?
Is what we doing in the West even yoga?
How is this applied to the perinatal period?
How is this applied to anxiety, fatigue, pain, autoimmune dis-ease?
How is yoga therapy different than allopathic medicine?
What is your relationship to soul wisdom?

I hope this podcast episode opens your eyes to the healing modality of yoga therapy, its models for treatment and care, and a dip into further yogic philosophy. It's such a joy to record these episodes for you.

Show Notes:

Please write to me with any questions or comments at leanne@leannematullo.com.

Pregnancy and birth are not medical conditions. They are of nature’s design - a natural, physiological process of being human for those in female embodiments.

Do things “go wrong” during pregnancy and birth? Of course. Can we be grateful that those with  health conditions can be supported during pregnancy with modern medicine? Of course. Do some births need medical care and attention? Of course.

And yet, the majority of pregnancies and birth experiences do NOT need medical or clinical intervention for the mother and even less so for baby. In fact, interventions often build upon each other in unnecessary and sometimes downright harmful ways.

Here, we define the Cascade of Intervention, a sample scenario of the Cascade, why you might want to avoid unnecessary interventions and how to do it. We question the medicalization of birth and how to create better birth outcomes.

Show Notes:

What is Conscious Conception? In short, Conscious Conception is the process of learning to receive life. It’s the very opposite of expecting pregnancy to happen. In Ayurvedic medicine and yoga therapy, we recommend three to six months to prepare for pregnancy and to promote fully body healing BEFORE baby.

Why? Because Conscious Conception supports healthy and sustained pregnancies, healthier birth outcomes, and eventually a healthier postpartum experience. This episode will offer practical ways to support healing in the body-mind-spirit continuum on your Conscious Conception journey.

I talk about why we must expand the perinatal definition beyond what Western medicine dictates in order to prevent traumatic experiences and to support thriving life – for mothers AND babies. And, I apply the Kosha Model of yoga therapy to this conversation. If you are thinking of conceiving a baby, struggling with fertility, or simply interested in the topic of Conscious Conception, you are in the right place. I am grateful to you and honored to have you listening in.

Show Notes:

When I was 27, I was told that I’d never conceive a baby naturally. After numerous visits with reproductive endocrinologists and specialists, and several diagnoses later (some real, some questionable), I abandoned Western medicine to go on a journey to heal my body.

Innately, I knew that a healthy body would be able to conceive a baby and that pregnancy would be healthier than forcing myself to conceive. Innately, I knew that my body was wise beyond the measurements Western medicine was comparing it to. And, I was 100% correct. Here is the story of my 2.5 year journey to heal my fertility.

This episode is for anyone who is on a fertility/infertility journey, who is preparing for pregnancy, or who has a loved one experiencing infertility. It’s to offer hope, respect, and joy in the process of becoming a parent. Please share this with anyone who might appreciate these words. I am grateful to you. I am honored that you’re here.