Conscious Mothering

Click here to listen

Today, I’m in conversation with mother, doula, herbalist and activist, Julie Bell. Julie is the heart behind Blissful Herbs, and if you’re a homebirthing mama in Australia, chances are you already know exactly who Julie is, and you’ve probably even got a Blissful Herbs tea or tincture sitting in your cupboard somewhere. If you haven’t come across Julie and her beautiful work yet, then you’re in for a real treat in today’s episode!

We talk about:

Julie’s childhood experience of trauma and disruption, and how this experience led her on a path towards, and shaped her work as, a herbalist and doula.

The wisdom and kindness of plants, and how so many plants offer support and healing especially to women and women’s needs.

The history of misogyny and racism that continues to undermine women’s birthing choices, and how women will always intuitively come back to birthing our babies at home, in safety.

The importance of sharing candid stories and images of birth, as well as other aspects of the experience of being a woman, and how Julie’s refusal to accept Instagram’s “community standards” led to her account being penalised.

The relationship between spirituality and motherhood, and the role that Julie’s Christian faith plays in her life, her work, and her service in the world.

And so much more.

Click here to listen

Click here to listen

Jane is a grandmother, former homebirth midwife for 30 years, a teacher, writer and menstrual educator. She gives workshops on mother and daughter preparation for menstruation, the spiritual practice of menstruation, and the sacred dimensions of pregnancy, birth and menopause. Jane founded and runs The School of Shamanic Womancraft, an international Women’s Mysteries School.

We talk about:

The shamanic dimensions of pregnancy, and how the things that show up in our lives and bodies during pregnancy are information to support us to transform into a new version ourselves and to become “the mother our babies come for”

How we have the birth we need to teach us what we need to learn about ourselves to take us to the next place on our journey, and how the quality that we need to learn about ourselves in how we birth our babies, is the quality we need to bring to mothering them.

How to learn from and begin healing from a traumatic birth - the questions Jane offers to ask yourself are life changing.

The difference between midwifery and obstetric care, and how the single most impactful decision a woman will make that will influence her birth outcome is who her primary carer will be, and her place of birth.

How we can prepare for birth before we’re even pregnant, through healing trauma stored in the body, opening to a relationship with our spirit baby, connecting with our menstrual cycle, looking into our previous experiences of rites of passage, unhooking from the medical model of birth, and bringing consciousness to our fears.

And so much more.

Click here to listen

Click here to listen

Rachel is a feminine embodiment mentor, and host of the Weaving the Wild podcast. Her work as a feminine embodiment mentor is all about reclaiming and remembering the wildish wisdom that lies deep within our bones. From honouring our cyclical rhythm and dropping back into our bodies, embracing our intuitive nature and anchoring mind, body and soul through simple, practical earth, moon and womb practices and rituals.

In today’s episode, Rachel and I talk about:

‘The feminine’ - what that term means, and how it’s something to be embodied and experienced rather than intellectually understood,

Simple tools and practices to help you come back into your body, connect with your intuition, and align with the cyclical wisdom of the natural world,

How the state of your nervous system influences your ability to hear your body’s wisdom and your intuition,

And so much more.

Whenever I work with mamas preparing for birth and motherhood, the very first place I start is with your relationship to your body and your inner knowing. Because everything else - understanding physiologic birth and navigating the maternity system and so on - is all important to know, but it’s your connectedness to your body and your inner wisdom and your personal truth that will guide you through all the rest.

Click here to listen

Click here to listen

Briony Goodsell is a doula, yoga teacher, intuitive bodyworker, women’s circle facilitator, photographer and mama. She is a weaver of the womens’ mysteries, gatherer of ancient feminine wisdom, holder of sacred spaces and a guide for reconnecting women with their sacred womb wisdom and power.

We talk about:

Briony’s experience of eating disorder and infertility, and how this led her on a journey to learn about her body’s wisdom and to find her calling as a yoga teacher, body worker and doula

Briony’s experience of postpartum depression in early motherhood, and how she gradually found her feet as a mama by learning to stop looking to external experts, to get out of her head, and to trust her own intuition as a mama

The link between connecting with and understanding our menstrual cycles, and trusting our bodies in birth

The concept of "matrescence", and how having an awareness of the transformation a woman goes through during the transition into motherhood before it happens can help to alleviate overwhelm and confusion

The challenges of mothering in our modern times and the pressures this places on women and on relationships

The relationship between the health of mothers and Mother Earth, and how rituals like burying our baby’s placenta can help to heal the earth and restore the balance of the Divine Feminine in all of us

Click here to listen