We cannot talk about collective health, planetary health, or the health of future generations, without talking about the health of mothers. As Rachelle says, “The dysfunction and disharmony within our human environments is manifesting through the vulnerable bodies of postpartum women. In fact it is through the bodies of mothers that humanity is being alerted to the urgency of our collective need for change.”
IN THE INTRO:
The reaction to my previous episode on parenting without a village
IN THE INTERVIEW:
Our culture is set up to fail new families/parents, and pathologizing the postpartum period overlooks the fact that it’s our social structures that are the cause of the immense emotional and psychological pain most postpartum mothers feel
Mama- it’s not your fault
New moms lose up to 700 hours of sleep during the first postpartum year
The baseline of normal is that human babies need care 24/7 (your baby is not “high needs”), what’s not normal is living in isolated nuclear families
Postpartum care cannot happen without community, and community is the one thing we are all lacking
Why it’s so hard, when it’s what we all deeply crave, to recreate the community living of our ancestors/how the colonial mindset keeps us mired in separation and distrust
The pelvis as the seat of trauma for most every woman, and how we can begin to heal that
How we feel in our pelvis is how we feel in our life- the connection between mental and pelvic health
Intergenerational trauma and clearing the “bad medicine” that was embedded in the bodies of our female ancestors and passed down to us
Anchoring in what we actually believe about ourselves, our bodies, this life
Women are, and deeply feel, unsafe in our culture
The incredible responsibility of raising girls (and boys tho!) in this culture, and how Rachelle and I navigate talking to them about the realities of patriarchy in an age appropriate way
Teaching our kids to respect their inner authority first and foremost
Reproductive and environmental justice are one and the same
It’s time to grow up and do the work- our primary responsibility as adults on this planet at this time is to caretake life
One simple way we can create community and support the parents of little ones
If we can’t be resourced horizontally (by the folks around us), we can be resourced vertically (by our well ancestors) and by the land
The sacrifices we make as mothers are a holy offering to life itself
LINKS:
The Innate Traditions website
Innate Traditions on Instagram
Medicine Stories Patreon (podcast bonuses!)
Related podcast episode- Without a Village: Isolation, Honesty, and the Paradoxes of Modern Motherhood
My website MythicMedicine.love
Take my fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz
Medicine Stories Facebook group
Mythic Medicine on Instagram
Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)
Mentioned in this episode:
Vagina: A New Biography by Naomi Wolf
I’m a 37-Year-Old Mom and I Spent Seven Days online as an 11-Year-Old Girl. Here’s What I Learned.
A mom’s response to a stranger insisting her daughter speak to him (seems the original post is no longer available, this is a summary)
31. Word Witchery, the Ancestors, & Tarot - Sanyu Estelle
30. The Innate Intelligence of the Immune System - Cilla Whatcott
29. Otherworld Openings: When the Ancestors Call
28. Seaweed: Deep Medicine for Earth, Ocean, & Humans - Angela Willard
27. Anti-Racist Genealogical Research (for Everyone) - Darla Antoine
26. Ancestral Reverence as Devotion to the Earth - Daniel Foor
25. Self Attunement & the New Myths We're Making - Maia Toll
24. Plant Spirits & Deep Remembering that Speaks to the Bones - Fay Johnstone
23. The Profound Medicine of Herbal Body Oils
22. You Are Magic & Fear is Never the Truth - Yaya Erin Rivera Merriman
21. The Medicine We Carry - Lola Venado
20. Herbalism, Menstruation, & Innate Knowing - Kami McBride
19. Reclaiming Kitchen Wisdom & Ancestral Healing - Darla Antoine
18. Land Based Living, Mothering, & Eating - Suuzi Hazen
17. True Holistic Healing: Bridging Plant & Human Consciousness - Sajah Popham
15. Intuitive Whispers: Deep Memory & Woven Fate
14. Reclaiming Yourself Through Nature & the Ancestors - Vicky Salcido-Cobbe
13. Psychedelic Healing: From Microdosing to Transcendence - Jim Fadiman
12. Folk Herbalism & the Wild Self - Jesse Wolf Hardin
11. Without a Village: Isolation, Honesty, and the Paradoxes of Modern Motherhood
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