Courage Through Community
Community matters for mothers and practitioners alike, and many of us reading and contributing here are both of these.
Community is the source of much of our success.
As we sow, so we grow.
We’re in it together, for better or worse, and an aligned community makes our human existence so much better; for we are at our core social beings who long for interdependence, encouragement and positive witnessing.
Social media outlets such as FB and IG have created means by which holistic and alternative folk can find each other, connect and uplift.
By choosing the groups we join with a clear intent we can exponentially increase our courage to live with integrity and more fully embrace our values in all the parts of our lives.
Before the internet mothers and couples who were following their combined knowledge and intuition to avoid vaccines, honor a 40 day Sacred Window or perhaps homebirth or freebirth were commonly labeled Selfish, crazy and irresponsible.
It was backbreaking going against the tide, or even just paddling in pushing boundaries. Parents frequently felt alone in their bid to minimize the harm of aggressive medical interventions.
It was a sad reality when recovering from a hospital birth that everyone would say it was a ‘good’ birth, that all that mattered was a live mother and baby - there was no space to safely grieve that such a ‘good’ birth had left the parents feeling robbed, violated and invalidated.
A physiological birth in hospital was an extraordinary achievement, and a homebirth put you on the fringe.
A deliberate freebirth meant a referral to social services and an accidental unassisted raised eyebrows.
Sadly this is all still sometimes the case AND YET...now we have the normalization of ‘courage through community‘:
- to safely witness birth trauma without dismissing it and thus open postnatal avenues of transformational healing for those who are ready
- to share knowledge about how things can be in their best manifestation without fear of blame or shame
- to dance with our deepest desires of normality and honor the holiness that parenting from the heart can unlock
Lockdown 2019-2020 was another means by which many of us have been pushed to reflect on our values as mothers and practitioners.
The masculine energy of boundaries, containment and law have invited us to connect to our feminine attributes of serving and thriving through creativity, fluidity and spirit so that despite physical distancing we are still socially connected and actively nurturing relationships for the wellbeing of the planet.
One of the missions of the Sacred Window School is to connect postnatal practitioners and join the dots between all those who serve women holistically in the childbearing years.
Sharing knowledge, wisdom, experience and saying a big YES to COURAGE.
Come join us here as we dance from our hearts and with joy.
Writing compliments of
Oum Ibrahim
Mother, Doula, Homeopath
Oum Ibrahim birthed joyfully into motherhood in 1999 and has been serving women as a doula ever since. A mom of many, homeopath and soft tissue therapist, she is drawn to the rhythm and respect that Ayurveda offers for all seasons of life. Oum has a particular fascination with the formation of community and relationships and you can read some of her ponderings here on the Sacred Window Blog.
Here at the Center for Sacred Window Studies, we share voices from many perspectives and backgrounds. We believe that the sacred weeks post birth, and the experience of humanity is experienced in countless ways. We learn by listening to one another and honoring our stories. The views and opinions of our writers do not necessarily reflect the mission, viewpoints or opinions of the Center for Sacred Window Studies.
Conscious Postpartum Caregiver Program
Inspired by Ayurvedic Principles
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