Our Mission
Our mission is to improve awareness and access to better postpartum care for all families. We educate professionals and families on a whole approach to supporting people through the weeks post birth. We emphasize health on a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and sensory level to support full healing. Our focus is on the mothers, the birth givers, that when they are properly cared for, babies and families will thrive. We believe that support during the first 42 days postpartum will impact the next 42 years of living, loving, parenting and partnering.
We are guided by the Universal Mother Principles of simplicity, flexibility, compassion, listening, grounding, intuition and non-judgement in the way we work with each other, with our students, with our colleagues and with the families we serve as a collective.
Each of the four founding team members from the Center for Sacred Window Studies came to this work through contact and study with the late Ysha Oakes, who founded the original Sacred Window School. Her wisdom and heart informed so many, and we honor her work and her memory.
The Center for Sacred Window Studies Family
Our Founders
Christine Devlin Eck
Christine is the Center’s Founder, Director and one of its Instructors since its inception in 2018. She has a background as an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Educator, Group Facilitator and Birth and Postpartum Doula. She is a busy mother of 4 boys, most of whom have been brought into the world using the principles we teach. She describes Ayurvedic Postpartum Care as truly powerful and transformative, and a missing link in modern postpartum care. Christine lives in Western Massachusetts with her pack of wild boys and amazing husband. Her love of this work continues to evolve as she focuses on the subtle changes people go through not only in postpartum, but throughout life, and how attending to the heart, mind and senses during all times of transition pave the way for healing of the body. Healing for the postpartum window is applicable ongoing as we navigate life as parents, partners and people wanting to do our best in the world!
Ashlee Sakaishi Wilkin
Ashlee is a founding instructor of the Center for Sacred Window Studies. She is a mama, an Ayurvedic Practitioner, a Massage Therapist, Birth and Postpartum Doula and educator. She has been fascinated and inspired by birth, babies, and pregnant mama bellies since she was a little girl. Growing up, she witnessed the birth miracle of baby animals many times at her mom’s Veterinary hospital. This and other life experiences planted the seed for her life-long interest in birth work. She is passionate about transforming our cultural perspective on pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenting by bringing back ancient wisdom for the modern family.
Charlotte Senseney Sternkind
Charlotte is a founding instructor of the Center for Sacred Window Studies. She was led to this work by Spirit as she came up with a business name during meditation. The teacher who trained her called one day and said she had been informally calling her students Ayurdoulas. That is how her deeper journey as a postpartum doula began after years of being a birth doula and prenatal massage therapist. She fully believes in supporting the mama and her experience of growing, birthing and nurturing life on this earth. Charlotte loves seeing how even the simplest shift can add sweetness to the mama’s Sacred Window and put a smile on her face in the midst of changes. Charlotte lives in San Antonio, TX.
Julia Fishman
Julia Fishman has been involved with the Center for Sacred Windows Studies as a founding instructor since our inception. She is an educator, an entrepreneur, an intuitive visionary, an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula, yoga teacher and an active Avatar Master. She loves to make learning of profound wisdoms fun, accessible, easy to digest and applicable to life. Guided by a commitment to pragmatically improving the world, Julia spends majority of her time traveling around the country and facilitating consciousness training courses for people and families from all walks of life and from all over the world. She is based in Massachusetts and the first thing you’ll notice is her relaxed warm directness and never-ending optimism, love and enthusiasm for life.
Our Team
Tona Lieseth, Instructor, Advisory Board
Tona Leiseth is an instructor, retreat support coordinator and advisory board member. She is a mama, an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Postpartum Caregiver, Panchakarma Specialist, Retreat Center Owner, and currently runs several businesses from her home in Idaho.
Roshni Kavate, Instructor, Student Advisor
Roshni is the Work Study + Student Advisor at CSWS. She is an Artist, Healer, Activist, Educator and former palliative care nurse. She is the Founder and Creative Director of Cardamom and Kavate, and the co-founder of Marigolde, an educational resource for postpartum healing, grief and trauma.
Eunique Deeann, Instructor, Advisory Board Member
Euni has supported CSWS as a community leader, instructor, advisor, brand strategist and photographer. Euni's professional work centers on education, support, creative expression and experience. She supports our community with embodiment spaces for us to actively experience sacred window care.
Karla Aberilla, Graphic Design, Digital Strategy
Karla has worked with the CSWS since 2020. Her support has helped us build, grow and organize all the digital aspects that are involved in running an online learning and resource center. Her brilliance in graphic design and software has brought our program to new levels of efficiency and operation.
Our Guest Instructors
Terra Rafael
Lactation and Breastfeeding
Dr. Prity maniar dal
Belly Binding + Diastasis Recti, Infant Care, Postpartum Care After IVF
Daniela perez
Conscious Infant Care
meghan thompson moore
Western Herbs for Postpartum
Rhonda fellows
Pelvic Steaming Series
courtney morris
Consciously Supporting Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders
katie damota
Breastfeeding Management for the Postpartum Professional
Maureen zwierzinski
Creating Ceremony in Postpartum Care
sondra hamilton
Herbal Support for Special Circumstances After Cesarean Birth
Sacred Window Studies Community
We give deep respect and gratitude to the many individuals who contribute to our blog, our podcast, our monthly community talks, live online collaborations and more. Our student, alumni and professional community come together in inspiring ways to share resources and education on the sacred postpartum window, and related areas of wellness. We honor these voices and are committed to a continued growing of community and connection in this important and rising field.