Being Mom Ali Kozoll

#010: This week's guest is Liz Baghaei, who lives in Burbank, CA with her soon-to-be 5 year old son. In this episode, Liz shares her incredible story of becoming a single mom. She talks about her unexpected, yet healthy, pregnancy, how pregnancy positively impacted her relationship to her body, and her easy, unmedicated, doula-supported birth. Liz describes the loneliness and anxiety of her first year as a mom and what helped her stay connected to herself despite having very little support. She also tells the inspiring story of how she persevered into business ownership by breaking ground for her hot yoga school, Stretch when her son was just 7 months old. Liz gets honest about what she found surprising about motherhood, the rewarding relationship she has with her son, and what is challenging her the most as a mother right now. She also talks about how she stays grounded, what drew her to studio ownership, and how she defines authenticity. Finally, Liz explains how yoga, breath, and meditation show up in her real-life moments of anxiety and/or mothering stress.
Liz Baghaei was born in Iran and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She is the owner and lead teacher of Stretch, a high-end yoga school with authentic teaching of the therapeutic Bishnu Ghosh lineage.  She has been practicing yoga for over 18 years and has been a Bikram certified teacher for over 13 years. 
With her educational background in literature and communication, she created the unique opportunity to immerse herself in working with teachers through secondary education through labs and feedback. Her passion has always been how to improve the teaching of posture mechanics, operational command, conscious precise language, and energetic connection. Through this work, she realized her potential in her ability to mentor others and so began her journey to open her school. 
Liz built her custom 5000 sq ft school from the ground up, and while she faced incredible struggles and obstacles along the way, she believed in this school and persevered. During this time she unexpectedly became pregnant with her only son. 
What drove her to continue was that each time she stood on her mat it was evident that this was her calling. Her passion for helping her students flourished even as her challenges increased. She continues to use the same skills and techniques she teaches her students: to breathe, to lean into discomfort, to surrender, and to allow the path to unfold as it should.
For the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://beingmompodcast.com/podcast/episode-010

#009: This week's guest is Jennifer Sterling, who lives in Manhattan with her 8 year old son. In this episode, Jennifer gets honest about her experience of being pregnant, which lasted 44 weeks and included pregnancy-long nausea and trouble gaining weight. She also describes her traumatic cesarean birth experience and shares the difficulties she faced during the postpartum period, which included flashbacks to her birth, her divorce, and a period with homelessness. She reveals what she finds rewarding and difficult about being a single mom and what she does to stay nourished. We talk about Jennifer’s work as a registered Dance/Movement Psychotherapist, how she chose the term ‘bodyful’ for her organization that supports black women living with depression, and she suggests a gentle approach for gaining access to pleasure in the body. We also discuss her book Dear Strong Black Woman which speaks to the experience of upholding the “strong black woman” ideal through powerful poetic expression. Finally, Jennifer offers wise suggestions for women who find themselves navigating motherhood and depression, or any other of life’s challenges.
Jennifer Sterling is a registered dance/movement psychotherapist and holistic nutritionist based in New York City. She is also the creator of Bodyful Healing, an organization that provides mental health support to black women living with depression. Her book Dear Strong Black Woman: Letters of Nourishment and Reflection from One Strong Black Woman to Another is available via a link in the show notes, or on Amazon.
For the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://beingmompodcast.com/podcast/episode-009

#008: This week's guest is Erin Pace, who lives in New York City with her family, which includes her husband and their 2 year old son. In this episode, Erin shares the beautiful story of her son’s birth via surrogacy, a decision she made with her husband after several disappointing rounds of IVF which did not result in pregnancy. Erin’s 8-year story of perseverance, faith, surrender, gratitude, and love is inspiring. She even explains how she and her husband remained connected to each other along their journey together. Erin also talks about being a mom to a toddler, what she found surprising about motherhood, and her practice of all-day self care. She talks about the origins of her faith, and how that now translates into her spiritual and somatic work with women.
Erin is a sensual movement teacher, spiritual realignment guide and body reader. Her “Responsive Body Practice” combines cognitive, somatic, intuitive and spiritual tools to help women return to and stay aligned with their highest self-connection. From thriving leaders to women who might be experiencing anxiety, shame, grief, life-threatening disease, etc., she helps them keep their vessel clear and align with divinity and potential. It’s what she refers to as activating the whole holy self.
Erin holds a BFA from Syracuse University and has 30+ years of experience in various arenas of professional dance/theater, event production, company management, celebrity assistance and more. She has spent the last 11 years as an S Factor teacher, devoted to helping women become fully expressed as emotional erotic beings. The spiritual design of her work is influenced by a plethora of great thought leaders and practitioners including Paul Ferrini, Pema Chodron, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Bruce Lipton and more. www.erinpace.com
For the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://beingmompodcast.com/podcast/episode-008

#007: This week's guest is Kirsten Zinchuk Haley, who lives near Princeton, NJ and is a mom of three children, two daughters (13 and 11) and one son (7). In this episode, Kirsten talks through all three of her birth stories, one cesarean after her breech baby was undetected by her doctor, a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), and finally, a wildly free unmedicated birth using the hypnobirthing technique. Kirsten shares her perspective about the heartbreaking joy of motherhood, the particular love of a son for his mother, what she loves about spending time with her children, and how she cultivates presence in both motherhood and business. Kirsten talks about her work in the healing/arts, why she included a salt cave to be part of her business, and how the spiritual nature of her work inspires her mothering toward curiosity, laughter, and pleasure. She also explains how storytelling can be used to empower and heal by sharing her journey from studying Anthropology, to Brand Marketing, to Women’s Circles and a variety of other healing modalities. Finally, Kirsten confesses to fully indulging in the pleasure (and peace) of spending a week away from her family.
Kirsten Zinchuk Haley is the owner and founder of sault + spirit. She seeks to provide a space for expansion and healing for all. Believing everything we need to live our most joyful, purposeful lives resides in the stories we tell, the profound wisdom of our bodies and learning to hold this whole dance of life with a looser grip and a more joyful heart. In a world and a body that are constantly evolving and becoming, nothing is beyond our power to transform and transmute.
Kirsten has a graduate degree in Ethnography and Anthropology from the University of Chicago and studied Creative Writing and Philosophy at Emory University. She has been investigating and crafting stories for brands, groups, and individuals for over 20 years, transforming what is possible for all. Her lifetime love of the mystical tradition of tarot and extensive graduate work in media theory has informed her work on visual narrative as a powerful tool for trauma resolution and healing. She is a reiki master, attuned to reading the akasha, a master of eriksonian hypnosis and has been studying the art of embodiment and open-hearted intimacy for the past few years. Currently, she is studying more somatic modalities with a keen interest in the stories the body is telling through our movements, habits, and gestures. The stories we tell… linguistically, socially, psychologically, culturally, visually, physically, relationally …that is the heart of it all.
For the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://beingmompodcast.com/podcast/episode-007

#006: This week's guest is Nina Restieri, who lives in Connecticut and is a mom of four children, Andrew (23), Jenna (21), Matthew (19), and Jamie (16). In this episode, Nina shares the unique choices she made with her ex-husband toward becoming a beautiful, blended family, how her motherhood journey has evolved over time, the process of learning to take care of herself, how she feels about becoming an empty-nester, and what she worried about unnecessarily when her children were younger. Nina explains how she purposefully created her business, momAgenda, around her role as a mother and expresses her honest opinion about finding work/life balance. She talks about a variety of potent, personal topics including losing her mother soon after the arrival of her first baby, her current dating life, and how parents can create close relationships with their children. Finally, she shares her straightforward tip for moms who are feeling overwhelmed. 
Nina Restieri is a mom of four children and the Founder and President of momAgenda. She initially created momAgenda for herself, as a way to get more organized and find peace of mind amid the chaos of raising young children. She quickly realized that her new creation could benefit not just her but thousands of other stressed-out and overwhelmed moms. Shortly thereafter, Nina debuted her line of organizing products at the National Stationery Show – and sold out within three days to 120 stores. At that moment, Nina knew she had struck a chord with women all over the country who had the same desire to bring some order to their hectic lives. Nina graduated from Colgate University where she majored in English. She writes a popular blog and is a frequent guest contributor on the topics of self-care, time management, parenting, motherhood, and divorce on other websites and blogs.
For the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://beingmompodcast.com/podcast/episode-006

#005: This week's guest is Saba Homayoon Hopkins, who lives in Los Angeles, California with her family, which includes her husband and their two kids, Lily (9) and Alex (5). In this episode, Saba talks about how pregnancy helped dramatically change her view of her body and tells the story of her hospital birth. She then discusses the loneliness of pumping breastmilk and shares how she prepared her daughter for a sibling. Saba also talks about the experience of learning that her son has Sensory Processing Disorder, explains how she copes with the messiness of having kids, and expresses how much she loves the multi-tasking of motherhood. Because Saba is an actress, we talk about her upcoming show and how she is preparing herself and her family for her extended absence while filming out of town. Finally, Saba shares how she is learning to put herself first and reveals a candid and relatable mom confession about overwhelm.
Saba Homayoon Hopkins is a wife, mom to two spit-fire kids, Lily and Alex, and mom to one fur baby, Reece. When not in the role of “mommy,” she can be seen tutoring, teaching acting classes or on TV! She is an actress and will be seen in the tv show, “Chad” coming soon to TBS, playing, what else, a mom of two! But her greatest role in life will always be being a mom to her own two kids. Saba is most passionate about creating a home that feels safe for her children to be themselves in, to take risks in, to be messy in and to grow in. She believes in raising children who will be constructive members of their communities, who will be aware of injustice and fight it when necessary and who will always give back to those in need. She would describe her family as four divas always competing for the spotlight! It makes for a lot of craziness, sass, imagination, creativity, passion, personality, laughter and love. So much love. 
For the links and show notes for this episode, head to: http://beingmompodcast.com/podcast/episode-005