Ritualizing Rest Kat D James

*meditation begins promptly*

Welcome to this guided Yoga Nidra, the companion meditation to episodes 18 & 19 regarding Maternal Mental Health in this Western society.

Experience this ancient practice known as Yoga Nidra, listen as often as you like (I encourage four sessions each week, but even once a week is highly profound & restorative).

BE SMART! Do not listen while driving, or while operating heavy machinery.

Before you begin, you are ensuring that you have spoken to your doctor or other health care provider to confirm that you are healthy and able to participate in this deep sleep meditation practice.



TO PRACTICE:


lay flat on your back, to ensure a deeper meditative state it is recommended to not prop up the head (if you must, do so)
option to place rolled towel/blanket under the knees for additional support and to reduce low-back pain
keep a blanket nearby or place one over your torso for warmth (body temperature drops during deep mediation)
resist the urge to move or fidget, but make any adjustments necessary and then return to stillness promptly
ask family members and animal companions to keep quiet and not disturb you for the entire duration of this meditation
enjoy! and please leave a comment, feedback or a testimonial if you feel prompted >^.^


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sensitive content warning: miscarriage; maternal mental health; details of birth & labor, including birth & labor trauma; intrusive thoughts; thoughts of suicide/suicide ideation; thoughts of harming others; self-harm; hallucinations; loss

2:15 Greetings from Di

2:50 What are Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders and why did the term Postpartum Depression get updated?

10:31 “If I would have known then what I know now, my birth experience would have been different” D.B.

24:06 “Why I am on the Board with Thrive Wellness Collective”; running out of medication and not wanting to “bother” the therapist over the weekend; experiencing a wrongful 72-Hour-Hold at the hospital and not being able to leave to get back to babies

27:14 Horrifying statistics re: Maternal Mortality Rates in the US; have a birth advocate, no matter what kind of birth you are planning

30:07 Postpartum Health Alliance to connect to a warm-line (real human) and get help in connecting to support groups and relevant therapists trained in PMADs. If no insurance, call anyway! Can connect with other resources available

31:02 Postpartum Support International for support specific to your needs e.g. support for BIPOC parents, support in another language, support for Queer Families, Single Mothers Groups, etc

31:44 Center for Mens Excellence, with Dr Daniel Singley in San Diego, offering support for fathers

32:02 How can I support loved ones experiencing PMADs? Just assuming that mothers are fine, focus is on baby

33:23 the power of sharing our stories

34:31 the importance of space holding and allowing the grief to be felt and recognized, however it shows up

36:12 Institute of Reproductive Grief in San Diego

39:00 the many jobs we do when being Mother; the importance of finding your Motherhood Community

43:38 Mothers and the importance of being able to express and name real life frustrations in parenting; breaking down the caricature of Mother that our Western Society has created

47:25 “how can this happen to me?” the risk factors of PMADs

49:45 Maternal Sleep Deprivation in PMADs

You can tune-in to my complimentary guided Yoga Nidra meditation for deep sleep rest and support with the sleep cycle. Weekly listening is encouraged. Practice while laying comfortably in bed, on the couch, or on a yoga mat. This restorative rest practice can have tremendous supportive benefits on the body and mind.


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In this [PART 1] to the conversation re: the Mental Health of Mothers in this modern, Western Society, I'll share a bit about my recent experience with being in full time Motherhood while also creating the business I am dreaming of - and the modern day challenges encountered while doing so, like...


inadequate childcare
having things "fall off the plate" as we attempt to take on more (more work outside the home, more creative jobs, more schooling or degree work...)
naming the real-life things that can feed into the anxiety, overwhelm, depression, loneliness, feelings of always failing, and why there is a Mental Health Crisis in our country
trying to "keep up" with suggested timeframes and schedules in this patriarchal society, and then remembering that as women and Mothers, we can and we must work in a different way


the feelings of anger when we have to sacrifice more, have to be more flexible, have to be patient with our available time to do work outside of caretaking and homekeeping
the continued imagining of a world & beautiful community that values and respects Mothers and children, including our Mental Health

remember, you can practice Yoga Nidra (a restorative rest practice) here for free


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Today we'll be joined by a massage therapist and intuitive being, Anise Wirth, here to continue the conversation started in [PART 1] about our experiences and how they can become stored or "trapped" in the body. Let's discuss one of my favorite ways for releasing stagnant "stuff" and moving it through... massage therapy!

3:35 Welcome to the show, Anise! A massage therapist is a licensed & trained professional and is someone you should be able to trust, and as Anise says, she is "sworn to secrecy" and everything that happens on the massage table, including conversations, are held sacred and kept private between client and practitioner. Anything shared here today is because there was explicit consent given by the previous client(s) involved.

6:05 humans are animals and we hold stress in our body - headaches, sick to our stomach, let's explore how this shows up and manifests in real life

“Our experiences quite literally shape us.” A.W.

9:03 mothers and massage, experiencing resistance in the body after giving birth; pelvic floor health; mothers health is not valued or taken seriously in the medical world in this Western Society; mothers and womens health suffers

12:12 "the biggest disservice that Western Medicine has done for us is to teach us to be separate from our bodies" A.W.

the beauty of bridging Eastern & Western teachings, science, and medicine

16:00 the generations long before us that involved intuition with medicine in their healing; the way we have learned to separate these and how can we return to a more both/and approach in this modern society; the gift of intuition and the gift of modern medical science

23:11 the price point of massage in our Western Culture and why we treat massage like a luxury self-care treat; health insurance and massage therapy coverage;

"Can we all call our insurance companies and request or ask how we can have massage therapy sessions discounted or covered?!" K.D.

29:15 experiencing massage regularly and the effects it has on your whole being; learning how to foam roll and how this can be an essential tool in your wellness kit for every day home use

"Zoo animals and humans are the only animals that have forgotten how to 'shake it out' to release the stress hormones - to reset the whole system"

33:55 how to practice lymphatic drainage at home; an essential "tool" for your wellness kit and so easy to do on your own; why this practice is beneficial and for what health reasons

39:00 belly massage/abdominal massage; releasing tension from the gut; being ticklish is a panic response; releasing the trauma of being tickled as a child without consent from the body

41:15 the difference between a MASSAGE THERAPIST vs MASSEUSE; showing up as medical professionals in the world

48:00 experiencing another "release" in the body, finally being free of "back-stabbing" pain that had been lingering after a bad chiropractic adjustment; what happens after we have a "big release" or big new awareness re: the body

1:00:26 so often we have expectations of how we are supposed to heal; we expect and want a quick fix; we compare to others experiences and results and we think there must be something wrong with me; the reality of the healing process, we are cyclic beings made of vibrating cells

1:05:28 gratitude + awkward, long-ish goodbyes

Be sure to reach out to Anise with any questions or if you need support in finding a local massage therapist to work with.

You can work with Anise if you are in the Durango, CO, area 3


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QUEER TAROT CARD PULL BEGINS AT 14:44

Join me for the introduction of our topic in this [PART 1] episode...


what happens when we are not able to fully process an experience or traumatic event (in that moment or even at a later time)?


why does an experience become "trapped" or stored in our body?


how can we recognize a "block" in our energetic system / the pathways know as Meridians (in Traditional Chinese Medicine) and Prana (in Indian Yogic Teachings)?


how do we "move it through" and return to energy flowing easefully?


what are some of the tools we can utilize to assist us in releasing stagnant energies from the body and energy systems?

return on November 1 to tune-in to [PART 2] with my guest, a gifted massage therapist and business owner, who will share her experiences and knowledge with us around this topic


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Meet Kristina Franziska Haas, @theAncestralHomekeeper, a mother, writer, and creator.

In addition to homeschooling her 2 children, Kristina writes a weekly Substack letter and has a relaxing YouTube channel dedicated to sharing glimpses inside of her home in Northern California where she practices slow living with her family & animals in this modern society.

Kristina is dedicated to blending the wisdom of our ancestors with modern understandings of self-nurturing & emotional health, in order to create an alternative to capitalistic patriarchy for her family.

2:50 craving snow capped mountains & autumn colors while growing up in Nor Cal; slow living - "we’re not Amish!"

5:28 the wisdom our ancestors possessed re: being seasonal and sustainable; co-living and co-working with the land and with nature; teaching my children what I should have been taught.

7:17 born with migration grief; an internal aching for ancestral land; a love for books & stories, escaping to ancestral places through reading; connecting to and/or moving to a climate that is similar to your ancestral home

11:42 the mother I thought I was going to be VS the mother I became the moment my children showed up; fewer techniques in the recipes, consolidating work in the kitchen - simplifying. Utilizing modern conveniences (like appliances!) to support us in a slower way of moving through our day.

18:00 the benefits of simplifying the way we approach food, eating, and nutrition; a history of childhood food scarcity; the unexplained struggle of showing up in the kitchen; “what am I expecting from myself, anyway?” deciding who and how we want to be in the kitchen and in the home; growing up with convenience foods and being a latch-key kid;

23:00 Kristina’s components to a delicious, healthy, easeful mealtime at home with the family

25:38 how does intentionally living slower affect the way that you show up in the world & in your community? Homeschooling in this modern society; remembering to slow down in our day, even when we are blessed with a wealth of opportunities in the homeschool community; incorporating rest into our daily routine; suddenly we’re decolonizing homeschool

30:00 entangled in patriarchal, Western ways; tuning-in to what we truly want & need; disconnecting from hyper-productivity; when capitalism wasn’t a dirty word; by educating our children in a seasonal way, we are being inherently anti-capitalist; learning to value rest

37:47 the stress of always being busy; eating in the car, catching up with the kids in the car, rushing to and from all of the things; where and how am I doing things differently? Am I being an example to my children of a different way of being, or am I just talking about it?

42:08 if we value rest, if we value slower, simpler living, we have to learn how to say NO to things we want to do, to gadgets we want

50:00 to do this work and to be relevant, I have to be authentic and realistic - because this is the reality. We live in a shitty, chaotic world. How the fuck can I have a day where I feel like I had restorative rest, and good healthy meals, so that when the next few days are busy or stressful I can be grounded and intentional?

53:00 keeping it real, and kind, with the kids; teaching by example; pause, breath, move slower; we’re allowed to feel our feelings and we are still going to do the right thing for our family

58:03 connecting with ancestors even when disconnected from living family of origin;

1:05:49 generational healing & breaking generational curses; being the cycle-breaker; preventing the boulder from running over my daughter and all of the daughters after her

1:10:27 reclaiming Homekeeper; closing words from Kristina Franziska


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