This is a special and thought-provoking conversation. I'm excited to bring on Kristin Hauser again (see Ep 18 for part 1) to deepen into talking about the experience of motherhood, womanhood, and womb vitality. Each sub-topic is so rich and could be expanded on a lot. In this episode, we talk about:

What Kristin's integration and shifting as a mother of 3 looks like now, and how she's set up structure/support to make life more easeful How she maintains and carries her self-care practices throughout the season of early motherhood, and her devotion to nourishment What welcoming in more support has looked like for her How women have an innate and instinctive knowing and "North Star" to guide us, if we can trust it How different the evolution of a first-time mother is from those with older/multiple kids, and what experience can bring The menstrual cycle as a psychospiritual journey, and how we exchange Jing and Yin for spiritual expansion and to bring in children Jing is our Essence and genetic material, and there's different schools of thought in relation to how it gets used up or its potential to be replenished Pregnancy as a state of excess and how it can shift certain patterns in women (autoimmune conditions, painful cycles, yin deficiencies) Kristin's experience of a healing, regenerative 3rd pregnancy "We offer our Jing, or Essence...and in return, we also get closer to that Essence of who we are, each time [pregnancy]" How trauma depletes us further and uses our resources vs. an untraumatized pregnancy/birth experience - how it impacts your long-term vitality and how that Jing gets preserved or not, or how you come closer to or further away from your soul Essence How many women who miss out on an undisturbed, physiological birth are seeking to re-imprint that missed experience of altered states of consciousness through plant medicine The impact of powerful plant medicines on women's hormonal health, and learning about re-building from women who have experience with these medicines without burnout "The big issue is that we are not being initiated into the blood rites, or initiated into what the menstrual cycle can really offer us" Ways to find more balance in our Yang culture: "For mothers, their stress hormones are higher than anyone" Complications during the birth process can make it difficult for women to tap into the Yin state of their physiology, but we can re-build/restore/re-pattern (especially during the postpartum time) How we can use the postpartum time to restore our Yin and to not get stuck in those Yang states of physiology. It's a practice that expands during the early mothering years. "How can I choose to be in relationship to the pleasure of motherhood and the pleasure of my day to day life that can help sustain me over time?" Orienting more towards states of pleasure rather than dysregulation, overwhelm, and exhaustion in motherhood Staying in victim-mode obstructs mothers from fully healing their depletion, because it drains your vitality when you are disconnected from your own source of agency. Questioning the narrative around "vitality lost" and shifting the focus on areas that are going well Her stories about her mother Book suggestions

Kristin Hauser is an acupuncturist, Herbalist and Somatic Sex Educator. Her practice is focused on women’s hormonal, sexual and pelvic health, fertility through postpartum. You can visit Kristin and her body of work/offerings at www.wombmedicine.com and on IG @kristinhauser

Resources Mentioned:

"Hormone Repair Manual" - Lara Briden

"Getting to Zero" - Jayson Gaddis

"The Myth of Normal" - Gabor Mate

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Thanks so much for listening. Here are some ways you can support this podcast:

- Leaving a review (on Apple podcasts) if you are enjoying it

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- Check out my Learning Library for womb massage workshops, pelvic care training + more...

10. Our Matrilineage: Raising Daughters + Community-Building in these Times with Katherine

Rooted WomanBy Bethany WildeNov 06, 2022