The Spiritual Meaning of Postpartum: A Deeper Look at Motherhood

Hi, and welcome back to the Postpartum Prep Podcast. My name is Ceridwen. I'm your podcast host and your guide to preparing for a smoother start to life with your new baby.

I'm trained as a postpartum doula, a lactation counselor, an infant sleep practitioner, but today's episode is actually drawing on something entirely different, and we're going to be diving into the spiritual meaning of postpartum. I feel like this episode might come with some caveats. I'm not even sure if I need to give a disclaimer, but I'm going to just say some things anyways right now as we begin.

First of all, I want to talk about what spirituality even means to me. When I'm talking about spirituality, I'm not talking about any specific religion. I don't have any, personally, I don't follow any set spiritual path or anything like that.

But really, spiritual to me just means looking at things in a deeper way, maybe a more metaphorical way, and doing so with a lens of compassion. And I think no matter what spiritual path you follow or religion or whatever you believe in, I think a lot of people will resonate with that. And if you do resonate with spirituality as being looking at things a little more deeply and bringing a lens of compassion to it, then you're in the right place, because that's what we're going to talk about today, specifically about postpartum.

Now, this episode is inspired by a couple of things, but just the main thing that stands out to me when it came to wanting to make this episode was when I was postpartum myself and I was going through a really hard time, I remember I was like, you know, sometimes when I had been through difficult times before in the past, I could see there was always a greater meaning that came out of it. Not that suffering is necessary in any way for spiritual growth or anything like that, but it was, you know, I was in a dark place looking for any kind of guidance. And I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I may have turned to Google.

And why I, what I actually, I don't even remember what Google said, but what stood out to me the most was when I started typing it in, I don't even know what I was typing in. I don't think it was this, but just one of the, for whatever I had been typing in, one of the suggested searches was something like, what is the spiritual meaning of postpartum? And it made me think, wow, obviously other people have this thought too. And now that I'm like several years later, it makes complete sense to me because I do think postpartum is such a spiritual journey.

I often talk about it as the postpartum portal because it almost is just this like, you know, from the beginning to kind of coming out of like the most intense phases of your postpartum journey. I think you just learn so much about yourself, about life, about, you know, becoming a mother. I just think there's so much.

You learn not just in like a mental like way, I don't know how to explain, not just in a tangible way, not like a lesson that you could just read off a list, but like a deeper learning. And personally, I don't even think that that deeper learning, I'm just thinking right now, if you're still six months, a year postpartum, I would say you're still probably too early for that learning to truly be integrated yet because I think there's, I mean, this is just probably just my personal opinion, but for me, let me tell you my story. I guess that's the place to go would be, I don't think it was until really like two years postpartum that I really started to feel the shifts of, I'd been through this journey postpartum, I'd been through like the difficult time of it, and I'd also come out the other side where it wasn't so intense anymore.

And it's only really at that point that I'd really started integrating the lessons that I learned from postpartum and being able to reflect on, on those lessons that I'd learned from postpartum from being through that postpartum portal. And I do think it's interesting that for me, it was more around the two year mark that I felt that way, because a lot of people do consider the whole first two years after birth to be the postpartum period. Obviously there's a lot of different perspectives you can take on that because some people will say postpartum is forever, which obviously, yes, postpartum is forever.

And some people will say postpartum is six weeks. And yes, there is like that most intense phase of the initial journey, but two years is generally like an agreed upon point where we can say around the two year mark, more things than not have kind of come out the other side of recovery. This episode is not meant to be about the debate on when postpartum is.

I guess I could make a whole other episode on how long postpartum really lasts. But for this episode, for the purpose of this episode, I'm just going to say, I think it's interesting that for me, the spiritual lessons of postpartum only started integrating around two years postpartum, because that does coincide with my personal postpartum recovery journey. There was definitely a big shift at that two year mark in the physical realm as well.

So this episode is going to be a little not as structured as my usual episodes. As you can probably already tell, this is going to be a little bit rambly. It's a little bit me just talking, reflecting.

I don't have a very solid structure in my notes for anything in this episode. I just have a few things that I wanted to touch on. But the first thing I want to do is answer that question.

What is the spiritual meaning of postpartum? And I think I meant to give this in my little disclaimer at the beginning, but I just want to start by saying, like, none of this is, none of this is me having all the answers. None of this is me thinking I have all the answers, because that's part of spirituality in itself, is that we just don't have all the answers. But for me, spiritual practice is just reflecting as best we can and not necessarily even coming to any answers, but just that practice of reflection and of sitting with something.

So that's what we're going to do today. So just know that I don't think any of this is me having, you know, I don't know what is the spiritual meaning of postpartum because I don't actually believe anyone can ever answer that. So today's, that's why this episode is a little bit rambly, because it is just me reflecting as best I can.

And if you do have any more thoughts, I would love to continue this conversation. You're welcome to hop on over to my Instagram DMs and I'd love to hear from your perspective, what do you think the spiritual meaning of postpartum is? And also I'd love to hear at what stage postpartum you are. So are you still pregnant? If you're listening to this podcast, you might still be pregnant.

And I'd love to hear when you're pregnant, what do you think the spiritual meaning of postpartum is? And if you're further down the line, if you've already given birth, it would be really interesting as well to hear what you think, having gone through postpartum, what you think the spiritual meaning of postpartum is. And yeah, so all that being said, let's go back to this question. What is the spiritual meaning of postpartum? And I'm going to go into all of this kind of way more in depth, but my initial kind of, this is where I'm at right now on my thoughts about the spiritual meaning of postpartum.

The main thing, and I draw on this just to remind you for the last time, this is not me saying this is absolute, this is just my own reflections from my own postpartum journey and from working with mothers as they've gone through their own postpartum journeys and witnessing that. One very common, also I'll just add this, I personally, I've only had one baby and when I work with parents, pretty much nine times out of 10, I'm working with first time moms. So this episode is probably most relevant to first time moms.

I can't draw any conclusions about postpartum when it's your second or third or fourth baby. I'm sure there's going to be things in this that apply, but I just want to give my, kind of the context for my perspective because it is a bit limited in that way in that I just don't have a lot of experience with postpartum for second babies and beyond. And I want to be clear about that.

But okay, let me finally get to it. The spiritual meaning of postpartum, where I'm at right now, my thought is postpartum is the place where you are basically set back to ground zero with your life and you're rebuilding it from that point up. And what I mean by that is you essentially have to relearn how to do absolutely everything because your life has changed so immensely that, for example, literally learning how do I go to the bathroom with a baby? How do I brush my teeth with a baby? How do I eat with a baby? How do I find time to drink water with a baby? How do I, did I say shower? How do I shower with a baby? How do I get out the front door with a baby? I know these things might seem really weird, but this has really been my experience personally and from witnessing other mothers go through their own journeys.

It's like you're literally learning from the most basic things of how do I live my life now that I have a baby with me? And this is actually where I find most people struggle because they are not prepared at all for the fact that there is this kind of learning curve that happens when you have a new baby and you really are just trying to figure out the most basic things. I always say, you know, I think a lot of people, you feel like you're living in survival mode because it kind of can be this time where, you know, like, you know, I said things like how do I brush my teeth with a new baby? You might be thinking like that sounds ridiculous, but actually the logistics of figuring out how to brush your teeth with a baby can be a really difficult thing. And when you're struggling to even brush your teeth, even find the time to go to the bathroom, it can feel that's hard.

I mean, that's not an enjoyable experience. That's not something that you're feeling like you're in a state of thriving right then. And that's why I think a lot of people do feel like it's a time of just survival mode.

So I don't say any of this to scare you. I say it partly because obviously this is just my, um, I'm going to talk a little bit more about the spiritual meaning of this, but also this is the postpartum prep podcast. And I do say this because I think it does help to prepare you more realistically for what postpartum is like.

I'm all about realistic expectations here. So yeah, there's this real, very real element where you feel like you're living in survival mode. And when I work with parents, I actually encourage them to lean into this survival mode, not in terms of like embrace the chaos, more so in terms of, okay, we know it's really hard for you right now to find the time to meet your most essential basic needs.

If that's the case, then that's all you should be focusing on. That's what I mean when I say leaning into survival mode. And one of the things I actually have had clients do in the past is write a list, write a list of all these most essential self-care needs.

So things like using the bathroom, brushing your teeth, having a shower, eating three meals a day, eating two snacks a day. If that, you know, whatever your diet looks like, drinking water to meet your thirst, like these really basic essential, like if you do not meet these, you are going to feel absolutely awful. Like you are not going to even feel human if you're not doing these things.

I encourage them to literally write a list of what these things are so that when it comes to taking care of yourself postpartum, you know, you'll see all these lists about like, here's how to feel better postpartum. Make sure you're taking a walk every day. Make sure you're taking time for yourself to just meditate and do something you enjoy every day.

What about taking it back? Taking it back to those real essentials first. If even just using the bathroom is a stressful situation for you right now, I'm not going to be telling you that you need to go take a walk and find time to do something fun for yourself. I'm going to be telling you, let's really strategize.

How are you going to use the bathroom in a way that is not stressful for you? How are we going to help you find the time to brush your teeth twice a day? How are we going to get you those nourishing meals that your body truly needs to help you heal and recover and breastfeed your baby and feel well mentally? Like that's the stuff that I care about first. And this is what I mean when I'm talking about it's really like building your life from the ground up. You're learning, you're figuring out all these things.

I will say as well, it's not for everybody such a struggle. The people who struggle with this most is usually when there's not a lot of support and I'm not saying it's impossible to do these things. It's certainly possible to do these things if you don't have a lot of support but that's also especially when you want to be really strategic about planning for these things.

But let's just go back to this the spiritual meaning of postpartum thing. So that's my first thought. I think there's this kind of I don't know a lot of spiritual traditions talk about fire as being like you know you've burnt everything to the ground but that creates a new ground from where things can grow.

Something along those lines that's probably really not a great way of explaining it but hopefully you understand what I mean and I just think there's a certain element of kind of like your old life has really kind of burned to the ground and that in itself is hard and that in itself is something a lot of moms do genuinely need to grieve and that's a very normal part of having an especially with your first baby and even with you know second babies if you know there's a part of grieving the life you had before that baby and that's actually can be really normal. Obviously if it's something you're really struggling with it's affecting your ability to cope in everyday life or you just generally feel like you need a little support in processing that grief. Absolutely those would be reasons to reach out to somebody like a therapist a counselor who ideally somebody who has experience working with perinatal mental health but a certain amount of grief can genuinely be normal it's something that I see with a lot of moms because you are grieving that life that kind of has just burnt to the ground and that period in between kind of when your old life has just gone and you're adjusting to the new life that you've got with your baby there can be this period of adjustment and that adjustment period can feel really uncomfortable sometimes and that's also normal but you know there's a fine line between normal and I'm really not coping I'm really struggling to meet my everyday needs right now I need help I need probably professional help I might need mental health support etc there is a fine line between what's normal and what's not and I don't want to I think there's I don't want to come across here as saying you know if you're really struggling postpartum that's normal and it's pretty spiritual like that's not what we're doing here but I think you know even if it even if you're in a place where you're thinking this is at the level where I need professional support or mental health support or whatever there's nothing unspiritual about that as well like that is all part of this process that we then go into of rebuilding so wherever you're at that process of rebuilding of learning okay I'm learning now how do I live life with my new baby that rebuilding is spiritual and it's spiritual no matter what that looks like because it's your journey and that's another thing about the spirituality of becoming a mother is it really is not these like big I don't know I think we talk a lot about like these spiritual thresholds that we pass especially if you're kind of if you've already been in this world talking about the spirituality of motherhood we often talk about these thresholds that you cross through and yes those those those big moments are really important but for me the spiritually the spirituality of motherhood is really in your everyday life and I think that's the part that we often don't even recognize because I I I don't know let me talk a little bit more about my own experience for a sec so when I was going through pregnancy and postpartum actually let me even backtrack a little further back before I was ever pregnant for the the previous like 10 years before that I would say I really had been on this spiritual journey from like my early teenage years and then in my late teenage years and then kind of onwards from there it was the most like intense but I was by the time I kind of got pregnant I had been spiritual practice and just spirituality had just been a very normal everyday part of my life and throughout my pregnancy and postpartum journey I really felt you know in some ways I felt more connected especially during pregnancy I felt more connected than ever obviously you're having you know you're you're creating life you're closer than ever to whatever creation creativity is so and you know I would often get like feel like I was getting messages about you know even like you know whether my baby was going to be a boy or a girl and like what we should call my baby and especially I actually sorry this is totally like a tangent from talking about the spiritual meaning of postpartum but just on the topic of spirituality and pregnancy I actually knew before I even did a pregnancy test that I was pregnant and I was not trying that's a whole other story in itself but I was not trying to have a baby but I knew because I kept getting all these signs all these spiritual signs I just knew and I I took a pregnancy test before I even should have been able to take a regular pregnant pregnancy test and it was positive and it was just so crazy like I just knew so anyways my point my point is in some ways I felt more connected than ever but in many ways I didn't feel connected to my spirituality at all like at all and this was true during pregnancy but then it definitely was you know in pregnancy I was aware of it I was aware that I felt disconnected from my spirituality but by the time that postpartum came around I was not even aware that I felt disconnected I at that point just felt completely disconnected there wasn't even like a thought in my mind obviously I guess there was a thought in my mind when I had googled something about the spiritual meaning of postpartum but I guess that's how disconnected I was is like I couldn't even tap into my own my own connection to spirituality to answer that question I had to literally ask google you know that was that I remember that that was at least not you know probably not more than two months postpartum at that point but I didn't feel like my spirituality really came back online until I don't know maybe even I think I remember like the first time I really got slightly more back into my spirituality was around a year postpartum when I started seeing clients at that point I was starting to see clients um as part of my training as a postpartum doula and it was the first time I'd I'd done any reiki on myself in years and I just really took a moment you know before every meeting with a client I would just take a moment do some breath work do some just connecting with my body and actually probably remembering how to do that was it brought me back online in terms of like in my everyday life then it kind of trickled in and by the time I'd reached two years postpartum my spirituality had just become like an everyday part of my life again but there really was during that first year postpartum just nothing and I think there's a couple reasons why I felt so disconnected during that time first of all I think I before I was pregnant I'd always had this kind of idea of what the spirituality of pregnancy and postpartum was like you know especially like I was really into looking at like birth videos those really sacred birth videos and I was really into what are they called mother's blessing thought those were really cool where you know it's all the all the women in the circle celebrating the mom and you know I'd see a lot of stuff on instagram or whatever that I felt really inspired by that are these really like visual representations of maybe what spirituality looks like but in pregnancy and postpartum but this none of those visuals were actually a part of my own journey so I think first of all there was this like element of like the spirituality of my pregnancy and postpartum journey just didn't look anything like I had expected it to so I didn't really know where the spirituality was in it if that makes sense because it wasn't what I thought it would look like there's another element where now that I'm down further down the line how I now see spirituality as a mother is it's much more integrated just into your everyday life than at least for me than it was before I was a mother so before I was a mom spirituality to me was doing some meditation when I woke up doing like a meditation practice when I woke up in the morning it was journaling it was writing affirmations it was doing little ceremonies with myself or rituals these kind of visual is not the right word but these very like marked moments of this is a spiritual moment that kind of thing and now that I'm a mom every moment is a spiritual moment for me and I know this this was definitely like a part of my spiritual practice before I was a mom as well kind of seeing everything as spiritual and practicing you know the practice of mindfulness how you can bring that to every moment and but that's never been more true than in motherhood and it kind of just took me a while to see that part of it is obviously when you are really struggling you know when I was really struggling in those early months and you know that that first year postpartum it would have been hard for me to even see that struggling as spiritual because I don't and again like I don't think suffering in is a spiritual thing I think and you know actually I was thinking about this the other day like part of what actually you know when my mental health was at its worst which was around a year postpartum for me one of the things that I was struggling with was at that time I had started to like want to reconnect with my spirituality and so for example I would try and do like a meditation practice when I was playing with my son so I would try and be really mindful you know practicing mindfulness and try and see the joy where I could and experience you know feel the gratitude where I could for the time that I was spending with my son and we would sit outside and I would try to feel the sun on my face and the feeling of the grass or whatever and actually I that in itself was such a struggle for me and I was so upset about how what a struggle that was for me and that was like part of this really difficult cycle that I had in my head where you know I just it was part of the reason why I struggled so much with practicing mindfulness was because I literally had this constant this constant stream running through my head of just negative and anxious thoughts turns out I actually genuinely did have like I was experiencing postpartum depression I was experiencing postpartum anxiety so that accounts for it um but yeah when I tried to like reconnect with my meditation practice actually seeing how much I was struggling with it that eventually that was one of the reasons why I did eventually go to see a therapist and I it turned out I did have postpartum anxiety and depression and so my point is like I don't want this to come across as I'm saying you've just got to enjoy every moment more and see the spirituality in every moment because that can be genuinely really hard to do when you're really struggling when you're really in a bad place and it's not about trying to use spirituality to bypass something that you genuinely need real support for this is about you know just in general when there is I think the opportunity to see how spirituality can be a part of everyday moments and especially in motherhood when we just don't always have the time for these big moments of spiritual practices where like you're like this and it's is a really sacred moment this is a you know a sacred moment of prayer or a sacred moment of meditation in motherhood it often it might not look like that some for some people it might but this is just my experience motherhood has really been actually spirituality is sitting here breastfeeding my baby and just being really aware in this moment which again I really struggled for the first few months with painful breastfeeding for various reasons which is a whole nother episode but again it's like I couldn't just experience that as a spiritual moment because I genuinely needed more help in that moment because I was really really suffering in that moment and again this is not this is just another example where I'm not trying to say we need to try and experience a sense of spirituality when we're genuinely struggling. It's not about bypassing struggling, but it's about when there are these opportunities to connect with our spirituality just in day-to-day life, so You know looking into my baby's eyes That can be a spiritual practice You know mimicking my baby that that can be a spiritual practice because I have to really be Focused on them. I'm really meditating on their face to understand how I can mimic my face back to them, or… what's another example? You know, reading a book with your baby that can be a really a practice of mindfulness And it's just it's not even necessarily About you know another example is like lying with my baby while he's lying with my son while he's falling asleep It's not even about making it like this spiritual practice like where I'm intentionally trying to practice meditation While I'm lying with him It's the lying with him in itself is a kind of meditation and That's just one way where it's like this is really Spiritual practice just integrated into everyday life Almost without even having to try motherhood is just such a spiritual practice But I do think our spiritual practices from before pregnancy Can really Those spiritual practices before pregnancy where it was I would take this this special moment the sacred moment to do a spiritual practice in that moment I Think those practices. It's like actually what we were practicing for is now in motherhood in every moment We're bringing those practices into the way we are in every moment.

I'll take another example is just the way that One of the best things you can do for your baby or your child is simply being present with them and being present What does that mean that just means? really being mindful in that moment and and it's just about the way that we are relating with our children and Relationship is a in every moment Your ability to really be present with your child that's something you can practice how to be present Before you've had a baby before when you're before you've become a mom you can be doing these practices to help you cultivate presence, but there comes a time when that presence is just Needed in that moment and it's not even like you know if you weren't practicing these things before you had a baby It's not like you can't now do it when you're with your baby, but I'm saying I guess first of all It might make it easier, but second of all It's more like if you weren't doing those practices before you had a baby This is now going to become the lesson of a lifetime Like you are going to be practicing this day in day out with your baby You're gonna be practicing how to be present you're gonna be practicing how to be mindful and When things feel hard you're going to be practicing how to have trust and have faith how many people I? Know who sometimes in situations with their children all they can do is just pray There's a certain way in which parenthood really does especially early parenthood But well I can't say especially because I don't actually I haven't experienced parenthood with older children yet, but in in early parenthood There is a certain element where sometimes I think you do Naturally just turn to spirituality and spiritual practices and spiritual concepts or whatever just Naturally because it's part of coping with life And actually you know even for example when it comes to sleep like part of the way I have worked with parents when it comes to navigating their baby's sleep is of course looking at all the things to do with the sleep itself and And and and the parents well-being so you know the parents sleep and the parents nutrition and the parents mental health but there comes to a point where it's also like What spiritual practices do you have to help carry you through this journey of? Navigating infant sleep do you have any spiritual resources like prayer or meditation or whatever? It might be that you can draw upon to help you through this journey because often spirituality people do it's it's something people do reach for in challenging times, and that's you know one of the reasons why Me back like two months postpartum me I'm googling like what is the spiritual meaning of postpartum because I'm looking for I'm struggling And I'm looking for us to make sense of everything that's going on right now in a in a deeper way I think the last thing that I just wanted to talk about I think I kind of touched on this before but is that sense of time when it comes to spirituality and You know losing my kind of spiritual connection during postpartum I I talked to one of my other friends who's had a baby who had had a baby not too long after me we were talking about this and I Was we were relating on the fact that we both felt really disconnected from our spirituality and During that pregnancy and postpartum period and I asked her like what do you think it was for you? Why do you think you felt so disconnected and she really said it was just time like I didn't have time to do those things that I Usually would have and that's just another reason for me. Why we absolutely can it's definitely possible to make time for your spiritual practice, but There's no reason why your spiritual practice can't just be a part of your everyday life, you know, I am exactly all those kind of things I said before like can you pray while you're breastfeeding can you Meditate while you're washing your baby's hair. It's all Opportunity for spiritual practice another example when you're comforting your baby and you're soothing your baby You're not even needing to think about can I be mindful of my baby right now? You're not even needing to think about can I pray over my baby right now all of that Often just naturally becomes part of the process when you're soothing your baby.

So in some ways, it's not even that you need to Intentionally, you know, you absolutely can intentionally, you know, can I practice mindfulness in this moment? Can I XYZ spiritual practice in this moment while I'm with my baby can caring for my baby be part of you know can I bring my spiritual practice into the way I'm caring for my baby, but In another sense caring for your baby often is a spiritual practice in itself because it just naturally does require so much presence so much mindfulness so much Connection, etc. So even if there's not a lot of time for you to be Doing here like spiritual practices that you might have been doing before you were a mom That it absolutely is still possible to be in connection and direct connection possibly in the closest connection you've ever been before with your spirituality and Whatever you believe in through the practice of mothering one more example that I wanted to talk about when it comes to spiritual practice through the practice of motherhood is When it comes to making choices about your baby and this is especially for you if you are often when you're Looking to make choices in life you look to your faith To guide you or you look to your intuition to guide you when you're making choices about your baby Just as a reminder like these are all Places where you know, whether you're making choices about how you want to care for your baby or Choices about sleep or feeding or soothing your baby These are all opportunities to draw upon your spirituality in making these choices And if you haven't checked out my intentional choice guide or the episode that I did I think it's two episodes before this one about intentional choice You might be interested because There's a step in there which really is, you know, you can call it tuning into your mother's intuition you might even as part of tuning into your mother's intuition that might be part of Turning to if you believe in God or if you believe whatever you believe in whatever you might turn to for spiritual guidance That's all part of the process and that's a really easy way to root deeper into your spiritual connection Alternatively and I think this is really I'm just now realizing how how I think this really for me was a big point of where I lost that connection that spiritual connection because instead of Tuning in to myself and tuning in to whatever it is. I look for for spiritual guidance It was really I was turning to Google or I was looking I was just reading all the baby books and all the mommy blogs and all the You know, I was Instagram reels like not that you know, I'm sure there's there is definitely some helpful advice in Instagram reels but there's also Okay, there's a whole nother conversation.

I don't want to sound I guess I don't want to sound judgmental because I get it but I also It was like I was doing all of those things and I was completely just disconnected from Spiritual guidance from turning to spiritual guidance and I think part of that was I think you're getting all these messages From all around you that there's one right way to raise a baby There's one right way to take care of a baby Even if it's like conflicting messages the underlying tone of those conflicting messages Is that their way is the best way to take care of a baby? so ultimately there's one right way to take care of a baby and you need to find it and All these experts are gonna tell you how to find it Nobody's ever telling you to turn to turn towards spiritual guidance or to turn towards your intuition When it comes to finding the right way to raise a baby, although if you listen to my podcast, of course you'll know that that's something I truly believe in and I often advocate for is Turning to hit your your intuition. But yeah I just I know all all new moms are always trying to do their best and we often don't tell moms that turning towards their Spirituality can be one source of real wisdom when it comes to making choices about your baby or your birth or pregnancy and postpartum and feeding and whatever so I Guess this is permission to do that and a reminder that even if you I don't know I don't know. I don't know how I'm curious actually if you're listening to this podcast episode I'd be curious to know you're listening to it because you feel Connected to your spirituality right now and you just you just want something that resonates or are you listening to this podcast right now because You don't feel connected to your spirituality.

And is that why you were drawn to this episode? I would really really be interested to know kind of where you're at with everything right now and Regardless of where you're at. I'm really glad that you're here And I hope that this this pocket that not not just this episode, but this podcast in general I hope it can be a reminder that postpartum prep isn't just about Preparing for the practical stuff. It's not just about, you know Decorating the nursery and buying the right crib and getting all the diapers and baby clothes or whatever freezer meals Popsicles, whatever kind of postpartum prep the the practical stuff is not Necessarily just about the practical stuff because it's not just a practical transition it's also a Emotional transition is it's also a spiritual transition and that deserves to be prepared for that deserves Attention in your preparation as well Because I think ultimately, you know all those practical preparations, that's the stuff outside of us, but our inner world oh my gosh becoming a mother is such a Such an inner journey.

It's not just about having babies about the inner transformation, too That really you really It's so overlooked and I really don't want to overlook that here because I know we definitely are gonna be talking about practical preparations as well, but I Hope that this will always be a part of our conversations that will always reflect on not just the practical postpartum prep, but the Inner postpartum prep as well. And yeah, I think that's all I really wanted to say for this episode Like I said, I really am, you know, this episode is very much my own reflections and I would really be interested in hearing your reflections. I know I keep asking you This is the third time I've asked you to DM me on Instagram but I guess it is kind of weird just knowing you're gonna hear this and I have absolutely no idea your thoughts and obviously a podcast is very much a one-sided conversation But I would I would worry whether it'd be a two-way conversation.

So please send me a DM on Instagram If you do have any thoughts as a reminder, you can also leave a review for this podcast and that really helps me out It helps other moms to find this podcast you can also share this podcast with another pregnant mom or a new mom in your life and I'll see you in the next episode Thank you so much for listening to this long ramble. I have no idea. Let me look at how Okay, I've been talking for over an hour.

I don't know how long this is gonna be edited. Hopefully it will be about I'm guessing it's probably still gonna be about 45 minutes. So thank you for spending all this time with me.

I really I Hope that there was something helpful in this for you, even if not helpful I hope it was a chance for you to reflect on your own spiritual journey Don't forget that you can download my intentional choice guide if you're looking for more support with making these decisions that are rooted in not just you know that are that are rooted both in Evidence-based information and bringing your intuition bringing your spiritual inner wisdom into it as well So that free guide will be in the show notes. And yeah, I'll see you in the next episode. Thank you so much for listening today Bye