In this episode I am joined by Nadia Rafaat, yoga and meditation teacher, doula, and former journalist with a special interest in female empowerment and female spirituality.

Nadia recounts her difficult childhood, early career in gymnastics, and multi-year rebellious phase of class A drug use in London.

Nadia recalls how attending her first yoga class radically changed her life direction, and how bringing her spiritual practices of meditation and pranayama into her own pregnancy journeys unlocked profoundly transformative effects.

Having trained extensively as a doula and in pregnancy yoga, Nadia dives deep into the world of pregnancy and birth, criticising the mainstream medicalising model and offering an alternative, more intuitive approach.

Nadia also shares the powerful spiritual potential of giving birth, including her own spiritual experiences during labour, and shares her perspective on female empowerment and spirituality.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep170-yoga-of-birth

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics Include:

00:00 - Intro

01:10 - Childhood and gymnastics career

04:47 - A difficult upbringing and the beginnings of spirituality

07:38 - Rebellious phase and drug use

11:39 - Class A’s vs psychedelics

14:17 - First yoga class and a change in life direction

16:30 - An unplanned pregnancy and life uncertainty

19:44 - Going into labour at a meditation retreat

24:40 - Birth and attachment mothering

29:25 - Second pregnancy and pushing for a home birth

35:36 - Training in pregnancy yoga with Francoise Freedman and ongoing studies

38:18 - Nadia’s meditation training

45:24 - Yogic meditation experiences

47:54 - Mindfulness for mothers

49:01 - Third pregnancy and attentiveness to the mind

53:09 - Insight into suffering during labour

54:53 - History of childbirth from domestic to medical

01:01:32 - An intuitive birthing countercurrent

01:07:47 - Agendas behind the C-section trend

01:17:11 - The spiritual dimensions of giving birth

01:21:53 - Bringing birth back home

01:24:12 - The yoga of pregnancy

01:31:01 - Pratyahara during labour

01:34:15 - Female empowerment and spirituality

01:41:56 - Yoga on a woman’s terms

01:46:07 - Nadia’s work

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To find out more about Nadia Rafaat, visit:

- https://nadiaraafat.com/

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For more interviews, videos, and more visit:

- www.guruviking.com

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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James