There is no way we can get to a place of accepting and embracing our full Selves with one hour of [fill in the blank] per week. Instead we need consistency, patience, reverence, and ritual in the ways we learn to be in the not doing.

That's Sadhana. Sadhana means daily spiritual practice.

It's the point of yoga and meditation, because yoga is inherently about honoring your whole being - body, mind, and spirit. And, we have to cultivate this type of practice every day. Maybe not an hour everyday. Maybe it's five minutes, 20, 30.

If you want to learn to accept yourself, to find inner harmony, to release harmful thoughts and anxieties, to find safety in unknown places, to learn how to embrace rest and pleasure, and to eventually love yourself...then you need Sadhana. And no one else can give it to you, but you. Sure, there are guides, but the gift is one you learn how to cultivate.

I recorded this episode one night this past week to welcome you into the Cultivating a Practice 21 Day Journey. We start December 18, 2022.

Join Cultivating a Practice: the 21 Day Journey here. 

That's a wrap on Season 1! Thank you for listening, sharing, and taking in Mother Birth. 

I also share a summary of what we've discovered, uncovered, grappled with and celebrated during Season 1 of Mother Birth.

In order to put together a beautiful Season 2, I have a request (or two). Would you help me? Listen to see how you can contribute to the podcast, its growth, and expansion; and to get a glimpse of what I would like to talk about next.

Show Notes:

Please write to me at [email protected] to share your ideas, thoughts, and celebrations with me. I read every message and would love to hear from you.

If you're interested in bringing perinatal yoga therapy into your life and/or work as a therapist, mother, birthworker, yoga teacher, etc., please stay tuned for a special certification training coming in 2023.

Postpartum isn't six weeks or 12 or even a year. From an Ayurvedic and yoga therapy lens, we expand the definition of "postpartum" to really mean three years post-birth. The true reality, though? Postpartum is for life.

At 10 months postpartum, I share a little of my personal journey, struggles, the way through and hopefully forward as I see it. I also share the phases of postpartum I'm bringing to modern perinatal care as inspired by the ancient wisdoms and the clients I serve. These are:

We talk about ways to embrace postpartum, rather than resist it. We talk about what it really means to slow down to the pace of an infant, and how that by honoring your healing, you are really honoring all of life. When we resist postpartum, we can set ourselves up for more emotional strife, physical injury, and states of dis-ease for years to come.

Show Notes:

Please write to Leanne at [email protected] or go to her website for further details about her work - www.leannematullo.com.

Essay: What is postpartum? https://www.leannematullo.com/blog/2022/7/28/what-is-postpartum

Essay: The Birth Portal  https://www.leannematullo.com/blog/2022/4/4/the-birth-portal

Circe by Madeline Miller

Essay: Why Self-Care Doesn't Work  https://www.leannematullo.com/blog/2021/11/8/why-self-care-doesnt-work-and-why-addressing-our-habits-does

The Fourth Trimester by Kimberly Ann Johnson

Did you know that you have more agency during your pregnancy and birth than you might realize? 

Did you know that there are all kinds of procedures and practices that you can actually decline during your pregnancy and your birth experience? And, that doing so doesn't necessarily put you or baby at risk (unless you are high risk or have another medical condition)? And in declining, there are options that still support your health and well-being that simply aren't mainstream...yet.

Many women and birthing people don't realize that they have a CHOICE in what happens to their bodies during prenatal care...because nobody told them. Just because something is "normal" or "standard" doesn't mean it is necessary or supportive for you or your baby. We don't need to do what is expected of us. 

This podcast does NOT offer an exhaustive list, but rather a handful of ideas that might be of interest to you and that will help spur conversation with your partner and care providers. Just remember, that in declining and embarking on other options you will need to play a larger role in your pregnancy and birth. I talk about that here.

I also talk about what you can invite into your pregnancy and birth experience. From who shares the gender, to catching your baby, to delayed cord clamping and so on. Again, not an exhaustive list, but certainly a conversation starter. 

Enjoy! 

Note: This is NOT medical advice. These are alternative approaches to supporting a healthy pregnancy and birth experience. I am not a medical provider. I am a perinatal yoga therapy practitioner and birth doula.

Show notes:

Write to Leanne with questions, reflections, or thoughts for new podcast episodes at [email protected].

Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Sarah J. Buckley, MD

Buckle in, dear friends, for a conversation about how to be a better birth partner with my partner, husband, best friend, and co-parent, Eugene Matullo. 

What's a birth partner? Essentially, it is whomever is accompanying the mother or birthing person during her labor or birth. Eugene speaks candidly about his role in the labor and birth process as a husband, partner, lover; and also about what it means to consciously show up as a partner throughout the perinatal period.

We really dig into it ALL in this conversation. You'll learn:

You'll hopefully giggle and cry with us as we take you on a beautiful journey that discusses this very important role during the portal that is birth. We also swear during this episode on occasion so listen away from sensitive ears.

Show Notes:

Book: The First 40 Days

Book: The Birth Partner

Afterglow Mentorship (soon to be a training for providers)

Please write to Leanne with questions or reflections at [email protected].

Here's a short, but meaningful conversation about following your instincts as mothers, particularly as our children move into educational settings outside of the home and beyond Pre-K.

Let's reimagine the education and learning environments for our children. The only way we can do this is by getting to know ourselves. Are you doing that work? 

Remember, that the problem isn't YOU. 

I even drop a personal vision into this episode (to my own surprise!) that I'd love to continue to discuss with you.

Show Notes:

Email Leanne at [email protected] with thoughts, reflections, and to inquire about she works with individuals.

If this resonates, research nature based schools, Waldkindergarten models, Waldorf schools. 

Read more about Afterglow: The Perinatal Mentorship at https://www.leannematullo.com/afterglow. 

In this episode, I share this wisdom tradition as it has been passed down to me and how it can (and does...if you let it) support your healing. Yoga Therapy applied to the perinatal period has the ability to change the health of whole ecosystems, including humanity and the land.

What is Yoga Therapy? Is it a new field?

I hope this podcast episode opens your eyes to the healing modality of yoga therapy, its models for treatment and care, and a dip into further yogic philosophy. It's such a joy to record these episodes for you.

Show Notes:

Please write to me with any questions or comments at [email protected].

Download the Kosha Model checklist to explore your own whole person well-being from a yoga therapy lens here.

Pregnancy and birth are not medical conditions. They are of nature’s design - a natural, physiological process of being human for those in female embodiments.

Do things “go wrong” during pregnancy and birth? Of course. Can we be grateful that those with  health conditions can be supported during pregnancy with modern medicine? Of course. Do some births need medical care and attention? Of course.

And yet, the majority of pregnancies and birth experiences do NOT need medical or clinical intervention for the mother and even less so for baby. In fact, interventions often build upon each other in unnecessary and sometimes downright harmful ways.

Here, we define the Cascade of Intervention, a sample scenario of the Cascade, why you might want to avoid unnecessary interventions and how to do it. We question the medicalization of birth and how to create better birth outcomes.

Show Notes:

Essay on the Cascade of Intervention here.

Pregnancy and Childbirth Complication Rates - US

What are the risks of giving birth inside and outside a hospital setting?

Cesarean Delivery Rate by State

Maternal Mortality Rates Worldwide

Limiting the Cascade of Intervention

What is Conscious Conception? In short, Conscious Conception is the process of learning to receive life. It’s the very opposite of expecting pregnancy to happen. In Ayurvedic medicine and yoga therapy, we recommend three to six months to prepare for pregnancy and to promote fully body healing BEFORE baby.

Why? Because Conscious Conception supports healthy and sustained pregnancies, healthier birth outcomes, and eventually a healthier postpartum experience. This episode will offer practical ways to support healing in the body-mind-spirit continuum on your Conscious Conception journey.

I talk about why we must expand the perinatal definition beyond what Western medicine dictates in order to prevent traumatic experiences and to support thriving life – for mothers AND babies. And, I apply the Kosha Model of yoga therapy to this conversation. If you are thinking of conceiving a baby, struggling with fertility, or simply interested in the topic of Conscious Conception, you are in the right place. I am grateful to you and honored to have you listening in.

Show Notes:

For further questions, please write to me at [email protected].

Free Resource: The Pancha Maya Kosha Model

Article: The Body Wants to Feel Safe

High prevalence of subtle and severe menstrual disturbances in exercising women: confirmation using daily hormone measures

To schedule a consultation to support your health journey and to access free resources, please go to www.leannematullo.com or write to me at [email protected].

Practice with me! Move and meditation with these free classes on my YouTube channel.

When I was 27, I was told that I’d never conceive a baby naturally. After numerous visits with reproductive endocrinologists and specialists, and several diagnoses later (some real, some questionable), I abandoned Western medicine to go on a journey to heal my body.

Innately, I knew that a healthy body would be able to conceive a baby and that pregnancy would be healthier than forcing myself to conceive. Innately, I knew that my body was wise beyond the measurements Western medicine was comparing it to. And, I was 100% correct. Here is the story of my 2.5 year journey to heal my fertility.

This episode is for anyone who is on a fertility/infertility journey, who is preparing for pregnancy, or who has a loved one experiencing infertility. It’s to offer hope, respect, and joy in the process of becoming a parent. Please share this with anyone who might appreciate these words. I am grateful to you. I am honored that you’re here.

Show Notes:

Healing Hypothalamic Amenorrhea E-Book

Book: Awakening Fertility by Heng Ou

Article: The Body Wants to Feel Safe

To schedule a consultation to support your fertility journey and to access free resources, please go to www.leannematullo.com or write to me at [email protected].

Practice with me! Move and meditation with these free classes on my YouTube channel.