Together with Rachael Rose

In this solo episode Rachael talks all about Mother Blessing and how these ceremonies can honour a mother's rite of passage into birth and motherhood. 

You’ll hear Rachael discuss:

• What is a Mother Blessing?
• How is a Mother Blessing different to a Baby Shower?
• Why have a Mother Blessing?
• When is the best time is to have a Mother Blessing
• Who do I invite to a Mother Blessing?
• How Mother Blessings can facilitate community building and connection
• An example of a recent Mother Blessing she facilitated, the structure of the ceremony and the rituals included and why

MEET RACHAEL ROSE

Rachael is a women’s circle facilitator and course creator, she has inspired hundreds of women to overcome imposter syndrome, rekindle their confidence, start their own circles, and grow aligned businesses.

Rachael's teaching style is humorous, engaging, compassionate and no bullshit. She's a little sweary and full of storytelling.  

Her dream is of 10,000 women’s circles starting, spreading joy and connection like wildfire.

If you want to deepen your understanding of women's circles and ceremonies, Together: Women's Circle Facilitator Training is available to join at anytime.

https://rachaelrose.com.au/offers/together/

RACHAEL ROSE SAYS

" I've seen how meaningful Mother Blessings can be, how connective they can be as a ceremony, and how much they can fill a mother's cup in those final weeks and days of their pregnancy.."

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

RACHAEL ROSE SAYS

"We're honouring these rites of passages in ceremony and circle and we're remembering. This is in our blood and bones to come together as women like this and to recognise that this is a monumental life transition.

This is not just something we blink and miss. This impacts the rest of our lives forever and it deserves slowing down and getting still and celebrating."

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this beautiful conversation with Toyah Hicks, we talk about Toyah's abortion experiences, which happened 15 years ago. Toyah tells her story from a place of deep processing, healing and understanding. 

You’ll hear us discuss:

• Toyah's personal experience with her abortions
• How Toyah held both grief back then and relief and joy for what is now 
• How Toyah views her abortions as a Rite of Passage
• How Toyah's healing started once she was witnessed in community
• Rituals Toyah bought in to integrate her abortions
• Toyah advice on how to support someone who's processing their abortion
• Traditional postpartum care and yoni steaming 

MEET TOYAH HICKS

Toyah Hicks is Vaginal Steaming Practitioner, Healing Birth Practitioner, Postpartum Care provider and Māmā to her 3 year old Son. She is deeply committed to the path of the Feminine and the Reclamation of our sacred Rites of Passage, specifically those woven through the pregnancy, birth and postpartum continuum.

TOYAH HICKS SAYS

"With a Rite of Passage, there's the preparation, then there's the experience. The final piece is the witnessing by the community. And I really don't feel that I started to heal from my experience until the witnessing really began, and had my own kind of ritual and ceremony around it many, many years later."

Connect with Toyah Hicks
Instagram - @mothercareaotearoa & @rosewombsteaming
Website - www.rosewombsteaming.com

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

TOYAH HICKS SAYS

" I did a lot of journaling in the early days and then I began meditating. I did some plant medicine ceremonies. Really beautiful ceremonies where I experienced a lot of,  just profound relief. I began meditating and connecting with the spirits of the babies that I had had."

Special offer from Toyah - discount code for yoni steaming herbs and herbal postpartum care products 
Use Code "TOGETHER" FOR 15% OFF
Valid til 15th of September 2023

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Alicia Armstrong, we talk about Alicia's business, including what it's like to take the leap from being a teacher, working within the schooling system to starting her own business and what the challenges and the joys have been over the last 18 months. 

There's lots of nuggets of wisdom in here for both parents and carers who look after children and want to foster learning and time in nature as well as any women in business who are thinking of starting something who want to create change in their community and who have a grand vision.

You’ll hear us discuss:

• Alicia's personal story from mainstream schooling to being an alternative educator
• The leap from being an employee to starting a business
• How Alicia has created sustainability in her business
• The Havens Big values on community and connection
• How alternative education is beneficial for teachers as well as students
• Why play is so important for children
• Challenges and lessons Alicia has learnt in starting and building her business
• Alicia's BIG vision for The Haven

MEET ALICIA ARMSTRONG

Alicia is an alternative educator who runs programs for children centred around connecting them to nature, to themselves and their community. Alicia creates spaces for children that fosters natural development and holds space for their emotions. The importance of play and creating relationships with families is deeply embedded into the work Alicia does at The Haven.

ALICIA ARMSTRONG SAYS

"Kids connect through play, so they find others who are willing to play. Sometimes it's alongside them or with them in, a certain game they're playing or imaginative play.
Kids find people who are on really similar interests or wavelengths when they play and people are drawn to them, this is how they learn."

Connect with Alicia Armstrong
Instagram - @the haven.education
Website - thehaveneducation.com
SubStack - aliciathehaven

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

ALICIA ARMSTRONG SAYS

" It's not necessarily that it's been hard to market or get our name out there. It's the sort of wavering of business that I think happens to everyone,  my lesson has been to take the positives out of each. So when we're having a really big term full of numbers, then it's really nourishing financially and it's really amazing to see families get to know each other and participate in big groups.

Then when our numbers are on the lower end, it's where we can be in there and create strong foundations and connections with families and kids and take away different things. But in the end, it's still all really beautiful."

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Laura Shelley-Butler, we talk about her travelling homeschooling lifestyle with three kids under eight.  Laura shares how it practically looks for her family, as well has her beliefs and approach to unschooling.

You’ll hear us discuss:

• What Laura's homeschooling set up looks like
• What Laura is calling in for unschooling and what she'd change
• Screens and road learning
• How lockdown learning and homeschooling are a different kettle of fish
• Self development as a parent and resources for parents
• What Laura would say to someone who says "I'm not a teacher"

MEET LAURA SHELLEY-BUTLER

Laura is a dedicated home educating / unschooling mama to 3 beautiful children. Laura is passionate and adventurous, currently taking advantage of the freedom home education allows travelling full time with her family. Laura is also a doula, circle facilitator, runs an online book club and writes a substack all about unschooling.

LAURA SAYS

"The connection with nature is not something that I grew up with and it's something that I've been able to cultivate more within myself and to expose to my children, which I think will be amazing for them as they grow up."

Connect with Laura Shelley-Butler
Instagram - @this.wild.mama
Substack - thiswildmama

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au


LAURA SAYS

" It feels right and good. And it's been overwhelmingly positive. I am completely flawed by how much my kids learn, what their interests are, how they, unfold as these amazing human beings that are gonna go out into the world and do amazing things."

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Alyssa Booth, we covered a lot of ground. We started with Alyssa's conception journey and her path to motherhood. Her three fast births, and then moving into doula work and studying and starting her business. We talk about imposter syndrome, money and charging for your worth and your value.

You’ll hear us discuss:

• Alyssa's story on becoming a mother and her 3 births
• How Alyssa became a birth doula and logistically what that looked like for her
• Alyssa's volunteer advocacy work with Better Births Illawarra
• Alyssa's business and how that's changed over the years
• What Alyssa loves about being a doula
• What Alyssa loves most about being a mother
• Charging, visible pricing, outsourcing, being a business owner

MEET ALYSSA BOOTH

Alyssa is a birth doula, childbirth educator, a Christian, a wife, a mum of 3 and someone who is passionate about people feeling loved and valued. She loves being involved in her community and does this often, within her business and volunteer roles.


ALYSSA SAYS

"It took us about 18 months to actually fall pregnant. Then I was sick the entire time but still treasured and really loved pregnancy. I think because it was such a long, longed for thing that when it finally happened, I didn't even care that I was getting up and throwing up throughout the day and night sometimes.
It was just a beautiful thing that I was finally happy to be experiencing."

Connect with Alyssa Booth
Instagram - @cherish_birth
Website - http://www.cherishbirth.com.au/

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au


ALYSSA SAYS

"A midwife had been recommending Illawara Birth classes. But she was told to stop, because the obstetrician didn't want their clients being taught by someone who's just a doula.

And that sentence, just a doula, has stuck in my head and every time I have an idea or bookings get into a lull or something, just a doula, you're just a doula.

I really have to dig myself out and be like, I've been in the birth world for a long time now. I am okay to teach these classes. I'm not giving individualised medical care. I'm teaching childbirth classes.

Historically that would've been done by women in the villages in the communities. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not acting out of scope. I have to talk myself off a ledge quite regularly."

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Jessie Harrold, we talk about her creative process of writing her second book and what that looked like practically, with two children. Jessie's own matrescence experiences and the work that she does with mothers around this transformation and identity shift. 

You’ll hear us discuss:

• Jessie's personal story with Matrescence 
• Jessie's process of writing her new book Mother Shift Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage
• How Jessie started Women's circles and why they are a big part of Jessie's life
• Why Jessie created MotherShift as an online program
• Jessie's personal experience with creativity and Motherhood 
• We hear Jessie's experience of being a Doula before having kids

MEET JESSIE HARROLD

Jessie Harrold is a coach, women's mentor and doula who has been supporting women through radical life transformations and other rites of passage for over a decade. Jessie works one-on-one with women and mothers, facilitates mentorship programs, women’s circles and rituals, and hosts retreats and wilderness quests.  She is the founder of MotherSHIFT, the internationally acclaimed matrescence support program, and its sister program for postpartum professionals, The Village.  Jessie is also the author of Project Body Love: my quest to love my body and the surprising truth I found instead, as well as the forthcoming title with Shambhala Publications, Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage.  Jessie’s work has been featured in Spirituality & Health, Green Parent, Expectful and Explore Magazine.  She is also the host of The Becoming Podcast.  Jessie lives on the east coast of Canada where she mothers her two children, writes, and tends to the land.


JESSIE SAYS

"I wanted to write my book during National Novel Writing Month but I was solo parenting and I didn't want to let go of this dream. I would set my alarm for 4am and write for 2 hours, because that's my best time to write.

The part that took four years was writing a book proposal, shopping it around to agents. Getting a lot of rejections, building my social media platform, doing a tonne of articles, podcasts and all kinds of things to Increase the strength of my platform."

Connect with Jessie
Instagram - @jessie.es.harrold
Website - http://www.jessieharrold.com/

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au


JESSIE SAYS

"When we fail to grieve in motherhood, what we find ourselves doing is either scrambling back to the way things were. I usually see that leading to suffering among mothers because things are not the way they were, they just can't be right now."

Jessie has kindly provided her Momifesto Workbook for our listeners to dive into and explore more of this topic. 

Full Transcript attached

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Amy Sagar. We talk about her personal story that started with Amy joining the  funeral industry at the age of 16 and what personally lead Amy to join the not for profit organisation Tender Funerals as their first Funeral Director. This was a really juicy conversation where we talk about death as community care and how meaningful and transformational it can be to involve community at all levels of the death and grieving process. We talk about rituals and ceremonies that can be held to honor and revere our loved ones who have died.

You’ll hear us discuss:

• Amy's personal story about how she joined the funeral industry at age 16
• How caring for the dead can be transformational
• Rituals for grieving and saying goodbye 
• Different options for caring for our family members body
• How rituals after our family member has passed can create a gentler bereavement
• The impact community death care is creating
• Death literacy starting with our children and how to navigate talking about death

MEET AMY SAGAR

Amy Sagar is a Funeral Director and has spent 15 years supporting families and communities in caring for their dead and creating meaningful funeral ceremonies. Amy was the founding funeral director of the not-for-profit funeral home Tender Funerals which recently featured on ABC's Australian Story.

"Provide care for that person, which means washing and dressing their body. It's a ceremonial last act of caring for someone's body. When we have the funeral ceremony, that's the final thing that happens before the disposal of the body, We can hopefully get to a point at the end where we can say goodbye, let go of that person so that their body can be cremated or buried. But if we're only saying hello to their body for the first time in that ceremony, it's harder to say goodbye."

Connect with Amy
Instagram - @my.wilder.self

Connect with Tender Funerals

https://tenderfunerals.com.au
https://tenderfunerals.com.au/illawarra

Instagram - @tenderfuneralsillawarra
@tenderfunerals

Connect with Rachael Rose

Instagram: @the_rachael_rose

Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

"It's absolutely different for everyone. Part of grief is joy, bliss and laughter. They are all within the spectrum of grief, if we let our children see the full range, then that also normalizes that for grief. You don't have to always be sad."

Full Transcript attached

Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Charlotte Squires she share her personal story with receiving a stage four cancer diagnosis at the age of 23. Charlotte talks about what life was like immediately before she found out she had cancer, what the healing and recovery process looked like, how willing she was to go into the depths and breadth of the human experience, to feel the anger and the grief, and the sadness and the loss, and how that ultimately opened her up to more joy and light and love.

You’ll hear us discuss:

• The advocating and health bias Charlotte experience in getting diagnosed
• How Charlotte felt about her diagnosis and what it was like to share with others
• How Charlotte's thinking shifted to accepting and her spirituality grew
• Charlotte's holistic approach to healing that she called in
• How the year after treatment was the hardest year of Charlotte's life
• How Charlotte's cancer experience prepared her for motherhood and opened the door to her being The Living Doula

MEET CHARLOTTE SQUIRES

A Mother, doula, space holder, educator and meaning maker. She is a talented nurturer who has dedicated her life to supporting, uplifting and cheering on women in many different arenas. She is based on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria however works with women and families from all over the world.

" I never thought I could die. I  didn't feel that was true for me. the further I moved into the feeling, I realised I had to feel the fear of death. The further into the healing that I went the more okay I became with death because I realised if what was to happen, then I'd reached a point of acceptance. I felt this  affinity with my light of what was inside of me."

Connect with Charlotte via Instagram @thelivingdoula
Website: https://www.thelivingdoula.com/

Connect with Rachael Rose

Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

"If I can trust my body to heal, I'm going to be able to trust my body to grow and birth my child. in many ways I'd already started the preparation in healing, in recovery."

Full Transcript attached
Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

In this conversation with Alysha Fameli we hear how Alysha transformed what was a really difficult initiation into motherhood, into a beacon of light for others. We hear about how Alysha's passion to advocate for other women not experiencing what she did has led her, to dedicate years of her life to studying birth trauma.

You’ll hear us discuss:

• Alysha's first pregnancy and birth within the hospital system
• How being told to ignore her body wisdom when in transition impacted Alysha
• The impact of disrespectful treatment on her birth and mother/baby bonding
• How birth trauma influenced Alysha's postpartum period
• Using science and research as a way to plan her second birth
• The difference in receiving continuity of care in her second pregnancy
• Getting involved in birth advocacy in her final trimester with her second baby
• Alysha's second birth being an unplanned homebirth 
• The Australian Birth Study and why Alysha is dedicated to this research 

MEET ALYSHA FAMELI

Alysha is a mother, psychologist and PhD researcher at the University of Sydney. Alysha’s two very different birth experiences led her into a new passion, academic research, where she hopes to translate science into practice for new mothers.

"“I remember asking a midwife, if it was okay to pick my son up, and she looked at me like I was crazy. Then I remember trying to learn how to breastfeed and it was really painful. We found out later, he had a lip tie and a tongue tie and I was told, no, it's fine. It's supposed to hurt - while they grabbed my breasts. It was a surreal experience, like it wasn't happening."

Connect with Alysha via Instagram @australianbirthstudy
Website: http://australianbirthstudy.com/

Connect with Rachael Rose

Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

"I am deeply moved and touched by every story that I hear. I feel really honoured to hear these harrowing experiences of women's births and I feel an enormous amount of pressure in a research space To carve out reverence for these stories. It's really hard because academia is a patriarchal system, and I'm trying to come at this from a feminist perspective and carve out space  for reverence."

Full Transcript attached
Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'

Welcome to Together the Podcast! From my heart to yours, in this solo episode I share why I started the Podcast and what my hopes are for this space. What I hope to share here and what my hopes are that you take away from listening.

You’ll hear me discuss:

• Who I am and my vision
• How sitting in Women's Circles has changed my life
• Why I have 30 seconds of Edwina Massons music at the start of each episode
• The power of story telling
• Why I started this Podcast

MEET RACHAEL ROSE

I am a mother of two, I have a daughter and a son.  I'm a Women's Circle Facilitator, a doula, a mentor for mums in business, and a course creator.

I have a circle facilitator training called Together the same name of this podcast, and my vision is to inspire 10,000 women to start their own women's circle. I am deeply passionate about the magic of gathering women together and women sharing their stories. Sitting in circle my first, over 10 years ago, it has totally changed my life.

"This podcast is a place where I want to share powerful, meaningful conversations with other women and for us to imagine that we are sitting across from each other around a fire in a gathering and connect through time and space. I believe that storytelling is healing, shame melting and pain dissolving and it is an anecdote to loneliness."

Connect with Rachael Rose
Instagram: @the_rachael_rose
Website www.rachaelrose.com.au

"This is not a money maker for me. This will cost me money to make. It feels like a service that I can give. It feels like a free way that people can access my work and my teachings and the power of women's circles. It feels like a place where we can share inspiration and collaborate and create together."

Full Transcript attached
Music by Edwina Masson 'The Feminine Spitfire'