Birth Mystics

The Uninhabitable House

Katie shares her very personal and stirring poem about the "uninhabitable house" that was her body. Together with Stephanie, they discuss the journey we undertake to inhabit ourselves, to live fully embodied, and how that directly affects our birthing experiences. They look at how our modern worship of clocks and mirrors, or in other words time and appearances, keep us living outside of our own homes and how this hugely affects our birthing experiences. 
To learn more about Katie's work, visit her website: freyabirth.com. You can also connect with her on Instagram: @freyabirth.

The Day Boy & the Night Girl

The Day Boy and the Night Girl is a powerful myth written by Scottish author George MacDonald and was published in 1880. Today, Stephanie peels back some of its many layers to reveal impactful insights around the integration of masculine and feminine, light and dark. So much of fear, in birth and life, stems from lack of familiarity and facing the unknown. How can we spend more time acquainting ourselves with the parts of ourselves that are lesser known so that we can build that familiarity? This draws interesting parallels to brainwave patterns and spending intentional time preparing for birth in Alpha and Theta states of being. Dive deep into the world of Photogen and Nycteris, the Day Boy and the Night Girl, as they teach us more about our own inner worlds.
To learn more about Stephanie's work, please visit her website: bhavabirth.com. You can also connect with her on Instagram @bhava_birth.

Medusa

In today's episode, Katie shares the Greek myth of Medusa, pulling in some key and lesser known backstory, shedding light on what up to her becoming the snake-haired terror that turns men to stone. She draws upon the imagery of Perseus' shield, what he used to defeat Medusa, to guide all of us as we heal from trauma. Drawing from Peter Levine's teachings, Katie brings this compassionate and important discussion into the world of birth and personal empowerment.
To learn more about Katie's work, visit her website: freyabirth.com. You can also connect with her through IG: @freyabirth.
Source cited: Healing Trauma, by Peter Lavine

Brainwaves & Consciousness

Stephanie shares one of the greatest birth hacks of all time--understanding brainwaves and consciousness. Brainwaves are a Western empirical understanding of how thoughts emit certain frequencies, whereas consciousness is an Eastern spiritual understanding of how we experience oneness. When these traditions overlap, we discover astounding relevance for our birth experiences and our lives. By understanding where your brain is trying to take you during labor, you can help it along by adapting your environment, trusting the process, and surrendering to the descent. When we don't understand this process, we often fight against it unknowingly, especially if we love being in control, leading to more adverse outcomes.To follow Stephanie's work, you can visit her website, bhavabirth.com, or follow her on IG: @bhava_birth.

Selkie

Katie masterfully brings together the Celtic mythology of Selkies and the journey of birth. Selkies are mythological creatures that shape shift from seal to human by removing or putting on their seal skin. What lessons do Selkies teach us? What symbolism can we draw upon to support spiritual and emotional transformation? Listen in as Katie and Stephanie plunge into the deep end with today's magical episode.
To follow Katie's work, you can visit her website, freyabirth.com, or follow her on IG: @freyabirth.

The Yellow Wallpaper

Stephanie leads a discussion on the powerful short story The Yellow Paper, a semi-autobiographical novella written at the turn of the century by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. This is a compelling, haunting story of a woman's rebirth that is tragically thwarted; she is prescribed the rest cure during her postpartum, separated from her baby and loved ones, and confined to an old nursery in a cottage house in the remote countryside. Stephanie walks you through the symptoms of her thwarted awakening as a tale of woe, giving us a crystal clear template of what not to do. This story couldn't be more pertinent today as our society faces an alarming rise of PMADs. We've been conditioned to fear postpartum and deeply misunderstand its healing potential. In this episode, postpartum is reclaimed and redefined, giving us a new paradigm to identify and support the too often overlooked symptoms of our own awakening.
To follow Stephanie's work, you can visit her website, bhavabirth.com, or follow her on IG: @bhava_birth.

Intentional Conception

Katie shares about the birth of her fourth child and the intentionality that went into. Along with Stephanie, they discuss how to bring more mindfulness into motherhood, beginning with the act of conception itself.
To learn more about Katie's work, visit freyabirth.com.

Covert Control

Our inner impulse to control birth (and life) is so deeply engrained that sometimes, if we use fancy new vocabulary words and dress it up in euphemisms, we think we have escaped it. But in this episode, Stephanie identifies covert tendencies for control found within three prominent worldviews. Call it whatever you'd like--divine favor, manifestation, evidence--it's still that sneaky friend we call control and it will wreak havoc, if left unchecked, in your birth experience.
To learn more about Stephanie's work, visit bhavabirth.com.

Season 2 Introduction: We're Back!

Doulas Katie and Stephanie give a brief update with their businesses and personal lives. They also share their newest definition of "birth mystic" and what to expect with season two.

Lilith, Eve & the Serpent

What are the formative birth stories of your life? This is an important question to ask yourself as you prepare to give birth. You may think about the birth stories of your closest friends, family members, ancestors, and even media portrayals of birth. These stories influence and affect you, some in positive ways, some in not so positive ways. One kind of formative birth story that gets overlooked is the creation story. We are only as good as our creation story allows us to be. Yes, creation stories show us where we came from, but they can also show us where we're headed. They embody the full spectrum of human potential—what is the fullest measure of my creation and how can I rise to that?
Stephanie was raised in the paradigm of Western Christianity and was brought up with the story of Adam and Eve. As an adult she has studied many other creation stories, including evolution, and has made peace between these seemingly contradictory stories. Eve particularly was the most prominent female icon that she had been encouraged to emulate. There were so few female role models provided scripturally or historically, so Eve really stood out! But even though Eve was so revered, paradoxically she is punished for the choice she made. Why punish her for doing something good? If she was so righteous, why does she disobey God's command? Stephanie was determined to figure her out.
Other areas of interest were happening in Stephanie's life, including yoga teacher training which opened up the topic of Kundalini Shakti—the mystical feminine power represented as a serpent. It felt like a contradiction to the snake represented in the garden as Satan or evil. How does Eve get caught in the middle of these two interpretations? Was she tempted by the Devil or deeply in tune with her internal feminine power? Until Stephanie could crack this mystery she felt limited in her potential.
Stumbling upon the myth of Lilith shed profound light. The Midrash says that Adam had another wife named Lilith before Eve came alone. Lilith and Eve lived in the garden quite happily until the day that Lilith desired more equality in their relationship. Lilith sometimes asked to be on top when they made love but Adam refused. Over time, Lilith was done trying. She called out the forbidden name of God, causing her to grow wings and fly out of the garden. This angered Adam who also called out to God demanding help. God sent seraphim to chase after Lilith who then punished her. She was cursed to become a succubus who would seduce men in their sleep and prey upon newborn babies.
You can look up artwork and depictions of the Adam and Eve story and likely come upon a serpent with the face of a woman. This is where Lilith comes into play. The myth continues by saying that Lilith came to Eve in the form of a serpent, mentoring her to partake of the fruit. This was when things began to resolve in Stephanie's mind. We have been taught to spurn the serpent, when all along the serpent is actually our feminine power! And what if Lilith and Eve are not two women, but one. What if they have been separated out from one another. Eve represents the acceptable woman: long suffering, patient, kind, loving, supportive, and obedient. Lilith represents the demonic woman, or the succubus, but really only seeking equality with her partner, having sexual desire, emancipated, free-thinking, and independent. One was good, one was bad. But the serpent heals this rift. How ironic that we've been encouraged to be like one of the biggest rebels of scripture! Eve is a badass! Especially when she's merged back together with her Lilith counterpart!
Let's take a minute and list some qualities that we learn from these two archetypes and how it translates into the birth space.
Eve qualities: innocence, obedience, hard-working, responsible, commitment, dutiful, pre-pubescent, non-sexual, good girl, nice, etc. How can this serve us in the birth space? Preparing very thoroughly for birth, a high capacity to persevere and endure, grounded and committed to seeing it through, saying "YES," and obedience to self.
Lilith: flaming red hair, curves and sex appeal, wrapped in a snake, naughty, bad girl, rebelliousness, wanting equality, etc. How can this serve us in the birth space? Firing a bad provider, not putting up with abuse, determined self-advocacy, saying "NO," being loud and making noise, and embracing the animalistic.
Now here's a homework assignment for you! On a blank piece of paper create three columns with Eve, Lilith, and the Serpent at the top of each one. Take the time to write out your own qualities of each archetype. Then, google search these images and compare and contrast their visual representations. Observe their movement and body language. Bring it all together in how they can play an important role in your birth space.
For more information on Stephanie's work, visit bhavabirth.com