Your Postpartum CROWN!

When you close your eyes and you hear the word CROWN, what do you see? How does this word resonate in your physical body? Imagine you are awaiting the placement of the most beautiful grown on top of your abundant head. It is dripped in the most precious of gems each representing your brilliance.

Do you sit up a little taller? Can you see the flickers of light cascading down your warm face from the glowing jewels that adorn your bountiful head? Does this word or feeling allow you to tap into a strength you only dreamed? Now recognizing that after the journey of your birth you do in fact occupy this strength, power and resilience in all of your cells.

Or perhaps this crown is a representation of connecting you to divine wisdom, the seat of your intelligence or the primordial powers from within?

However you connect to the word CROWN let it sit within your own truth and reflection. This reflection holds divine presence because mama – you are simply divine!

I created this acronym in Mamata Yoga’s Postpartum training as a reminder to all postpartum mamas and parents of our intent to heal from childbirth. The focus over the next 12 weeks as mothers and parents heal from their birthing experience should come from the awareness within. To ease into this journey with patience, self-compassion and acceptance.

This daily checklist serves our hearts and souls as we care so tenderly to our bodies, our minds and our spirits during the awakening into motherhood or parenthood.

C – Connection

During our postpartum healing we are constantly tending to the needs of our baby. We’re physiologically designed to ensure their safety and survival while our brain shifts and absorbs these changes our hearts long for a connection to once was or to fragments of our ‘old’ selves.

We forget that if we do not listen to the whispering of our own hearts, it’s almost impossible to care for our baby from a nurturing and graceful place. It is not ‘selfish’ to connect to your own heart while lovingly caring for others. Our hearts are the foundation of this centred space and without the connection to our selves – it is challenging to connect to others.

We must offer ourSelves as must patience and loving kindness as we do our babies – as we too are shifting and evolving as mothers and parents. Connection is not just the needed bond between mother and baby – it’s also the connection to our Selves.

How do you take time to connect to your Self each day? The reality seems bleak as your schedule is busily occupied by your baby, but sometimes a 5 minute shower to allow the freshness of the water to wash away the tiredness of your bones is all you need. Or finding 5 minutes to sit in complete silence while your baby sleeps to hear your breath can re-set your emotional being.

R – Rest

With newborns and babies comes a lack of sleep. ‘Sleep when the baby sleeps’ is a statement that we often hear as advice from others but it’s not sleep that matters the most but rather the quality of our rest.

As a mother to three – I found when I quit focusing on how little or how much sleep I was getting the quality changed. I took more restful moments throughout the day. The laundry could wait, the dishes or dinner could wait and I took more time to ‘be’ with my babies or sat and played on the carpet.

I stopped focusing on what I ‘was lacking’ and started to focus on the quality or abundance of the offerings I was receiving. When my babies slept though the night I was overjoyed and received this as a gift and when they were up all night I was grateful for this memory to cuddle and fall asleep with their wee souls in my arms.

Rest isn’t just sleep; it’s the quality of how we accept these changing and fluctuating moments as mothers and parents. Resting our nervous system without taxing our adrenals can be accompanied by learning how to breathe to reset our parasympathetic nervous system or to access our vagal nerve response.

Rest is essential for postpartum healing because it allows us to tap into our own hearts and offers us compassion and acceptance to ourselves but also to our babies.

O – Ownership

I help to support women in their postpartum recovery journey – this is my dharma in this lifetime. What I often notice when the ‘newborn’ cloud lifts and our children grow is that resentment builds toward the people in our life that ‘should have been there’ or ‘who should have offered support’. While I believe this to be true – that community is essential for postpartum healing – so is taking ownership towards our own health and well being.

We do need help and this is ok! As a mother of three who lived the majority of my life when my babies were infants doing it ‘all’ I can assure you at some point you become so exhausted you can barely get out of bed. We are beings that need to ‘co-exist’ with others. You have not ‘failed’ at being a mother or parent if you reach out for help from your loved ones or your community.

We were designed to gather in communities of other women or parents thriving off the emotional, mental and physical support our loved ones offer. While some follow their intuition and ‘help’ without the need to ask – sometimes we need to take ownership and ‘ask’ for guidance and support.

If you want your husband or partner to fold the laundry or wash the bottles say ‘can you please help me with this chore – I would really appreciate your help’ or to the friend that has been asking ‘what can I do to help’ you respond with a suggestion or a task and tell the how much you love them.

W – Warmth

The beauty of evolvement is that we shift, grow, learn and adapt to new ways while we mother and parent. Did you know that staying warm while you navigate your postpartum journey is essential for your health?

It’s warmth that helps to heal inflammation and tissue regeneration, it’s warmth that resets and allows your nervous system to release and relax and it’s warmth that aids in digestion. Ensuring you’re staying warm by wearing socks on your feet, fuzzy sweaters and warm compresses or a hot water bottle in the bed to help keep your entire system relaxed.

Choosing warming foods that nourish your soul such as warm broths, stews and tea infusions help to re-build and replenish your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of your Self. It’s warmth that re-sets the fire in your abdomen and allows you to fully heal from the inside-out.

Warmth is the key to healing the soul and the body.

N – Nourishment

To be nourished isn’t just by the foods we ingest or their quality; it’s also the words in which are spoken to us as well as the words we speak to our Selves.

Nourishment on ALL levels is one of the foundations of postpartum healing. What foods are we ingesting that nourish our bones, our souls and our hearts? What is the quality of such foods and are they helping to sustain our movement or are they slowing us down and making us more tired?

Due to the drastic shift in hormones after childbirth, proper nourishment is important for our physical body as we tend to the needs or our baby. Vital minerals, amino acids, saturated fats, proteins and Omega 3’s are all essential to soothe and support the postpartum body. While the quality of food is important, so is a healthy environment for a seed cannot grow in soil that is dry.

Choosing high quality foods to sustain your shifting body and the demands of you baby is a continued commitment and investment to your health and well-bring now, but also your future Self.

Quality care and support from your loved ones and family also seeks as nourishment for the postpartum soul. The words in which are spoken to you without judgment to avoid the detriment of shame to a new mother or parent is important. I always remind mothers/parents to seek out those that love, honour, respect add support you in ALL the ways and set boundaries with those that do not.

You deserve to be and feel nourished!

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Your postpartum healing isn’t just one or the other – it’s a consistent and constant balance between everything and all. Please be kind to yourself and know that YOU are doing amazing work! Please download this printable C.R.O.W.N image HERE as a reminder to continuously care for your SELF.

Wear your CROWN loud and proud!

With love,

Clare