Resources
Altar as a Part of Birth Preparation
Why Altar as part of a Birth Preparation? An altar can be used for private or shared communion. Creating an altar is a representation of your own personal view of the birth. It is an expression of honoring what is yet to come in a highly personal way. In our culture, I suspect that each of us already has an altar, even though it may not be...
Knowledge Is Power
The Grandmother Hypothesis and Why We Wake In The Night Have you ever wondered why, even without hot flashes or night sweats, you find yourself waking every couple of hours during the menopause transition?If it happens to you, know you’re not alone, nothing is wrong with you, and maybe everything is just as it should be. This sleeping pattern...
Redefining Menopause: From Decline to Awakening
If we strip menopause of all the "noise," the fears, expectations, cultural narratives, medical terms, hormonal blame, and ideas of decline, what are we left with? Just this:The blood stops. That’s it?Yes. Our last blood. A final release. And yet it carries the weight of a whole lifetime. Think back: how did it begin, that first blood?What did it...
A land where no woman feels she has to apologize for changing
Mind the Gap and I’ll Help You Bridge It Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by the meaning of words. Perhaps this started because the name my parents gave me - Oda- was almost always unfamiliar to people. I had to translate it, explain it, and over the years, I discovered that in different languages and cultures, my name held...
About the Netflix Series Adolescent and What It Stirred in Me
I’m writing this as a personal blog post from the heart, in the context of a gathering I lead for mothers and their preteen daughters—preparation for the changes of adolescence, in the body and emotions, and the mother-daughter relationship.In May, I’ll be facilitating two such sessions, both of which are already full—but you’re welcome to invite...
Felt Sense & Flow: A Gentle Practice for Inner Clarity
Chapter 1: My Journey of Discovering Focusing- Focusing and Touch I began studying Shiatsu in 2010, a four-year training. In the third year, we learned diagnostic techniques. What does that mean? It means listening - listening to the voice, its intonation, the breaths between the words, the story, and the complaints.It means observing how she...
Breech Baby? Natural Techniques to Support Rotation
While the news of the baby being in the breach position is concerning for many expecting mothers, several alternative methods may help encourage your baby to turn head-down before birth (babies may also turn during the birth itself). One such method is moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves burning a herb called...
End of Winter- The Year of Dragon
Dear,As we bid farewell to the Year of the Rabbit (a year in which many of us fell into a rabbit hole) and welcome the Year of the Dragon, I am eager to experience the new energy and opportunities this auspicious time may bring on the personal and universal levels. The latest Chinese year of the Dragon was celebrated on the 10th of February (it...