The Spirit of Birthing Mama is rooted in LOVE.
To offer people love, support, comfort, encouragement, wisdom and witnessing of what is, as is it. To hold space for people as they are. Holding them as they move, sense, and feel their way into this very sacred and often challenging time of life.
In the deepest sense, Birthing Mama is about birthing the presence of the Divine Mother, the Creative Principle and Manifest Consciousness onto the earth in every moment of our existence. Birthing Mama seeks to align with the spirit of the Divine Mother and the Sacred Feminine to help restore the balance that is so very needed within all of us and here on planet earth. We are all nurturer souls and Birthing Mama looks to support all pregnant people and families through conception, pregnancy, birth and parenting. No matter how one identifies - cultivating the Divine Mother is a very important aspect to spiritual evolution for all of us, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Creating new life and raising new beings from this divine love becomes a wide open door towards greater spiritual evolution.
Teach out of love. Teach to learn. Teach to share the wisdom of your heart and touch the hearts of others, forming endless circles of people that work together to change the paradigm of the yoga and birth cultures. As we open ourselves to the Divine Mother we will move through pregnancy more consciously. We will then birth more consciously and with greater freedom to experience our authentic self as nurturer.
This movement is what will help change the nature of parenting, raising children, and creating a more whole and awake planet.
All of our birthing mama classes and trainings are offered to you in partnership with our sister yoga community: Shraddhā Yoga
See our resources and referral list for all things related to the childbearing years HERE
Pay from the heart
YOUR HEART IS THE HOME OF YOUR INATE WISDOM.
Our Pay From the Heart model aligns with the yogic principle that sacred gifts are meant to be shared. We invite you pay for our classes and other offerings with intention, and to balance your needs with our suggested fees.
Our Pay From Your Heart model aligns with the yogic principle that
sacred gifts are meant to be shared.
Your heart is the home of your innate wisdom.
Yoga practice trains and develops clarity of discernment; once honed the heart’s capacities are endless.
And the heart naturally cares, not out of obligation, but out of the organic experience of oneness that resides deep within each of us.
We tell you the recommended rates for our offerings, and then invite you to ask your heart the right amount to pay, considering your unique relationship to Birthing Mama, Shraddha Yoga (our sister yoga center where our classes and trainings are offered through) and your financial circumstances.
Any time that you pay more than the recommended amount, you’ll be directly supporting those who can’t afford that rate – and each month 15% of Shraddhā Yoga’s net profit will go directly to the Mohanam Village Heritage Centre in Tamil Nadu India, meaning that your investment flows over to support the reservation of Indian culture.
Yoga is a practice of inquiry into the many layers of “self”, which includes the profound wisdom and integrity of your radiant heart. Every interaction in life is an opportunity to practice yoga, and this payment model invites you to expand the scope of your yoga practice into the realm of finances – a rich field for growth and self-realization.
When we ask ours hearts how much is the “right amount” to give, we are practicing yoga. Seeking right relationship will always bring us closer to freedom and truth.
What to consider when deciding what to pay for a class pass or a monthly contribution:
-
How do you personally benefit from your relationship with Birthing Mama and Shraddhā Yoga?
-
How often do you take classes?
-
What’s the recommended rate? Is that rate manageable given your financial resources?
-
How much do you value Shraddhā Yoga’s contribution to the greater community? The more you give, the more we all receive.
The 3 Pillars of Embodyoga®
The practice, study and teachings of Embodyoga make up the majority of the yoga asana, pranayama, dharana and dhyana that we teach in the Birthing Mama Teacher Training. Founded by Patty Townsend, Embodyoga® is a fusion of Hatha Yoga, Tantric Philosophy and Body-Mind Centering, which was founded by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.
The three pillars that support Embodyoga are: Embodied Inquiry, Santosha and Viveka.
Embodied Inquiry is a hands-on approach to self-study (svadhyaya). It involves approaching oneself with curiosity to directly experience the body’s amazing inner landscapes. To practice Embodied Inquiry, we have to put aside stories, judgments and expectations that we may have about ourselves, and be present with all there is to find within any given moment. It is to be honest, simple, and sincere with oneself. It is to be humble, and continue to seek the balance between aspiration and surrender. Embodied Inquiry is guided by Santosha and Viveka.
Santosha is contentment with what is, without inferring non-action. Santosha allows us to see what is there to see, touch what is there to touch, feel what is there to feel, and not run away with mental or emotional stories or become blinded by projections. We can’t even begin to know how to transcend something if we haven’t actually held what that something is. So we may need to spend time accepting how we feel emotionally about a situation before anything else can happen along the road of healing. When we can see life events clearly and truly as they are, without protest or self-delusion, we can then open ourselves to receive inner guidance regarding the best way to respond to our circumstances. It by no means suggests that we ever become passive, but more so that we respond from clarity, love and truth rather than react from emotional and mental waves passing through us. And this is where viveka comes in.
Viveka is discrimination or discernment. It is that within us which senses truth as vibrationally different from falsehood, or feels the underlying motives in our own or others’ actions. When we see someone causing harm, viveka awakens compassion in us for the pain that causes such actions. It is the sword that slices through time and space to help us separate truth from untruth, love from fear, light from darkness. It is the heart’s innate wisdom that shows us the way forward toward greater wholeness and fulfillment. It is the buddhi mind to help us see clearly and know which way to go.
Love is the weave that wraps these three pillars. We are born out of love, we dissolve back into love when we leave these bodies, and it is for the sake of love that we take up our unique life’s work/dharma. Love, in its many forms is what we hope to cultivate more of for the sake of all. In Sanskrit there are at least 95 different ways to express the many dimensions of love. Some of these expressions are: Mitra ~ love of friend, Bhakti ~ love for the divine or devotional love, Atmaprema ~ love of one’s higher Self, profound unconditional self-love, Bhava ~ love as a process or feeling or state of being, love that links heart to heart, Maitri or Karuna ~ compassion that contains empathy, loving-kindness.
Love is to the practice, study and teachings of yoga like skin is to the outer body or fascia is to the inner body. It is the connective tissue of life, the container that holds all our efforts toward personal and collective fulfillment. Practice out of love and to learn love, teach to share love, ask questions to be brought closer to love. Notice when fear arises and then breathe, settle your awareness into the radiance of space to learn how to receive and give, in an endless cycle of love. Let love be your religion.
From the hearts & minds of mamas...
This blog is the heart offering of Corinne Andrews, Zibby Andrews (aka Nana), and other contributing guest authors.
Our hope is to support people in their journey from conception through the fourth trimester and into the years of motherhood.
Our offerings celebrate & strengthen our connection to ourselves, each other and to the Divine One inherent within us all and who is moving us ever more into Wholeness and Unity.