Part 2- A Decade Later- Being part of Circles of Trust & Holding that Space
I loved being pregnant, I loved my birth, I love being a new mom. I was so fortunate to find a community when I was pregnant when I took the class Yoga for Moms with Ann. We met at a church near my house once a week for 2 hours. We practiced prenatal yoga and then we talked and checked in, and moms who had given birth came back to share their birth stories. I learned so much about pregnancy and birth during these classes and met some amazing people who would be my moms support circle when Kaia did arrive. This class was truly the best pregnancy education I received while finding community.
In February 2012, when Kaia was 6 months old, Ann was moving to Pennsylvania and asked me and a friend, Kristin, if we could take over Yoga for Moms. I had considered yoga teacher training for awhile, and said yes. She trained us, and we took over. This was the beginning of my journey of holding space for a group of women, at a vulnerable time, when community is so helpful. I was also 3 years into my graduate school program, which is where I really practiced the tools to hold space for others. (More on that in a later blog). I am forever grateful for the opportunity Ann gave me, and I soon took another pregnancy yoga certification and pursued more birth education as a doula so I could hold the space with more knowledge about pregnancy and birth. I started practicing as a birth doula part time.
I was also fortunate to find a new mom’s support group when Kaia was young, and I attended it with other moms I met through Yoga for Moms. This group was led by a birth doula and the time to connect and talk was again, the best education I could get, as we learned from each other this new life of being a mom. These friendships and this community of women supported me over the next 3 years of motherhood. This experience was so important to me that I started offering new moms groups at A Moms Space in Lafayette soon after moving to Colorado. I hosted these circles for 3 years and the moms who were in that group created lasting friendships and bonds and supported each other through things like postpartum anxiety and depression (in this space they were able to recognize it and get more support).
Reflecting on this time, and sharing it here, hoping to illustrate the power of community, I am aware of why I keep offering and inviting people to come together in circles and community and why this is how I teach Reiki in the Be Rooted program. These circles and community saved my life- truly- it brought together some amazing women. I learned so much, and the friendships and connections I made supported me through some extremely difficult times for my family.
Why were these circles so helpful? We were open, we were vulnerable, we trusted each other, we were in similar life situations- the stories we heard and shared with each other showed that we were not alone in this journey of motherhood. Powerful connections are made in these spaces, lifelong friendships are made. I was fortunate enough to lead these types of yoga classes and groups when I moved to Colorado in 2015, after teaching and holding space for pregnant and postpartum women in Baltimore for 3 years. I am grateful for my teachers who modeled how to hold space, I am grateful for my graduate school program that gave me tools and practice at holding space, and I am grateful for the opportunities to hold this space for others, and is why I keep on offering this format for healing and community! The blog, My Inspiration… The Circle of Trust approach, talks more in depth about this way of gathering, which is new to many people.