What happens to women after childbirth?  How do we change and what do we lose?  For some it’s our bodies, our figures, our core strength and the sense of confidence that goes with it.  For others it’s our sensuality, sexuality, and the sense of connection we need to feel intimate.  Still others lose our identity, our community, our sense of competence, and our inner strength. For everyone the birth of a child marks a transition that is rarely talked about and grossly unsupported in our world today.

This 6 session series and focused support group helps women regain their core strength and posture while addressing the emotional issues, which surround postpartum life.  The areas of exploration range from how to really tone the pelvic floor to how to talk with our partner and friends about our need for support.  The bodywork targets the pelvis, belly, inner thighs, lower back and shoulders and the discussion focuses on understanding and accepting the emotions that accompany each new child. The goal is helping women resource at a time of radical change.

Having children is a profound experiencing and reclaiming your body and rediscovering your self can be equally profound and life altering.

This work is divided in to two experiences; the group and the one-on-one series.  Doing both together is deeply nourishing, supportive, educational and life altering, but the experiences can be done separately to suit individual time issues, finances, needs, and goals. 

The six session bodywork series:  Each session includes therapeutic discussion, deep tissue bodywork, and movement education.  The goals of each aspect are enumerated below:

Therapeutic Goals:

• To acknowledge and normalize the post partum experience
• To discuss and accept feelings of loss, incompetence, fear, frustration, confusion, irritability, longing, vulnerability
• To identify and strengthen inner resources and identify outer resources needed to adjust to new role
• To acknowledge the need for support and create supportive relationships
• To acknowledge the need for nurturing and receiving and identify ways of balancing giving and receiving

Structural bodywork Goals:

• To align the pelvis, rib cage, shoulder girdle and head along the plumb line of gravity
• To align the legs under the pelvis
• To release tension left over from pregnancy and birth
• To reconnect the tissue of the belly: rectus abdominus, oblique, transverse abdominus, Psoas: to put it back into the core and learn how to keep it there
• To release and tone the pelvic floor
• To release shoulder, neck and arm tension related to nursing and carrying the baby and establish alignment in shoulder girdle
  

Movement Education Goals:

• To feel and understand the relationship between posture and emotional states
• To tone and strengthen the adductors and the whole medial mid-line of the body
• To tone and strengthen the Pelvic floor
• To tone and strengthen the abdominals and understand how to move from the core
• To feel the core working in every day movements such as walking, holding the baby, pushing the stroller, sitting at the computer

The series is a customized blend of the above goals, based on the goals, needs and experience of each woman.

The Post Partum Group:

The group will meet once a  week for six weeks providing support through discussion and community. To learn more read about Groups and/or contact Sarah.

Contact Sarah to set up an appointment or discuss this therapy further.