by Kara Maia Spencer, www.MaiaHealingArts.com, www.BirthEcology.org
Birth is a sacred rite of passage for women, a life-altering
experience that brings knowledge, experience, growth, and discovery.
There is great power and potential inherent in pregnancy and birth.
Labor is an altered state of consciousness that the woman journeys
through in order to discover her birth power. The sacredness of
mothers, babies, and birth must be honored first and foremost, for the
survival of humanity and our earth. A wise birth saying is, “Peace on
Earth Begins with Birth”.
The newborn’s emergence at birth imprints the baby with the first
impressions of the world. The baby has an instinct to be born, the
mother’s body ripens for birth but she must be patient to wait for the
baby’s unique time. Physiologically, it is the baby who initiates
labor, signaling the mother’s body to labor and birth. The baby is a
conscious participant in the birth journey. When a mother listens to
her body and her baby, and gives birth instinctively, that child is
imprinted with the ability to respect and honor their body and being.
Conscious birthing is an ecstatic experience, and women who birth
instinctively can even experience orgasm and spiritual awakening. Birth
becomes a tantric experience between the mother and baby, as they
communicate through deeper consciousness and without words. Birth is
one aspect of the women’s cycle of fertility and sexuality, and all the
rites of passage in women’s sexual cycles are ecologically vital and
have ecstatic potential.
The women’s sexual life cycle includes many rites of passage:
menarche, menstruation, childbirth, and menopause. These are known as
the Blood Mysteries, and have been honored by traditional cultures
around the world for thousands of years. The women’s mysteries are
opportunities for sacred connection to nature, deepening
self-understanding, gaining new wisdom, and creative potential.
Women’s cycles are a deep source of connection to nature. The
menstrual cycle is guided by the moon; the lunar cycles influence the
tides of the oceans and women’s wombs. We experience the cycles of
nature physically every day, the cycle of the day and night, the moon
cycle, the solar cycle of the seasons, and we experience natural cycles
within our bodies, the lifecycle, the menstrual cycle, and the birth
cycle. The gestation of pregnancy is actually ten lunar cycles, and
many people call the postpartum time, the babymoon.
Throughout gestation, the mother and baby are biologically one unit.
The baby is dependent upon the health, nourishment, and love of the
mother. Humans live in the womb of Mother Earth, and we are all
interdependent upon the health of the planet and our environment, which
provides us with everything from atoms to atmosphere, to food, shelter,
and medicine.
The Earth is our Mother. She gave birth to all of us; all the trees,
mountains, herbs, flowers, animals, minerals, and humans are her
children and family. The web of interconnectivity binds us all. There
is an Earth-Body balance that is vital for health; a balance between
ecological health, such as a sense of connection to place and
environmental health, and somatic health, the physical, personal, and
inner essence of body and spirit well-being.
Humanity must honor our interdependence with nature in order to heal
our bodies, and our Earth. Western culture’s disrespect for the Earth
is seen is the destruction of the environment, natural resources,
ancient forests, atmosphere, and oceans. This is mirrored in the highly
invasive treatment of women’s bodies in medicine, media, and childbirth
practices. Western culture is no longer in sync with the rhythms and
cycles of nature. We are cutting open our bodies and our planet. The
farther we push ourselves from living ecologically, in balance with
nature, the more we kill ourselves and our planet. How do we find a way
to regain balance?
In our vision to create a safe world for children to live in, we
must begin with making birth safe for children, so that they may be at
home in their bodies. In order to heal birth, we must care for the
whole health of mother, baby, family, and community. Healing art
midwifery must address the body, mind, heart, and spirit of mother and
planet. Each birth is a seed for humanity. The journey to healing
begins with addressing the birth trauma that we carry, from our own
births, and the births our ancestors. Each birth brings a new
opportunity to preserve the garden.
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