This Sacred Life Transforming Our World Through Birth

A text guide covering conception, pregnancy and childbirth, for Parents, Birth workers and those interested in Transforming Our World through Birth....

An authoritative guide to natural childbirth and postpartum parenting options from an MD who home-birthed her own four children. Sarah Buckley might be called a third-wave natural birth advocate. A doctor and a mother, she approaches the question of how a woman and baby might have the most fulfilling birth experience with respect for the wisdom of both medical science and the human body. Using current medical and epidemiological research plus women's experiences (including her own), she demonstrates that what she calls "undisturbed birth" is almost always healthier and safer than high-technology approaches to birth. Her wise counsel on issues like breastfeeding and sleeping during postpartum helps extend the gentle birth experience into a gentle parenting relationship.

This book reveals how giving birth is an inherently safe, relatively painless process that is best performed without the assistance of doctors or midwives, and how confidence and a positive attitude reduces fear—and therefore the pain—of labor. According to Laura Kaplan Shanley, a renowned leader in the natural-birth movement, human birth is inherently safe and relatively painless—provided we refrain from physical or psychological interference. The problems often associated with birth can be traced to three main factors: poverty, unnecessary medical intervention, and fear. When these causes are eliminated, most women can give birth either alone or with the help of a partner, friends, or family. This second edition of Unassisted Childbirth leads with a history of childbirth and then describes how most deliveries occur today, detailing why these processes don't serve mothers or babies. The information in this unique book gives women yet another legitimate choice in childbirth that doesn't rely on doctors and technology, and allows parents, birth professionals, and general readers to reexamine their most basic ideas about birth and learn to think in new ways.

This book addresses the survival of humankind. Our world is the best it has ever been, but it is not sustainable. It is self-destructive; it is marked by war, which can destroy the world in a single day, the destruction of natural and human capital within 10 years, and technologies which could be both beneficial and destructive. We have no future if we continue living as we do currently, and even if we do nothing. This book highlights the kinds of changes which are required. Wars are not biologically necessary and are useless; the culture that established wars can eliminate them. Poverty, hunger and inequality destroy human capital. These destructions can be overcome by changing economic and political paradigms and our mindset. Empathy, freedom, curiosity and wisdom are required.

Wisdom is Women’s Gift to the World. In the many cultural stories that speak about the changing of the ages, it is always Feminine Spirit which brings about the transition to new life, for Feminine Spirit knows the rhythms of life, death, and rebirth and is the “opener of the way.” In times of cultural transformation, it is also our right-brain, feminine consciousness that is our best guide, for it opens us to the creative imagination, the realm of possibility. The return of the Goddess awakens the transformative energy that births the changing of the ages. In the western story of worldwide spiritual transformation, there is a powerful image of Cosmic Woman, an image of the archetypal Feminine Spirit who transforms and gives birth to this new age. And her archetypal image gives us instructions for opening to and incarnating wisdom. This image of the awakening Feminine Spirit is an image of the Conscious Woman: a woman, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, crowned with stars, who is in labor, giving birth to a savior. In earlier times and different traditions, this archetypal image was understood as Lady Wisdom. Today I feel this Goddess image of conscious woman can be incarnated by women everywhere. This woman clothed with the sun is Lady Wisdom, who calls all women to become her daughters. “I love Cathy’s insights into fairy tales, mythology, dreams, astrological energies, and archetypes. She makes sense of how our lives are impacted by these complex yet very beautiful elements, making them accessible and keeping them profound. Her wisdom can only enhance anyone lucky enough to have crossed her path.” —Alix Toland, Artist & Creator of Color-Scope: An Astrological Mandala

"Britta, you are a master at what you do." —P!NK, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter As expecting parents, you’re bombarded with more information—and opinions—than ever about the “right” approach to pregnancy and childbirth. How do you navigate this ocean of information—not only to find the best practical solutions for you personally, but also to embrace this incredible opportunity for emotional and spiritual transformation that comes from bringing a child into this world? With Transformed by Birth, Dr. Britta Bushnell has created the transformative, intelligent, and empowering pregnancy and childbirth guide you’ve been waiting for. This book embraces birth as a metamorphic experience—a rite of passage in which you are initiated by opening to the unbidden, embodying your own wisdom, and gaining freedom from limiting beliefs. Our culture has inundated us with limiting ideals that prevent us from fully engaging in the journey of pregnancy and childbirth—including a need for control and certainty, vilification of pain, and reverence for technology and intellectual knowledge, among others. Dr. Bushnell helps you clear away unwanted beliefs and behaviors so you can open to the meaning and power of this uniquely life-changing experience. Here she offers daily practices, rituals, exercises, and more to help you cultivate resilience, power, and connection during this transformative time. Childbirth is more than just having a baby. Transformed by Birth invites you to discover childbirth as a transformational experience that alters your knowing of who you are and lasts long after pregnancy and birth are over.

This edited volume explores the intersection of spirituality with childbirth from 1800 to the present day from a comparative perspective. It illustrates how over this time period in much of the world, traditional practices, home births, and midwives have been overshadowed and undermined by male dominated obstetrics, hospitalization, and ultimately the medicalization of the birthing process itself.

A guide to connecting with the wisdom and energies of ancient Africa and awakening the lion-hearted spiritual warrior within • Reveals the wisdom and love of the White Lions of Timbavati, who have returned to help us remember our divine origins • Explores how to reconnect to our original roots in Africa hidden deep within our DNA and remember our sacred contract to guard and protect the natural world • Offers shamanic journeys to connect with African power animals as well as the energetic hologram of the 31st meridian, the spine of Mother Earth It was predicted by indigenous tribes in Africa that when the White Lions return to their sacred lands in Timbavati we would be in a time of evolutionary and spiritual awakening. On Christmas Day in the year 2000, Marah the White Lion was born, the first “way-shower” to arrive and help us awaken to our divine origins, when we were one with all life in Zep Tepi, the land of first time. Our spiritual warrior selves are being summoned to heal the separation between us and nature, to be the change agents of heart, as we evolve to a higher consciousness. Exploring how to awaken to the energies and messengers of ancient Africa that reside along the 31st meridian, the spine of Mother Earth, Carley Mattimore and Linda Star Wolf take you on a journey to connect with our original roots in Africa, hidden deep within our DNA. They share shamanic journeys and teachings to connect with the strengths of Africa’s spirit animals, including the inner authority and heart of Lion, the loyalty and wisdom of Elephant, the love and compassion of Giraffe, and the shadow side of Hyena. They explore the power of shamanic sacred sites and offer teachings on the African Tree of Life and the energetic hologram of the 31st meridian. Sharing wisdom from Mhondoro Mandaza Kandemwa, Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, and other wisdom keepers, the authors explain how, as we connect with the messengers along the 31st meridian, we begin to remember our sacred contract to protect the natural world. Offering a guide to reconnect with the ancient African wisdom of love and higher consciousness buried in our cellular memory, the authors show how we can help reopen the heart of humanity and heal the world around us.