Heartwise Mamas: Supportive Group for Mamas Having a Difficult Time Settling into Motherhood

This supportive group is:
For women who are having a rough start on their journey of motherhood. Through rich guided discussions, story-healing activities, and gentle interactions with their baby, mothers become attuned with emotions, thoughts, and needs and engage and bond with their baby.

If you are:

• traumatized from a difficult birth experience


• feeling Motherhood shock (this is not what I expected)


• feeling disconnected from your baby


• feeling isolated, stuck, unsure, exhausted, or overwhelmed


• searching for the missing you that you barely remember

...then this group is for you.

This group starts October 24th and will meet weekly at 12:30pm-1:45pm in 5 week segments. $20/group meeting or $90/5 group meetings. Please call or e-mail Mychelle Moritz to register 971-344-7527 or mychelle@nurturepdx.org

Cesarean Scars Shared

For mamas who have had cesarean births, on CesareanScar.com you will find a place to share your story and a picture of your scar. This is a website much like The Shape of a Mother but is dedicated solely to cesarean scars. The creator of CesareanScar.com started the site to provide a space for cesarean scars to find their voice. The pictures and stories, as the site creator writes, tell "tender, painful, wonderful, awful stories".

Raising Children Holistically: An Introduction for Parents

Raising Children Holistically: An Introduction for Parents

To be held over 2 days from Friday evening April 2 from 6:30-9:30pm and Saturday April 3 from 8:30am-12:30pm.

@ Zenana Spa www.zenana-spa.com View Map

In our culture, the concept of well-child care has trained us to rely on doctors to treat the simplest of ailments from coughs and colds, to stomach aches and insect bites. Yet, taking care of our own children—keeping them well and treating them ourselves--can be the most empowering of experiences.

Using excellent nutrition as a foundation, we can raise functionally healthy children who respond well to supportive measures, such as home remedies, homeopathy, Bach Flowers and energy medicine.

In addressing nutrition, we consider questions such as can feeding our families really be simple? What do really need and what can we realistically expect from food? How did we develop our current understanding of and relationship to food? What environmental and food industry issues might play a role? How can we understand the emotional and energetic aspects of nutrition? How can we wade through the research, the books and the hundreds of “diets” to discover a healthy relationship with food? We will discuss and explore various dietary approaches with an emphasis on nourishing pregnant and nursing mothers as well as children. Food can be used to optimize health as it nourishes, heals and restores well-being.

We will discuss simple home remedies to address many of the most common ailments, drawing upon over twenty years of practical experience. Choosing safe and effective products is usually quite simple with the proper information. There is no medicine more profound or deeply healing than energy medicine. From addressing simple emotional hurts to physical bumps and bruises, from re-patterning harmful behaviors to accelerating healing in any area, energy medicine is THE medicine of the future. It has been proven to be useful in both acute and chronic imbalances. We will teach the foundation of EFT, and the basics of using flower essences and homeopathy.

This lecture provides an introduction to the concepts and tools available to us as parents in raising our children holistically. The content offers some of the key points contained in the 4-part series "Raising Children Holistically: A Series for Parents" which covers nutrition, home remedies, energy medicine and integration of practices into family life. Raising children with a holistic approach to well-being instills a confidence and attunement that they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Jennifer's passion for working with women and babies was catalyzed by her own homebirths and her experience raising her children (born in 1988, 1992, 1998). Inspired by the healing of her own body through holistic therapies, she has raised her children from the premise that all life seeks its own well-being and acts in its own best interests. Primary is a trust that through the practice of raising vibrational energy, we allow the body’s intelligence to direct its own healing and restore homeostasis. She is committed to the protection and promotion of physiologic birth and breastfeeding, conscious parenting and holistic choices in healthcare and education. Jennifer is acertified energy healer (the Reconnection and Reconnective Healing), and has extensive education and experience in a range of holistic practices including homeopathy, herbalism, Bach Flowers, EFT, pranic healing, nutrition, intuition and home remedies and is certified in Past Life Regression. Jennifer is co-creator of the Sumati Home Remedy Kit. She is currently writing a book on the use of holistic practices for lactation consultants.

Nurture featured at Alberta Coop Wellness Forum

Community Forum - March 30th

by Ari Rosner and Camella Vargas, Working Owners

The Alberta Coop Grocery's March open forum & potluck is on Wellness products and practices, and will be held Tuesday, March 30 at the Lotus Seed (at NE 9th and Going) starting at 6:30. Wellness practitioners will be on hand to do live demosand answer questions about their practices.

Also, by attending, you will have the chance to win free one-hour passes to Common Ground Wellness Center, which will be given out both as a door raffle and to the best dishes in thepotluck contest (as voted by those in attendance). Common Ground is an urban community wellness center providing hydrotherapy, bodywork, and other alternative healing practices. Their new facility on 33rd and Alberta has an outdoor hot soaking pool and a dry cedar sauna...should make for a great prize for the lucky winners!

Topics and Demonstrations will include:

Massage Therapy and Body Work in various modalities, Soma Neuromuscular Integration and Craniosacral Therapy, D.I.Y. Health and Beauty products, Pilates, Aromatherapy, Flower Essence Therapy, Acupuncture and Nutrition.

The practitioners come from the Alberta Coop community as well as other cooperative organizations like Common Ground, PDX Timebank and Nurture. For more information on the event and its participants, check out http://groups.google.com/group/acg-community-engagement/web/info-on-the-next-forum.

Schedule:

6:30 Potluck (Prizes will be given for inspired dishes!!!)
7:00 - 8:30 Wellness Info & Demo sessions.

Alberta Coop Wellness Forum on March 30!

The Alberta Coop Grocery's March open forum & potluck is on Wellness products and practices, and will be held Tuesday, March 30 at the Lotus Seed (at NE 9th and Going) starting at 6:30. Wellness practitioners will be on hand to do live demos and answer questions about their practices.

Also, by attending, you will have the chance to win free one-hour passes to Common Ground Wellness Center, which will be given out both as a door raffle and to the best dishes in the potluck contest (as voted by those in attendance). Common Ground is an urban community wellness center providing hydrotherapy, bodywork, and other alternative healing practices. Their new facility on 33rd and Alberta has an outdoor hot soaking pool and a dry cedar sauna...should make for a great prize for the lucky winners!

Topics and Demonstrations will include:
Massage Therapy and Body Work in various modalities, Soma Neuromuscular Integration and Craniosacral Therapy, D.I.Y. Health and Beauty products, Pilates, Aromatherapy, Flower Essence Therapy, Acupuncture and Nutrition.

The practitioners come from the Alberta Coop community as well as other cooperative organizations like Common Ground, PDXTimebank www.pdxtimebank.org and Nurture www.nurturepdx.com. For more information on the event and its participants, check out http://groups.google.com/group/acg-community-engagement/web/info-on-the-next-forum.

Schedule:

6:30 Potluck (Prizes will be given for inspired dishes!!!)
7:00 - 8:30 Wellness Info & Demo sessions.

NPR: Lawmakers Weigh Mandatory Depression Screening For New Moms

Should screening for postpartum depression be mandatory? Listen to the NPR discussion about the proposed bill in Massachusetts, and let us know your thoughts...

(see the second post down and click on "listen"):

http://www.hereandnow.org/2010/03/rundown-311-2/#2

NPR also links to Postpartum Support International's list of signs of PPD: http://postpartum.net.gravitatehosting.com/Get-the-Facts.aspx

Work It Out Portland: A 10 Week Counseling Group

Work It Out Portland: A 10 week Counseling Group

Starting: Thursday, February 18, 2010 , 6:30–8pm

Where: Owls Nest North: 3615 NE Grand -- Portland, OR, 97212

Cost: $40 per person, per group

Contact: Karen Hixson & Consuelo Tolosa:

503 314 6027

workitoutportland@yahoo.com

Next Steps:

Call or email to schedule a free consultation prior to the group!

"Reclaiming Your Life Story" workshop Wed, Jan 20

Reclaiming Your Life Story:

From "if only" to "here it begins"

Wednesday, January 20 7-9pm

In Other Words Bookstore, 8 NE Killingsworth

suggested donation: $10

Do you find yourself wondering "if only" a lot? If only you had made different choices in your life -- a different partner, a different career, kids, no kids? If only you had more time, or more money? If only you didn't have to live this life you're stuck in, then things could work out for you? Then you could be happy?

If this sounds like you, it may feel like there is no way out of this dilemma. But in this workshop, we will dig deeper into the physical & emotional habits that lead to these feelings and find new ways of relating to ourselves, so that we can finally begin to tell the story we want with our lives.

This workshop is for anyone who is frustrated with where they are in their lives right now, and who are ready to examine patterns of thinking and acting that limit their happiness and creativity. My intention is to help us begin to see these subconscious patterns, and to turn them around to become the fire we need to consciously create our life story.

About the presenter
My name is Sarah Nuxoll, and I am a mother of two young children in Portland, Oregon. After several years of feeling frustrated and unhappy with my life, I began working toward deeper body-mind clarity and emotional and spiritual healing. Now I feel excited about engaging life, moving with my creativity, and allowing myself to feel happy telling the story I want with my life. In this workshop, I share insights from my experience as a woman, mother, and evolving spiritual practitioner who is devoted to helping each of us accept and embrace ourselves as we are, while having the courage to move toward healing.

For more information: please contact Sarah at 503-285-4906 or sarahnuxoll@gmail.com.

Mama Mantras

At a four-year-old's birthday party, I managed to have a very helpful conversation with my friend and colleague, Rebecca York, about the challenges we both worked through during the early postpartum days. As we talked about the difficulties of bonding with a baby when one is struggling to stay afloat, Rebecca mentioned an affirmation that was helpful for her during that time. She said she posted it on sticky notes all over the house, had it written on index cards, and would say it gently to herself as she held her baby.

Rebecca's mama mantra was:

My child/family and I are connected with love.

Rebecca is a social worker with a private practice offering counseling to women. Her specialty is pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and life transitions. Thank you, Rebecca, for sharing your mantra.

My child/family and I are connected with love.

Mustache Therapy (and more) at Green Bean Books

My children and I popped over to Green Bean Books (Nurture's neighbor!) to indulge in a bit of book buying, but we also got in a bit of therapy while we were there. You see, Portland book lovers have been sprouting facial hair and belly laughs (=good therapy), thanks to Jennifer's magnificent Instant Disguise Machine ("Facial Hair in a Flash!"), and we joined in the fun. Okay, so my youngest was a bit freaked out by the idea, but her brother happily added her mustache to his $.25-incognito-mug. Look for us (see picture above) on the mustache montage wall...aren't I looking wise with that white stache??

There is so much to discover over there, little nooks, crannies, and creatures tucked away all over the store; my children love it there! You can also buy, trade, or sell books over there: they offer 25% of our selling price in cash or 30% of our selling price in trade credit (for your used children’s books and adult best sellers that are in good condition. They reserve the right to reject any book that they feel they cannot sell, of course).

Yay, Green Bean Books! Thank you for widening our smiles!

Reiki Class this Sunday, November 29th

Shamballa Reiki Class at Nurture

1614 NE Alberta St. Portland, Oregon

Next Class: November 29th, 2009 10am to 3pm

Create a Sacred Space. Each participant is invited to bring an item to add at the opening circle (to be returned to owner at the end of class). This could be anything- pictures, crystals, artwork, jewelry, something from nature, etc. This is done in combination with setting an intention for the class.

Guided Meditations. Group meditation opens each individual up to higher levels of consciousness and creates a synergistic atmosphere of learning.

Questions and Answers . Each participant will receive a copy of the Shamballa Reiki handbook prior to the attunements. This is an opportunity to engage in a dynamic conversation that covers some of the material in the handbook, as well as other questions, concerns, wonderments, insights, etc.

Attunement. The Reiki and Shamballa attunements will be given to each participant. The attunement opens energy channels, and places healing symbols in one's energy field. After receiving Shamballa Reiki attunements, each participant will have the capability to channel and transmit healing energy, through laying on of hands as well as long-distance healing.

Practice. Each person will get a chance to practice giving and receiving Shamballa Reiki.

Closing Circle. Each person can share his or her thoughts at this time.

Cost of class is $50, plus $10 for each handbook.

Members of PDXTimebank can pay partially with Timedollars.

Molly has been practicing Reiki since 2002 and received her Master/Teacher attunements in Shamballa and Reiki in 2004. She teaches classes, as well as offers individual treatments incorporating Shamballa Reiki with other holistic modalities for mind-body-spirit healing.

To Register For a Class:

Please contact Molly Fitzpatrick, L.Ac. at

molly@nurturepdx.com or 503-341-1372

Postpartum Depression article on WebMD

Wendy Davis of Baby Blues Connection (BBC) and Postpartum Support International (PSI) passed this on this article, Postpartum Depression: More Common than You Know, found on WebMD. I particularly like this quote from the president of PSI, Birdie Gunyon Meyer, RN, MA, CLC, also the coordinator of the Perinatal Mood Disorders Program at Clarian Health in Indianapolis:

Even highly intelligent women don't recognize what they have, and when they do try to reach out, people just say, 'Yeah, that's motherhood. It's tough.'

I might add that sometimes even therapists and counselors, who are trained to recognize the signs of depression, do not recognize that they have a perinatal mood disorder. Hopefully with public education, more women and families will recognize the signs of it and get help. In addition to lack of information, there is quite a bit of fear and shame associated with postpartum mood disorders. Hopefully, that will change too.

Please pass on this article and get help if you or someone you know may have a perinatal mood disorder. It can be treated, the effects can be minimized, you will get better, there is hope.


Where to find help:
Baby Blues Connection

Postpartum Support International

Pregnancy Support Group

If you are pregnant and looking for support, Colleen Burke-Sivers, MA, is offering a pregnancy counseling support group starting on September 30th at her office on NE 42nd Ave. Details...

Though pregnancy can be a joy-filled time full of anticipation, many pregnant women often struggle with depression and anxiety, ambivalence, loneliness, a conflicted relationship with their partner or traveling the journey as a single parent, financial difficulties, decisions about work, and where to find trustworthy childcare to name a few concerns.

A weekly counseling and support group for pregnant women, led by experienced therapist, Colleen Burke-Sivers, M.A., is being offered at her office in NE Portland. It is an opportunity to share feelings about your pregnancy, and impending motherhood. Though it may be an opportunity to share resources, the focus will be on the interior experience, rather than on practical solutions.

The group will take place on Wednesday afternoons from 3:30-5:00. It will run from September 30th through November 18th, 2009 (8 weeks).

The cost is $25 per session, or $175 for all 8 sessions if paid in full at first session.
For free initial consultation, call Colleen @ (503) 250-3123.

Announcing Mothergarden: A new mothers' group starting in September

Nurture is excited to announce Mothergarden, a new mothers' group at Nurture hosted by Welcome with Love Family Care starting in September.
Mothergarden
A free drop-in group for moms & babies
Come meet other moms, laugh, cry, tell our stories, and most of all, support each other.

Mondays 10:30-noon, starting September 7
Nurture, Center for Growing Families
1614 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
www.nurturepdx.com/mothergarden

Hosted by Welcome with Love Family Care (www.welcomewithlovefamilycare.com), and Nurture, Center for Growing Families.

What is Mothergarden? Mothergarden is a space to relax and share your experience of being a mother, meet other moms, trade stories and suggestions, find the support you need, and simply enjoy the company of other moms & babies.

How did Mothergarden come to be? Mothergarden has been birthed from a lovely partnership between Nurture and Sarah Nuxoll of Welcome with Love Family Care. Sarah's vision of helping women as they grow into their roles as mothers is perfectly complemented by Nurture's mission to provide a warm and welcoming space for growing families to find the support they need. Our intention is to bring together moms & babies to help bring forth the collective wisdom, humor, and compassion that sustain and nourish us as mothers.

Who is invited? Although we created Mothergarden to help new mothers find support and companionship, we also welcome expectant mothers, dads & partners, grandparents, friends, and others who are interested in creating a parenting community to support each other.

For more information, visit www.nurturepdx.com/mothergarden, or contact Sarah at welcomewithlove@gmail.com.

Wade Bowen's song benefiting Postpartum Support International

Wendy Davis, of Baby Blues Connection and Postpartum Support International, posted this video: Wade Bowen's song benefiting Postpartum Support International. If you are a partner of a woman with a postpartum mood disorder, visit the Baby Blues Connection's Tips for Partners, PSI's Family & Partners support resource list, and the Postpartum Dads Project. You and your partner are not alone; there is support available.

Mama Mantras

Jenn, mother of a 2 1/2 year old girl, works through some mama-guilt with a mantra. She writes:

Ever since my daughter was born I have struggled with guilt whenever I go out to have fun without her. I have to remind myself that she will be okay and that I deserve to have, and that is exactly what I say:

'She will be okay, and I deserve to have fun!'

So true! Thank you, Jenn!

[My child] will be okay, and I deserve to have fun!

Let's Talk Placentas

Placentas are the heart of connection between a baby and mother during pregnancy, literally anchoring the baby to the mother's uterine wall. In an intricate dance, the placenta gathers blood from the mother, pulls oxygen and nutrients, transfers them to the baby's blood system via the cord, and then sends the waste from the baby's blood back out to be excreted by the mother's body. This whole waltz happens without the mother and baby's blood ever combining. The placenta also produces hormones that are essential for many changes in the mother's body during pregnancy as well as the fetus's growth. It is a pretty powerful and important organ and not just during pregnancy.

After a baby is born, there are several ways that the placenta can be honored and utilized:

• In numerous cultures families plant the placenta under a tree. Some cultures burn or smoke the placenta first and plant the ashes, but other cultures plant the placenta directly in the ground. The tree's growth is a beautiful reminder and symbol of the child's growth.
• Some women encapsulate (or otherwise prepare) the placenta for ingesting. It has been said that placentophagy helps a new mother's body recover more quickly and lessens the chances of baby blues following a birth. For more information visit Placenta Benefits.info For a recipe visit Placenta Remedy
• A beautiful keepsake can be made by doing a placenta print. The placenta makes a tree-like shape when printed, and the print can be framed. The prints can be made before encapsulating or burying if you choose to do either (you would not want to use paint or ink for the print if you are going to encapsulate or otherwise ingest the placenta). Visit this webpage for more information on how to do the print. These websites both have a beautiful picture of a placenta print: http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_690_profile_portfolio__11_1_G.htm & http://www.beautifulbellies.co.nz/Placenta%20Prints.

I am also including two links to videos below. The first one is a step-by-step how to make a placenta print. The second one is a video of "the Placenta Lady" encapsulating a woman's placenta for her as her husband films and makes not-so-pleasant comments. Despite the commentary, the video is informative if you are interested. Both videos show placentas and blood, so if you do not want to see either, you might want to skip the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHc-zV77JLY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuxeAbeDcU0

Bubbles: Teaching Children Breathwork

Yesterday, in the hot July sunshine, my children chased glossy bubbles throughout the garden. It reminded me of the work I used to do with young children who had experienced violence in their lives. Bubbles, as I discovered while working with these dear children, are quite therapeutic in many ways. They are fun, freeing, beautiful, and mysterious, but they also lend nicely to teaching children gentle breathwork. The gentle blowing that is required to form nice bubbles is similar to the slower gentle breaths one can use to relax. Bubbles are a portable relaxation tool!

First, I talk to children about noticing how they breathe. Then, I show them how to blow bubbles using a gentle inhale and a gentle exhale using their diaphragm. I also talk to children about noticing how their body feels when they breathe gently to blow bubbles; this promotes body awareness. I also want to be sure they do not hyperventilate or get dizzy from over-doing it.

Who says therapy is no fun?!

Filial Therapy

One of my favorite ways to support families is through filial therapy. What is filial therapy?

Filial Therapy is a research-based, approach that teaches parents how to use some of the same skills that play therapists use to help children. Research shows that motivated parents can be as effective as a professional in helping their child.

Typically, Filial Therapy is most beneficial for children ages 3 - 12. However, many children as young as 2 years of age and up to 13 can benefit from Filial Therapy. A modified form of filial therapy can be used with infants and toddlers. Filial Therapy is beneficial for both the parent and the child.

The following concerns can be addressed with filial therapy:

• Preparing for or after the arrival of a new sibling
• Reconnecting with a parent experiencing postpartum depression/anxiety
• Attachment related difficulties in biological/foster/adoptive families
• Depression, sadness, moodiness
• Grief & loss
• Moving
• Divorce
• Aggressive behaviors
• Excessively worries, anxiety, or separation issues
• Traumatic stress from events such as accidents, witnessing violence, abuse or a natural disaster
• Self-esteem or identity problems
• Nightmares/night terrors
• Needing to be center of attention
• School related difficulties
• Social issues

Goals and Benefits of Filial Therapy:

• Strengthened relationship with your child
• Develop a deeper understanding of your child
• Your child learns and understand their feelings
• You and your child learn to express feelings and communicate in healthy ways
• You and your child develop new problem solving skills
• Reduce or eliminate challenging behaviors
• Your child will feel heard and understood
• Your child can work through troubling issues
• Increased trust between you and your child
• Increased self-confidence and self-worth for your child
• It can increase your confidence in parenting
• Increase or repair your family's ability to have fun together
• Provide tools the family can use in the future

Filial therapy involves a commitment on your part, please read through the information on the filial therapy page.

For more information about filial therapy or to schedule an initial appointment, please contact Mychelle Moritz, ATR-BC, LPC 971-344-7527 or mychelle@nurturepdx.com

Parent Workshops

Parents are People Too: Reclaiming Our Personal Expression as Parents
August 22, 2-4pm $30
As a parent, it is so easy to get caught up in the flow of daily obligations, leaving little time or energy for expressing who we are and what captures our imagination. Yet this creative exploration is essential to feeling fulfilled in our lives, which in turn translates into feeling more relaxed and happy in our role as parents.

Also, our fall dates for this workshop:
Moving Beyond a Difficult Birth: Embracing Healing and Connecting with Your Baby
Two-part workshop: September 12 & 19, 2-4pm $45
Part One: Healing through Birth Story and Art
Part Two: Connecting Deeply with Your Baby
The experience of birth doesn’t always happen the way we imagine. Intense emotions from a challenging pregnancy or birth can make it feel difficult to be fully present with your baby. These emotions need and deserve to be expressed and acknowledged, before we can allow ourselves to release them and begin true emotional healing. Then we can relax more deeply into a heartfelt, intuitive connection with our children.

For more information, visit www.nurturepdx.com/workshops.html
To register, contact Sarah at 503.285.4906 or welcomewithlove@gmail.com,

About the presenters
Sarah Nuxoll: After several years of feeling frustrated as a parent, I began working toward deeper body-mind clarity and emotional and spiritual healing. Now I feel excited about engaging life, moving with my creativity, and allowing myself to feel happy as a parent. In these workshops, I share insights from my experience as a mother of two, as a spiritual practitioner, and as an apprentice homebirth midwife. I look forward to meeting you!

Mychelle Moritz: Having experienced the beautiful yet challenging transition to parenthood, I have developed a passion for helping women and their growing families. I am an artist, an art therapist, and a licensed professional counselor, as well as the co-founder of Nurture. My two active young children keep me very busy and I enjoy watching their creative antics.