By now, many of us are familiar with our nervous system responses. We’ve heard about the sympathetic state - the fight/flight/freeze response. And, the parasympathetic state - the rest/digest response.

Everyday, more and more is being revealed about how our bodies and minds respond to the world around us as a result of past traumas/experiences, as well as how to support good nervous system health (spoiler: for thousands of years, yoga and Ayurveda have been sound practices to support the nervous system).

For example, did you know that not only are fight, flight and freeze normal responses to being in a sympathetic state where we perceive a threat…but that to fawn is, as well? Fawn means that one defaults to people-pleasing, pacifying, “being good,” and so forth in response to a perceived threat, repeat trauma, or Karmic pattern. Fascinating, right? Because fawning is actually celebrated in our society, especially for women, yet that doesn’t mean it is healthy.

Years ago, I also read more about the parasympathetic state in one of Kimberly Ann Johnson’s books. She wrote about the Afterglow response. That word hooked me. In common vernacular, we really only hear about the rest and digest states. Kimberly is a bodyworker and women’s health somatic practitioner. Her work is fascinating, revolutionary and deep, and when I read the word afterglow, I felt a knowing inside me buzz with energy.

You see, for years I’ve been pondering various forms of the same question:

Can we thrive in motherhood? Truly? Is there thriving in motherhood?
Can we learn to thrive in our fertility journeys? Can we thrive during pregnancy? During our births?
During the months and years postpartum? Can we thrive with babies and young children?
Can we thrive raising children seemingly alone?
Is it possible to thrive in a society that seems to place so many demands on mothers, their children, and the entirety of the family (dads and partners, I see you, too)?

My heart tells me, darling YES…but it’s going to take shedding and letting go of so much of what you thought life was/is supposed to be. And that is a massive death, dear one. It will feel like you are walking through the darkness and the unknown, and yet there is safety there.

Enter this concept of Afterglow and why I have titled a Perinatal Yoga Training by the same name.

I know in my bones, that basking in the afterglow is a normal nervous system response that not enough of us are having in relation to particular life experiences - birth, intimacy, sacred practice, pilgrimages, transformation, motherhood, menopause.

From my own spiritual study and practice, I know that the Divine wants us to thrive, not merely survive. Can we allow it?

Let me go further… When you log into social media or watch the news or most movies/television shows, womanhood and certainly motherhood is portrayed as anything but thriving…anything but the afterglow experience.

And yet in real life, I have seen women post-birth who are glowing. Who are in their second and third weeks postpartum, and are tired, but still riding an oxytocin high.

I’ve read interpretations of the ancient scriptures that describe proper care in the postpartum years as being a catalyst for healing so many ills - mental and physical - that have come before, which lead to restored vitality for years to come.

I’ve witnessed women step back from career, professionalism, and - gasp - modern feminism, for a time and years later come forth bursting with renewed vigor, creativity and life force.

I’ve seen women who make radical , uncommon choices in this modern age led by their soul wisdom and misunderstood by society - around their health, birth, motherhood, education, work, and so on - and who are radiant.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t hardship, strife, unlearning, sacrifice, pain and so on…but it does mean that unraveling from certain ways of life and then surrendering to others can have this rest, digest, and afterglow state on the body after moving through our periods of tapas, what feels like a burning fire.

Nervous system health affects so much: Our sleep, our hormones, our relationships, our creativity, our longevity, our physical health, our emotional well-being, and so on.

You and I both know, though, that it is so easy and habitual to fall into the patterns of stress, distraction, busyness, overwhelm, lots of to-do’s, school activities, professional goals and so on that create more stress, which we then become addicted to. There is not one body that likes this state - your sympathetic nervous systems is just stuck in an on state and it feels unsafe to turn the dial to parasympathetic’s glow.

That’s why I named the Perinatal Yoga Training and potentially other women’s health work that I’d like to do Afterglow -

i.e. Good feelings that remain after a pleasurable experience; a pleasant effect or experience that lingers after something is done, experienced or achieved; the light or radiance that remains after the sun has set.

Yoga isn’t just about the poses that we do. Ayurveda isn’t just about the foods that we eat. It’s integrating these ancient 5000 year old practices and letting them influence every step we take. Yoga is about devotion to Self and Source (which are the same), and learning how to listen. Then having to courage to take action or inaction depending on that newfound awareness.

It’s about downregulating the nervous system so much that we bask in the quiet, the space, the stillness, so that the wisdoms can flood in. The wisdoms that lead to those lingering pleasant experiences.

When I envision a group that comes together to study women’s health and the perinatal period in relation to yoga, Ayurveda, and Tantra, I’m imagining that we’ll learn how to confidently support women’s holistic health.

And, I’m also envisioning that we’ll walk through life altering decisions and healing together that will lead every student to their own states of afterglow. I don’t think it would be far fetched to say that each individual who chooses to with me and together in community this fall will feel deeply nourished, seen, and cared for in addition to moving into their passions and furthering their careers.

This training is meant for anyone who wants to learn more about the perinatal period and women’s health. It’s for the yoga teachers and yoga therapists who want a certification in Perinatal Yoga; it’s meant for the care providers like therapists, massage therapists, doulas, midwives, birthworkers, nurses, PT’s and so on. AND, it’s meant for the mothers, for grandmothers, for aunties, for sisters, for all women who see a future of nourished and thriving women. Thriving women lead to thriving life.

If this sounds like you, please do join us. I’m heading out for maternity leave soon, and am opening Afterglow Early Bird rates for enrollment now through July. The good news is, you can get on a payment plan early if you’d like to spread out your investment. We start in September. Read all about it here. I’m really excited about how this is coming together. Tell your friends. Join in. I’m so looking forward to being on this journey with you come the fall.

Jai Ma.
With love,
Leanne