2011 - Talk Birth

Viewing the act of breastfeeding through a spiritual lens like this was a lifeline to me as a vulnerable, sensitive,
and bruised postpartum woman trying desperately to adjust my pace as an overachieving ”successful”
independent person to one spending hours in my nursing chair attached to a tiny mouth. I marvel at the
uncountable number of times I spent nursing Lann and that I now spend nursing my second son, Zander. I
calculate that I’ve probably nursed Zander about 3,000 times just lying down to go to sleep (nap or bedtime,
plus waking up times too). That is just the lying down times, not the sitting in the chair or standing in the
Ergo baby carrier times. This is the key to my reading success–I’ve had over 3,000 opportunities during the
last year to pick up a book or other reading materials!
In 2007, I read approximately 150 books. I lie in my “nest” with my baby nursing and my older son
resting near my back. The baby is nourished by me and in this pause in the busyness of life I am in turn
nourished by the access he allows me to the printed word. As he grows bigger with my milk, I also “grow”
intellectually and in the opportunity for spiritual and emotional renewal. As the baby drifts off I read to
myself and when he is asleep I read stories to my four year old. This is the rhythm of our lives—suck,
swallow, read, and consider.
——-
With my current baby, my reading ”landscape” has changed again, since I now have a Kindle! :)
1. http://www.llli.org/
2. http://talkbirth.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/100_0710.jpg
3. http://mothering.com/breastfeeding/breathing-i-am-nursing-my-baby-breastfeeding-spiritual-practice
Lynda M O (2011-06-18 13:01:31)
Your life and its four stages sounds perfect to this Care Provider; you are doing the most important work in our world.
enjoybirth (2011-06-24 22:03:28)
I loved reading and nursing too. I couldn’t imagine ever bottle feeding, how could I hold a book?
Molly (First the Egg) (2011-09-16 11:33:42)
Have you read Anne Cushman’s ”Mothering as Meditation Practice”? I think you’d enjoy it.
http://annecushman.com/pages/z pdf/tricycle mothering.pdf
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