Follow the Hero’s Journey from Pregnancy to Motherhood Filled with unique insights into the spiritual nature of pregnancy, this compassionate guide takes you, the expectant mother, and your loved ones along a “hero’s journey” of discovery. Each trimester correlates to a stage of the epic journey where emotional, spiritual, and physical connections heighten your awareness of yourself and your unborn child. Through these stages, the mundane and everyday are elevated to the sublime and transformative. With their extensive training and experience in allopathic wellness and integrative medicine, Shawn A. Tassone and Kathryn M. Landherr have created a book full of guided meditations, journaling exercises, and spiritual traditions from a variety of cultures. Spiritual Pregnancy also includes yoga postures created by popular doula and pregnant-fit yoga instructor Jennifer (Wolfe) More for specific times throughout pregnancy. Praise: "Spiritual Pregnancy presents birth as the spiritual initiation it truly is. I highly recommend this deeply moving book."—Christiane Northrup, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause “. . . the information shared by the authors will show future mothers how to unify the two lives within them during pregnancy.”—Bernie Siegel, MD, author of Love, Medicine and Miracles “Spiritual Pregnancy is the best guide I know on developing, nourishing, and sustaining [the mother-infant bond].”—Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words “Expert integrative obstetricians, [the authors] guide you through the traditions of the ancients, and illuminate the vibrant path to your own heroine’s journey.” —Victoria Maizes, MD, Executive Director of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine “From the practical to the profound, I'm confident you will find what you are looking for within this book's pages. I highly recommend it.”—Tieraona Low Dog, MD, Fellowship Director at University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine “Spiritual Pregnancy does an incredible job at marrying the physical and the spiritual . . . It will be a great resource to anyone having a baby and it makes me proud to be an ob-gyn.” — Jeniffer Ashton, MD, leading medical correspondent for ABC and ob-gyn physician

"What can you do to increase your child’s potential before he or she is born? And Is it possible to communicate with the soul of your unborn child? Nurturing Your Baby’s Soul offers essential insights into the inner life of the unborn child. It gives practical spiritual techniques and meditations you can use to help develop your baby’s unique gifts. This inspiring guide for spiritual parenting reveals how you can bond and communicate with your baby’s soul before birth, prepare yourself spiritually for parenting, improve your relationships and spiritualize your marriage. It also explores how you can practice prayer, meditation and affirmations for the conception and protection of that special soul you want to bring into your life, how you can use sound, music and art to transform the body, mind and soul of your unborn child, and how you can help your child reach their highest potential and fulfill their life’s mission. Includes charts, illustrations, recommended music selections, meditations, visualizations and affirmations."

With useful wisdom and comforting reassurances, this spirited volume will guide expectant mothers to an enhanced spiritual connection with their baby, their partners and themselves. Whether a woman is just beginning to think about the possibility of having a child or well on the way to being a mother for the first, second or third time, this book will affirm for her that the emotional challenges and physical changes she experiences are all part of the sacred creation of life. 2-color throughout.

In today's western cultures, the typical pregnancy focuses on the baby to the exclusion of the woman herself, so that the entire experience has become more about preparing for the baby's arrival than looking closely at oneself to prepare emotionally for all of the changes that creating a new life brings. Sacred Pregnancy was written to help the pregnant woman journey within herself to prepare for the birth of her baby. Sacred Pregnancy is a gorgeous four-color book especially created for mothers-to-be to reflect on the many personal milestones of the full gestation period of a pregnancy. With beautiful professional photos that correspond to each topic, Sacred Pregnancy also features a journal space for the pregnant woman to record her thoughts and feelings. Each week the mother-to-be is given information on her baby, her body, and her spirit and is asked to reflect on these via the topic of the week, which touches on a variety of issues such as sexuality, fears about labor, becoming a mother, courage, rite of passage, adornment, body image, meditation, and sisterhood to name a few. Mothers-to-be are invited to look deeply at the issues unique to their journey and find a centered, peaceful place to live their pregnancy fully. Lastly, Sacred Pregnancy includes place for the new mother to record her birth story and a large resource section on various birthing options and supports for pregnant women. “From the spiritual (how to visualize your perfect birth) to the practical (a large section on birthing options), this pregnancy journal is a spiritual adviser and supportive doula all in one.” —Fit Pregnancy magazine For more information, visit the Sacred Pregnancy website.

Sleep disturbances are common during pregnancy, and they can be risk factors for a number of serious pregnancy-related sleep disorders. 50 to 70 million U.S. adults have sleep or wakefulness disorders. On average, children get less sleep during a 24-hour period than what is recommended by sleep experts. Sleep deprivation costs the US $411 billion annually. While many people who suffer from sleep disturbances seek the support of books, friends, doctors, online or public groups, the root causes of sleep issues are often not being addressed. Instead, rather general questions are asked and general solutions are given by others based on the other’s experience, limited training, and particular paradigm, which rarely is holistic in nature. Most questions asked do not come along with important details about lifestyle or health history that need to be factored in before receiving even basic advice or suggestions. There are so many factors that affect sleep. In order to get to the root of the challenge, we must first investigate all the areas influencing sleep from a holistic perspective in order to cover all possible causes. After birth, sleep is usually the next largest challenge for a family. Child sleep challenges are not just a child issue but a family issue. When a child is experiencing sleep challenges, the whole family is affected by it. How we address this as professionals and parents can lead us down a path of ease or frustration. Infant and child sleep carry with them not only so much controversy, but can also cause overwhelm, stress and a loss of family connection. Families who have been sleep-deprived for weeks and sometimes months can experience negative and even traumatic effects despite experiencing a healthy pregnancy. Enter in Mar De Carlo, founder of the International Parenting & Health Institute and Association of Professional Sleep Consultants who has revolutionized the world of pregnancy, adult and child sleep by introducing a holistic approach known as the "Holistic Science of Sleep Method". She became the first in the child sleep consultant industry to develop and launch her Holistic Adult and Child Sleep Certification program in 2012 that trains professionals to begin supporting families with sleep education during pregnancy. Her program and approach have been well-received in 59 countries and are currently represented in 10 languages.

The first of its kind, this book will show mothers-to-be how to create an authentic practice of mindfulness to prepare for pregnancy, labour, birth and the early parenting years. Full of gems and aha moments using simple and helpful tools and practices to keep you connected to yourself while looking after your family' Nadia Narain, Head of Pregnancy Yoga, Triyoga, London 'This is a book I highly recommend to mothers and mothers-to-be. It is like an insightful friend who understands deeply what becoming and being a mother really means' Janet Balaskas, Founder of Active Birth Chunilal offers unparalleled support along with clear and simple meditation and self-development practices based on Buddhist and yogic philosophy to help cultivate a daily practice of mindfulness, which will enable you to be more present during pregnancy, birth and beyond. Having a child has the potential to awaken your heart and bring infinite joy, wonder and delight into your life. Yet when you become a mother, alongside immense delight and excitement, you may also feel a great deal of internal turmoil and confusion, as well as a change or lack of sense of identity. Organised into clear, thematic sections, this book can be dipped into for emergency inspiration or read from cover to cover. It explores common mothering dilemmas with honesty and integrity, helping you to keep both feet firmly on the ground. Issues include: adjusting to having minimal personal time and space, coping with in-laws, managing the balance between work and home, finding stimulation within an often tedious home routine, and dissolving doubts and comparisons with other seemingly happy families. Most of all, The Mindful Mother teaches you to understand your true nature, so your mind is working with you, rather than against you.

Praying Through Your Pregnancy shows a mother how to provide an early head start for her child through the power of prayer. With fresh spiritual insight, each chapter reveals what is happening with the baby's development that week, starting with the very first moment of conception, when God begins the creation of either a boy or a girl. Readers will learn how the confidence they place in God affects the healthy development of their precious growing baby, and how to reduce their own stress and anxiety by looking to the Creator. In this interactive guidebook, the author shares excerpts from her pregnancy journal as an encouragement for women to write their own thoughts and feelings, and each chapter ends with a Mother's Prayer and Scriptures for Meditation. Praying Through Your Pregnancy was a 2011 Christian Book Award Finalist.

A much-needed antidote to our modern, assembly-line approach to childbirth, this new book is designed as a guide for all who wish to participate in the wondrous process of bringing new life into the world. Its ideas derive from two sources: the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, with its emphasis on body, mind, and spirit, and the latest Western scientific prenatal research. By integrating the best information from these two very different perspectives, this remarkable book gives readers the tools to ensure that our children are nourished by thoughts, words, and actions from the very moment of conception. Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives is rich in practical information, including strategies to help enliven the body intelligence of unborn babies by nourishing each of their five senses, as well as through Ayurvedically balanced nutrition and eating with awareness. Specific yoga poses and meditation techniques reduce the mother’s stress and improve the infant’s emotional environment, as do tips for conscious communication with a partner. Exercises prepare parents for the experience of childbirth itself, followed by natural approaches to dealing with the first weeks of parenting, from healing herbs to enhancing your milk supply to coping with postpartum depression. Inspiring, expansive, and remarkably informative, this unique book from acclaimed experts in mind-body medicine will profoundly enhance the experience of pregnancy and birth for both parents and baby.

Did you know that... Every year an increasing number of babies are born prematurely or with behavioral disorders? Learn how thinking positively and communicating with your partner and/or medical staff can help prevent a preterm birth and aid in the positive development of your unborn child's personality. A baby's in utero experience builds the brain architecture that will determine behavior throughout life? Discover exercises that will help you control stress, fear, guilt, and anger and change unwanted behaviors during pregnancy. Your unborn child has more nerve cells and many more connections among them than an adult? Learn how a fetal love break can help calm your baby and lead to proper nerve and brain development.

Birthed in Prayer focuses on the spiritual and emotional needs of mothers-to-be, extending an invitation to see pregnancy as a time to grow closer to God. Real-life stories and encouragement from women who have "been there" create opportunities to reflect on your own experiences. This book offers a safe place to acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. Each chapter features: honest, humorous, and touching stories of expectant mothers, questions for reflection, journaling suggestions, prayer exercises. Book jacket.