Healing and Nurturing Your Mind and Body with Ayurvedic practices
Did you know it is believed in Ayurveda that the way you are cared for, for the first 40 days postpartum can influence your health for the next 40 years?!
My guest Harmony Robinson- Stagg is an Ayurveda and Women's Health
practitioner, the founder of the Ayurveda Alchemist Academy and has over 17 years of experience as a registered nurse.
Her mission is to bridge the gap between science-based Western medicine, Eastern medicine & Spirituality.
Overview of our chat:
Exploring the concept of Ayurvedic postpartum care and its emphasis on nurturing the mother through specialized practices, diet, and self-care routines.
The importance of the 40-day Ayurvedic postpartum period in allowing the body, mind, and soul to heal and replenish after childbirth.
Harmony's personal journey through Ayurvedic postpartum practices, including herbal treatments, warm oil massages, and nourishing foods.
The profound impact of Ayurvedic postpartum care on Harmony's physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, and how it transformed her perspective on motherhood.
How Ayurveda supports and nourishes the mother, enhancing her ability to bond with her babies and create a harmonious postpartum environment.
Practical tips and insights for mothers interested in exploring Ayurvedic care, including finding qualified practitioners and integrating Ayurvedic principles into their daily routines.
The importance of self-care and nurturing for all mothers, regardless of their cultural background or birth experience.
Harmony's vision for spreading awareness about Ayurvedic postpartum care and empowering more mothers to embrace this holistic approach to healing and self-care.
Connect with Harmony ⤵️
Instagram: @harmony.Inspired.ayurveda
Website: www.harmonyinspiredhealth.com.au
Podcast: https://www.harmonyinspiredhealth.com.au/podcasts/
Email: inspire@harmonyinspired.com.auDon't forget to subscribe to the Birth Junkie Podcast for more empowering conversations and insights on all things birth-related.
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Transcript:
Today I have a very special guest.
Uh, her name is Harmony. And she is an Ayurveda and women's health practitioner, the founder of the Ayurveda Alchemist Academy, and with over 17 years of experience as a registered nurse, her mission is to bridge the gap between science-based western medicine. Eastern medicine and spirituality. I'd love to introduce you to this awesome human being so you can get to know her.
I'm so excited for this conversation, and I would love for you to just dive deeper into who you are and what you do. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. So yes, as you mentioned, I am an Aveda and women's health practitioner and the founder of the Aveda Alchemist Academy, where we certify, um, people to become Aveda holistic health coaches.
And we have a really, uh, A big emphasis on women's health. So we teach it from a women's health perspective, but we also have guest expert facilitators. So we do have men's health in there as well. But my passion is women's health. Um, and yeah, I am from the Gold Coast Australia. I love the, the beach. I've got twin boys myself, and I am a self-confessed chai latte lover.
I love that. I love me some chai lattes too. Oh, I love me. Chai lattes. Yes. So I would love for you to kind of let us know what exactly does that mean? What does Ayurveda mean? I. Sure. Yeah. So Aveda is actually one of the oldest forms of medicine known to man, and it stems from India. And it was first documented in the Veic text over 5,000 years ago.
Obviously, we didn't have paper and printers 5,000 years ago, so originally it was actually written on palm leaves and handed down through the oral route, and then once. You know, we had paper and ink. It became a textbook. Um, in Australia, an Ayurvedic practitioner works very similar to a natural path.
However, there are certain principles and theories that are very unique to Ayurveda, including the dos, which are three energy types that make up your individual constitution. So our dietary and lifestyle recommendations, herbal medicine, prescriptions and treatments will take your individual constitution into account.
And the word itself is, um, derived from two different words. So the word. Actually means the science and knowledge of life and longevity. Ia, the first part of the word is life, and vada is the veic text, the science, the knowledge, the study of, and you know, at its, I guess at its core, um, it's really about cultivating more self-awareness and greater balance in your life.
And it draws its insights from nature. And we are a part of nature. We're not separate from nature, but I think in our modern world we have. Straight a little bit from, you know, our true sense of, of self and nature. Biologically we fit in with, uh, nature circadian rhythms, and over time we have. Gone against this more and more, and it's starting to create a lot of health problems.
So Aveda really tries to steer us back to our natural state of being and working within the, the laws of nature. NaRCAD rhythm. Gosh, I love that so much. And I agree with you. It's like the more technological we get, um, the more advanced we get, the more we lose touch with who we are from the beginning.
And I've actually kind of, I started to dive into like the Mercury retrograde and learning all the, the moon, like how we should be doing things according to the moon, cuz the moon affects everything and it's amazing. Oh my gosh. I feel like this is something that we all need to learn about. Because I've heard these words.
I've heard Ayurveda, but I've never like actually known exactly what it was. And this is beautiful. So you have like an academy where you have like courses? Yeah. Yeah. So our um, signature program, the Ayurveda Alchemist, it certifies. I say women because all of the students thus far have been women. So certifies women to become Ayurveda, holistic health coaches.
And we do that through, um, the higher self methodology where the first pillar is learning how to really alchemize the health of yourself and your clients. Because I feel to be, to, to be a good coach or a practitioner, you really need to embody the practice yourself, and that's what Aveda really. Is all about, it's about that self-awareness, as you mentioned, and being able to embody and alchemize your own health and then being able to recognize that in others so you can share that.
And then we look at, and just, just on that, like Aveda sees health not just merely as the absence of disease, it sees health in the realms of our physical health, our energetic body, our mental and emotional, and our spiritual health. As well as our connection to self, our purpose, and our dynamic path. And so from that, my second pillar that we really, um, go through in the program is empowering belief shifts because you can't heal from a disempowered state.
So whether it's yourself as a, a new aspiring business owner or with your own help, Or helping your clients. You really need to learn how to cultivate, um, these beliefs that are conducive to your healing journey or whatever journey you are in, in life. And so we do that through Ayurvedic psychology. And then, uh, the third pillar is Dharmic impact.
So making purpose driven changes in your life to create the most beneficial impact you can have on yourself. Or others. So that's, that's the highest self methodology that I teach throughout the Aveda Alchem was program, but it's the, the methodology. I also applied to my own women's health clients. And I say, uh, women's health, as in I see a lot of hormonal, uh, imbalances, a lot of women postpartum through pregnancy.
And I apply the higher self method, um, through my one-to-one coaching with them as well. That's great. And that actually brings me to something I wanted to talk about because I wanted to talk to you about your pregnancy and your birth experiences. So did you apply this method to your pregnancy and postpartum journey as well?
Parts of it. Okay. So, well, sometimes we can learn through our own experiences and I feel that my, my twins, they are now almost 11 years old, so through my birthing experience and having these beautiful beings in the world, they have taught me so, so much, and they have taught me also what I didn't do so well.
And. Why I had like hormonal imbalances after my pregnancy and my birth, and how I can help others achieve a more, a balanced, holistic state of being with Ayurveda. Um, the postpartum period as, as actually known, um, as in a sanscript time called . And it's a critical window for the mother's physical, emotional, and spiritual recovery.
But I feel that. In our modern world, we don't often give ourself enough time and enough of a break. Like we, I know for myself, I feel like I have to be productive a lot of the time. And so whilst I did give myself some space to really enjoy and nurture, um, my little humans after birth, I don't feel that I gave myself enough space to heal and to be nurtured.
If that makes sense. So I know I'm from, I think you're preaching to the choir here because I think that's what a lot of us do and it's, and I hate to blame it on society, but I mean a lot of it comes from these. Societal beliefs that once we have a baby, like we're supposed to bam, like bounce back and we're supposed to be happy and back to what we used to be and like I can only imagine what your experience was.
I'm so curious. How was that pregnancy in that birth experience for you? It was. Um, it was a very new experience because I'd never been pregnant before. I'd never given birth before, so I didn't have too much expectation on the birth itself. My, my main priority was just to have my babies and have them as safe as possible, so whether that was gonna be through a natural birth or whether that was through a cesarean section to me.
To me, what mattered most was them coming out healthy, happy, and safe. So I didn't go right in on a birthing plan like that. That just wasn't, um, what I decided to focus on. Instead, I was just really focusing on enjoying, well, some parts of the pregnancy, not the morning sickness, but just really enjoying being a, a mother for the very first time and having these beautiful little humans just grow inside me.
I just find it so fascinating and such a miracle that we can, that we can do this, that we can house these little beings into the world. So, The pregnancy obviously was very new, being my first pregnancy, and I guess I didn't, I did start showing earlier than other people and it, you know, that sounds obvious because I had twins, but at the same time I was almost a little offended when people were like, so early.
You pregnant? Cause like I didn't feel like I looked visibly pregnant, but people could, you know, notice. And so I was like, what do you mean what am we like, what do you mean I'm pregnant? And you know, so I guess it um, came out quite early that I was pregnant. And then I was told about vanishing twin syndrome, which is where one of the twins takes all of the nutrients from the mother.
And the other twin often doesn't make it first. Um, the first 12 weeks. And that's actually. I was told quite common in twin pregnancy. So then I was, um, concerned about that. I was just like hoping that my twins would get past the, the 12 week mark. But I felt intuitively to me that they were meant to come into this world together.
And I'm so glad that they did because they are our best little friends right now. And it's just so, so beautiful to watch. Um, but coming later into my pregnancy, I work right up until 35 weeks. I thought, you know, I'm gonna have my twins at like 37 weeks, usually go a bit earlier with, um, with a twin pregnancy.
And the day I finished worked, I went into labor, but I was in denial. Oh my gosh. I'm someone who is. Quite, I am very, very self-aware, like I've always been into health and fitness and wellness my whole life. I'm a registered nurse. I am, you know, a, a yoga teacher practitioner, but I was like so determined not to go early that I went into full self denial.
And just so happened that day I was going in for a, a checkup and the doctor's like, you are having contractions, and I was like, No, no, I'm not having contractions. They're just, you know, they're gonna be soccer players, which they are actually, oh my god, it's kicking really, really hard. It's just because I've got twins and, and he is like, come.
You know, we put, you know, that you have in contractions. I was like, I really don't think they're contractions. He's like, look, I just wanna oit you anyway. And because they're coming early, they had to give, um, me this steroid injection because, um, they were worried that their lungs might not be formed quite enough.
Mm-hmm. So they gave me the first injection and then you're meant to have the injection, um, 24 hours later. So it comes in a series of two. Anyway, they put me on the monitor. There was some slow contractions and. I being a terrible patient myself was like, look, nothing's happening. I, I think this could just carry on.
It could be one of those false labors. I just wanna go home. Can I just go home? So basically they said, okay, you can go home, but if anything happens, you need to come straight back in. We need to give you that second, um, steroid injection. I was like, yep, no worries. Went home. Water is broke. Oh, he went back in, one of my babies was breach, flipped around, had to have an, they called it an E emergency cesarean section, um, and birth two beautiful twin boys.
So that was sort of my pregnancy story. And then I didn't know really what motherhood really entailed until I actually birthed these beautiful humans. And yeah, my life changed forever. Yeah, definitely. So did you have very much help postpartum? Because I can only imagine, you know, it's hard with one, but then you have two of these little beautiful beans.
So how was that? So I did find, It was a hard time. So the boys had to stay in special care nursery cuz they were premi, they couldn't feed properly, they couldn't latch onto the breast. So they had nasogastric tubes in to feed to be fed through. Um, I also had to express a million times a day it felt like to be feeding them through the nasogastric tube.
And because I was one of those people that I was like, I'm, I don't have a birthing plan, but I know I'm not gonna go early. I need, I need this time. My husband also decided within that, those two weeks he would take on a e extra job, like extra income to help support us. Mm-hmm. Um, but it was only gonna be for those few weeks and it just so happened to be in the hospital that I gave birth in.
So it was kind of okay, but at the same time, he was doing night duty in the hospital. I didn't have him there. I was a border mom, so I stayed in the hospital. My parents lived about an hour away, but at that point in time, my mom was an alcoholic, so I didn't get that. The support that you really need from your parents in saying that she is, has been sober now for over, I think it's almost six years, and she is an amazing grandmother and she was an amazing mother.
But at that point in my life, it was quite challenging for the first five years of my children's life because she was an alcoholic. And with that comes a lot of, um, issues within itself. She did wanna be really involved, but they can be very. Uh, manipulating and pushy and don't, yeah, it, anyway, that's probably for another podcast.
But as opposed to support, I had wonderful, lovely friends. A lot of my friends were having babies at the same time, so that was amazing. But also I. There was a part of me like they were being able to bond with their one beautiful baby and hold it while it's crying. And here's me with two babies screaming in the pram.
I can't pick both of 'em up at the same time, I didn't have the family support around me. My husband was at work and so I did feel like I really depleted myself, um, in that postpartum window. And that's when I really. Really dove deeper into Ayurveda and said, how? How can I pull myself out of this?
Because I did start to feel. Um, I, I wouldn't, I didn't have postpartum depression. I wouldn't say that, and I was never diagnosed with that, but I was starting to feel depleted, really exhausted. Our hormone shift, you know, I was feeling the stress of having new babies and doing most of it on my own. My husband's parents, they also live in a complete different state, which is a six hour flight away, so they weren't around.
And I started to feel almost, and I know this sounds so horrible to say right now, but envious of my friends who had one baby and could just bond with that baby. And it just felt like it was so much easier for them. And then I went to a park with my babies one day and I met, um, she was as actually a grandmother and she was looking after.
A little baby boy and he had just had brain surgery and he had a cleft palate and you know, they were worried, um, about him. They thought he might have a bit of a temperature and obviously that's not a good sign if you've just had surgery, brain surgery as well. And that just snapped me out of my self-pity.
And I was like, oh my gosh, you have had two healthy, healthy baby boys. You have got. These two little miracles. Here's this lady who has, is giving her daughter a break because she's had one baby and that one baby was suffering from a lot of, um, health issues. And that in its own right, like everyone is on their own journey.
But I'm like, look at the other side. You've got two really, really healthy, healthy babies and so you need to be so grateful for that and you need to get yourself. Out of, out of the state that you're in. So you can be the best mother you can be for these beautiful boys that you have birthed without. But I also realized in that, you know, I didn't wanna shame myself for how I was feeling either because there's so much going on on the inside that's not spoken about.
Like our hormonal shifts that do create real chemical reactions in our mind, our brain, our body that can make us feel. Out of sorts or out of our body. Once that oxytocin, you know, the, the love, the calming hormones sort of dissipates after a little while. Um, we can find ourself in, in a sense of feeling a little bit lost as to who we are.
And you know, I, I acknowledge that and I recognize that, but I also acknowledge and recognize that. I needed to internally change my perspective on motherhood in these early stages so that it can be a beautiful journey. And that's again, as I said, where I really turned to the teachings of I Aveda and how I could help, help use that to support me whilst I didn't have so much family support around me.
Wow. That's amazing. I love how you took us on your journey because that was just like, It's so valid. Everything that you said, all those feelings that you were feeling, the fact that you worked through it to appreciate what you had, but also validated your own feelings because of course, it's so easy for us to see somebody worse off than us and we think, oh my gosh, well I have it way better than they do.
You know, it could be worse. Which, yes, of course, but at the same time to work through our own feelings, and I love that this Ayurveda has helped you. Like pa like work through this and figure out a way that worked best for you in your postpartum journey. Because like you said, all of our journeys are gonna be different.
There's no journey that is the same and it, you know, we could view our journey like this horrible journey and somebody looking from the outside in at us could be envious of us and our journey. So we never know. And I, I think the. The point of this podcast for me is we need to get that out there because no matter what kind of feelings you're having, envy, you know, jealousy, happiness, whatever the feeling is, we need to recognize that and learn that it's okay to have those feelings and you know they could be feeling alone.
That person that you're looking at and envious at. So why not just spark some kind of connection and talk about real life things that you're going through instead of putting this facade on that we want other people to see. Like it's, it's so crazy how we just are so into the way we look and the way we want people to see us.
And it could be so different. So different. So I think that's very important that you touched on that and I love that. So what exactly about Ayurveda helped you through your postpartum journey? Hmm. So for myself, when I finally got there, boys home, um, because we were, like I said, boarding in the hospital for, um, a little while until they got stronger, I got them home and as soon as I.
I was like, I felt like I had to be productive again, like go straight back to, you know, working out when I should be going back to work. And I've always been studying something. So what was my next venture? All of these things. And when I sat with myself and had those sort of realizations of coming back home to self because I felt like.
Prior to having the babies, I was, um, as I mentioned, a, a nurse, a registered nurse. I was working, um, I was quite high up in, in my role. I was also mentoring other people, health, uh, practitioner. I was teaching yoga classes, Pilates classes. I was into health, fitness, and wellness. So doing all of that, I felt like I'd lost such a big chunk of myself.
And as you mentioned, like, you know, going from just having birth and that expectation to getting your baby body back or post baby body back or whatever it is, like all of those things started to repeat in my mind and I was like, hang a minute. Like you have just done the most miraculous thing. Like you have just done what literally no man can do.
Yeah. So, so, You know, enjoy this process, but I needed, I needed something to be able to anchor to. And so when I looked at the, the Ayurvedic process of postpartum care, I realized they had this 40 day sacred window, it's called in Ayurveda, which is the postpartum time where when a mother uses to really bond with her baby to rest and focus on healing.
And I, myself, wasn't really good at resting and focusing on healing myself. I was like, you know, straight up trying to walk around, like do all the things and no wonder I got to that place of resentment and stress and, and jealousy. So my 40 days didn't start on the day of a day of, uh, giving birth because I had to go through that period of unrest first, which was a, I'd say a good three, four weeks.
Mm-hmm. So after that, I decided, I am gonna start my forties, 40 days now. It doesn't matter that it's four weeks late, I am gonna honor myself, this process, my children, and what I've just been through, and I'm gonna start my 40 days, four weeks late. That is okay. Cuz like you said, every journey is different and it doesn't always have to be by the textbooks or the birthing plan.
We just have to have our journey as our journey. Mm-hmm. So Aveda really advocates, um, This 40 day postpartum window so we can really focus on ourself and bonding with the baby. But it's also a time where the mother's ago, which is our digestive fire, is low because we've gone such through such a big, huge process of birthing a child.
It is a beautiful process, but at the same time it is a lot of stress and strain on the body. And as I mentioned earlier, we have those three bioenergy, um, energies. Of our body, which is our constitution, our dosha, and it is very vast provoking. And so it disturbs what we call an Ive which governs the downward flow of energy in the body.
Because if you think about, you know, birthing a human, it's a downward energy. It like really rips all energy down in how right it can be really, really depleting and it depletes out ojas, which is our vitality, our strength, our vigor. And Ajas, which is the cellular. Um, you know, energy and intelligence within itself.
So we need to start building our agoni and by doing that we've gotta have more lighter to digest warming food, which I was just like after birth, eating, whatever. Cuz I was, you know, a busy mom as you do Yeah. Hospital food, which is disgusting. Yeah. And I was like, no, I'm gonna really work on supporting my agoni, my digestive fire.
Rebuilding my ojas. And there's this really beautiful ojas building, um, tonic that you can, that you can use post-birth, which is warming milk of your true choice. And I use, um, almond milk as I drink nut milk and heating some dates, and then adding some cinnamon and nutmeg and blending that in a blender.
And drinking that. And it's really ojas building, so helps to rejuvenate ourselves. Um, the other part of post, uh, the postpartum window is giving back to self. And we do that in Ayurveda through warm oil massage, self massage called Abian. So it gets us to connect back into ourself and I like to do it whilst I either had some chance playing or some positive affirmations or meditation playing.
So this was a time maybe when the babies were down for five minutes. Or I could just have my hands free of, of the babies where I could actually be connecting back to myself physically and emotionally and mentally. And so that self-massage is a really beautiful way to also improve our circulation, so our circulatory system as well as calm our nervous system, which Vata is control of and support our body's natural healing process.
The other beautiful thing with babies is to be able to give them Abba Younger. So to bond through self massage of the baby, which is a really beautiful practice, um, that, that mothers do with their babies from like the Ive standpoint, which really helps with that bonding as well. And then just allowing myself to, to learn and to not feel that I had to know it all and do it all.
Um, And be it all. I think coming from a health professional background, you feel like you have to already know it all, but it's so not true. I'd never had had babies before. I'd never had up baby before, let alone too, and it was such a huge learning process. Like my background as an emergency nurse, I had helped, I had, you know, helped resuscitate children and mothers and being there with their babies and mothers, but never my own.
And it is. So different. And I think for mothers, we really have to listen to ourselves and our innate intuitive wisdom about how we want to mother our children because we can be told by all of the professionals and everyone's gonna say something different or read it from their textbooks. I mean, even Vedic textbooks, you know, the postpartum window.
It has to be intuitively innate to, to us and our children. And so I think. That was also another beautiful part of really stepping on this Ayurvedic pathway for me was, as I said at the start, it really helps us cultivate more self-awareness. And with that, self-awareness is self-empowerment, and that self-empowerment is what really, really can move us forward in, in our life and step into our higher self as mothers, as women, and, and finding ourself again, because our sense of purpose.
Prior to children may have been in our career, and that's okay, but our DMA doesn't need our purpose, doesn't need to be this one big thing that we are here for. It changes depending on the stages of life we're at. And right now, as a new mother, my DMA was to look after these babies and to raise them. And when I realized that and didn't think, oh, I, you know, when am I gonna go back to work?
Or, you know, I should be doing this. Oh, when am I gonna start exercising again? I'm like, Focus here on your present Dharma right now and, and do that well, and that's good enough. I mean, that is amazing. That is Dharmic impact, right? That is having impact right there. Oh, sure. Just giving myself the permission.
Yeah. And I, that word you just said, giving yourself permission. Because I feel like we have this self-imposed kind of like, oh gosh, what, what do I even want to call it? It's like restrictions or, you know, certain goals that we have to be at, or it's, it's all self-imposed. You know, nobody is gonna have those same expectations for us, like we do for ourselves.
So giving ourselves permission to just. Be in that moment and be okay with the fact that our life has changed. It can't be what it used to be cuz it's not. You now have this human being to care for and love and you know you are, you're like an influencer, but for your child. Like anything that you do in this world, they're gonna mirror that.
And so I think it's important. Like of course we want to be the best parent we can be, but that's different for everybody too. So we have to just follow our intuition, like you said, and tailor it to our unique child. And our unique journey with that child. Because even if you have more than one child each way, each child is going to be led in a different way by you.
So I mean, that just word really sticks with me. Give yourself permission. Like it's okay. It's okay to not go right back to what you used to be cuz you're not going to Exactly. Exactly. And you're so right. Like even with twins, my boys. Are so different in so many ways, and they need a different approach to everything.
Mm-hmm. So every child is so individual and as a mother, I guess it's, it is part of our responsibility to to work out how to deliver the best we can to that child's needs in their individual way. So looking at their individual constitution. And as I mentioned, our individual constitution, we call our dosha in Aveda, and I have one who is very, so, he's very creative.
He's more of the ether and um, air elements, and he's very sensitive and very loving. And the other one, he, he is just, he is been here before. He is very wise, but he's so Peter, he's very. Fiery, very transformative. His, he's, he love, like, he's very hard on himself as well. Like, he'll be training for soccer a couple of hours a day, spending himself like not under anyone else's guidance.
Whereas the other one will be just chilling out in a Thor costume, like different costume. And like, I have these, um, you know, these, uh, I've made up these oils that. Have different scents and properties to go with the different dos. And like at night I'm like, okay, you need a bit of your pizza oil now you need some of your VA oil.
Yeah. And it's just, even with their diet, sometimes we have to look at different ways of doing their diet and Yeah, in, in easy ways. But it can be really, really obvious that how different they can be, even when they're raised by myself, they're birthed at the same time. They're, yeah. Gosh, that's amazing. So now that they're 11 years old, how has that evolved like with, you know, your Ayurvedic practice and as they've evolved into, you know, almost, they're close to teen years now, so how has that relationship and how has the practice towards the relationship, how has that changed or has it?
Yeah, absolutely. And I love it so much because I feel that. They have grown into a lot more self-aware beings, and it's so beautiful because they've been able to use these practices for themselves. Um, they love, I'm so blessed that they, they ask me for meditations in the evenings and they love all of that aspect.
They love the chanting and doing all of these things and. I guess sitting here saying, all this sounds like, you know, we're this very woow, woo, happy-go-lucky family, but it's actually not true. They're just little practices that we bring in from our Ayurvedic perspective. We're very modern in the way that they love to skate.
They love to surf. I mean, my, my husband is Western medicine. I have a background in Western medicine, like we're very, um, Holistic in, you know, we're not all one way or the other, but the Ayurvedic practices has, has been able to connect us as a family, connect us back to ourself more, and also ground ourselves, which I think is really beautiful because the grounding practices we can either do for ourself and our own, or we can do them together as a collective and use that energy for, for, for greater good.
And I think that, um, yeah, just being able to have. The awareness of, of my children and the different elements within them, the different doshas that are playing out and how I can, how I can manage them and speak to them as they have grown up, um, has definitely been contributed to my, my deep study in Aveda.
And as, um, my practice changed, like as my children grew older, actually, when they say they go to school, You get more time and it's all easier. But for me, there before school started at 7:00 AM so I couldn't put them in any earlier than 7:00 AM. My nursing shift started at 7:00 AM um, so within their first year of school, and my husband's a shift worker, so within their first year of school, I sort of, I would like to say it was the universe's divine intervention for me, but I was sort of forced to give up my, um, nursing career in, in the.
Public system. I still did private sort of work as a nurse in a health retreat. Um, because I, my shift started at seven and that really made me go wholeheartedly and step into my business full-time because I was doing both. And from that I've been able to really, really grow through the business, which has been beautiful as well.
So that's another way. Um, I have grown and evolved and changed as my children have gotten older. Gosh, what an amazing journey. Wow. Well thank you so much. I appreciate this conversation and I think it's so important for people to get in touch with you and learn more about the Ayurvedic practice because I think, you know, grounding ourself with nature and the earth is so important.
Cuz when that disconnect happens, it's like we're just running on this treadmill almost and it's, it's just constant and. We need to just slow down and remember where we came from so that we can be better mothers, we can be better, you know, people in society in general, you know? So if somebody would love to come into contact with you, what would be the best way to do that?
Yeah, sure. So you can head over to my website, harmony inspired help.com. Au So there's an au on the end cause we're in Australia. Mm-hmm. Um, and I also share a lot of education and wisdom on my, um, in my Aveda and Women's Health Sisterhood Facebook group. So that's a free community where I do live trainings and staff in there.
Um, and I also have a free Foundations of Ayurveda course. So if you were interested to learn more about Ayurveda and the foundations of Ayurveda, Um, and yeah, you're most welcome to take that. I think that one's on my previous page, on my website. Amazing. Yeah. And of course I'll link everything in the show notes.
Um, but is there anything else you wanted to add on the tail end of this before we depart? No, I just, I really just wanna thank you so much for, um, for doing this work that you're doing. It is so important that as mothers we share our journey in the most honest sort of way we can, can share, um, if we're comfortable to do so because.
Like you mentioned earlier, you don't know everybody's story and how they're really feeling, so it is nice that you are opening this really safe space, um, to provide all of this wonderful soul chats with other mamas. Well, thank you and I so appreciate you taking the time outta your day to come and have like a real conversation with me.
I so appreciate that. Thank you. All right. I will talk to you soon. Wanted to take a quick moment and share a company with you that I have actually started supporting. So the name is called Needed, and I think this name is so appropriate because these products are so needed. What they have is they have prenatals and it comes in pills and powder.
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I really hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed creating it. Please subscribe so you don't miss any of the discussions on all of these hot topics. Head over to my Instagram at the Birth Junkie podcast to let me know what you thought about this episode. I can't wait to see you here next week.
Until next time, bye.
