From the Heart with Rachel Brathen

This week’s episode is coming to you from a sleep-deprived, exhausted Mama, who has gone through a dark night of the soul (or several) with a beautiful baby boy who refuses to sleep for more than 30 minutes a night!

With Bear unwilling to sleep, or sleeping so lightly that the slightest move wakes him again, Rachel has not had a proper night's sleep in several weeks. They’ve tried everything from sleep coaching, acupressure points, lavender massages, soothing, coaxing, but nothing seems to work.

What do you do when you have gone several weeks with little to no sleep, and in the rare instances you do have the chance to sleep you can’t? What do you do when you develop Momsomnia - when your nervous system is so wired that it refuses to allow you to rest when you have the slightest chance?

You ask for help, and you give yourself grace. You take the pressure off to get dressed, to show up, to put on a face like everything is fine. You ask for help from your partner, your family, your community. You drop all expectations of yourself and you do your best to survive. You allow yourself to have chocolate for breakfast and you add your supplements where you can. You call it a grace period and you allow it to be just that, a period where you have compassion for yourself and you allow yourself to receive all the help that is offered.

Tune in for an episode that will remind you that it truly takes a village, to give yourself immense grace when things get hard, to allow yourself to remove the mask to feel your feelings, and the importance of asking for support when you need it most.

Poem - “The Grace of Mothers,” by Jillian Mackenzie https://www.instagram.com/p/C1cNgAgORLU/?img_index=5 @ancestral.mother

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Ask Rachel: Repairing Relationships, Quieting the Inner Critic, and Returning to Love

Welcome to another segment of Ask Rachel. On today’s episode, Rachel takes a wide variety of heartfelt and vulnerable questions from different listeners. She talks about how to repair relationships with your loved ones (and how important of a skill this is!), her inner critic and the negative thoughts that keep popping up for her lately, and then a little update on her non-vegan diet. When it comes to life with baby, Rachel also shares about sleep, sleep training, and what works well for her family. Tune in for a deep and insightful episode on all things family, food, and life!

Do you have a question for Rachel? Call her and leave a message at +1 (720) 443 1771. Share your name, where you’re from, and whatever question is on your mind.

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In today’s episode, Rachel is speaking to you directly from the Maldives! As the first family vacation with Bear, Rachel shares what the day to day life is like on a paradise island, how the baby has been adjusting, and whether she misses life on the beach. Being on vacation with 16 of your family members is always interesting, and she shares how her family dynamics play out before diving deeper into the importance of taking care of the pregnant or postpartum women in our lives.

Tune in for a fun and sunny episode that will remind you that wherever you go - there you are.

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This week’s episode is a special one: it’s Rachel’s birthday week! With some big feelings in her heart, she reflects on the past couple of years and how her life has played out. Going from working non-stop in Aruba, to a pandemic, to illness and mold, and to finding her way to a farm in Sweden, it’s safe to say that things are very different now. And it was on her last birthday that she found out some big news: she was pregnant.

We all go through phases and cycles in our life, but sometimes we feel more like a passenger than the driver. This episode will share one big lesson: sometimes painful things out of our control will come our way... to lead us to where we’re meant to be. You may not understand it all, but you can anchor into trust, hold gratitude in your heart, and enjoy the journey.

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As we know, life with a new baby often means the mother’s wellbeing gets left behind. So much of our lives are focused solely on our little one! But in this episode, Rachel shares a big revelation she has had over the past few weeks: all that matters is that you show up. The rest will follow.

Right now, Rachel has found herself in a very good place when it comes to her self-care routine. She shares how she has been feeling in her body, a little bit about her exercise routine with a baby, why pelvic floor work is so important, and tips on how to make your own self-care routine sustainable. No matter if you show up for 10 minutes or one hour, a huge shift in your wellbeing comes whenever you prioritize yourself. This episode will inspire you to show up each and every day. Those small changes you are making will add up to change your life.

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