Motherhood as Ego Death: Postpartum, Grief & Repair with Rachelle Seliga

This conversation with Rachelle Seliga is one of the most important I've ever recorded.

I came into this episode feeling activated - because postpartum was one of the hardest, most disorienting thresholds of my life. I got pregnant during COVID, gave birth in deep isolation, and despite years as a doula and womb health educator, postpartum broke me open in ways I never anticipated.

Rachelle and I speak honestly about what postpartum actually is, why six weeks was never enough, and why so many of us are still carrying grief from a time that was never properly held.

In our conversation, we talked about:

00:00 - Introduction & why postpartum was the most activating threshold of Usha's life

01:19 - Why postpartum is an imprint for the mother, baby, and family system

05:31 - How long is postpartum, really? Six weeks, three months, nine months, three years, all of life

11:19 - Co-sleeping, nervous system tracking, and when separation happens on the child's terms

20:09 - Grief and repair when postpartum was never properly held

28:50 - Postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and the power of social support as the real preventative

30:59 - The fracture between maidens and mothers, and why everyone is responsible for supporting mothers

36:16 - The father's role in postpartum and why a partner was never meant to be a village

50:58 - How to build community and real support in the modern world, practically

1:19:22 - How unprocessed material in the mother manifests in the child's body, and why treating the mother heals the child

This episode is not polished. It's a real invitation to grieve what was never given, stop pretending motherhood is meant to be endured alone, and to meet postpartum - and womanhood - with the reverence it deserves.

If you've ever felt undone by motherhood… this conversation is for you.

Connect + Continue

If this episode moved you and you're ready to hold this kind of space for other women, Womb Circle Facilitator Training is now open. Learn how to guide women through the initiations of womb health, postpartum, grief, and cyclical wisdom inside a structured, embodied container. 👉https://bit.ly/41lG1kp 

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🌐 Website: https://www.wombenwellness.com 

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Want to learn more about Rachelle?

 🌐 Website: www.innatetraditions.com

 📸 Instagram: @innatetraditions

📚Rachelle's blog on postpartum: https://www.innatetraditions.com/blog/how-long-is-postpartum

Download Rachelle's FREE BOOKLET: The 5 Cross-Cultural Prescriptions of Postpartum Wellness

https://www.innatetraditions.com/postpartum-care