40 DAY BLESSING

POSTNATAL SEVADAR TRAINING

M A Y 3 0 TH 1 0 A M T O 5 P M

Y O G A O N T H E R I D G E, W I N T H R O P

The arms and lap of the mother are the cradle of civilisation. What more important place to put our love and care than there?

In this one day training workshop, Jai Ram Kaur and Frances Parkhowell will share teachings, understandings and practices that will equip you to care for women in the first 40 days following the birth of a child. It is open to health professionals, including doulas, midwives and doctors, mothers, aunties, sisters, friends and all women with an interest in helping a new mother in this most tender and special time of her own and her baby’s life.

In Kundalini Yoga, we recognise the mother as the first teacher for the child. Her lap is the cradle of civilisation and her arms and heart hold the world. She needs help in this time - practical, emotional and spiritual. Her body is recovering from pregnancy and birth, her hormones are powerful and can be overwhelming, she may well feel very emotional and her whole identity is shifting in a seismic way. For the baby, it is also a tender and crucial time.

Humanology teachings of Kundalini Yoga say that in the first 3 days the baby learns love; in the first 40 days, belonging.

The imprint on the nervous system of the child during this 40 days is deep and lasting, so the aspiration is to make this time as cozy and relaxed as possible. For this, the mother needs help, support and care. If a woman is fortunate, she has family around who are willing and available to help. Or she has a strong network of friends. However, this is often not the case. People are busy with their own lives. Hiring a postnatal doula is a great option, but there will likely still be significant gaps.

That’s where a Sevadar comes in. Sevadar means one who serves selflessly, taking no payment and expecting no reward. In this case normally a woman, she does whatever is needed in the house and for the woman to support her, to lift the quality of her experience.

In Kundalini Yoga teachings we recognise that for the Sevadar, there is also the potential for a great blessing of a different kind. The practice of working in service of another, especially in serving something that you love and consider worth making a personal sacrifice for, is called karma yoga - service as a path of love and joy. So while a sevadar is in the true sense not paid (though each case is different), there is a different kind of inner reward inherent in giving such service.

Posnatal sevadar support therefore serves where support is a greatly needed investment. And it is a societal and cultural issue that we can only address together. In Australia, it is estimated that 1 in 7 women experience some form of postnatal depression and/or anxiety. There are various factors involved in this situation, just one of them being negative experiences during birth. However if we were to just address the most obvious fact that new mothers who experience adequate support, love and care feel better, this number would be radically altered.

The purpose of this training is to raise awareness, introduce a way of thinking and being, give information to support this attitude and provide practical skills, know how and suggested ways of taking this service into the world.

It will cover themes such as:

• the experience and needs of the new mother and baby - physical, emotional, energetic, spiritual

• practicalities of what to offer a mother and her family in this time

• teachings on the attitude and blessing of selfless service

• reflections on the polarity and basic energetic dynamic of the mother, father/partner and baby relationship from the perspective of Kundalini Yoga humanology

• what a Sevadar does or can do - the possible scope of help

• what a Sevadar is not eg not there in a clinical capacity; not an expert or advice-giver

• setting up a clear agreement with the mother

• hormones and emotions in the 40 days - mood disorders - how to help - limits of helping - where to turn if it is beyond the scope of the sevadar

• nourishing the mother - Ayurvedic recipes (we will cook and eat together)

• massage for new mothers

An important part of the training day is the sharing of experiences amongst participants. A side effect of the training can be healing of your own story through giving to others what you might have missed yourself. We will also hear from participants how it feels to receive the support of a sevadar and also from sevadars as to how it is for them to serve - challenges they faced, learnings, what was gained through the experience.

When: Sunday May 30th 2021, 10am to 5pm

Venue: at Yoga on the Ridge, a home studio in Winthrop - address provided on booking

Cost: $155.

Bring: notebook and pen. Comfortable clothing. There is no physical yoga involved, but we may do a short meditation as part of the afternoon and will be sitting on the floor for massage.

Lunch & tea are included - we will cook and eat an Ayurvedic lunch together as part of the learning.

POSTNATAL SEVADAR TRAINING TEAM

J A I R A M K A U R & F R A N C E S P A R K H O W E L L

Frances Parkhowell is director of Perth Postnatal Village, est. 2013 in Perth with the purpose of filling a gap by providing physical and emotional care for new families in the postnatal time. As self-described part hippy, part scientist, she brings a wealth of knowledge, as well as humour and empathy to her role as post-natal doula and human being. She was the Postnatal doula trainer for Australian Doulas from 2016-2019 and the AD chairperson for 2019-2020.

READY TO BOOK?

Bank details: Grisht Ashram BSB 016008 A/N 426811142 Reference PNST and your name.

“A nation is based on the concept of the child in the first forty days. Let those days be peaceful so that his or her life may be based on peace, then peace may begin to reign on this planet.” Yogi Bhajan

Read about the maiden voyage of the Postnatal Sevadar Training here …