Lesha's Podcast + Nurture Newsletter

One of the things I notice over and over in the birth world, especially here in America, is how separated everything is. You take a hospital class to learn what happens in labor. Maybe you find a breathing or hypnosis program for the mental side. You follow someone on Instagram for the evidence and statistics, someone else for the spiritual stuff, and if you’re lucky, somebody eventually mentions your nervous system. Each piece can be really valuable.

One of the healthiest things I have offered someone has also been the thing that ended the relationship, at least at first glance. For months I have been in deep contemplation, reflection, and self exploration into the dynamic of boundaries. For part of this process I have been reflecting about the time when my partner and I learned to be in a healthier relationship because of our willingness to explore boundaries within our partnership.

One of the concepts I talk about a lot in my work is that birth is a sequence. I originally learned this through my training in pre and perinatal somatics, and over time it has completely changed the way I look at birth, postpartum, babies, and honestly, some of the patterns we carry as adults too. A few years ago I gave a talk to a group of midwives about pre and perinatal somatics (PPN), and while I was preparing for it, I kept coming back to this idea of sequence.

When I invited Megan Harrod onto the podcast, I knew her story would challenge assumptions. She works in the world of elite ski racing, traveling internationally with one of the best athletes in the world. After each of her babies was born, she returned to that work far sooner than many people would expect. Her daughter traveled to World Cup races as a newborn. Her son joined her on the road just weeks after birth. Both children eventually traveled with her to the Olympics.

When I invited Jean Madson onto the podcast, I imagined we would spend most of our time talking about postpartum. Instead, what unfolded was a much bigger conversation about preparation, trust, and the unexpected ways our own identities shape the transition into parenthood.

Nurturing Resilience We Aren't The Same Everyday 1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:20:52 -1:20:52 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. We Aren't The Same Everyday With Shara Jackson Harper There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from believing you should be able to function with the same energy, clarity, patience, and capacity every single day.

Hello! I am trying something new (yes again lol)….If you want to watch the video I have attached the same content in a youtube: If you’re a reader, ignore the youtube and read on….all the same information is here too below the video. Recently in my study group with Nurture Revolution Practitioner training one of my “study buddies” made the remark that we are in this for the long game.

There was a moment from my nurture neuroscience class from this past weekend that has stayed with me. Not because it was dramatic, but because of how much it revealed. On the surface, it sounded like a very reasonable question. But there was something under the surface that felt like a deeper question was being asked. A woman in the group questioned how much emphasis is being placed on repair in parenting.

Greetings on the last day of the year! Of course I am sharing December’s podcast on the last possible day. But that is because this episode’s topic is near and dear to my heart and every time I would sit down to write about it, words would not come. How do I possibly write about the complexities of birth, spirituality, a mother’s preparation and the black and white rhetoric that is showing up in these spaces? How do I share that I too saw these things as black and white?

There are stories we can name and then there are stories our bodies carry, quietly, without words. Stories shaped by the first hour after birth, by whether or not we were held, seen, or welcomed skin-to-skin. These earliest imprints don’t live in our conscious memory, but they often ripple out into our nervous systems, our relationships, our sense of safety in the world. I often sit with the truth that birth is not only a physiological event, it’s also an imprinting experience.