Wandering Into Wellness

Layla Nua Nua - Birthing A Mother - The Fourth Trimester

From her own journey in birth, Layla experienced the support given by a post partum doula, almost without even knowing it was happening. After leaving the German maternity system where this care is offered to mothers as a standard practice, and coming home to Ireland to have her third baby, she felt the other side of neonatal care with a degree of shock, recognising the trauma that can be experienced in the birth process and the profound change that was occurring to her as a mother, even at her third birth, and how this aspect of maternity care simply wasn't on offer here. And so with her grounding as a TCM practitioner, Layla has embraced the void and now offers the care that she noticed in its absence during her birth experience.

Join us as we talk all things birth, and open up the conversation to this vital, yet unrecognised phase of maternal care - the Fourth Trimester.

Now Draw Focus To Your Vision

How much do we really look after our eyes? No not the cosmetic alterations, not the billion dollar industries that put our eyes front and centre in the world of aesthetic beauty. We mean the ACTUAL eyes. The fine muscles in and around the eyes rarely get the attention they need. Taking in billions of images every second and coping with light and shade, a constellation of colour imagery AND trying to read the expressions of the humans we come into contact with - our eyes are put to the test daily, and with little reward. They're even working when we sleep! So take this 25 minutes to put the focus back on your eye health, toning the structures with simple eye yoga movements and a nutritional and herbal protocols that will preserve your vision AND help you get a little eye lift for those too tired peepers. Enjoy!

Jamie Heaslip - Peeling Back The Layers

"I’ve very little advice for you. Be yourself, everyone else is taken!" - goes one of the lines from his open (and very candid) letter to his younger self. And that's exactly how he is, WHO he is, and honestly the energy from him is magnetic.

 

Seeing Jamie in this new role, generates a real sense of pride, not just in his personal evolution and transformation - it's a validation for the resilience and and potential in the human spirit.  Having witnessed his early exit from International Rugby, it was like seeing one of the sons of Ireland, flame extinguished, and dreams dashed on the rocks. But no longer. Jamie is more than the captain and strategist that we know from the rugby pitch, his professional and personal life have blossomed since his sporting career ended, and we got a chance to touch on these less public sides to Jamie's character.

 

This is a fun one - Finn was looking forward to having the chats with Jamie for about the past two years...and he didn't disappoint!! Stay tuned for the quickfire questions at the end for a giggle!

Elaine Barry - The Pelvic Floor Show

In our first podcast back post lockdown from Covid 19 we got to speak ( whilst socially distancing so allow us any sound issues please) to the women’s health whizz that is Elaine Barry.

Elaine is one of the physio day the Milltown Health Clinic here in Ireland and specialises in an up and coming area of women’s health: internal pelvic floor work. When lydia was pregnant she went to try out this type of physio and found it an invaluable tool in understanding how to teach her body to relax and open in preparation for the birthing process and has been singing its praises to her pregnant clients ever since.

Elaine explains to us the myriad functions of the pelvic floor and why it is so vital to have not only an understanding of but also a connection to this vital area of our bodies. We look at the fears many of us hold around working with this area and the worries women have about the trauma it can receive during birth and the subsequent lack of function in the postpartum period.

Elaine is so warm and relatable and clearly really cares about the women she works with and we are just so happy to be able to demystify what goes on during a pelvic floor physio session so that more and more people will avail of this amazing service.

Grab a cup of tea , Listen in and spread the word please: let’s start a pelvic floor empowerment revolution 🙏

If you want to know more please contact Elaine @elainebarryphysio Or call the team at Milltown Physiotherapy Clinic who we are very grateful to for loaning us their lovely space to record in .

Encircling Birth with Aisling Jackson

On a short trip across to us from her new homeland in New Zealand, Aisling Jackson (Browne - heehee!) stopped in to chat with us regarding all things birth.  

 

Aisling's transition to hosting women's circles seems as natural to her as breathing is to most of us.  With what seems like a ready made ability to play this role of creating space and hosting women in this time of vulnerability, growth and transformation.  Helping women to face up to the shift in their identity, to owning and honouring their new reality, and inhabiting motherhood in a truly powerful and graceful way.

 

We really enjoyed this casual chat where we dove into the birth experience from so many angles.  Aisling's attitudes highlight a really progressive approach to the practice of mindful motherhood, and it was really exciting to engage with a woman like her who is so open to sharing her own experience and really walks the walk in her own mothering experience.

Lydia And Finn's 20 Question get...a little Awkward!!

Challenging questions prompt tricky true feelings, and in the spirit of Wandering, we don't seek to disguise these, instead delving into those feelings, that discomfort that comes, and work through the awkward moments. FYI this video was recorded pre-COVID, summer 2019 :)

Pop Quiz Hotshot ROUND 1

Lydia and Finn love games.  Lydia and Finn like to ask each other tricky questions which make them think outside the box and consider possibilities beyond their horizons.  Lydia and Finn both thought they would publicise one of their regular Q&A sessions and let you guys in on their weird likes and dislikes.  

Try your own 20 questions at home and get to know each other better!

 

Enjoy!! x

Returning Home - With Homebirth Expert and Midwife Ali

In this particularly pertinent podcast we chat to @midwifeali one of Lydia’s homebirth midwives all about the beauty of giving birth in the comfort of your own home.

At the moment more and more women are choosing to birth from home rather than going into the hospitals and we thought it was important to separate the facts from the fiction.

We ask Ali ( a fully certified home birth midwife who worked in the Irish hospital system for years and birthed 4 babies herself ) what are the benefits of having your baby at home? Are the risks higher than in a hospital setting? Who is it suitable for? Why would someone choose this sometimes frowned upon option ? And much more besides...

Ali more than anything wants to get her message out there: that this a safe and viable option for so many mums and that it isn’t simply, as it is often touted in the media, the renegade choice of a bunch of wayward hippies, but in fact an age old tradition that is currently supported by the HSE. 

Tune in to hear our chat and make your own mind up.
If you have any questions for Ali please send them on and we will be doing an entire series on pregnancy, birth and beyond just as soon as we are able.

The Sound Journey In Your Soul - Ras Kjaerbo Audio Artist @ Meadows In The Mountains

No kidding, as a self confessed nerd but also musician, DJ and producer, Rasmus has taken his laptop as a musical tool to new sonic places.

We met him at Meadows In The Mountains in 2018 - so this is one from the archives that we almost forgot!! Ras' fascination with flow state and the connection between music and mood and how resonant frequencies influence and alter parts of our physiology has influenced his own path towards the synthesis of complete soundscapes - "musical journeys" as he calls them.

We chatted a lot about how the the exposure to unexpected musical experiences, progressions and patterns to shock us out of our daily habits and routines and expand our horizons internally and externally and bring a greater potential for connection and community.

You can find more out about him at rassta.dk - and go experience one of his immersive soundscape journeys. Take it from us - he's a special talent - even worth the trip to Denmark!!

Also - shout out to Nicolas "Sharpshooter" Dalby! 

Extinction Rebellion - Breaking Windows to Save the Burning Building with Manuel Salazar

Keeping our actions relevant and making sure not to alienate the public through climate protests is a tricky business. Any protest can lose the mass support without careful planning, and maximising exposure without seeking to disrupt the lives of the those that will ultimately be the first to bear the cost of the climate change that threatens our planet is a high priority for the organisers at Extinction Rebellion. Manuel Salazar took us through the intricate planning of these actions and gave us a real insight into the dedication of the XR movement - to achieving change, and building public energy in order to make this into a mass movement, which it ultimately has to be, in order to achieve governmental and legislative change on a broad scale and within a critical time scale.