A woman has the greatest opportunity to provide the best outcome for a baby and its potentialities. Not only by having a conscious and definite will to form the child accordingly to the highest ideal she can conceive, but first and foremost having the aspiration to work on herself.
Sri Aurobindo

The instant I discovered I was pregnant, I became a mother. My whole perspective and value of what I wished to be and see in the world coalesced and intensified as the time drew near for me to birth my daughter. How very grateful I am for the opportunity to walk this path called mother and to do it consciously and intentionally. There is no greater path than that of parent or caregiver for it calls us forward into growth that when we accept, provides the deepest transformation and love I have ever known. Ten years later my commitment to conscious parenting remains strong and clear. I feel compelled to grow, expand and work on myself. There’s no room for a talking head if heart-centered connection with my child is the goal. The old model of do as I say, not as I do didn’t work anyway.
The Mother’s day Address created by Julia Ward Howe did not resemble the Hallmark holiday that it does today. It was a call to action for all women to join together, to lean into each other and to eradicate violence and war. She spoke of Oneness, of Peace, of Love. In order for peace to exist, we must have a desire to have peace in our hearts. We have grown exponentially technologically but have we grown in our ability to be bearers of peace? Do we talk of love yet harbor hate, revenge, unforgiveness, and self righteousness? Do we tell our children to be peaceful yet we yell at them or say hurtful things to them when they don’t comply to our wishes?
The Native Americans say that all things are born of women and no law shall be made to harm the women and the children. When we harm the Earth, Gaia, Mother Earth, we harm the women, the children, the men, all life.
I invite you to cultivate the awareness within you that how you love and value yourself through your thoughts, words and actions is how your children learn to love and value themselves. May you walk lightly upon the Earth with great love in your every step.

Each breath is a prayer
I know that the breath of Spirit is breathing me
Prayer is the way the living word of God
flows through me
How deeply grateful I am for this Life
that is living, loving, breathing me,
my family, friends, the mamas, the babies
the Teachers, the Birthkeepers, Wisdomkeepers,
Peacemakers, Artists, Leaders who bring
light to the world
Look beyond the man made world of appearances
and move into the awareness that
There are no limits in God
No limits to your good
Love is your true nature
Love is the healer
How will you walk in the world today?

WS 12/11

To be of maximum service to myself and others, especially my child, I know that I must first care for myself — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I must put the oxygen mask on my face, seek and do that which will soothe, support and empower me, before I attempt to assist another. It may seem counter intuitive to most of us who have pages of to-do lists and a schedule that is full. I know that the way to prosperity, the way to peace begins with self-care. Self-care is life affirming, it is not hedonistic self-indulgence. Taking time to breathe, slowly, and bringing my awareness to my heart-center, can be a life-saver for me. Sometimes, I’m moving so fast that I forget that I’m holding my breath or breathing shallowly.

I maintain that the way we care for ourselves is how we ultimately care for our children, which then translates into how we care for the planet. If we are out of balance in any way, it reflects in the outer world around us. We live in a lawful Universe and that is the law. We may think that we’re fooling our children if we hide how we truly feel about ourselves or treat ourselves but they know. 

So, today, I ask you, in what ways will you care for you?

I could list my degrees, my designations, my job titles, and experiences. I could talk to you about all the people I’ve met and know, things I’ve accomplished and am working on and while that’s all well and good, nothing, absolutely nothing, comes close to the experience I treasure — MAMA.

From the second I discovered I was pregnant, jumping for joy in the bathroom as I looked at the line on the stick, there was an alchemical quickening within me. The mystery of life  occurring within me. And, I knew that something very different was being birthed inside of me as this child grew within me –  me. I set the intention to birth differently than my mother and all of the women that I knew had done — to birth at home, in a tub, with a midwife and doula. My intention was that my child be born as peacefully as possible. I’d watched the video of the women giving birth in the Black Sea and I thought, oh, yes, that’s for me. I know that this baby wants to be born this way. There was no other choice for me. And so, the Universe, in its infinite wisdom, wrapped itself around my intention, and I was hired at 5 months pregnant, by another woman, at a company which afforded me the opportunity to have the insurance to cover the midwives. I read, went to pre natal yoga at Golden Bridge with the wonderful Gurmukh and my friend, Davi Khalsa, who is now a magnificent midwife, and prepared myself for the arrival of my beloved child.

Being a parent is a high and holy path — whether a child comes through you or to you — your life will be forever transformed. On a daily basis, I get to grow as I grow my child. I am her mentor, she is my spiritual teacher. I tell my daughter, “I’m so glad that  I get to grow with you.” The love I feel for her is like a mighty river that continually flows without end. I am deeply grateful for this experience. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

I began working privately with mamas while going through the Practitioner Training program at the Agape International Spiritual Center, founded by Michael Bernard Beckwith. I began studying with Michael Beckwith in 1999 and immersed myself in spiritual, psychological, birth education, parenting and non-violent parenting and communication workshops. I was already a hypnotherapist utilizing that and my gifts as a soul reader to support women in manifesting their full creative expression.

I have a fire in my belly about women being given the support to birth babies naturally, if they choose, and growing children with compassion, peace, confidence and kindness so that they grow to be caring, confident and resilient people. I knew something had taken hold of me when my  husband and I talked about my returning to work after my 6 week maternity leave — before I had given birth to our child — I burst into tears and was inconsolable about being separated from this being that I was bringing into the world. Internally, I’d already made a decision that I was going to work from home and be with our baby no matter what. I lead my first parenting workshop at Agape in 2004 and have been working with families and facilitating workshops since then at Agape and around the country. I can’t seem to keep myself from sharing information with pregnant women and parents about the ways in which we can empower ourselves and our children through compassionate communication and practical tools. 

The mama lioness in me feels called to create a world that is more peaceful for our children. Not as a platitude but a real, tangible experience. It’s not okay with me that women die in childbirth or are unsafe when pregnant, that girls in other countries are married off as young as 10, that there’s human trafficking or genital mutilation. I have a 10-year old and I can tell you that she’s not ready to be married. I am fortunate because in the American culture, I don’t need to marry her off to survive. I can’t imagine that any parent truly wishes to give their child away. I believe that a part of them shrivels when they feel that this is their only option.

I stand for a world where people get to know that love is their true nature.
I stand for people knowing that there really is a way to be in the world that is based on collaboration, community, communication and honoring of one another. That joy and freedom are natural to being alive. I seek to educate people so that they know that fear is a defense against being hurt or having been hurt and that hurting another person through words and actions stems from ignorance and fear, not truth.
I stand for women’s reproductive rights being honored, where women can choose to birth as they wish, not scared into believing that they are not in control of their bodies and need to have their birth treated as a medical protocol, with all due respect to the medical community.
I stand for pregnant women being safe as they move around the world, not at risk. I stand for maternal well-being to be a mandatory right. And health-care for women and children. Ibu Robin Lim, the 2011 CNN Hero, whom I recently met and fell in love with says, “every mother counts and healthcare is a human right.”
I stand for every woman and child to have health-care insurance, to be housed, fed, clothed educated, cared for — it is our birthright to have this, not a luxury for those who can afford it.
I stand for compassionate communication where conflict resolution is practiced worldwide. 

I know that together we can create more peace and affect change. Note what’s unfolding in our world. Old structures are dissolving, people are joining together around the world saying they want change, and talk about the need for feminine energy to be activated in people around the world, especially in leaders, is part of  mainstream conversation.

I invite you to join with me to create a world that is more peaceful and peace filled. Will you join with me? Will you contribute to the chaos or the peace? On Mother’s Day 2012, there will be a peace, information and celebration gathering at the Washington Monument called the Million Mamas March, which is the launch of the Million Mamas Movement.

Please contact me for more information: wendy@wendysilvers.com