Self Care With Gracy

It's been such a fascinating process for me to explore the birth world!   I've learned the difference between midwives, birth assistants and doulas and each of their special roles in helping with labor.  Now, in this conversation with Salt Lake City-based doula and music therapist Beth Hardy, I learned the value of a music-based doula to help us create our optimal birth experience.    Listen in and hear how Beth uses her unique talents to create specialized birthing soundtracks, why a personalized song can do wonders for infant bonding and what music helped her through her own challenging yet beautiful birth.     Not pregnant or interested in birth?  We talk about how much music can help hold us through any big life transition and why important for all of us to use the awesome power of music to help us change.    To learn more about Beth's work, please visit her website .  Also, check out the beautiful song by Deva Premal that helped Beth through her birth here

The ceremonies of celebrant Hannah Nielsen-Jones have helped me to process tough life experiences (like my father's death) and prepare for huge transitional moments (such as the upcoming birth of my first child).  For each individualized ceremony she prepares, Hannah combines her life-affirming writing skills with her big knowledge of different cultural traditions in a way that I've never experienced before.    In this conversation, Hannah and I discuss celebrations as a form of cultural self-care, creating non-traditional ceremonies (like a PHD completion or a new mother's return to work) and how to use the essence of ceremony to transition through the many twists and turns of life.  Also, we dip into self-care for people who are getting married, i.e. how to make your wedding truly feel like a creation of your own.   To learn more about Hannah's work, please visit her website , friend her on Facebook and follow her on Instagram at

Oh how I love the simple clarity of Max Daniels, a sensible life coach who specializes on the issues of women, body image and eating with dignity our current food culture. A former binge eater, she has found a way to eat and live with sanity and has taught many other people -- mostly women who think getting thinner will solve everything -- to do the same.    In our conversation, we talk about why diets don't work, how different eating structures work for different people, and the diet-free guru who changed both of our lives.     To learn more about Max's work, please visit her website, sign up for her mailing list (I love her weekly Tuesday emails), and follow her on Facebook.  

Learn more about Rob's work at http://robhartman.net and http://stressfreedc.org

To find out more about Sister MorningStar and her work please visit her website: http://www.sistermorningstar.com