Through the bodies of women, we are all born into time and space. Each one of us must also walk through that great, uncharted door of death.

Rhythm, ritual, and rest not only aid birthing women, but they also support all of us to move skillfully through our life’s labors.

Her words fell into the fertile soil of soon-to-be-manifested dreams.

Zen Buddhist wisdom reminds adherents not to confuse the finger pointing to the moon with the moon itself.

The birth partner is also supported in his or her role of caring for the mother during childbirth.

The energy in the room shifted with celebratory grace and tearful smiles. We welcomed this precious one to the earthly realm of gravity, air, and land.

Studying philosophy and religion is not the same as practicing it. I longed to experience community rituals and missed the presence of elders and new babies in my life.

Over the first year of his life, I deeply reflected upon the connections between birth, breath, and death. After breathing my way through fear, I found myself in a place of profound and visceral love, the most precious of life’s gifts. Motherhood is its own threshold.

Mirroring the pattern of each living breath, we need to inhale and receive care as well as exhale and give fully of our talents. In labor, contractions are followed by time for renewal.