In this podcast we will be chatting with EWP PhD student Reise Tanner about her unique approaches to birthing through her work as a midwife, doula and birthing coach. She shares her experiences in learning how to hold space to help mothers feel their belonging during the birthing process, and discusses how birthing can be approached as a form of sacred activism. Reise talks about how to reclaim the deep feminine and the role of the earth as the divine feminine in holistic transformation, which leads us to discuss the necessity of honoring intuitive ways of knowing in scholarship. We end the episode exploring some problems of our times and the importance of the continual development of approaches and strategies to conscious parenting.

Reise Tanner is a PhD student in East West Psychology focused on decolonial depth psychology, ecopsychology, and applied mythology at the crossroads with feminism, indigenous traditions and liberatory methods. Her research positions birthwork as sacred activism and mothering within feminist discourse while exploring archetypes of the Feminine and centering what has been marginalized. As a seasoned doula, she views the birthing process as an initiation and believes that each birth—whether to a human or project or new version of Self— has the power to be transformative and meaningful for everyone involved.

Reise is also a perinatal educator, Certified Empowerment Coach, Birthing From Within Mentor, Birth Story Listener, and mother who has attended hundreds of births and supported thousands of people on their birth journeys and beyond through groups and classes. She has trained doulas and created two innovative postpartum programs that feature storytelling: Wild Return and Wild & Rooted. In addition to attending many midwifery and birth-related trainings in the US and abroad, she has spoken publicly on several panels, and presented to the medical community. She has been a yoga instructor since 1997, certified practitioner of Maya Abdominal Therapy, and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. Whenever possible, Reise loves to travel, spend time in wild nature, and attend cultural events.

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Hosted by Stephen Julich (EWP adjunct faculty, program manager) and Jonathan Kay (PhD student, EWP assistant)