Natural Habitat

I loved that magazine ‘Mothering’ and I’m sad it is no longer published as a printed magazine.  I loved looking back at articles, and passing copies along to friends. Anyway, natural Mama and Mothering Magazine Goddess Peggy O’Mara recently posted something on Facebook that I loved.  In essence, she pointed out that a baby’s natural habitat is his or her mother’s body.  I love that so much.  I have felt with each of my children that the first three months of life are really like another trimester in which they must be held and fed and cuddled by me as much as possible.  I never applied the words ‘natural habitat’ to that, and I love the connection that O’Mara made.

That idea has been percolating in my brain as I go about mothering my 4 children, not just the baby.  With him, it is clear that when he is out-of-sorts and disorganized, being held by me in a baby carrier as I sway to music, or go about my chores clearly brings him a deep sense of relief and relaxation.  I call it an ‘organizing’ activity.  It pulls him back together, and helps him be calm in his environment.  With the other children, finding organizing activities is more complex, and less obvious.  For my oldest, sometimes being busy is the best recipe for her to feel pulled back together.  Sometimes, she needs a long soak in my bathtub combined with my attention – sitting and talking, sharing my special bath salts. Each child needs help at times, and each child’s needs are different.

As adults, we are charged with doing these things for ourselves.  We each have to be aware of our own natural habitat, and how to create it.

What does it mean for us and the way we live? What happens when whole communities of people spend no time in their natural environments?  Do we feel unmanageable stress, anxiety, difficulty sleeping? It seems to me, that many of us are plagued with those afflictions.