Join us for a powerful conversation with controversial points wrapped around CHOOSING to become a parent or not, and how parents need to become conscious so that the parenting role is one full of empowerment and mindfulness.
What came from this episode is an important message that we need to change the narrative around what "birthing" means for women to include the birthing of companies, art, ideas, and more!
In this episode, hosts Natalie Viglione and Diane McDermott speak with guest, Amy Gonzalez-Nelson, a conscious parent, on:
- What it means to be a conscious parent
- The choice we have to CHOOSE to be a parent OR NOT
- The role that PURPOSE needs to play in our life
- If having a child is just a program that runs in a woman's body
- That there are 8 million children living in orphanages, we clearly have a broken system
- How each of us has had different experiences either having kids or not, and how this has had an impact on our journeys
- What parents need to do to become conscious
- Birthing for women means MORE than just "having a child"
And more!
READ MORE BELOW AND PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE, IT'S AN IMPORTANT ONE!
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ABOUT OUR GUEST, AMY GONZALEZ-NELSEN:
Amy is the Founder of Bravery Brigade
She is a very open-minded, single, strong woman raising boys and was a perfect guest for this episode.
She's is a vibrant, heart-centered speaker whose magnetic energy makes her a must-see. She effortlessly blends the healing components of the movement, sound, energy healing, and practical life skills to offer a tangible approach to finding the balance we all seek in the four pillars of our lives: the mental, the emotional, the physical, and the spiritual. Amy is trained in the holistic arts of reiki, intuitive healing, and is a certified instructor in a holistic fitness practice called NIA. Her other talents include motivational speaking and Energetic (or Soul) Polishing.
Her passion for community and global unity sparked the movement she calls the Bravery Brigade. Her goal is to use her skills to bring women together; allowing them to step into their authentic truth as they find balance.
Amy believes all it takes is one act of bravery to be free of scripted realities, enabling you to find peace. Amy draws from her more than 25 years of production and event management experience and fuses this background with healing and life management tools as she acts as your compassionate guide.
You can contact Amy here: https://braverybrigade.com/contact/
Or you can follow her on Instagram
Some more details on this episode and the reason why this is an important topic:
This topic is personally something I've wanted to hit on for a podcast episode for a while now. It sits at the top of my mind because I see such a broken system. I was looking into the number of children orphaned and that number is astounding!
Today, there are 8 million children living in orphanages around the world. None of them want to be there. Ask any child and they will tell you that their biggest dream is to be part of a loving family... - Miracle Foundation
That puts a lump in my throat and makes me feel sick to my stomach. After I found that information I knew that this podcast episode was more than needed.
I also desired to talk openly about my feelings on this topic. I am 41 years of age now and my partner and I are not having children, and I may or may not have the REAL desire because I can't tell if I want a kid. I don't know if that "desire" is because others in society say I should, or the comments that come from origin family members, or if it's just a program that runs in my body (more on that below and in the episode).
Humans (should) have a CHOICE to become a parent or NOT become a parent. This changes depending on the geographic region and the rights of women in specific regions, but it's a basic human right to be able to choose considering women should have ownership over their own bodies.
But it's also about being conscious in our decision-making process on the "having a kid" topic. Quite honestly, there are way too many people that take a lackadaisical approach to the "having kids" topic. It's a major decision and not one that should EVER be made lightly or in an aloof manner.
It's obvious there's an issue because there are 8 million children in orphanages across the globe!
The other staggering data around that fact is that more than 80% of those 8 million in orphanages have a living parent (UNICEF).
OUCH. That means people have kids, shouldn't have had the kid(s), and then push them into orphanage situations.
Is your heart breaking like mine is?
So the takeaway here is that we must become more conscious around this process. We need to properly CHOOSE in a strategic way to become a parent, or rightfully choose to NOT become a parent. And if mistakes happen because of many reasons (many of us have been there), we have the ability to make the proper choices to ensure that we don't make that kid's life miserable because our life is miserable or there was a rape, etc. etc.
Our lives are meant to have a purpose and I firmly believe that we are not here to just procreate, some are supposed to and some are not. And if you do CHOOSE to procreate, that is not your end all be all for being alive, but rather an incredibly amazing choice point that adds so much value to your already purpose-filled life.
In fact, there are plenty of humans that cannot have children and their lives are not less important because they cannot have kids.
There's a lot of societal pressures (origin family pressures, etc.) that you must have children because everyone does, right? The answer to that is NO.
I also firmly believe that having a child is almost like a computer program that runs in women's bodies, and I honestly cannot tell the difference between true desire and a program. I'll bet that I'm not the ONLY one that feels that way!
This is what we talk deeply about in this episode. We explore all of the important pieces about parenting, consciousness, and the 3 of us in this conversation all come from very different places and do and do not have kids. It's a perfect trifecta for this kind of open-minded conversation on an important topic.
What is conscious parenting? In my definition, it starts when a human consciously decides to have a child (or children). And when people shift into a parenting role, those persons become the guides/mentors for the child(ren) to provide a safe haven while not pushing their "stuff" onto the child(ren). The conscious parenting role is EMPOWERING the child(ren) to become their best Self and allowed to explore who they fully are without agendas forced from the parent figures. Basically becoming awake to harmony and taking out the toxic.
And consciousness simply stated is being MINDFUL and AWARE that every action we take affects other people around us and the entirety of humanity. A conscious parent understands that every action they take or do not take has a direct effect upon the child(ren) and is hyper-aware of this harmonious relationship.
Dr. Shefali is a big name that speaks openly about conscious parenting and someone I admire for bringing this topic to light:
Conscious Parenting is a manual for giving our children the opportunity to shine and dazzle with their natural state of being.
Conscious parenting (or NOT parenting) can change the world!
LISTEN HERE:
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