# postpartum mental health

Meet Kristi. She gave birth to her second child just as the world went into lockdown. Through acute isolation and debilitating pain, she sought and found support and strength within herself to reignite her inner light. Hers is a powerful story of resilience.

The words we say to ourselves and to each other are so important. As we all become more informed about mental illness, we can all learn to be a source of validation and comfort. It starts simply with listening and discarding harmful platitudes.

There is a shedding of your old self that necessarily happens when you go through an enormous life change such as becoming a mother. Some of the old layers are gone for good. Others call you back in due time. For me, my yoga practice is calling me home.

I'm pregnant with my second but I'm not a "baby person." I've never really liked the newborn baby smell that most people seem to find so delicious. For me, this smell is tied to postpartum depression, which I know I could experience again.

From a young age, I have needed to control my body. I was heavily influenced by the media that said we could never be thin enough. As a yoga teacher, I told myself I had to be thin. This thinking infiltrated my first pregnancy. With my second I am determined to be more accepting of my growing body.