Different from a baby shower, where gifts are lavished upon the soon-to-be-born child, a blessingway ceremony honors the mother-to-be and creates a circle of support that will cradle her as she prepares to give birth. Surrounded by the most important women in her life, she can explore the challenges and joys that lie before her, gaining a sense of power and confidence that will help her rise to motherhood. MOTHER RISING shows women how to organize and personalize a blessingway for the expecting friends and family-an experience that will give the mother-to-be the best possible gifts of deep happiness, serenity, and abundance of love. A resource for planning and hosting a blessingway ceremony-a woman-centered celebration of the journey into motherhood. Ideal gift for or from an expectant mother who wants a more meaningful and transformational experience than the traditional, gift-focused baby shower. Outlines the five stages of the blessingway ritual, from establishing a safe and sacred space to honoring and pampering the mother-to-be. Finalist in both the 2004 Independent Publisher Book Awards and Foreword magazine's Book of the Year Awards. Features sidebars, inspirational quotations, resources, and checklists.

In today's western cultures, the typical pregnancy focuses on the baby to the exclusion of the woman herself, so that the entire experience has become more about preparing for the baby's arrival than looking closely at oneself to prepare emotionally for all of the changes that creating a new life brings. Sacred Pregnancy was written to help the pregnant woman journey within herself to prepare for the birth of her baby. Sacred Pregnancy is a gorgeous four-color book especially created for mothers-to-be to reflect on the many personal milestones of the full gestation period of a pregnancy. With beautiful professional photos that correspond to each topic, Sacred Pregnancy also features a journal space for the pregnant woman to record her thoughts and feelings. Each week the mother-to-be is given information on her baby, her body, and her spirit and is asked to reflect on these via the topic of the week, which touches on a variety of issues such as sexuality, fears about labor, becoming a mother, courage, rite of passage, adornment, body image, meditation, and sisterhood to name a few. Mothers-to-be are invited to look deeply at the issues unique to their journey and find a centered, peaceful place to live their pregnancy fully. Lastly, Sacred Pregnancy includes place for the new mother to record her birth story and a large resource section on various birthing options and supports for pregnant women. “From the spiritual (how to visualize your perfect birth) to the practical (a large section on birthing options), this pregnancy journal is a spiritual adviser and supportive doula all in one.” —Fit Pregnancy magazine For more information, visit the Sacred Pregnancy website.

Reading The Natural Pregnancy Book is like having your own personal herbalist and midwife at your side. Expertly written by Aviva Jill Romm, who has been providing family-centered natural health care for almost twenty years, it guides women through treating the common ills and ailments of pregnancy simply with herbs and nutrition. Aviva thoughtfully follows the woman's journey from baby's conception to birth, describing herbs that can promote and maintain a healthy pregnancy, along with those you should avoid during your term. Her herbal remedies cover such familiar concerns as anxiety, fatigue, morning sickness, and stretch marks. She also discusses the components of a healthy diet, with an emphasis on natural foods. With its detailed information and comforting voice, The Natural Pregnancy Book is a complete primer for the woman who envisions a safe pregnancy as nature intended it.

Lost on Hope Island: The Amazing Tale of the Little Goat Midwives is an adventure story without villains, zombies or fire-breathing dragons. The book is for all ages, but especially children 7-12, and asks the real question, "What if I were shipwrecked. Could I survive?"A page-turner for young readers or a family read-a-loud-book, Lost on Hope Island will give fans of Harman's previous USA Today bestselling books an opportunity to discuss, with their children, the issues surrounding birth, death, racial diversity, climate change, loneliness, courage, family, and hope.

This life history of a Navajo leader, recorded in the 1960s and first published in 1977, is a classic work in the study of Navajo history and religious traditions. "A skillful, meticulous, and altogether praiseworthy contribution to Navajo studies. . . . Although the focus of Mitchell's autobiography is upon his role as a Blessingway singer, there is much material here on Navajo history and culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mitchell attended the government school at Fort Defiance, worked on the railroad in Arizona, served as a handyman and interpreter at several trading posts and the Franciscan missions, and later served as a tribal councilman in the 1930s and as a judge in the 1940s and 1950s. His observations on these experiences are relevant to our understanding of contemporary Navajo life."--Lawrence C. Kelly, Western Historical Quarterly "This book stands easily among the best of the 'native' autobiographies. Narrated by a thoughtful and articulate Navajo leader over a span of eighteen years, this life history is brought into English with none of the selective romanticizing that has spoiled some books. . . . (It is) a superb job of bringing one culture ever closer to another."--Barre Tolken, Western Folklore

Nine years after the stunning debut of her critically acclaimed poetry collection A Working Girl Can’t Win, which chronicled the progress and predicaments of a young woman, Deborah Garrison now moves into another stage of adulthood–starting a family and saying good-bye to a more carefree self. In The Second Child, Garrison explores every facet of motherhood–the ambivalence, the trepidation, and the joy (“Sharp bliss in proximity to the roundness, / The globe already set aspin, particular / Of a whole new life”)– and comes to terms with the seismic shift in her outlook and in the world around her. She lays out her post-9/11 fears as she commutes daily to the city, continues to seek passion in her marriage, and wrestles with her feelings about faith and the mysterious gift of happiness. Sometimes sensual, sometimes succinct, always candid, The Second Child is a meditation on the extraordinariness resident in the everyday–nursing babies, missing the past, knowing when to lead a child and knowing when to let go. With a voice sound and wise, Garrison examines a life fully lived.