Happy Baby, Happy Cow

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Happy Cow, Happy Baby

Have you ever been asked the question: “Why are you breastfeeding, don’t you feel like a cow?”

I was asked. It was a strange question as I never considered it to be a cow-like thing.

Now I have considered it, I have embraced the joke. And have embarked on a discovery of its source.
Why not? What is wrong with cows? They can manage the breastfeeding of four babies at a time. And have four stomachs to support that. Quite cool. Also natural.

We can learn a lot from animals on how to be one—how to function as humans with our basic instincts. Sometimes it feels like we have forgotten that.
Okay, I hate talking in terms of “we.” Sometimes I realize I have forgotten my instincts. And being a mom has reignited my desires to remember them.
It has also given me the faith that I am capable of doing so.

Rediscovering Instincts

When babies are born, they operate purely on instincts. Eventually, they develop skills and forget some of those instincts.
It’s a pity since those instincts are quite good. Better than skills, I would say.

It is my goal to figure out how to help my daughter preserve her instincts.

She has been teaching us—my husband and me—how to regain ours.
Since the first day, when she would wake up, she would have a morning ritual:

  • Pick up her legs
  • Kick forward
  • Kick to the left side
  • Kick to the right side
  • Use full legs and ab muscles
  • Rotate both legs together
  • Stretch her hands up and out to each side, about a 90-degree angle
  • Stretch as far as she can
  • Move the head and the whole body
  • Repeat five times

We tried it, my husband and I. Wow. It felt amazing.

Wake-Up Rituals > Coffee

It is something we did as kids and then forgot, or didn’t have time because life was too fast.
Slowing down to wake up is the best thing we could do for our bodies.

And it also has a function:

  • Stretching the legs releases pressure from sleeping
  • Rotating the lower back and belly triggers the pooping instinct

Yes, it actually works instead of coffee or a matcha latte.

It's a self-induced massage of the big intestine that tells your poop:
"Wake up. It’s time to go."

The poop may not hear the first or second time, but by the fifth rotation, it’s ready to leave.
And by then, your body has also worked the muscles enough to expunge the stool—even if the stool was thinking about staying.

Mine used to try that trick. Not good for physical or mental health, I tell you.

Birth = Pooping?

Hypnobirthing compares birth to pooping.
And indeed, the contractions that the body produces to expel a stool are similar to the ones that expel a baby.

If the baby is willing to work with the contractions and take its exit, the process is easier.

More on contractions later.
More on poop later too.
More on birth later as well.

Stretching = Life Hack

Stretching the hands up and feet down decompresses the body. It gets you ready to wake up and do your job.

This stretch is basically the last pose from a good yoga session before you enter shavasana.

A good stretch is not just yoga or a wake-up technique—
It’s an instinct.
One that helps with air flow, blood flow, digestion… practically the recipe for a good life, if you ask me.

Babies Get It

And babies get it as an instinct, while adults get distracted with…

  • Psychology
  • Philosophy
  • Governance
  • Alcohol
  • Drugs
  • Technology

…just to try to remember what they once knew instinctively.

Breastfeeding = Instinct + Emotion

Breastfeeding is one of those instincts that kicks in after birth if we don’t fight it too much.
It’s an instinct for both the mom and the child.

To quote one of the awesome moms in my conscious moms group:
“This is the most primal feeling.”

When done well, it’s a core ingredient for the baby’s emotional state.

Food affects humans massively— Just ask anyone who has been hangry.

A good natural milk supply helps the baby continue its post-birth growth outside but near the mom.
If the mom is happy too, the milk becomes even more powerful because emotion is transferred through it.

To quote another mom:
“Breastfeeding is much more than just feeding.”

So Yes… Happy Cow, Happy Baby 🐄👶

And that’s Ingredient #1.

Location: Miramar, Valencia, Spain

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