Hey folks! I'm excited to share this
business with you today that provides both great products and
services (especially if you live in the Saint Paul, Minnesota area)!
Santosha Birth and Wellness strives to provide services and
natural products for women in the “childbearing season of life”
that oftentimes go unmet, such as flower essences for mental and
emotional wellness, herbal concoctions such as pregnancy tea and
healing bath herbs for after birth, and even placenta preparation for
locals.
Jaime Fleres, the founder of Santosha Birth and Wellness, was kind enough to let me ask a few questions for my own
curiosity and so you can learn more about her and the company!
What inspired you to combine many
of your passions to form Santosha Birth and Wellness?
The
simple answer is being pregnant with and birthing my daughter really
inspired me to launch this business. I have always been passionate
about women's health and wellness on all levels. Enjoying the
resources available to me during my childbearing journey, and
noticing where I could have used more support, was part of my
inspiration. Another part was wanting to share with others resources
that can support an empowering and deeply nourishing experience of
childbearing. I believe that the journey into motherhood offers us a
tremendous opportunity to learn and grow, to be supported by others
(including nature), and to go within. I think flower essences are an
amazing ally for the childbearing season on the deeper levels of the
experience that aren't always acknowledged but that are so, so
important to our lives as women. I think our herbal allies can offer
so much support through this season of our lives, support which many
of us do not know is available to us. I wanted to make traditional
and natural healing wisdom available to more women.
I've noticed placenta
encapsulation has grown increasingly popular over the past several
years. In a nutshell, what are the benefits of ingesting your own
placenta?
In a nutshell, emotional support,
breastfeeding support, and postpartum healing support. Many women I
have worked with appreciate the emotional effects of taking their
placenta. I can speak from personal experience that taking my
placenta after birth helped to mellow out the extremes of my high
and low emotional states (mostly hormone driven and the effects of a
life radically altered). My placenta helped me feel at a
level that was manageable for me, others report that placenta
consumption has helped them mitigate the "baby blues" and
perinatal mood disorders. Many women also enjoy how placenta
consumption helps promote a healthy milk supply. Third, placenta
consumption can really help to speed and support healing after
birth. For example, it contains bioavailable iron, so important for
women who are depleted and/or have lost a lot of blood in birth. It
also contains a multitude of other beneficial hormones and nutrients
made by a woman's body. The wisdom of our bodies is incredible-- I
am awed in the way that a woman can build this tremendous organ that
so deeply nourishes and supports both baby and mama.
What can customers/clients expect
to gain from using your products?
Put simply, the intention behind all
of our products is to help people feel better and to deeply support
women as they move through the childbearing season of life. Its a
big one! All of our products are sourced from the best raw materials
possible, so customers get the highest quality products. It is my
hope that each of our products helps people feel more supported in
their lives, their healing, and their overall wellness. I love that
I am able to help offer herbal resources that not only support mom,
baby, and others on a physical level, but that also deeply support
people on the emotional and psyche levels. This is where true and
lasting change occurs.
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Now that you know more about Santosha Birth and Wellness in general, let's get a more in-depth look at some of their
products! I had the opportunity to review both their
Tea for Two:Mama Brew and
Sore No More Massage Oil. I love trying out
new natural products, especially when pregnant!
Naturally, since I am getting to the
end of this pregnancy, my back has started hurting more and more,
amongst other aches and pains. The Sore No More massage oil has been
a great help! (Plus it gives me a good excuse to make my husband give
me back massages. ;) ) Specifically, it is for stress, injury, and
trauma and is recommended for use with massages, in compresses, and
baths. As I mentioned, I've primarily used it as a massage oil for my
back and hips. Between using it and doing yoga, my back feels a lot
better!
I love that there are just a few,
simple ingredients in Sore No More: anica montana infused in olive
oil, non-GMO mixed-tocopherols (vitamin E compounds naturally found
in nuts, veggies, etc), bergamot essential oil, and flower essences
of star of bethlehem, arnica, and dandelion. I personally like the
subtle, but nice scent the bergamot gives this oil. I highly
recommend this for pregnancy pains or any time!
I love herbal tea, so I was excited to
try out the Tea for Two: Mama Brew as well. It is formulated to be
good for all sorts of things. As the package states, it is “full of
vitamins and minerals crucial for mamas. It assists in conception,
eases pregnancy complaints, prepares body for birth, supports
nursing, promotes calmness, and fosters overall health.” What more
could you ask for?
Again, I love that there are few
ingredients as I'm a firm believer that “less is more” in most
cases. Mama Brew contains red raspberry leaf, nettle leaf, alfalfa,
oatstraw, rosehips, chamomile, rooibos, and lemon verbena. While I
didn't think it tasted terrible, it is very...grassy tasting? Which
makes sense because of the alfalfa and oatstraw. I kind of wish there
were more lemon verbena in it to cover up the straw-y taste. It's
tolerable, though, and if you really want I'm sure it would be good
with a little honey added. It's good for me, so I'm not complaining
too much. ;) I am planning on a VBAC with this baby, so I need all
the help I can get, physically and as far as stress goes!
To learn more about and discover all
of the services and products Santosha Birth and Wellness has to
offer, please visit their
website. Also be sure to stay
up-to-date with them on
Facebook,
Google+, and
Pinterest.
