Kari Azuma: Motherhood as a Rite of Passage

Episode 243: Since 2010, Kari Azuma has been blessed to coach board members of influential companies, entrepreneurs, coaches, and leaders in the health and wellness sectors. It wasn’t until suffering from post-partum depression and a full-blown identity crisis after the birth of her son in 2015, that she decided to dedicate her life’s work to coaching mothers on leadership development and overcoming stress and overwhelm through powerful self-realization. She works with mothers through social media, private sessions, and her elite group-coaching model, Empowered Mothers Alliance. Her latest love endeavor, Threshold, is a retreat that was born from her roots in rites of passage work. This immersive, in-person experience allows mothers to powerfully reclaim their identity through releasing shame, expectations and lineage patterns, freeing themselves to design the lives of their choosing as women and mothers. Through Kari’s work with mothers and expectant mothers, she hopes to fulfill her mission to create a legacy of empowered mothers, leading the next 7 generations.

Show notes:

• To get a free 30-day trial of Audible + 1 free book, go HERE
• Maddy's three must-read books currently: Red Tent, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck, and Essentialism
• Motherhood is a portal from moving from the masculine energy to feminine energy.
• The magical, mystical feeling and things that come through during pregnancy.
• How trust is challenging her in her life right now.
• Her experience with not surrendering and opening up during giving birth the first time.
• Why the allowance of grief is important and how our culture doesn’t have any grief rituals.
• “Should’s” are killers because they don’t allow what needs to be present, to be present.”
• What she craved that people would say to her when she was postpartum.
• Rite of passage: a constant marking of great change.
• How long does this rite of passage occur and what should new mothers do to make it more like a ceremony.
• “Motherhood is the biggest growth and development program you can join for free.”
• The respect she has for women who have decided not to have children.
• Viewing motherhood as a soul contract and realizing there is no way out of it.
• The resistance that women have in asking for help when they're pregnant.
• “There is an identity shift that I couldn’t predict before I had the baby.”
• Her most beautiful feminine gift of becoming a mother was efficiency and alignment.
• Why our ego doesn’t allow us to accept help.
• You’re creating life and asking yourself to create more than that (programs, etc), can be too much.
• The game of comparison and the addiction to busyness that damages mothers.
• Asking herself: "What am I grieving today and how can I let this go" has been the biggest help in shifting her postpartum depression.
• Her perspective on anger and getting mad/feeling hateful at your kids.
• The sister to grief is self-forgiveness.
• “There’s no safe place for mothers to say they’re pissed and angry.”
• Forgiving yourself is a decision.
• Remember that your child is also human.
• If you are frequently yelling at your kids, check in to see if your needs are being met.
• The power of doing nothing for 10 minutes a day.
• The key insight to take away for this episode is to honor who you’ve been and who you’ve become.
• One of Kari's role models is Alexis Panos. Listen to the episode HERE.

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