Kimberly Johnson shares her story of suffering a significant birth trauma that took years to heal and how she discovered that it's critical that we engage in excellent self care while trusting and listening to our bodies. Fast forward to the present, Kim helps mothers heal from their own birth traumas and reawaken healthy and fulfilling sexual intimacy in their relationships. Kimberly is a Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution practitioner, Certified Sexological Bodyworker, doula, postpartum care advocate and single mom. She works at the intersection of birth, sex, and trauma, specializing in birth injuries, birth trauma, and sexual healing. She created a process called the Birth Rehearsal to help women somatically prepare for birth. She is the author of the upcoming book, The Fourth Trimester: A New Mother's Guide to Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions, and Restoring Your Vitality. Nuggets of Wisdom from Kimberly: "You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk for miles on your knees repenting. You just have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." - Mary Oliver poem "I have experienced a natural intelligence of our body that's 100% trustworthy - much more trustworthy than our minds or our memory. And if we can return to that wisdom through the present moment, we do not have to go excavating for why we are the way we are and why do we make that choice and why does the cycle repeat.. that it really presents itself in the present moment through deep listening and I facilitate that process." "I actually deserve the care. It is not a luxury. It is a necessity that I care for myself. " "We have forgotten that women are the center of the spiritual foundation of life and that we are the creators and when that is overlooked and belittled. Then there is a sense that we do not deserve it... and we inherited it from our mothers and our grandmothers and our whole puritanical culture is "sacrifice, the harder you work, the better person you are, that the more you give up, the more holy you are, the more spiritual you are." "There is a lot of healing one can do on one's own. But the most powerful part of my healing process was really having expert witnessing from people that I trusted because so much of my fabric of support had been torn at that point in my life that I really needed to restore that fabric in order to feel safe and be able to move to the next level of healing." Some of Kimberly's Favorite Things: Personal habit: "Not thinking, 'Oh! That is not challenging enough!' To be able to allow myself to go towards what feels good." Easy meal: Roast Chicken Possession: Old-fashioned orange juice squeezer. Kimberly's Favorite Books: Women's Anatomy of Arousal by Sheri Winston and The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X Best advice received: "Have faith in doing what I love." Kimberly's Happiness Formula: "Deep connection. Collaboration. Hysterical laughter." A Challenge from Kimberly: "I want to challenge everyone listening to have one moment of expressing to their partner just how they are feeling in their body at that moment." Resources 10-day Get Happier Challenge MagaMama.com Subscribe to Vibrant Happy Women:

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