Empowered Birth
hosted by Schuyler Grant
Empowered Birth
hosted by Schuyler Grant
21-day Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth,
and Early Postpartum
This course is made possible by
Welcome to Empowered Birth
This Commune-curated course is unlike anything we have produced before, with 12 different experts and 90+ lessons, movement practices, and stories. Enjoy! ~ The Commune Team
You’re pregnant (or thinking about getting pregnant). You’re so excited… but also a little scared… and likely super confused and overwhelmed.
Our birth culture is both amazing and confounding. There are so many options and resources, but also tons of conflicting information and unnecessary fear surrounding pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
This course taps the knowledge of a wide range of respected pre- and post-natal experts to help answer your questions and guide you through your journey with grace and perspective.
An empowered birth is one where you are an active and inspired participant in your birth experience, wherever and however it unfolds — home, hospital, birthing center, or the car en route... We are designed to do this. 300,000+ years of human history says we are.
Meet Your Guide
Schuyler Grant is a yoga teacher, mindful entrepreneur, and a mother of three (mostly) adorable daughters. She is passionate about providing women the tools they need to have a healthy, safe, and inspired childbirth experience — free of fear and full of options.
How Commune Courses Work
Here at Commune, learning is a collective experience: Once the course begins on August 12, you will receive a daily email with access to course videos. This encourages all participants to move through the course together! After September 1, the free period will end and the course will lock. If you want immediate, permanent access, you can buy the course.
Course Curriculum
Practical tools for living in your changing body
For the first week, we focus on pregnancy: nutrition, exercise, journeying within, and building your medical support system. (Click to see all programs)
- Empowering Your Pregnancy Choices with Elizabeth Bachner
- Anatomy and Physiology of Pregnancy with Suzanne Gilberg-lenz
- Preconception with Suzanne
- Prenatal Nutrition with Nina Planck
- Pregnancy and the Vegetarian Mama with Kimberly Snyder
- Through the Lens of Aryuveda with Suzanne Gilberg-lenz
- Journeying Within: Personal and Cultural Myths with Britta Bushnell
- Assembling Your Birth Team with Erica Chidi-Cohen
- Prenatal Support: Family, Community, and Professional with Shafia Monroe
- What's Going on In There? Easing Discomfort and Promoting Well-being with Elizabeth Flynn
- Changes in Pregnancy for Breastfeeding with Kimberly Durdin
- Movement and Exercise for the Changing Body with Lara Kohn-Thompson
- Modifying in a “Regular” Yoga Class with Schuyler Grant
- Questions to Ask Your Midwife with Elizabeth Bachner
- Questions to Ask Your Health Provider with Suzanne Gilberg-lenz
- Anatomy of the Abdomen and Diastasis with Schuyler Grant
- Peace Bubble Exercise with Lori Bregman
The second week we prepare you for a labor and delivery experience where you are in charge so you can completely let go. (Click to see all programs)
- Empowering Your Labor and Navigating Change with Elizabeth Bachner
- The Art of Resting (at the End of Class or Anytime!) with Schuyler Grant
- Anatomy and Physiology of Birth with Suzanne Gilberg-lenz
- Oxytocin: The Love Hormone with Nina Planck
- Demystifying The ‘Ideal’ Birth: The Labyrinthian Journey with Britta Bushnell
- Home Birth Transfer with Elizabeth Bachner
- Birthing Styles and Techniques for Labor with Erica Chidi-Cohen
- The Vision and Plan: Thinking About Birth Options with Shafia Monroe
- Empowered Epidural with Elizabeth Bachner
- Partner Support: Ways To Ease Labor with Lara Kohn-Thompson
- Star Babies: Miscarriage, Stillbirth & Loss with Nina Planck
- The Business of Birth: Navigating the Medical System with Elizabeth Flynn
- Inequality in the Birth Experience with Elizabeth Bachner
- Collected Birth Stories
- Birth Affirmation Jar with Lori Bregman
Birth culture is all about the rising and baking, but we don't focus enough on mommy's mind and body once the bun is out of the oven. Let’s talk postpartum self-care.
(Click to see all programs)
- Maiden to Mother: The Identity of Postpartum with Britta Bushnell
- Placenta Encapsulation with Elizabeth Bachner
- Anatomy and Physiology of Postpartum with Suzanne Gilberg-lenz
- Stuff: What You Need (and Don't) with Schuyler Grant
- Breastfeeding Made Easy with Kimberly Durdin
- Easing Postpartum Discomfort and Utilizing Your Team with Erica Chidi-Cohen
- Postpartum Rehab with Lara Kohn-Thompson
- Postpartum Healing and Support with Shafia Monroe
- Postpartum Nutrition with Nina Planck
- Baby's First Foods with Nina Planck
- Nurture List Exercise with Lori Bregman
We balance and strengthen all parts of the body, beginning with breath work and the pelvic floor, moving into static postures and physical therapy exercises. Appropriate for all stages of pregnancy. No yoga experience needed. (Click to see all practices)
- Day 8: Flow - Aligning with the Moon
- Day 9: Flow - Saluting the Sun
- Day 10: Flow - Hip Mama
- Day 11: Flow - Alive on the Sides, Awake Deep Inside
- Day 12: Flow - Open Heart, Open Mind
- Day 13: Flow - Balancing with a Baby on Board
- Day 14: Flow - Big, Big Bellies Can Too
Week 2 focuses on movement and flow. These vinyasa-style classes are appropriate for mamas with some yoga experience or who are otherwise physically fit and not experiencing any pregnancy complications. (Click to see all practices)
- Day 8: Flow - Aligning with the Moon
- Day 9: Flow - Saluting the Sun
- Day 10: Flow - Hip Mama
- Day 11: Flow - Alive on the Sides, Awake Deep Inside
- Day 12: Flow - Open Heart, Open Mind
- Day 13: Flow - Balancing with a Baby on Board
- Day 14: Flow - Big, Big Bellies Can Too
Let’s chillax with Yin and Restorative yoga. These are appropriate for everyone and also good for postpartum after a few weeks of recovery. (Click to see all practices)
- Day 15: Surrender - The Front Chest and Shoulders
- Day 16: Surrender - The Outer Hips, Inner Groin and Hamstrings
- Day 17: Surrender - The Side Body
- Day 18: Surrender - The Armpits, Back Chest, and Neck
- Day 19: Surrender - The Hip Flexors and Lower Back
- Day 20: Surrender - Self Bodywork
- Day 21: Basic Postpartum - 4th Trimester Self-Care
If you are pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, or know someone who is, then this course is a crucial resource.
You’ll learn what worked for other mothers, the science behind it, and how to implement these tools in your own pregnancy so you can feel strong, confident, fearless, and healthy.
An empowered birth is not a state of being. It’s a state of inquiry.
May you be empowered to ask the right questions of your partner, doctors, wider community, and, most importantly, of yourself.
~ Schuyler
