Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige DiChiara.
Hi Paige, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started teaching yoga in 2015, and even a decade later, it is still at the core of all I do. Since then, I’ve earned a Masters Degree in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling to become a therapist. Yoga can get you to a great place, but a lot of the trainings out there can only teach you so much. The counseling degree helped me deepen in how I work with folks in a holistic, somatic, and trauma-informed way. During that time, I focused on Perinatal Mental Health. I’m so happy this is becoming a bigger part of the conversation now, but it is still nascent in the public discourse. So you can call me a Perinatal Yoga Teacher with a mental health bend. You can come to my prenatal yoga classes for the movement but I’ll also hit you with the deeper stuff. I focus primarily on helping anxious women navigate pregnancy and postpartum through yoga, breath work, journaling, and doula work. Yoga is actually the perfect tool for the perinatal time because yoga is not actually just about stretching (although that definitely helps), but it helps you come into deeper contact with yourself as you navigate systems that were designed to keep you dysregulated.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Much of my passion for working with pregnant and postpartum women is borne of my own experiences. On the one hand, I was really let down by the prenatal yoga that was in our community- there wasn’t much for me when I was pregnant and I felt it was quite watered down. I was fortunate enough to have 2 amazing births to healthy babies and in many ways loved the hazy, cozy, dreaminess of postpartum. At the same time, I also really struggled. I was anxious, lost, and deeply overwhelmed. There wasn’t language for what I was experiencing in this whole identity transformation. I now know this is called Matrescence. I work as a yoga teacher and perinatal mental health specialist because I want women to know that this time period is a portal; a rite of passage- and even though I struggled, that isn’t how it has to be for everyone. We certainly don’t have to struggle alone.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What sets me apart from the average pre/postnatal yoga teacher is that I offer so much more than the physical movement aspect. I’ve trained in mental health, somatic therapy, and as a doula. All of this, plus my lived experience, are tools to help perinatal women honor their rite of passage with reverence and grace. It’s really tough in our culture to be a mother and I hope to change that with every class I teach and every person I work with one-on-one. I know the ripple effect of supporting mothers is profound enough to change the world.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Before focusing on the perinatal population, I thought I wanted to be a play therapist for kids. It was tough but rewarding work. I realized during that period that if we help mothers and parents thrive, we can prevent many of the struggles and traumas people endure as kiddos. I also hated doing kids yoga! I love kids, but I was not in my element teaching them yoga!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.seasonsofshakti.co
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/seasons_of_shakti
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/seasonsofshakti
- Other: https://calm.seasonsofshakti.co
