Why I Won't Stay Silent...and Chose to Self-Publish My Latest Book

As an author with two major publishing houses, I was a snob about self-publishing— I admit it.

I felt that self-published books carried little expertise because they hadn’t been vetted by editors who scrutinize the market.

My book, “The Postpartum Path of Yoga,” started as a final project for my advanced 300-hr yoga certification. I researched the anatomical and physiological changes a woman experiences in pregnancy, delivery, and postnatally.

Based on this research, which included taking weekend-long workshops on the female pelvis and reading major medical journals and books on the subjects of women’s health and anatomy through these phases of life, I created a sixteen-week program to restore mothers.

It took hundreds of hours of reading, writing, editing, testing with my #postnatalyoga students, and exploring on my mat.

I created the postnatal yoga book I wish I had had when I became a new mom.

This ain’t your mama’s postnatal yoga book, though.

• My book talks explicitly about the pelvic floor.
• My book talks about diastasis recti (the separation of abdominal muscles) and how that causes lower back pain.
• My book talks about how most abdominal exercises are actually detrimental to a woman’s healing for the first several months after having a baby.
• My book talks about why lunges aren’t the best idea for the first several months either.
• My book talks about #postnatal depletion as being a cause for the baby blues and depression (and shares community prompts to encourage Mom to build a tribe who gets her).
• My book includes a thorough voice and speech program to not only recover her speaking voice despite her exhaustion, but to find her voice as a mom.
• My book teaches the ten ethical guidelines for living with integrity framed entirely in the mindset of motherhood as Mom works to seek balance with baby caretaking, working, housework, and relationships.

And, if I’m really being honest, if a woman has carried a pregnancy and birthed a baby at any part of her life, she is still postnatal and will benefit from this program.

The body recovers to some degree naturally after having a baby (vaginally or via C-section), but it absolutely needs an intelligently-sequenced movement practice to strengthen, restore, and get back to a state of balance to support a busy mom’s lifestyle.

As you can see, I’m passionate about this topic!

And yet, after receiving rejection letters from publishers, I let the book sit in my OneDrive for about 2 years.

Then I had the thought to take a look at it. Was it worth letting go?

NO. Absolutely not.

I read through the book and saw the faces of all the women I have taught Moms and Babies Yoga to who:

• Cried because their doctors treated their pregnancy like a medical condition and never talked to them once about the pelvic floor or diastasis recti.
• Felt like they were going crazy because they loved their baby deeply, but also resented the loss of the life they once had.
• Were never told that crunches and sit-ups were ill-advised in their work to get their pre-pregnancy self back and now have a worsened gap in their abdominal muscles with lower back pain.

I am a servant.

I am a teacher.

I am a writer.

This book needs to be in the world to help women learn about what happens in pregnancy and after having the baby.

• Women need support.
• Women need to NOT be talked to like they are simply a 15-minute appointment that needs a prescription.
• Women need to feel empowered to restore themselves in body, mind, voice, and spirit.

This book gives them a massive toolkit to reclaim themselves.

So, I did it. I made the bold leap to #selfpublish "The Postpartum Path of Yoga."

Please join me in my movement to shed light on what really happens to a woman anatomically, biochemically, and, perhaps, spiritually in this massive life change.

The sales of the e-book will move this book into becoming a printed copy for your shelf. (Please let me know if you wildly prefer printed books!)

Please leave a positive review if this book moves you, inspires you, and/or empowers you!

You can find the book here: The Postpartum Path of Yoga: A Program for Restoration of Body, Mind, Voice, & Spirit - Kindle edition by Hurt, Melissa. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.