Sara McGinnis
posted: August 6, 2013, 9:01 am
By now you’ve probably seen ‘breastfeeding yoga mom’s’ photo, but do you know the name of the woman pictured here? How the image seen around the web in 2011 came to be? Ever wondered what’s happened to her since?
Allow me to introduce you to Amy from the blog Daughter of the Sun, who has had the fairly unique experience of having a photo of her daily life go viral. To clear two things up right off the bat, no – that picture of her nursing daughter Naia wasn’t staged, and no — she wasn’t hanging from the tree as many commenters thought!
Amy and I spoke via email, and I’m excited to share our conversation with you here.
The story behind that ‘breastfeeding yoga mom’ photo:
The truth is we were living on a small community in Hawaii where our land was clothing optional and yoga was/is a necessity! I was just doin’ my daily flow when the little sweet pea came to sneak a suckle. Papa had her out in the grass with him and she just couldn’t resist! This happens all the time by the way. When a breast is out and baby is around, they are going to try and get it anyway they can! I have been blogging for years now and this photo was just a simple share of a beautiful captured moment.
Amy on her early life and childhood:
I was raised in Southern California on a family farm. We had a year-round garden where we grew most of our own food. I spent a lot of my childhood outdoors, camping and traveling. My family is still very connected to the earth.
On the draw of the simple life:
It really began with my love for primitive skills and working with others who had walked away from the everyday 9 to 5. There is a true inner peace realized when you actualize the concept “less is more.” We live in a society that is plagued with consumerism.
When I first started traveling I realized I could have everything I needed all in one backpack. There is a sense of freedom that comes knowing you can up and leave without having to worry about paying any bills or making ends meet. I was trapped in this lifestyle much of my early 20′s. I spent many restless nights thinking about unpaid bills etc until I made the choice not to.
In 2008, I saved a handful of money, gave my landlord a 30-day notice, quit my job, loaded up my truck and took off on a six month journey across the states. I had a 16′ teepee that I had been living in and brought it with as well. I was deep into my yoga practice and put a lot of trust in the universe knowing I was being guided and taken care of on every level. That journey changed my life forever and I met my beloved shortly after.
On the challenges even a simplified life present:
Recently it has been wanting to nest a bit more. Especially now that our daughter is getting older. We have spent the last five years traveling and sometimes I just want my own piece of land to come home to. We have lived on a few different communities and have care taken lots of gorgeous places all over but sometimes its just nice to have your own sanctuary to rest in.
Check out a sampling of ‘breastfeeding yoga mom’ Amy’s beautiful Instagram photos:
On nursing daughter Naia:
It has been one of the greatest gifts we have given each other. In the beginning I went through a few days of sore breasts but you push through it. You do it for your baby!
On weaning after three years of breastfeeding:
We were in Bali at the time and I shared with Naia that when we returned back home to Kauai that we were going to stop nursing during the day. When we got back to the island I just began giving her extra attention around nap time. Just rubbing her belly and sharing sweet stories with her. This seemed to help as I only remember her crying that first day. She completely understood and this made things really easy for the both of us.
After about two months on the island and only feeding during the night, we took a trip to California to visit my family. I shared that once we got to California we would stop all together as she was growing into a little girl and as she had started to observe herself. We took an over night flight from Hawaii to California and she didn’t feed at all during that night.
The next day my breast were fully engorged and I was in a lot of pain. She could tell that Mama’s breasts were hurting so thankfully she didn’t want anything to do with them. I also developed a bit of mastitis. It took about a week but they finally went down after I started wrapping them really tight and applying ice packs. This was some advice that my midwife Claudia Brown gave me. It totally worked! I would have to say, that week of the engorgement was the only uncomfortable experience I had throughout the whole three-year journey of breastfeeding.
On the reaction, both positive and negative, to the photo that came to be dubbed ‘breastfeeding yoga mom’:
The yoga community and earth mamas loved it! Women who didn’t seem to enjoy breastfeeding or more of the conservative crowd thought it was the weirdest thing and just couldn’t wrap their heads around it. I enjoyed hearing all sides of the spectrum as it reminded me that we are all different and if anything it may have opened the eyes and hearts for some who didn’t think multitasking to that level was possible! No regrets about posting the photo whatsoever.
Where Amy and her family are now:
We are still on Kauai however the community we were living on at the time no longer exists. The owner of the land decided to sell it and from there we all sort of went our separate ways either creating new communities or continuing with traveling. This fall we will head back to New Zealand for six months where Naia was conceived. Also, with Naia having now weaned, I have discovered I have a lot more free Mama time so I have been embracing my inner flame and freedom much more!
Many thanks to Amy for sharing her family’s story with our BabyCenter readers! For more about their life, check out Daughter of the Sun, as well as Amy’s Etsy shop.
What do you think or feel when looking at ‘breastfeeding yoga mom’s’ photos?
Photos shared with permission from Daughter of the Sun
Here’s a look back at the gallery of ‘extreme nursing’ photos we recently shared from The Breastfeeding Project, which includes Amy’s viral pic:
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