LA Healer Dana Penenberg On The Therapies That Are Good For Your Soul— And Your Baby’s

I am a person who loves patterns! I was interested in guiding my clients back to the source of the imbalance to make resolution there. I wondered what that source was; where I could go there and pull the thread to unravel the whole thing. That ended up being gestation and birth. These are our first embodied experiences and the initial imprinting that the rest of our patterning pours into. Clients would sometimes come in with laundry lists of symptoms and medical histories, when I would ask about the birth the origins of the patterning were usually all there. I pursued the study of pre and perinatal psychology so I could better support my clients in healing and in birth preparation. Many of us don’t know much about our births or have never given it a second thought—although we are often playing it out everyday! Birth patterns can get triggered in times of stress, leaving the house, moving out into the world in new ways, in relationships, and when we ourselves get pregnant and give birth. Healing my birth patterning was a major missing piece of my chronic health journey. I am most passionate about bringing this work to mothers in the fertility preparation stage to end cycles of trauma and abuse at birth, although the repair can happen at any time. I am so fortunate that I have been engaged in this work with my mother and that the healing continues to unfold. I also enjoy my monthly women’s group session where we get to hear each other’s stories and heal birth imprints as a collective.

I am using hands-on Craniosacral, somatic processing through the body, inner child work, and guided birth regression in the subconscious.

The physical usually leads us to the subconscious source where we make repairs and integrate back into the physical with greater release and space. In my experience most symptoms, even injuries, are not purely physical and can unwind at a subconscious root.

Craniosacral is a hands-on modality working with the soft tissues, fascia, fluids, and nervous system. It is gentle, but profoundly deep and restorative. It is beneficial for mother and baby during fertility preparation, prenatal, birth, and postpartum. It is very effective at downshifting the nervous system and releasing trauma in a gentle, safe way. The cerebral spinal fluid, in particular, is formed from the amniotic fluid and has a different rhythm than the pulse or breath. For each person it is completely unique, like a fingerprint. Many ancient traditions refer to the spine as the seat of the soul. When we can unwind held patterns through the system, this flow opens to its full expression and therefore so does the soul. Similar to chiropractic, imbalances in the system can be addressed by opening up the tissues in the spine and cranial bones. What I love most about Craniosacral is that I’m not coming in with any preconceived agenda. I am following the principle that the system has an innate intelligence. I am not manipulating, but rather I am highly attuned and listening for the “inherent treatment plan,” to be revealed so that I can support this unfolding process of healing that the human system is seeking. It has a very mothering quality to it. It is a deep listening where the system is related to, held and then can totally settle and release.

This is a verbally guided process work through the felt sense of the body. Tracking sensation through subtle prompting can be very effective at releasing trauma and held emotions. It also allows us to access the subconscious patterning that is holding the imbalance in place. Once resolution has happened the sensation will release or neutralize.

At any stage, I will take a thorough intake of the complete health history, including the client’s own birth as well as any births she has had. I ask a lot of questions to get an understanding of the patterning in the system—and what the body is holding, as well as what is coming up to be healed in the present. At the fertility stage, I will go as deep as the client is ready to go. It will involve verbal and hands on process work as well as some guided repair in the subconscious. The focus will be on clearing the old emotions and releasing past trauma to untangle from the old cycles and open to a connection with the child coming in. In the prenatal session, there will be a larger focus on nurturing the system, gently releasing patterning from their own birth, opening to this connection with the baby, and the expansion of the upcoming birth. I work with Craniosacral to harmonize mom and baby’s rhythm. At the postpartum session, I will work on mom first because the baby is still living in her energy field and will let go when mom does. We will talk through the birth that just happened while unwinding the tissues and nervous system and grounding her back into her body. Then I will work with the baby, still on mom’s body, to unwind any patterns from the birth. I will open up flow in the cranial bones to release any compression and gently guide the soul to ground into the body. These postpartum sessions have been helpful in resolving sleep and nursing issues.

In my experience healing transcends time. In my limited human understanding, I would prefer to address patterns in the fertility preparation stage. Although, I believe healing operates under divine timing where it happens just in the moment the person is ready to receive it—and I ultimately trust that more. When a mother heals her nervous system and birth imprinting, her children heal too—and vice versa. A mother will carry the cells of all of her born and unborn children for life and I like to imagine that when a child shifts, the cells in the mother are shifting as well.

Releasing any held patterning from the birth allows for greater bonding, nursing and settling into the rhythms of eating, sleeping and digestion. In my experience many postpartum symptoms, including postpartum depression, are often similar to a PTSD from one’s own birth. I believe addressing any past traumas in the nervous system are key to maternal and infant health before taking stronger measures. It is also important to make sure there is enough quality nutrition; I support my clients in that area as well.

Birth is such an intimate and expansive experience that often brings up any unhealed trauma. When trauma is triggered, it is likely to repeat and that’s where women get caught with complications or unnecessary interventions. The benefit to integrating birth imprinting and unwinding the nervous system is that mom is more likely to stay attuned to her body as well as her baby—and she is more open to the birth her heart desires. The ripple effect of this is truly profound. The secure bond between mother and baby will play out in all relationships this little one will have. We carry 14 generations in our DNA and I believe that healing birth imprinting liberates the lineage behind us and in front of us. I am amazed when I hear back from my clients that after a session, their mothers respond to them with much more ease and neutrality. I also encourage open dialogue with babies and children to process and repair their story with regularity. They feel what happened and so when it is acknowledged, it allows them to settle. In my work, the age of the mother doesn’t have much of an impact, but her past experiences and patterning do, which is so individual. All my treatments are tailored in consideration of that individuality.

I support mothers during fertility preparation, pregnancy and birth. We do a combination of prenatal education, nutrition support, Craniosacral, and somatic healing work leading up to the birth. When my clients are on a birth package, they will also have access to my group sessions where they can process in community with other women at all stages of motherhood. Most fathers I’ve worked with want to be involved as well. I will often do a session for them. When a father makes repairs around any unhealed birth imprinting, he can be embodied and present in the way he really wants to for mom and baby. At birth, I hold space and help to maintain the mother’s birth vision. I will provide emotional as well as hands-on support and often be a team with her partner. I do light chores and food preparation or delegate any necessary tasks to others. I include a couple of home visits after birth for processing and unwinding from birth, Craniosacral and a grounding massage.

I studied with Emilee Saldeya and Yolande Norris Clark at their Radical Birthkeeper School—and I believe Emilee coined the term. This was the most extensive training in physiological birth I have done and they both made a huge impact on me. The definition for me is that I support women and attend birth at home, outside of the medical system. Their teachings gave me permission to be an honest, fierce advocate for women and babies. Since I am unbound to licensure, I can provide unbiased advocacy and education. The hospital is there if it is a true emergency, although I take the perspective that birth is inherently safe when it is not interfered with. I see it as my responsibility to support a woman in preserving that space for her and her baby to have a seamless, unbroken bond.

I am noticing a greater divide. Since I lean more on the holistic side and have chosen to opt out of the hospital setting, I am drawing more like-minded clients looking for home-birth support. Hospital protocol has changed through the pandemic and gotten more restrictive. The people who go that route are committed to that path and often fearful of the alternative. Unfortunately, what I see most often are women who have been harmed or abused in the hospital setting, who have then pursued more education on the topic and want to give birth at home. I do feel a tide turning—and we are at such an exciting time where there are more resources than ever before. Little Honey Money is part of this shift where women are wanting to take their health into their own hands and get the support they really need.

I spent much of my teens and twenties recovering from chronic Lyme disease. I experienced the best of what western medicine and holistic care had to offer. Although nothing could work until I addressed the underlying trauma and patterns in my nervous system. One of the key pieces was my birth. I was a client for 12 years until I studied Craniosacral with my teacher Gary Strauss. I studied pre and perinatal psychology with another healer of mine Annie Brooke. My mother and I also spent time doing sessions with each other and she comes to all of my groups now! I’m really grateful that we can share our mother-daughter connection with my community, many of whom do not have that.