Category: Grief & Loss

Grief & Loss, Self Care, Self-Awareness1 Comment

2021 Mental & Behavioral Health Work in Review

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

Hey all! It’s been a while. Mostly because it’s been a really busy and strange year. It’s been radical shift from all completely at-home Zoom work, teaching, and meetings in addition to having a remote schooling 4th grader at home, to now teaching in-person and my son being back full-time in school. The whole family has gotten vaccinated, many of us boostered, traveled, and done a handful of super pre-COVID normal things. And I do crossfit in a mask 🙂 When I spell it out like this, it really hits me that so much has changed and that we have … Continue reading 2021 Mental & Behavioral Health Work in Review

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Musing, Parenting

Living and Grief

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

I was able to sit with my friend and colleague, Abby Desjardien, to chat about grief and living, and how they are both big and sometime equal parts of this human existence. And maybe that grief is necessary, instructive, and not as dark or scary as we think. Check out her newly launched podcast and our episode here: The Art of Living and Grieving with Dr. Sunita Iyer Enjoy! #griefworkislifework #griefworkismywork #heartoutsideforever Continue reading Living and Grief

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Parenting, Postpartum

Postpartum Grief, Depression, and Anxiety

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

I spend a lot of time with postpartum people. Figuring out how to hold their hearts and help them thrive after the birth. Talking through the transition from person to parent, or established parent to parent of yet another. All of it is new, and all of it fraught with uncertainty. People rarely talk about the grief of being a new parent, and really of parenting, period. When you choose to parent, we have to acknowledge that not all people choose and some are forced to. And even still, in all situations, there is a grief. We decide or have … Continue reading Postpartum Grief, Depression, and Anxiety

Grief & Loss, Musing, Parenting, Postpartum

Being born hurts…

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

I mean they don’t call it labor for nothing…  It’s been a awhile.  I have been taking my own advice that Winter is For Sleeping (you can check out the Muse-letter archives to read that one from last year).  I have been sleeping, thinking, reading, writing, and hibernating within myself quite a bit in the last 2 months.   And then all of a sudden it was Rohan’s 9th birthday and I realized it was time to step back out.  Time to stop growing on the inside and get born already.  If you remember those last weeks of pregnancy, you know what I’m talking about…Let’s get … Continue reading Being born hurts…

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Musing, Parenting, Self Care

Who do you look up to?

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

As a I move further into my adult life, and am making “bigger” moves, it occurs to me that I have never had a clear picture of who I look up to. I have never even articulated or seen the one person that I most revere or emulate. Of course I have seen bits and pieces, namely in my parents. They are incredibly smart, industrious, practical, successful, and, most importantly, generous and kind people. The reality of being an immigrant family in the 70s is that we were distanced from our extended family. I never grew up with my grandparents; … Continue reading Who do you look up to?

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Natural Childbirth, Parenting, Postpartum, PregnancyLeave a comment

The Birth of Postpartum

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

Hey y’all, I recently spoke on a podcast with my fantastic colleague Dr. Adam Rinde about postpartum care, stories, and how people’s lives have changed mine. And maybe how we can get better as a healthcare system, providers, and community in the way that we care for postpartum people. He has written this really incredible piece on postpartum depression and hormonal influences, linked here: https://www.soundintegrative.com/post/is-postpartum-depression-an-estrogen-receptor-issue The way to get to our episode on his podcast, One Thing, is linked in the article (you can access via Apple or Android). Take a listen and tell me what you think! Apple listeners: … Continue reading The Birth of Postpartum

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Musing, Parenting, Pediatrics, Postpartum, PregnancyLeave a comment

The Birth of Grief

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

A new mom and her baby had come in for their first well-child visit and her son was just 3 days old.  Mom was tired and overwhelmed as many new parents are.  She was sitting by the window, changing her son’s diaper and just watching him, and she sighed a long, heavy sigh.  And just gazed at her son quietly as he wiggled around.  There was no slow smile or beaming pride.  Just deep sadness.   What clinical guidelines, healthcare, and social convention tell us is that she was exhibiting signs of postpartum depression.  While that may also have been true, … Continue reading The Birth of Grief

Adulting, Grief & Loss, MusingLeave a comment

Month of Remembrance

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

For as long as I can remember, March has always been a really uncomfortable month. Whether here in the PNW or back in the Northeast, March is incredibly strange. It’s wet, cold, windy, sunny, glorious, and in swift rotation. But March and early April has been strange for over 20 years for other reasons too. My grandfather died in March. My nephew died in March. And so did a baby I cared for. And my aunt. Then in April, my grandmother. And Michelle. Strangely, in these same 4 or 5 weeks, over the course two decades, many people I cared … Continue reading Month of Remembrance

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Natural Childbirth, Parenting, Postpartum, Pregnancy, Self Care, UncategorizedLeave a comment

What kind of loss is harder?

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

If you have been following along for a little while, you know that one of the things I have been ruminating and writing about is loss. We all know it in some way. And we will certainly know more. To live is to love, and also to lose. It’s not uncommon for us to ‘rank’ loss. Which kind of loss is worse, changes us more deeply, is more worthy of grieving, or warrants talking about at all. Is the loss of an aging parent worthy of years of sadness? Can you be devastated by the way divorce changes your life? … Continue reading What kind of loss is harder?

Adulting, Grief & Loss, Musing, Parenting1 Comment

Is gratitude enough?

Dr. Sunita Iyer ND, LM

As we approach Thanksgiving and the holiday season in the US, one of the things that gets tossed around is Gratitude.  The Big G.  If you weren’t feeling that grateful, or even worse, were feeling whiny and self-deprecating, this is the week and the season to just snap out of it! This is the season for good tidings, well wishes, thoughts, prayers, and plain ol’ cheer, right? Don’t get me wrong; I love the concept of cultivating gratitude.  There is an intense and dark beauty in being a witness to and feeling appreciation for the ride-or-die friendships or miraculous children that we … Continue reading Is gratitude enough?