Alison Ritchie

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Canada
Winnipeg, MB
Alison Ritchie

Walking with Women through Birth & Rebirth
Folk Herbalist | Healing Arts | Deep Nourishment | Wild Feminine
Let’s Begin 👇🏼🌸

I am here to activate, inspire, repair, and help create a new path forward for mothers, birth workers, wild women and the next generation.

15 years ago I began my journey into motherhood where I deep dived into all things surrounding the childbearing year, herbal medicine, food therapy, and regenerative & holistic health. I became utterly fascinated with the human body, what makes it tick, the great mystery of life and how everything is mirrored in the cycles and rhythms of nature. I am acutely aware of the crossroads we stand at in our collective human history. I move through this world awake & aware, soft & tender, but also with the protective & fierce spirit of Mother Bear energy. The revolution we all feel brewing isn't coming from outside ourselves - it will come through us. It starts with you and me, here and now, in our bodies, our kitchens, our homes, our gardens, our frequencies, our businesses and communities. We are the ones we have been waiting for. In birth, in health, with our food, in all aspects of our lives...this is the chapter of the story we take it all back!

02/05/2026

Why is it important to orient yourself with the seasons?

Because when you don’t orient yourself to the season, something else does it for you… usually the calendar, Hallmark holidays, or old survival patterns.

Understanding the cycles we live within isn’t a poetic lifestyle choice, my friends. It’s practical intelligence. The body is seasonal by design. Light, temperature, and time of year directly affect hormones, digestion, sleep, mood, cognition, and nervous system tone. When the outer season shifts and the inner rhythm doesn’t catch up, it shows up as fatigue, anxiety, irritability, or that feeling “off.” Before self-diagnosing with Google, it’s worth asking if this is simply a seasonal mismatch.

The transition from winter to spring can be very destabilizing, particularly in climates where the pendulum swings hard ( hello, Manitoba) Light increases faster than the body can metabolize. Energy returns unevenly. Sometimes this looks like restlessness or even mild mania.

If you live as though it’s already full spring, you override your system. If you treat it like winter, you stagnate. Many people feel this transition in their bodies through colds or flus. (often less as illness, more as system recalibration.)

When we pause to orient, we can ask better questions.
What does my body actually need right now?
What is nature doing, and what can I learn from it?
How do I gently shake winter off without forcing myself into bloom?

This matters because we don’t want to be living reactively. We don’t need to chase energy when we should be rebuilding it. We don’t need to push forward when the body is asking for integration. Seasonal orientation restores trust in the body, in intuition, and in life itself!! It becomes a lens through which choices feel clearer and more coherent.

The earth is both map and mirror.
To orient yourself with the season is to inhabit your life more fully, and clarity tends to follow.

I’m co-hosting a day retreat with my dear friend on March 7 — the second installment of our Midseason Series — where we’ll explore all of this and so much more together. Space is limited. Come join us!

01/12/2026

Last year I hosted 4 sold out retreats at this sweet spot in the Whiteshell Provinical park. This year I only have one Wild Feminine retreat planned for this summer - August 14-16 2026.
Each retreat covered the same itinerary but they all were SO UNIQUE. The women’s energy, the energy of the season, the weather - they were so beautiful.

Registration is now LIVE for this year! Space is very limited so come on in soon if this calls to you!

I will be a running a retreat based off of my program *of marrow and mother* for birth workers in September. More on that very soon. Type WILD below and I’ll send some details your way.
🌲🌲🌲

12/12/2025

I filmed this little corner of my yard through all four seasons, just to watch how one plant can change so completely without ever losing itself. Budding, blooming, letting go, going quiet — it never once fought the shift. It just simply answered the moment it was in.
Some days I wonder why we expect ourselves to be any different.
Maybe the real work is trusting our own seasons… letting the bright times be bright, letting the tender times soften us, letting the quiet months restore us.
We live in a forever 21 culture. Perpetual summer, perpetual yang, doing, moving, working, producing… and the effects of this are written all over the faces and health of humanity.
Nothing in nature blooms all year. And nothing in you needs to either.
This is how nature moves…in pattern and cycles. And when you move with it, life feels less like something to manage and more like something to dance with.
To live cyclically is to remember that rest IS productive, that stillness IS part of creation. It’s to understand that what feels like pause is actually preparation, and that contraction always gives birth to expansion.
And Mamas…when mother lives this way, she becomes the metronome of her home. Her family feels her steadiness and the predictability of her rhythm. She teaches through her example that there is a time for everything — and that every season, even the quiet ones, has its place.
We are 3 days in to The Living Year - still lots of time to come on in and learn with us all about the medicine moving from Autumn to Winter. What is happening outside is a reflection of what is happening within us. 🪞 Come join us in the most relaxed way in our 20 day Telegram container…. All the details in my B I O.

12/10/2025

17 years of Birthkeeping. Of holding Mamas. Of walking in the liminal. Of sitting at the feet of courageous women, navigating their own flavour of the birth labyrinth. Of witnessing the coming undone, and then building back up. Of learning the language of the birth, well beyond the physical.

I remember the first birth I attended - 17 years ago today - and I know this date because it is also my husbands birthday and I recall celebrating with him and our young son, and then getting the call that it was time for a baby to make its way earth side.

I wanted to share because it’s also my 17 year anniversary of entrepreneurship, and making my own way and my own money on my own watch. While I connect with many women and families, and my offerings have evolved over the years, this road has largely been a solo journey, and as any entrepreneur knows, it is more work excavating the depths within so that you can bring forth your light and offerings to this world. It can be incredibly difficult, but most certainly rewarding.

I have witnessed birth in all its settings; from hospitals, birth centres, unassisted births, and unexpected free births. I am so glad that the conversation in this arena is showing much more nuance these days. The dogma - from both ends of the spectrum - has been heavy. Every woman is unique, and I work with Moms to support them in a way that work for HER - from the very beginning of pregnancy, right through to the end of the 4-6 weeks postpartum. Continuity of care for the win! And oh how these families have left a mark on my heart!

There are so many stories - In 2021, at the height of the lockdown s**t show, I remember having to text the husband of a client so he could pull his car out of the garage and I could pull in without anyone seeing. The mother was struggling greatly in her postpartum, and I was there to help her in anyway I could. There was such an echo of persecution at this time - like I must have done similar work before, somewhere, at some time.

I have witnessed death and birth in the same moment.

I’ve seen women dig deeper than they ever knew possible.

I’ve laughed and cried with mothers and families, and it brings a lot of emotion to the surface even as I write this. I love you all so much!

I don’t take on as many births as I used to as I have other projects that are not conducive to me being on call. But I am still deeply grateful for all the experiences, and honoured to walk with mothers and families to do my part helping create the strongest foundations possible for these beautiful brave souls coming in at this time, and the mama’s who tend to them.

Mothers are the backbones of the family. May we all support them and centre them in our communities and lives so we can build the world we wish to see.

11/24/2025

The Living Year is NOT a course that needs to be completed - definitely not. I do not want to put more on your plate this time of year. For 20 days you’ll receive daily drops and guidance through our private telegram group.
Think voice notes, recipes, herbal allies, reflection prompts, and simple rituals in manageable, bite sized bits that you can actually implement into your life immediately.
It’s light and fun and designed to attune you to the seasonal threshold between Autumn and Winter, where nature shifts gears. All of this through the lens of natural law, circadian biology, food as medicine, TCM and more.
This is a no stress zone. Come as you are. Connect with others during the most potent, inward, holy days of the year. Comment LIVING and I’ll send you over the details. You can come in for just $37 right now.
Join us! ✨✨✨

11/04/2025

Body oiling is a non negotiable for me as we move into the dark season more every day. 🕯️There is something about connecting with myself and all the beautiful plants via the oils that make it such a better experience. This is part of what preventative, self-reliant health care looks like for me. The massage and lymphatic drainage I feel is especially important in the slower months when I’m less active.

So… How to Practice Body Oiling?

🌿Choose Your Oil: Select a natural oil like sesame, coconut, almond, or one of my herb infused high vibe oils! Try to choose an oil that would grow in the environment you live in.
🤲🏽Warm the Oil: Rub the oil in your hands to generate heat before applying it to your body. You could warm it in a pot on the stove but I personally feel for my daily practice it’s an unnecessary step.
💆🏽‍♀️Massage: Apply the oil in circular motions over the joints and long strokes along the limbs, working towards the heart. I start behind my ears and on my neck and work my way to my feet. 🦶 There are so many nerve endings on your ears, hands and feet so make sure you get those!
🪷Let It Absorb: Leave the oil on for at least 15-30 minutes to allow oil to deeply absorb. This is why I love doing this when my pores are open because my skin absorbs it so quickly. I have a robe I throw on afterwards so I don’t get oil everywhere, but it really does absorb quick!
That’s it! This creates a barrier that locks in moisture but also feels SUPER grounding to my nervous system. It really helps me unwind at the end of the day and set myself up for a good sleep. It helps stimulate blood circulation, reduces stress and muscle tension, encourages lymphatic drainage, and delivers nutrients to the skin!
I have a variety of herbal infused oils made from herbs I’ve grown in my garden or wild crafted available for you to experience! Comment NATURE below and I’ll send you over to my shop. You can use code NATURE at checkout for 15% off your order!
Cheers to your vibrant health! 🌿

Address

Winnipeg, MB

Website

https://linktr.ee/this_grand_voyage_

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Welcome!

I am so pleased you’ve found your way here. Whether you are giving birth to a new baby, or a new way of life, you came here looking for more. My heartfelt desire is for you to have the courage to dive deep with all that you are - and make the most of your journey, on all levels.

I am an Earth and Birth worker. A student and stewardess of the ever changing seasons and cycles of mother earth and women alike. From the spring time blossoming pre-teen, to the wise, winter, silver crone, I work with women in all ages and stages. I study, create, grow and work intimately with plant medicines that assist women in their lives.

I am a women’s herbal educator, teacher, full spectrum holistic birth and postpartum doula, entrepreneur, gardener, wife and mother. I love studying ancestry, aromatherapy and astrology, spirituality and the metaphysical, thrifting vintage, eclectic fashion and home decor. I love travelling, music, Harry Potter, and of course my dogs, my family and our home.

I feel my work with women and birth in particular keeps me close to the Great Mystery of life, and serves as a great reminder that we, too, will venture back into that beautiful unknown at some point, so every day we wake up is a gift. Here I am on the grand spiral, and it brings me great joy knowing that I have awoken into this life and live in my passions, doing the work I have come here to do.