Flora Massage and Wellness Services

10/16/2025

This is an excellent opportunity to consider your birth story. We must document our stories, not only for ourselves but for future generations. Generations to come can find meaning in knowing how we navigated the birth of our children.

Every birth story deserves to be told.

Join Amara Stuehling & Hillary Harpold for Claiming the Story: A Birth Story Writing Workshop, a guided space for reflection, storytelling, and connection. Through gentle prompts and shared conversation, participants are invited to revisit and reclaim their birth experiences in community.

This two-part workshop meets on Sunday, November 2 and Sunday, November 16 from 1–3 PM at the Grano Montessori Studio.

A chance to honor your story, in your own words.

*Registration can be found at www.granomontessori.com

08/28/2025

Update and gratitude!

Thanks for your patience with my practice being on hiatus. Tending to my coursework and balancing community/family needs is an ongoing journey of love and self-discipline, one that I am sure you can all relate to—you know, the teeter-totter on which we so often mentally exist.

I am on target to complete my master's degree in developmental psychology in August 2026. My coursework is in quarters, so there is a great deal of information to absorb and papers to write, as well as engaging with peers. I typically have 11 ½ weeks of class and then a week and a half off before the next quarter starts.

The emphasis of my study is on health and human development, with a focus on the identity shifts and health experiences associated with motherhood. Last quarter, I completed a course in health psychology that enabled me to further understand the various layers of life experiences, both personal and societal, that contribute to our responses to disease. The application of this information to the perinatal period is clear to me due to our medicalized system of birth. A challenge many people face is how to normalize birth and also adapt when things go unexpectedly. Questions that concern me: how do we critically examine and address the social determinants related to prenatal care, access to doulas, the time needed to recover from childbirth, the necessary time to develop new parenting skills, bonding with babies, and forming a new relationship with our partners, all while staying financially afloat?

This quarter, I'm taking a women's health course. Today, I find myself reading about PTSD and inflammation in women, as well as the increased incidence of women experiencing autoimmune diseases. This course will additionally focus on adolescence, sexuality, childbirth, aging, eating disorders, disease, substance abuse, and violence. This quarter, I will revisit my roots in my early career (circa 1990s) and develop a comprehensive program to address a specific health need. I am considering developing a program tailored to meet the postpartum needs of birthing people who have had babies in NICUs. If this topic is approved and you would like to share your experience, I would love to hear from you. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for your continued support. My greatest goal is to make life better for Indiana families!