In this powerful first guest episode, Laura is joined by Julia to explore her deeply embodied journey from an emergency caesarean to a sovereign freebirth.
Together, they unravel what it means to reclaim birth through instinct, physiology, and feminine wisdom. Julia shares how her second birth was not only a physical event—but a sacred, expansive initiation. This conversation is rich with themes of sovereignty, cyclical nature, and how the birthing body holds the keys to transformation.
Julia Eda Shemesh is a movement artist, somatic practitioner, and philosopher. She is the founder of Movement Medicine—a sensation-based movement research practice born in 2020 after over two decades immersed in professional dance, integral anatomy, Yoga philosophy, somatics, female physiology, and the Feldenkrais method. Her work bridges creativity and nervous system literacy, inviting women to reclaim their autonomy through embodied practice.
She guides women back home to their moving bodies through her courses, workshops, online communities, retreats and mentorship. You can join her in person this summer in the Italian Alps: movewithjuju.com/empower-your-nature.
Julia is currently transitioning from island life in Thailand to becoming part of an unschooling community in Spain with her husband and two daughters. She is devoted to her sovereingty—without bypassing her material reality—and finds divinity in both.\
Connect with Julia here
🌀 In this episode we explore:
How trauma in her first birth awakened Julia’s path to freebirth
Transcendence vs immanence in spirituality and motherhood
The nervous system, oxytocin, and trusting the hormonal blueprint of birth
Breastfeeding as a tool for maternal and ancestral healing
Flying to Italy at 37 weeks pregnant to create her sacred birth space in her mother's home, birthing on the land of her maternal ancestors
The raw beauty and instinctual power of her sovereign freebirth
“We get bigger” — the spiritual and emotional expansion through birth
Co-sleeping, motherhood, postpartum and integrating the birth journey
AND SO MUCH MORE!
📚 References:
Mother Night: Myths, Stories, and Teachings for Learning to See in the Dark by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
The Southern Sea by Gareth Stevenson Sofia's Birth Song
Connect with Laura
Find me on Instagram at here.
If you’ve experienced a caesarean birth, I offer 1:1 online support to guide you in your healing journey. Through birth story listening, scar tissue remediation, and somatic reconnection, we work together to support your return to wholeness and embodied presence. You can email me at lauraguinnane@gmail.com
You can follow my musings on motherhood on Substack here.
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Disclaimer:
The content of this podcast is for informational and storytelling purposes only and is not intended to constitute or replace medical advice, midwifery advice or Mother's intuition.
