The Yoga of Childbirth: home-birthing a mountain

The Yoga of Birthing Child and re-birthing Self

By Ally Guidesmith

Our son was nameless his first ten days in the world.

I had felt certain his name from his beginnings in the womb was “Kailash”, but my husband disagreed with my intuitive divining. So we began ruminating as we gazed at him reflectively, as he alternated between wakefulness and slumber. I was passionately sure that his name would reflect a mountain from the Himalayas, likely due to my profound experiences trekking these divine and peaceful mountains. On day eight or nine, “Everest” came into our discussion and we tried it on our tongues. Of course, I researched the meaning and, although I preferred the more ‘indigenous’ versions in principle, Chomolungma and Sagarmatha didn’t roll off the tongue. The essential meaning of these names in Tibetan and Nepalese respectively is “Goddess of the Mother Snows” and “Mother of the Universe.” I suppose his name points back to the Divine Feminine, which is what it takes to give birth to a child without drugs, I assure you. It is not too mysterious why we chose Everest, which sounds more “manly” and perhaps less exotic, appeasing my husband. Everest is the surname of the Surveyor-General of India in the early 1800s, but our little Everest was named after the mountain, not after this George guy. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world and I wonder how tall our little one will become.