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Ah Sepia, can you really run a homeopathy practice, supporting women, without it?

How could I not write a blog about Sepia?

Sepia was a gentle companion to me in my postpartum journey, as it is for so many women. It's often over-relied upon, but for good reason. It's a remedy with a huge hormonal affinity that can be so supportive for women, particularly during pregnancy and postpartum.

I Was Wired. I Was Tired. I Wasn’t Okay.

After the birth of my first child, I found myself in a chronic state of depletion. I wasn’t sleeping, at all. My nervous system was completely dysregulated. I was overstimulated, anxious, angry, sad, and ashamed, moving between these emotions at all times. I kept wondering: What happened to me?

I had been to my doctors. I had seen a naturopath. I had been given all kinds of diagnoses to try to explain my symptoms.  I tried supplements and physical therapy and all I could to figure out what was going on. In hindsight, it’s clear: pregnancy and birth flipped a switch in a body that was already carrying too much. It was the big event that tipped over a body that was already out of balance.

Looking back now, I can see just how much I was asking of myself. I had been through a trauma in the pregnancy, I was recovering from a C-section that I had barely had any notice for. We sold our house the very next day after my daughter was born. I was cleaning our old house top to bottom, before my 6 weeks check-up, we were traveling with family and not to mention all of the (almost daily) appointments for my daughter who was struggling to feed and with her digestion and elimination. I was doing everything except resting. I was unravelling in all the ways.

I didn't discover homeopathy right away

I struggled on for two years with no sleep. I started a new job 9 months postpartum in an attempt to be closer to home and cut down on travel time, but I was still working full time. I covered up anxiety and depletion well, giving my all to my job and to my child, but not to myself.

Sepia has been described in the old literature as the “worn out washerwoman,” and perhaps that was the picture then. I see it differently now. Modern Sepia mothers are often high-achievers. Capable. Driven. Pushing through. But they are the women who can crash under the weight of it all. Sepia isn’t for weak women - it’s for the women who’ve been too strong for too long.

Sepia is made from the ink of the cuttlefish - an animal that gives all its energy to producing life and does not survive long after the process of creation. That’s exactly how I felt. Like I’d given everything to motherhood, and there was nothing left of me.

Sepia supported the energetic state I had gotten stuck in. It gently brought me back into balance, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.  I knew I had to learn more.

That’s what I love most about homeopathy: it doesn’t try to erase your experience. It meets you exactly where you are - emotionally, physically, mentally - and helps you come back to yourself.

Sepia officinalis, made from the inky secretion of the cuttlefish, holds a longstanding place in homeopathy as a deeply acting polycrest. It is especially renowned for its support of hormonal balance, emotional well-being, and states of physical and mental depletion after prolonged periods of stress or caregiving. It is particularly supportive for women, though it can be equally powerful in other populations when well-indicated. A person needing Sepia may feel worn out from giving too much of themselves to others.

If you feel anxious, depleted, angry, sad, ashamed, you're not broken.

You’re likely just depleted. And if my story sounds like yours, homeopathy may be part of your healing journey too. As a homeopath, I now know that there are so many remedies that can beautifully support mothers through one of life's most sacred transitions. Sepia is just one of these remedies and while it has a vast ability to support the hormonal and endocrine system, it is not the only remedy. Homeopathy is as individual as you are and works best when you match your unique experience with the closest similar remedy. Your self-care starts with identifying where you may be stuck and finding a remedy to support your energetic pattern. 

Come join us in our Facebook Group to learn more:

Homeopathy for Postpartum and Beyond: Health and Healing for Mothers

We share tips, stories and recommendations for mothers, whether you are newly postpartum, or navigating the challenges and joys of motherhood some years later - there is something for everyone.

If you would like to learn more about SEPIA, click here to read my article on Sepia for Homeopathy 247 →. SEPIA - A REMEDY TO RESTORE AND RESET