Slowing Down to Become: My Bold Journey Interview After Birth

Over the last several months, I have been moving through another sacred transformation.

After the birth of my son, I found myself in a space that felt both familiar and completely new. Motherhood was not new to me, but becoming a mother again in this season of my life has felt like a rebirth. A softening. A deep remembering. A return to the body, the breath, and the truth of who I am becoming.

This Bold Journey interview was especially meaningful because it was my first interview after giving birth.

And when I look back at it now, I can see that I was speaking from the in-between.

The space where the woman I had been was slowly falling away.

The space where I was no longer trying to force the next version of myself into existence.

The space where slowing down became not a pause, but a portal.

For so much of my life, I have known how to survive, how to push, how to carry, how to keep moving even when my body and spirit were asking me to rest. But this season has invited me into something different.

It has asked me to step away from who I thought I needed to be so I could get closer to who I was truly meant to become.

In the interview, I share more about my journey, the lessons that have shaped me, and the resilience, self-trust, and presence that continue to guide my work. But beneath all of that, this chapter has reminded me that transformation is not always loud. It does not always come through striving, proving, or doing more.

Sometimes transformation is quiet.

Sometimes it looks like surrender.

Sometimes it looks like holding your baby and realizing that you are being held, too.

Sometimes it looks like allowing an older version of yourself to dissolve so a more honest, grounded, and embodied version can emerge.

Becoming a mother again has brought me closer to the sacred rhythm of life, birth, death, and rebirth. It has reminded me that the womb is not only a place where life is created. It is also a place where we are remade.

We are remade through love.

Through stillness.

Through exhaustion.

Through devotion.

Through the parts of ourselves we are finally willing to release.

This season has shown me that slowing down does not mean falling behind. It can mean coming home. It can mean listening more deeply. It can mean honoring the sacred wisdom of the body and trusting that the next version of you will not be forced into being. She will be birthed in her own time.

You can read the full Bold Journey article here:

https://boldjourney.com/meet-shannon-santerelli-freeman-3/

If you have also been in a season of transition, softness, uncertainty, or rebirth, I want you to know that you are not alone.

You do not have to rush your becoming.

You do not have to have every answer.

You are allowed to slow down.

You are allowed to change.

You are allowed to step away from the version of yourself that once helped you survive so you can move closer to the woman you are here to become.

✨ Let’s connect.

Whether you are moving through burnout, motherhood, transition, or your own sacred rebirth, I would be honored to hold space for you.

Love and Balance,
Shannon
Founder, Modern Hippie Soul