Living the First Forty Days & Beyond

MOTHERBEES EXPERIENCES

Connect with a Powerful Circle of Moms & Moms-to-Be | Establish Loving Boundaries
| Design a Solid Support System | Celebrate your Divine Creative Power

In this 8-Week MotherBees Experience you'll join Marisa & Heng as they guide you through creating a balanced experience of motherhood and womanhood—from the inside out. Living the First Forty Days & Beyond is born from over a decade supporting women through the heart-exploding, mind-bending initiation that is carrying and birthing a baby and caring for a growing child in an increasingly complex world. For the first time, the authors and motherhood experts are bringing their vast experience in personal development to a select group of moms and moms-to-be. Living the First Forty Days & Beyond is a deep dive into the emotional, spiritual, and psychological building blocks that will guide you through the gateway of the first forty days and hold you throughout the arc of motherhood. This experience will not cover the science of postpartum recovery or the technical aspects of maternal nutrition. This experience will help you meet yourself in new ways.

In 8 weeks, Marisa & Heng will help you tap into the whispers of your intuition, building a firm foundation of self-trust and inner knowing—tools you'll use through the initiation of birth, the early months with your new baby, and into decades of fortified and uplifted mothering.

Enrollment in Living the First Forty Days & Beyond includes two private sessions with Heng & Marisa,

an invaluable opportunity to receive personalized support.

Motherhood is the most profound rite of passage a woman will experience in her lifetime, requiring extraordinary strength, courage, and adaptability. We're here for all of it—the messiness and the beauty.

Join us for a real and raw dive into the most potent aspects of motherhood.

This is an intimate, transformative experience created by Marisa Belger & Heng Ou, co-authors of The First Forty Days and leaders in mother-centric care. Marisa & Heng are mothers who have dedicated theirs lives to supporting mothers. They have designed this experience to hold you in tenderness and nudge you into the wisdom of your own inner knowing. This is a heartfelt invitation to experience the alchemy that occurs when women gather in dedication to growth and expansion.

Living the First Forty Days is designed for every stage of motherhood, whether you're:

On a Conception Journey | Pregnant | Postpartum | Raising Kids

In becoming a mother, there is no back—there is only through.

—The First Forty Days:
The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother

What To Expect

8 Weeks of Discovery, Connection, and Expansion

In our time together you will:

LEARN & GROW with a wise and compassionate circle of women
DROP mom guilt and make room for the totality of the motherhood experience
BUILD a toolbox of practical solutions for calming anxiety, releasing control, and experiencing greater ease & joy

RECONNECT to your intuition, the guiding force that helps you make wise decisions for you and your child(ren)

What's Included

8 Weeks of discovery and connection facilitated by motherhood coach and The First Forty Days co-author Marisa Belger including:

2 Private Support Sessions with Heng & Marisa

Guest Offerings from top experts in maternal wellbeing

Q&As with MotherBees founder, Heng Ou, author of The First Forty Days

Entry Into a magical cohort of wise moms and moms-to-be

Our Journey at a Glance

Week 1: The Power of Circle

In our first week together, we'll tap into the alchemy that occurs when women gather together. You'll discover the ancient power of feminine solidarity and settle into your rightful place in the circle. We each have wisdom, power, and beauty to share.

Week 2: Motherhood as Rite of Passage
Cultures worldwide recognize motherhood as a profound rite of passage, viewing it as a pivotal step into the next evolution of womanhood. This week, we'll meet the 5 Insights of Living the First Forty Days & Beyond, and dive into the first: RITUAL. Ritual builds a bridge between chapters of your life, helping to smooth out any bumps in transition; it is the natural partner to the rites of passage you'll experience in this lifetime. With special guest!

Week 3: What is Self-Trust and Why Does it Matter?
What does it look like when you don't trust your inner knowing? How does your life as a woman and mother change when you do? This week we'll use RETREAT (the second Insight) as a gateway into honoring the whispers of your intuition. In order to RETREAT you have to understand what you need—and what isn't serving you. Q&A with Heng Ou.

Week 4: Strengthen Your Asking-for-Help Muscles
Through connection and dynamic inquiry, we'll reframe the postpartum period as a crucial life chapter that paves the way for supported mothering and lifelong wellbeing. Our exploration will demonstrate that SUPPORT is a key part of the postpartum journey and an essential aspect of vital motherhood. This week you will strengthen your asking-for-help muscles, starting with one key question: who's on your support team? With special guest!

Week 5: Turn on your Internal Guidance System
This week we'll be tuning into our inner guidance system, the invisible GPS that we were all born with—and that is particularly powerful in women—alerting us to what feels right and what doesn't. With special guest.

Week 6: Ramping up Rest
This week we take a deep into REST, exploring the 7 types of rest available to human beings, and designing a realistic plan for weaving more recharging into your very full life. Q&A with Heng Ou.

Week 7: Creativity, Sexuality, & Motherhood

This week, we'll be chewing on some juicy questions: How do you exist as a mother and a creative being in a society that says you can't do both? How do you exist as a mother and a sexual being in a society that doesn't make room for both? We'll explore the intersection of creativity and sexuality and learn how to recirculate those energies to help you become an energized, inspired woman and a more available mother and partner. With special guest.

Week 8: The Wisdom of Warmth

In our concluding week, we'll bring our attention to the final Insight of Living the First Forty Days: WARMTH. Warm, soft foods are the ideal postpartum nourishment, but the reach of warmth doesn't stop there. Warmth is catching the judgments you direct toward yourself, and the expectations you place on yourself as a mother, woman, and partner. Without this buffer of gentleness and compassion, the fullness of parenting can become unbearable. We'll show you how.

You don't need more hours in the day to create a better life for YOU.

You need the right guidance, support and the tools to do it.

Appreciation for Living the First Forty Day & Beyond

I became a first-time mother at 43 and have been diving into the beauty and challenge of it all. Living the First Forty Days & Beyond has given me a dedicated space to share my struggles (sleep deprivation! Relationship challenges! Juggling work and babycare!) and connect with other mothers at all stages of the journey. Each week I sink into the wise guidance of Marisa, Heng, and amazing guest speakers and feel welcomed into a group of women who are all going through it in their own way. I have permission to come exactly as I am, messy and unedited, and know that I will be held.

—Annie, CA

I was immediately excited about the possibility of being in a supportive group environment with Heng Ou & Marisa Belger, as I've LOVED the wisdom and truth in the series of meaningful books that have helped me begin to understand so much about preparing for motherhood that is not acknowledged, (and I suspect scantly appreciated), in Western medical provider's offices. In addition to the safe virtual space that's been created and interesting presenters who've broadened my understanding of the ways to continuously orient to my body, mind and soul well being, in this journey, I've enjoyed the vulnerability of mothers, (of all stages of the journey), that have been circling in this inaugural group. Additionally, both Heng & Marisa have made me feel that my journey is deeply empathized with and that they are with me, continuously.

—Kelly, DC

Meet Heng & Marisa

For as long as she can remember, Heng has been passionate about pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. After experiencing three very different postpartum periods, including one transformative dive into the cocoon of Zuo Yuezi (the Chinese art of retreating after birth), she founded MotherBees in her kitchen. There, she created restorative soups, stews, and teas inspired by her healing ancestors, delivering them to new mothers across Los Angeles.

Heng's recipes and postpartum wisdom ignited the postpartum movement with the creation of 'The First Forty Days,' which has been translated into four languages and now graces the kitchen counters, bedside tables, and gift baskets of birthworkers and new moms alike.

Today, MotherBees is a hive of support, education, and a beacon of postpartum health.

Heng has three children. She lives in Los Angeles with her two teens and recently sent her eldest off to college.

Marisa is dedicated to supporting women at every stage of the motherhood journey. She is a motherhood coach, women's circle facilitator, and co-author of bestselling books for mothers including The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother, the beloved guide to women-centric care in the early weeks of motherhood. She helps women tune into the wisdom of their inner knowing so they can make the best choices for their peace and fulfillment.

Standing at the intersection of womanhood, motherhood, and humanhood, Marisa channels the tenets of Buddhist psychology and contemplative wisdom traditions into a wise, warm, and super practical approach to helping women experience greater contentment in all aspects of their lives. She refined her work in a dynamic process of self development catalyzed by mothering her two boys (now 10 and 15) and transforming two tumultuous divorces into a thriving modern family.

Since finding balance, purpose and contentment, she's helped women from all walks of life reconnect to their authentic selves, realize their professional and creative goals, parent with greater ease and grace, and experience flourishing relationships. A New Yorker currently living the Bay Area, Marisa brings an east coast/west coast sensibility to everything she does.

Praise for The First Forty Days

The First Forty Days has become required reading for expecting mothers around the world and is a staple on the bookshelves of midwives and doulas. The bestselling guide offers a modern approach to the ancient art of dedicated postpartum care and has been noted as an essential read in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Forbes and more.

This book saved me! It gave me peace in the last sensitive days of my pregnancy knowing I was in good hands with knowledge and guidance to support me after birth.

Laura

The authors address womanhood and mothering in a beautiful, empowering way and provide so many ways that you can care for yourself postpartum no matter what your family unit or maternity leave looks like.

Kay

This book changed my entire postpartum experience and life for the better. I give it to every expectant mother, grandmother, or friend-of-expecting-mother I know.

RL

FAQ

Can I join Living the First Forty Days if I’m not expecting, or if I don’t have children?

Absolutely! Living the First Forty Days is open to any woman interested interested in joining a magical cohort of wise women dedicated to learning and growing. The tools and practices you will learn can be applied to every stage of the motherhood journey, including the period before conception.

Can I join Living the First Forty Days if I’m past 40 days postpartum?

Yes, yes, and more yes! This is Living the First Forty Days & BEYOND. It can take two years or more to move through the postpartum period. The tools and practices you'll learn are designed for women at every stage of the motherhood journey.

Do I Have to Attend Every Online Gathering?

A big part of the magic of this experience unfolds when we gather together—and we understand that life happens. If you can't make a live call we will help you get caught up. Sessions with guest experts will be recorded.

What’s the cost of this experience?

The total cost for Living the First Forty Days & Beyond is $2,600.

This includes:

• 2 private support sessions with Heng & Marisa, and invaluable opportunity to receive intimate support

• Entry into a magical cohort of wise moms and moms-to-be (weekly virtually sessions)

• Live Q&As with Heng—all questions welcome!

• Exclusive offerings from top experts in maternal wellbeing

• Special tools and practices to support and hold you

• 24/7 WhatsApp community support so you are never alone

MOTHERBEES EXPERIENCES