Dr. Christy Vidrine Bauman - Womaneering

Sacred Interruptions Fall Retreat, October 27-29th has 4 spots left! Join us.

Heather Marie Smith Stringer and Christy Vidrine Bauman share our experience of these retreats we lead along with Cathy Loerzel Cornwell and

A link to the eventbrite is in the comments!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cxvlx4zx2Fo/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

We have 4 more spots for Sacred Interruption! @christybauman and I talk about why we love this retreat so much and why @cathy.loerzel and @seizedbyhope might cringe at us. Plus we swoon over @farmtofeastknox food that we eat all weekend long. Join us October 27th-29th in Knoxville, TN for an experience that returns you home to yourself through storytelling, body work, ritual, and teaching 💙💙💙

Good women! As much as I am holding on to summer…fall is approaching. It is so good for women to mark the change of season within their bodies. Join us for Sacred Interruptions Fall Retreat with .loerzel

What a gift it would be if you joined us.

We have an offerings this fall and winter. The first is back in Knoxville for our Fall Harvest Retreat at the end of October. There will be 20 women and we will be hosted by Farm to Feast. This retreat will be a combination of StoryWork, BodyWork, Ritual, exquisite food, and magical experiences.

We do have scholarships set up and payment plan options so let us know if you need support in that regard. Our hope is to be able to find a way for any woman who feels she needs this retreat to find a way to get there.

If interested please contact my assistant Melissa at [email protected]

Sacred Interruption - redeeming the forgotten feminine. “Put your ear down to your soul and listen hard.” Anne Sexton

What a gift it would be if you joined us.

We have two offerings this fall and winter. The first is back in Knoxville for our Fall Harvest Retreat at the end of October. There will be 20 women and we will be hosted by Farm to Feast. This retreat will be a combination of StoryWork, BodyWork, Ritual, exquisite food, and magical experiences.

We do have scholarships set up and payment plan options so let us know if you need support in that regard. Our hope is to be able to find a way for any woman who feels she needs this retreat to find a way to get there.

Sacred Interruption - redeeming the forgotten feminine. “Put your ear down to your soul and listen hard.” Anne Sexton

What a gift it would be have you join us.

We have an offerings this fall. The first is back in Knoxville for our Fall Harvest Retreat at the end of October. There will be 20 women and we will be hosted by Farm to Feast. This retreat will be a combination of StoryWork, BodyWork, Ritual, exquisite food, and magical experiences.

Sacred Interruption - redeeming the forgotten feminine. “Put your ear down to your soul and listen hard.” Anne Sexton

In this episode of the Flying Free podcast I chat with Natalie Hoffman about how our female bodies reflect God’s glory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFxC0Cn8N6w

I was invited to speak at the Beautifully Made Conference, and shared about one of women’s greatest struggles, and that is women’s struggle with the body. If you’d like to listen to the full talk, you can find it on YouTube through the link below.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MFFIUXOZrA

I returned for another episode on the Winter Faith Podcast (episode #163) and discussed my latest book, The Sexually Healthy Woman. If you’d like to listen in and join the conversation you can find the podcast interview through the link below.

Podcast link: https://www.owltail.com/people/0Xv74-christy-bauman/appearances

Sometimes you aren’t certain the way life will turn out. Whether anyone will see your raw heart poured out into sentences
and think it worth being published.

Then someone calls you and tells you-
we believe in your work
and we want to support you.

I have been floored by the opportunity to publish with Convergent - Penguin Random House
This book entitled Her Rites
is coming out April 2024.

I had the privilege of being on the Her Story Speaks podcast and shared about my own womb story and the pain of birthing both life and death, hope and loss. Whether you’re a woman who has struggled with infertility, miscarried, birthed one healthy child or several, or chosen not to birth any children, I hope this episode encourages you.

Podcast link: https://herstoryspeaks.com/2021/12/23/christy-bauman/

Be a part of the Womaneering Women’s Retreat this September! There are only 3 spots left. If you’d like to join the 4-day women’s story work weekend, email [email protected] for more info and to grab your spot! 🤍

Check out new podcast!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-e11-from-muted-to-mighty-dr-christy-bauman/id1651097682?i=1000617724961

Such a fun podcast interview with Not Tonight podcast about satiation and using your voice!

‎The Not Tonight Podcast: S2:E11 | From Muted to Mighty: Dr. Christy Bauman on Apple Podcasts ‎Show The Not Tonight Podcast, Ep S2:E11 | From Muted to Mighty: Dr. Christy Bauman - Jun 20, 2023

As the last day of the year is upon us, the winter solstice has found us.

The days are shorter,
the nights are darker,
and the year is dying.

So we,
as those who know what to do with death, gather our lights and raise them to sky.

We collect our dried up trees,
our forest kindling,
and we create bonfires
that illuminate the darkest of nights.

Let us gather together,
warm ourselves by the fire,
sing together until the morning,
using our candles as guidepost.

May we welcome in the new year,
for her birth is upon us.

As the last day of the year is upon us, the winter solstice has found us.

The days are shorter,
the nights are darker,
and the year is dying.

So we,
as those who know what to do with death, gather our lights and raise them to sky.

We collect our dried up trees,
our forest kindling,
and we create bonfires
that illuminate the darkest of nights.

Let us gather together,
warm ourselves by the fire,
sing together until the morning,
using our candles as guidepost.

May we welcome in the new year,
for her birth is upon us.

Advent Podcast - Week Four: PEACE

Emmanuel, God with us…O come sweet Jesus.

Week four of Advent we talk about PEACE. In this podcast episode, Tracy and I talk about what it means to arrive at place of peace regardless of how dark the night is. As this week in the world, winter solstice is upon us, the darkest day of the year, we can know the Prince of Peace.

May you know peace this last week of Advent and as this year dies and a new year is born.

Advent Week 4: Peace by womaneering Advent - Week Four: PEACE Emmanuel, God with us…O come sweet Jesus. Week four of Advent we talk about PEACE. In this podcast episode, Tracy and I talk about what it means to arrive at place of peace regardless of how dark the night is. As this week in the world, winter solstice is upon us, the dar...

Check out our podcast - Therapy Shorts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/therapy-shorts-with-andrew-christy-bauman/id1509693025?i=1000538214080

Theology of the womb is the study of God through the lens of the female body.
What better time to use womb theology lens than at Christmas?

The story of Jesus’ birth shows us that Mary teaches us about manger theology. How do we see God through these stories? This is what we discuss in this podcast with Where Do We Go From Here - join us thus Advent to discuss womb theology and manger theology.

Where Do We Go From Here?: 116: A Woman's Body Points To God Christmas is almost here, and we think it's a perfect time to think about a woman's body and the story it tells about who God is. If God could occupy a woman's body for nine months before Jesus' birth, maybe we can begin to untangle what this might mean for our lives today. Dr. Christy Bauman joins....

Joy is defiant.

Joy is faith and defiance. On this third Advent podcast, Tracy and Christy discuss Advent’s deep spaces of sorrow are all tied to relationship. If the incarnation is God “with us” we taste of that with people and community. Sorrow is threatened “with-ness”

The great news with great joy is the incarnation - God will come again, joy will come again.

Communion in the red tent is different.

When we leave the red tent, we don’t break bread. Women gather in a circle and share pomegranate seeds and juice.

The pomegranate seeds represent God’s every present gift of the eggs in our womb which were given as an invitation to co-create with our Creator. This does not mean co-creating will always yield life, but if you ever follow my work, you know that.

The pomegranate juice represent the bitterness and remembrance of what we have created or attempted to create, without a seed any longer present.

At our Advent retreat this weekend, we retold the stories of Mary and Elizabeth and their journey through Advent. We shared stories of our fears, anger, loss, hopes, and disappointments. We laid hands on each other, held eyes until tears came and ceased…it was a holy sacred interruption with the season of Advent.

As we raise the tent flap, and say goodbye to the women we traversed with this time, we take share a red tent communion. Some of eat the pomegranate seeds and drink the juice, some of walk out in the snow and pour it on the ground, other refuse to put it to their lips at all.

We are not committed to a resolution, as fit to Advent, but in the red tent we are committed to bear witness to you whatever season you are in.

It was such a good, honest Advent interruption. .loerzel &

The Advent Experience is a pipe dream,
an idea you have when you’re sitting in afternoon traffic the first day after daylight savings ends…its 4pm and getting dark and your kid’s just barely got out of school.

You are aware the world is asking humans to rally and light candles and stoke fires…get out cozy blankets and settle in to hibernate.

You’re sitting there thinking about being a good Advent participator, wondering how to bring light into darkness the way Christ promised with His birth, His resurrection, His 2nd coming.

I told my friend about it and she took her genius creative, pastoral talent and put it into an installation. So we wrote stories, hung lights, printed signs, and recorded words…birthing the Advent Experience.

If you are around and able, you can participate this self-guided walking experience in Brevard, NC. If you aren’t local, you can gather a few things and listen to the visualization

You are invited to join us who want to bring our light into the darkness.

Come, light a candle with us.

*xperience

Advent Week Two: Transition

Ugh.

This podcast was such a vulnerable one for me to record. I felt in my gut, my tears slipping down as I read it aloud to Tracy and listened to it multiple times in editing, this one still stings.

Advent week two is sometimes referred to as a week for repentance. Repentance is hard for me, very vulnerable. Just like Jonah to Nineveh, I felt resistant to follow the invitation of a new season with my family.
I wonder what Mary felt, 13-years old with a baby she didn’t plan for growing within traveling to her cousin Elizabeth’s house 81-miles away to midwife John the Baptist.

Sometimes birthing light into dark places require transition - transition is the movement between the first and second stage of labor.

I wonder what Elizabeth felt like, pushing her aging body through transition, her mute husband sitting near silently, what was she feeling about the unknowns she was birthing into the world?

This podcast is about Elizabeth’s physical transition period through her birth of John the Baptist, it is about Mary and my own metaphorical transition through birthing something into this world. While Mary was and I were not physically in transition, we were both metaphorically traveling from one stage to the next of obedience to God.

Join us, as we bear witness to Elizabeth’s story of transition, in our conversation this Advent, Week 2 - full podcast link here or on all major podcast venues.

‎womaneering: Advent #2: Transition - Womaneering Podcast on Apple Podcasts ‎Show womaneering, Ep Advent #2: Transition - Womaneering Podcast - Dec 4, 2022

“I know when we marry, we choose someone to live in reality with rather than fantasy.

Yet, I never thought on my wedding day that I was choosing the person who would help me bury my parents, and we would eventually age together until one of us dies.”

I believe anniversaries are invitations.

Entire blog below.

Anniversaries Are Invitations “Yes, Mrs. Bauman. Your husband called earlier and got you in with his appointment. We will see you in an hour.” My hand raises to my left cheek to comfort the ache as I smile, surprised I am not s…

This is a new blog post I wrote in response to my wedding anniversary this year - the entire blog can be found below.

Here is an excerpt:

“I know when we marry, we choose someone to live in reality with rather than fantasy.

Yet, I never thought on my wedding day that I was choosing the person who would help me bury my parents, and we would eventually age together until one of us dies.”

I do believe anniversaries are invitation.

Anniversaries Are Invitations “Yes, Mrs. Bauman. Your husband called earlier and got you in with his appointment. We will see you in an hour.” My hand raises to my left cheek to comfort the ache as I smile, surprised I am not s…

Advent - Week One

“Let’s do a podcast for Advent this year.”

I smiled listening to Tracy’s voice over my phone before she even finished her sentence. She is always thinking in sync with me, it is effortless working with this woman.

“I’m in” was all I had to say.

Mary’s journey through pregnancy has been on my mind lately. I sit and daydream about what it really was like to be impregnated by the God of the Universe as a 14 years old virgin. To travel with morning sickness 81 miles alone by caravan be with my older cousin and midwife her child, John the Baptist.

It’s just so much to wonder about…for me.

So this Advent, I invite you to wonder what it means to walk through the fear and unknown when carrying light into the darkness.

December is the darkest month of the year, the winter solstice. The darkness makes the light we carry shine brighter than any other season.

Join us as we womaneer through Advent with Tracy Johnson and Dr. Christy Bauman on the womanering Podcast.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/womaneering/id1556620322?i=1000587646985

Womaneering: Advent Week One by womaneering In this Week One episode on Advent, we discuss Mary’s journey through pregnancy and what it really was like to be impregnated by the God of the Universe as a 14 years old virgin. Join us as we womaneer through Advent with Tracy Johnson and Dr. Christy Bauman on the womanering Podcast.

Beautifully Made is a conference I taught at the last two weekends - many of you asked for a link to talks. Here is week one, a conversation about Genesis 2 and Eve, the female body, including the skeletal system, female organs, and her hormonal system. The female body knows her identity through her body - her glory and depravity are inside her, and it all begins within her bones.

Beautifully Made - Christy Bauman, PhD Dr. Christy Bauman lectures at a conference entitled Beautifully Made. She talks about how Adam was created from dust, and Eve was created from bone; therefo...

This Saturday, we are continuing the conversation about women’s spirituality and s*xuality.

I am so excited to invite you all to come back to part two of Beautifully Made,
a continued conversation about women’s bodies, s*xuality, and spirituality.

Please join us this Saturday, November 12, from 9:30 to 11:30am at Grace Brevard located at 55 Jordan St. - the event is free and childcare will be provided.

Register here via the QR code!

“Adam was created from dust,
Eve was created from bone.”

Adam’s name means “dust or earth” and Eve’s name means “full of life” or “mother of life”. So often we get stuck in theological conversations about whether Eve came from Adam’s ribcage as a way of submission.

I hardly think that is the point of man and woman’s creation story. Rather, the fact that women are made from something very different than men are made from. The female does not inherently struggle with the earth, she struggles with the body.

The bone, the flesh, the body are what Eve was created out of - women’s glory and depravity come from the war with their body.

Last Saturday I had the honor of teaching about womb theology, the study of God through the female body. It was so fun to teach, so much so that when Grace Brevard asked me to come back this Saturday and teach on s*xuality, I readily accepted.

Join us this Saturday, November 12th from 9:30-11:30am to talk further about women’s spiritual and s*xual health. Sign up here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesD_w9xK4kyM7kN34i1yvDFUJsyhRdASsNbOBuadrrJXA0Vg/viewform

“Adam was created from dust,
Eve was created from bone.”

Adam’s name means “dust or earth” and Eve’s name means “full of life” or “mother of life”. So often we get stuck in theological conversations about whether Eve came from Adam’s ribcage as a way of submission.

I hardly think that is the point of man and woman’s creation story. Rather, the fact that women are made from something very different than men are made from. The female does not inherently struggle with the earth, she struggles with the body.

The bone, the flesh, the body are what Eve was created out of - women’s glory and depravity come from the war with their body.

Last Saturday I had the honor of teaching about womb theology, the study of God through the female body. It was so fun to teach, so much so that when Grace Brevard asked me to come back this Saturday, and I readily accepted.

Join us this Saturday, November 12th from 9:30-11:30am to talk further about women’s spiritual and mental health. Sign up here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesD_w9xK4kyM7kN34i1yvDFUJsyhRdASsNbOBuadrrJXA0Vg/viewform

It’s happening - I’m speaking in this incredible town at Grace Brevard. We are gathering as women who want to see freedom, hope, and love resound in our lives and our families.

Join us this Saturday, November 5th 10-4:30pm for this FREE event. Lunch provided.

See you soon.

The text illuminated my dark bedroom this morning as I tiptoed to gather my gear around my sleeping husband.

5am isn’t that much earlier for this mom of 3 kids but any earlier is painful. The autumn air was brisker than I anticipated and I ran back to grab a light puffy.

I jump in the car to join these good women who have invited me here. The adrenaline of the early morning adventure away from kids is familiar. Everything about prepping for a long hike feels amicable, yet I am also aware this is new terrain, different friends and unknown mountains.

The uphill climb comprised of sunrise colors is visually and physically breathtaking.

We stop to watch her rise,
as the sun illuminates the mountain ranges
it looks like ocean waves stretched across the horizon.

I see the awe in my sojourner’s eyes,
and I feel comforted by their companionship.

These mountains are not my home,
this is not my familiar,
but I am certain I am welcome here.

We hike for ten miles.

Solvitur ambulando.
The Latin phrase feels true,
everything is solved by walking.

The fall leaves are changing more boldly the higher we climb. It is good to have my body slow down and walk for hours in this fall equinox. I can feel my body being initiated into a new season.

The brilliant yellows, burnt oranges, and blood red leaves are teaching me to change vibrantly. Autumn is the final dance for these trees. The last glittering sunlight free fall before the winter.

There is still time.
I need all of it.
Time for change to take over me.

If it is true that God is a male, then His Divinity or Deity is expressed in His masculinity. Yet I am a woman, and there are parts of my body; such as my breasts, my va**na, and my womb that are telling a story about God that I have never learned or understood. This is an exploration of the significance of a womb that must shed and bleed before it can create. How will we engage our body which cyclically bleeds most of our life and can build and birth a human soul? How will we honor the living womb, that lives and sometimes dies within us?

This is a book about the theology found in the cycle of the womb, which births both life and death. Every day each one of us is invited to create, and every day we make a decision knowing that from our creation can come death or life. Women’s voices have been silenced for a long time as society and the church has quieted their bodies. Will we courageously choose to listen to the sound of your voice, the song of your womb, and speak for the world to hear?
Book, Audible, or video course available on Amazon.

Christy Bauman delves into the anatomy of woman as a metaphor into her spirituality - her expression of her femininity, s*xuality, different gifts and talents.

I appreciate how Bauman provides anecdotal excerpts from her own life, some of which are very painful and personal - particularly about miscarriage and the symbolism of blood rushing through a woman's va**na. As a reader, I was caught into the incredible power of her testimony and its universal application to post-pubescent females.

Bauman also offers a refreshing, yet controversial, perspective on God and faith through the lens of womanhood, often referring to God as "she." It is true theologically that God is neither male nor female - or both male and female - because God created both man and woman in the image of God. Most of us who have grown up in various Christian denominations may find that difficult to reconcile with. Personally, I have an affinity for and relationship with Mary (not as a deity, but as a spiritual representation of perfect womanhood and motherhood) through my Catholic faith and identity.

I feel that Bauman's professional experience, particularly working with women through their trauma, is incredibly beneficial to her book and its premise.

I have never read a book about womanhood that comes close to hers. It will challenge you, make you think, give you encouragement and a sense of camaraderie. - Jeannie

This is me.
Tired and honest.

My first weekend back to work after a season of play was all-encompassing.

Like all of my kids, the first week of school gave us the flu.

After five days of intensives, this is what I look like. I spend my days advocating for women’s freedom and embodied voices. This week we were victorious.

Although my exhaustion is apparent,
what is more striking when I look at her is her perseverance. I love my work even if it costs me much.

The raised voices boom when the doors slide shut. Two women ten rows from us are screaming at each other using only foul language. A man steps in between them, attempting to calm the situation, but my children’s eyes are glued to the scene. There are a few other businessmen who keep their earbuds in as if they don’t hear a thing going on around them.

In the seat next to us, an unkempt, unhoused elderly gentleman smiles at my kids, his gray beard and twinkling eyes giving the hint of a knowing or, possibly, insanity. On the floor, near his sandaled feet is a zip-lock bag with pink scrubs. This, paired with his two taped cotton ball bandages, indicate he has recently been released from the hospital.

He has been talking the entire time we have been on the train, proselytizing about good and evil and how prayer is greater than any gun on earth. When the women begin screaming f-words, he yells, “Peace.” The entire experience is captivating in the least; my children’s faces are searching to know whether this man is a prophet or a farce.

Every so often he catches my eyes and smiles knowingly, as if he perceives that we share some similar faith with him. And he begins to sing,

“This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m going to let it shine.”

It doesn’t take long for my kids to join loudly in the song, and our orator is pleased. He begins shaking a plastic water bottle filled with rocks, excited to find a faith language with the children. My husband and I join in with the businessmen who have taken out their earbuds.

For a moment, with all our voices lifted, I feel connection and hope.
I am not sure if the women ever stop screaming, but I can’t hear them anymore. All I can hear is the sound of our voices in unison.

As quickly as the chaos starts, it ends. The train doors slide open, and we all race out. The prophet and I endearingly hold hands for a brief moment and, smilingly, lock eyes.

As we walk up the steps, my seven-year-old daughter process her feelings aloud. “I didn’t know that guy was even speaking English until he started singing ‘This little light of mine.’ Her eyes look up at mine, shining with that same similar twinkle. “I know He knows God cause he had a cross around his neck and he kept saying prayers, and Dad kept saying, ‘Amen.’ So, I started saying amen, but then when we sang together, I really knew.”

Atlanta seems to be a city where people lift their voices in hopes of being heard. And it became clear to me—I finally understood that Atlanta is for those who dream.

May we lift our voices and dream aloud.

Full blog below

For Dreamers I am sitting in Kerry Park looking at the Seattle skyline when a woman with a canvas bag reading “Atlanta is for Dreamers” passes by me. I turn my gaze from the skyline I have called home for 15 ye…

You would think I liked to talk about s*xuality, but I really don’t.

The reason I talk about s*xuality and have given my career to researching it is because so few people feel comfortable talking about it.

After sitting with woman after woman in therapy, I have heard too many archaic and down-right incorrect ways of thinking around s*xuality.

So, Tracy Johnson and I are exploring aspects of s*xuality in our Season 2 Womaneering Podcast. We will talk about jealousy, swimsuit shopping, and body image. Join us for this episode of “bringing s*xy back” - link in bio.

‎womaneering: Bringing Sexy Back on Apple Podcasts ‎Show womaneering, Ep Bringing Sexy Back - Sep 8, 2022

“I just got so sad that Queen Elizabeth died, I made my kids pick out their favorite cookies, dress in black, and I made tea at the dinner table.”

Of course she did. I love this woman.

The way she marks things so seamlessly.

My cheeks press against the phone as she continues to talk, I am smiling at the sweetness of laying in my bed listening to her explain why the Queen impacted her so deeply.

Women.
They are just so cool.
They feel so deeply, and often mother very embodied because of this gift. I remembered when the King of Thailand died and I made everyone in the house wear purple for the day because it was his favorite color.

My friend keeps talking,

“And it was really good tea, and a really good cookie…but I made myself not finish it, I left a morsel remaining. It just felt like I needed to not finish it.”

What she has just described so clearly is the body’s innate sense of knowing. When we listen, there is usually some act that we sense to mark our feelings.

My friend knew to mark her sadness dressing in black and having tea…and not finishing it.

What a way to honor Queen Elizabeth’s passing.

70 years of reigning as queen.
Such an incredible icon of rootedness.

There might be too much to say,
Or maybe inexplicable ways to articulate whether her passing impacts your in big or small ways, but it mattered to my friend and she marked it so beautifully.

May we pause, listen, refrain from finishing our tea, as a way of honoring those who impacted us and have left us.