Who am I?
My name is Amanda Marie.
I am a mother and graduate Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. I am a teacher, dancer, performer, and acrobat. I love nature, writing, photography, and travel. I’m passionate about holistic living, and protecting the environment and animals. I am devoted to lifelong learning and wellness. I believe in the power of empathy, education, and advocacy.
The Story Behind Ember Mama: Where the Spark Began
I was the highly sensitive, shy, middle daughter of a single mom; a girl who stood out in the rain to save worms from puddles with her sisters — spreading them on rows of leaf-made hospital beds.
I dreamed of becoming a professional dancer, a stunt woman, a midwife, a mother, a chiropractor, a wildlife rehabilitator, a geologist, and a doctor. I didn’t know where those dreams would take me, but let them lead my path.
I graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science — double major in Biological Sciences and Dance, and a minor in Psychology. This accomplishment was a huge step in the direction of my dream at the time — owning a private medical wellness center that incorporates dance, movement therapy, and fitness.
During a gap year before osteopathic medical school, I continued work as a dance and acrobatics instructor while serving as fitness intervention leader for research studying fall prevention in older adults.
While attending Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, I was honored to be selected as an osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) “scholar” — a path which would add an extra year of school to continue regular clinical rotations while taking several months out of the last three years for specialized learning and teaching opportunities in OMM.
My rotations and duties of the scholarship narrowed my drive to pursue osteopathic neuromuscular medicine (ONMM), advocate for patient health awareness and autonomy, promote preventive and integrative care, and ultimately, holistic wellness.
This realization came even more into focus when life took a beautiful turn.
Becoming a Mother: Igniting the Ember Within
In the first few months of my fourth year of medical school, I discovered I’d soon be a mother.
Despite the fact that 85% of women in the U.S. will give birth at least once in their life, most of us don’t get educated on pregnancy, birth, and motherhood until we go through it.
To be honest, I felt a bit blindsided.
Though I thought I had a good idea of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood, I quickly realized there was much to learn.
And nothing prepared me like going through it myself.
Early on in my motherhood journey, several friends, colleagues, and family members began divulging their curiosities; asking me the same raw, nitty-gritty questions I had about pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and all the other endless topics of being a mother. I thought “Where is the Judy Blume book on this aspect of womanhood?”
An Early Lesson in Motherhood: Radiating Growth
Nobody really tells you how much you change when you become a mother; how much your identity shifts — both in your own perception and in the eyes of others. I find that to many around me, I am either the same person I was before becoming a mom, or just a mama. But my identity is now wholly new and exists somewhere in between.
My other passions, pursuits, knowledge, experiences, and curiosities are not gone. Instead, they are refocused under the umbrella of being a mother. It is as if I am now one of those origami fortune tellers we used to make as kids — the four outer flaps listing MOM | MAMA | MOMMY | MOTHER. But within those outer layers, tucked into every folded piece, everything else still resides within — the student, the dancer, the advocate, the traveler, the sister, the teacher, and so on.
The journey of becoming a mother has been to embark on a new lifelong adventure. I wanted to create a space to share my knowledge and experiences so that others may benefit, find community, learn, and grow.
Ember Mama is a platform to share the questions and experiences I’ve had, the emotions I’ve felt, the curiosities I’ve explored, and the passions that drive me. Here, reflections, lessons, and discoveries in motherhood, wellness, and beyond come together — creating a resource and community for anyone searching for it.
Tending the Flame: Embracing Passion and Purpose
The feminine experience of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood (aka Matrescence) is life changing.
I am a mother, AND I am a woman with many interests and passions.
Being a mother does not stifle our dreams; it weaves into our core identity. It gives us strength where we did not know we had it. It narrows our focus, and simultaneously, expands our capacity for love and chaos.
I am a mother, woman, osteopath, artist, athlete, and entrepreneur. I am a life-long learner, sister, daughter, friend, advocate, and so much more.
My hope is to provide inspiration — to encourage us as mothers, and all women, to tend the passions in our hearts, to spread warmth, light, and love to our children, partners, families, friends, and greater communities. We are the embers to a better world.
If the story behind Ember Mama echoes parts of your own, then you’re exactly where you’re meant to be — among the embers.