Morgan Lynn

Pronouns

she/her

Location

Los Angeles, CA

education / certification

Certified Birth + Postpartum Doula

Gilligan’s Guide 

Ayurvedic Doula - Nutrition + Support Program Specialist (Sutika Seviika)

Perinatal Culinary Specialist

words you live by:

 Not knowing is most intimate.

areas of expertise:

Seasonal Ayurvedic cooking for pre-conception, pregnancy and postpartum; pregnancy and postpartum self-care practices; physiology of labor + physiology of the mother-baby dyad in postpartum; small-scale farming + gardening in the biodynamic French-Intensive Method

Tell us about yourself -  what were your early inspirations and life experiences that led you to BECOME a Zen student, a cook, a gardener, and birth and postpartum doula trained in the Ayurvedic tradition?

I’ve been growing things my whole life and that’s really the earliest roots of what my life has evolved into now. I’m from the South originally and my Mom and my Mamaw were big gardeners when I was a kid. They did most of the work back then but I always loved growing food and boy, did we have a lot of it. One summer in particular we had four separate vegetable gardens and in the South, people have a lot of open land so these were not small gardens. If I had to guess, I'd say we were growing at least 2-3 acres of kitchen gardens between my parents and both sets of grandparents. 

I found Ina May Gaskin’s books when I was in college and was hooked on the physiologic process of labor and postpartum. I still read all Ina May’s books on rotation, I’ll never tire of them. 

After college I trained in organic farming at Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, part of the San Francisco Zen Center where I was also practicing in Zen Buddhist Meditation, and then at Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, on the east end of Long Island. I started my doula practice in New York nearly a decade ago now, in the winter after the farm season ended, and then came to Los Angeles the following spring to focus fully on supporting women through the transition of birth and postpartum. I first started practicing Ayurveda personally in my private life, inspired by my beautiful friend Julie Bernier who is a Doctor of Ayurveda now practicing from Oaxaca. I found Ayurveda to be so rich, clear and detailed on how to take care of the body. It’s such a colorful and beautiful lifestyle practice that puts so much emphasis on proper care through the childbearing year in particular. I’m not aware of another traditional practice that is as thorough or detailed on the understanding of the system in pregnancy and postpartum, so it felt very natural to steer my doula practice into the waters of the Ayurvedic tradition and I love the shared wisdom and philosophy found between Ayurveda and Functional Nutrition. 

How do these blended practices inform and manifest in your care for perinatal clients?

My doula practice here in Los Angeles is my main focus now, but I’ve layered all my other past experiences into a cohesive, foundational form to support the year of conception, birth and postpartum and it works quite well. Nutritional support is tricky for women in their childbearing years. Standard care medical advice when it comes to nutrition is outdated and lacking, putting it in the nicest possible terms. Evidence shows that improper nutrition absolutely translates to sub-optimal outcomes in many areas. 

Many women feel that they have no choice but to rely on supplements to get the nutrients they need, and nutritionists are sometimes not able to integrate guidance on how to source and prepare foods in a way that translates into easy everyday practices for families, and so supplements have become the easiest route in modern times. But supplements should be a back-up, like an insurance policy or added protection to our nutrition. Complete meals of whole foods is still the most optimal source for vitamins, minerals and other vital nutrients. 

I’m able to put together a very simple, easy to follow program for folks that is enjoyable and enriching for the experience of everyday life. It’s a great time to learn how to cook - pregnancy is a time of great intentionality, it’s wonderful to see women take care of themselves so beautifully during this time and have a lot of fun in the process. 

How do these practices inspire your own SELF-CARE? What are your SELF-CARE practices?

I follow cues from nature for self care, a teaching from both the garden and from Ayurveda. I wake with the sun and try to limit artificial light. I burn SO many beeswax candles, but it’s an incredible practice to limit the nervous system’s exposure to artificial light. 

I eat meals around the same time every day - always cooked, warm meals of proteins, legumes, grains, vegetables, healthy fats and appropriate spices. I have a transition ritual for morning and night rooted in the Ayurvedic tradition and my body thrives on it. 

And honestly - compost is a huge part of my self care. I’ve been so lucky for almost all of my life to be eating food grown in highly mineralized soil. Our soils are so depleted these days. I make mountains of hot compost in my small gardens, as I learned at Green Gulch, and I amend the soils with bone meal and invest in good spring water for drinking. 

What are you reading/listening to right now?

I like to kid around that I “read cookbooks like novels but never follow a recipe,” but the truth is that my recipe writing is an ongoing riffing process. I am always reading a cookbook - to me they are the most romantic thing in the world, and I cook through them in their entirety. My process is to take recipes I’ve tried and loved, simplify them down as much as possible, and then alter them to fit into the nutritional parameters of the three phases of the childbearing year (fertility, pregnancy and postpartum). I also am constantly editing recipes for seasonality, altering the ingredients and process so that I’m utilizing what’s in season and preparing it in a way that helps the system balance in whatever conditions we’re living in season to season.

I love simple Japanese food, as I’ve mentioned I’m a fiend for minerals and the Japanese diet is chock full of trace minerals - I’ve cooked through Japan Easy many times. Essential Oyster is another favorite. I learned so much about mollusks from that book and I once prepared every recipe in it for my birthday on the beach in the Tomales Bay. I have several vintage editions of Julia’s Child’s volumes on French cooking in my kitchen -  I’m still working through Tamar Adler’s latest release The Everlasting Meal, and I constantly find myself reaching for my precious copy of Elena Reygades’ Rosetta from my favorite restaurant in Mexico City. My favorite Ayurvedic chef is Divya Alter - I recommend both her cookbooks to anyone interested in Ayurvedic cooking. Oh, and my subscription to Cooks Illustrated is indispensable. 

And I’m reading through Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth for the 1,000th time.
When I’m cooking, I always play music. It infuses the food. If I’m in a foul mood, I have to flip it before I go into the kitchen, so I’ll offer incense and put on a Tina Turner album - that’s my energy cleansing ritual. I play hymns a lot when I cook - anything that makes me feel something. Aretha is great for making an extra-special meal - I bring the clams, she brings the soul, and away we go!