I believe it was about two years ago when my friend and doula shared this photo of Daughter of the Sun blogger Amy breastfeeding her baby Naia on her Facebook page. You can guess what happened next, right? It was reported and removed. Still, many dared to share and the image of Amy — naked and doing a yoga headstand while her little one came in for a sip — went viral. As it should have. The image is making the rounds again and I'm happy to see it and knowing people are seeing it for the first time. I saw this image as simply beautiful. I didn't care why or how this picture came to be — I just loved that it existed, and that people are still talking about it. It captured exactly what breastfeeding is about and held a message I felt was so in your face yet many failed to realize it.
Let's review the whole image first.
That message is that breastfeeding is natural. Pure. It can and should happen anytime, anywhere. During 2 a.m. feedings. On the couch. While lying on your side. In a restaurant. In a park. At the mall. In a store. While walking. During a conversation with a friend about a serious topic. On an airplane while flying to the beach where you will breastfeed in the sand. While reviewing expiration dates on yogurt and at the grocery store when baby is in a sling. While practicing naked yoga outside and doing a headstand. Whenever and wherever baby is hungry, baby should eat. And that's exactly what baby Naia was doing when this photo was taken.
On this naked yoga breastfeeding moment, Amy shared in an email as reported on Huffington Post:
The truth is we were living on a small community in Hawaii where our land was clothing optional and yoga was/is a necessity! I was just doin’ my daily flow when the little sweet pea came to sneak a suckle.
It wasn't staged, and Amy isn't hanging by the tree as some suggested. Naia was hungry. She was near her mama who was doing yoga, and she wanted to eat. It's simply beautiful. By the way, Naia is now 3 and also practices yoga.
What do you think of this image?
Image via Daughter of the Sun
