Brian and Alexandra Johnson are Emerson's parents and the Chief Philosopher and Goddess at en*theos. :)  TOPICS: Questions that came up for Optimal Parenting 101 participants!

Carrie Contey co-founded the Slow Family Living movement. Her scholarly and hands-on research gave birth to, CALMS: A Guide to Soothing Your Baby & What Babies Want: Calming and Communicating With Your Baby. Carrie earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a specialty in prenatal and perinatal psychology.  TOPICS: How to communicate with your baby in the womb and why it’s important + How we impact our baby's brain + How to calm and soothe your baby and why slowing down is so important
4 questions to ask your baby + How we can have more fun and trust ourselves as parents while creating a family dynamic that works for everyone + How to support your child to stay connected to who they are as they grow up.

Mary Jackson has been a home birth Midwife since 1975. She has attended over 2,000 births in the Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Ojai, California areas. She is currently co-leading the Castellino Prenatal and Birth Training and is participating in cutting edge research about imprints that occur around the time of conception, pregnancy and birth and how they affect us throughout the rest of our lives and what it takes to heal from challenges in these experiences. (She’s also Alexandra and Brian’s midwife! :)  TOPICS: How our fears can be a reflection of our own birth experience and why it is important to look at our fears around pregnancy + How to transform pain and be in awe during labor + How to connect with your baby during labor and birth + What an imprint is and how they influence our lives and our baby's lives and how we can heal them + What supported attachment is and why it is important for you to know in order to communicate with your baby + Why co-sleeping can help with breastfeeding and sleep deprivation + Why eating your placenta can help with postpartum depression.

Naomi Aldort is the author of the book Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves. She is an engaging public speaker who travels worldwide and shares her wisdom in lectures, conferences, colleges and private events. Naomi’s guidance has transformed the lives of families around the world.  TOPICS: How to listen to your baby's needs + Wants versus primal needs + Projection as a tool for parenting + Options other than saying "No" to our children + How to create self-reliance and self-esteem + How to take the struggle out of parenting.

Dr. John Douillard has been teaching and lecturing internationally for 25 years and publishes a free wellness video-newsletter filled with the latest studies and research. He was the Director of Player Development for the New Jersey Nets in the NBA and currently directs the LifeSpa Ayurvedic Retreat Center in Boulder, CO, where he lives with his wife and six children.  TOPICS: How to create perfect health for your kids + Ayurvedic healing secrets to optimize your child’s health + How to prevent colds and flus + Why it’s so important to connect with natural biorhythms + How to eat seasonally and why it matters + 4 steps to boost your child’s immune system.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a board-certified family physician who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. He is the author of Eat to Live and Super Immunity.  TOPICS: The #1 thing you need to do before getting pregnant + How to disease-proof your children + Why folic acid can cause cancer + Learn why high protein diets can lead to gestational diabetes, weight gain, toxemia & caesareans + How to reduce asthma, ear infections, colds and allergies + Why parents’ food addictions are harming their children + How nutrition overwhelms genetics + What you should feed your baby for the first two years.

Ingrid Bauer has been teaching and writing about compassionate parenting for over two decades. She’s an activist for unhindered birth and breastfeeding, a Nonviolent Communication certified trainer and also the author of Diaper Free. She is a mother of four children and is dedicated to sharing Compassionate communication with parents and families.  TOPICS: 4 steps to having a diaper free baby + Saving money while saving the planet + Elimination communication and how to listen to and understand your child's needs + Why it’s important to be present with your child to help them flourish.

Dr. Sarah Buckley is a family physician and widely recognized authority on pregnancy, birth & parenting. She is the mother of four children and the author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.  TOPICS: What you need to know before conceiving your baby + Why gut flora and fat are so important for your pre-conception diet + What you need to know about tests and ultrasounds and why they might be harmful for your baby + The 4 hormones you need to know about to have an ecstatic birth and why birth is meant to be pleasurable + Why cord cutting may be harmful to your baby's health and what to do instead + Learn what placenta transfusion is and why this can help your baby's health + Why co-sleeping and bed sharing is important to the health of both baby and mother + How to prepare and step into parenthood powerfully.

Nekole Shapiro synthesizes a lifetime of experience as a body worker and Tantric practitioner, her birthing experiences as a mother and doula, and her profound love of science into Embodied Birth, a holistic approach to the birthing experience.  TOPICS: Learn 4 steps to celebrating your body more and creating the birth experience you most desire + Why oxytocin is so important for you and your baby and why it's crucial to having a natural birth + Why connecting to your body and your sexuality is crucial to having an empowered birth + How to prepare for the transition from maiden to mother.

Jennifer Louden’s 's motto is Savoring & Serving the World. She is a champion of soulful service, best-selling author of 6 books, spreader of satisfaction, and curious s-hero.  TOPICS: How to navigate your fears about pregnancy, birth, and your child’s health + How to define and take care of your needs during pregnancy + Creating a support team + Navigating the changes of your pregnant body with grace and confidence + How child-rearing can be a great opportunity for growth and transformation.

Robbie Davis Floyd is a medical anthropologist specializing in the anthropology of reproduction. She is the author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage and her most recent collection is Birth Models That Work.  TOPICS: Birth as a rite of passage +
How the medical system doesn't support women in having natural birth and what you can do about it + How you can enjoy your birth and have it be a transformational life experience + How a modern woman can navigate all the information about pregnancy and birth + How our culture's beliefs and values impact our pregnancy and birth + How to step into your power around how you want to give birth.

Sheila Kamara Hay is the creatrix and visionary behind Ecstatic Birth. She is a mother of three and serves on the board of Choices for Childbirth, a not-for-profit organization that raises awareness among expectant mothers about their options for childbirth.  TOPICS: How birth can be ecstatic + Why pleasure is so important in having the birth experience you desire + Why the way you live your life is the way you give birth + How to navigate your perfectionist tendencies + How to trust yourself and stop trying to please others so much + How to heal from a traumatic birth and prepare for an ecstatic birth.

Dr. Maggie Ney is a licensed, board-certified naturopathic doctor and co-director of the Women’s Clinic at Akasha. She specializes in female hormone balancing and healthy aging.  TOPICS: Pre-conception nutrition and how to prepare the optimal environment for your baby + Key supplements every pregnant woman should take + How to balance your hormones and experience a healthy and joyful pregnancy + The importance of rest + Tips for a natural birth

Sonia Choquette is a world-renowned author, storyteller, vibrational healer, and six sensory spiritual teacher. Her books have sold over a million copies worldwide including her New York Times bestseller The Answer Is Simple.  TOPICS: How to cultivate your child's intuitive spark + How parental challenges can be truth serum and behavior problems call us to a higher expression + How motherhood can invite the best of you to shine + How to teach your child to listen to his or her heart and trust themselves + The most empowering thing a parent can do + How you can honor your child's unique spirit + How to empower your child to be a conscious global citizen + How to have a fun, playful and empowering relationship with your child.

Laura Shanley is an author, freelance writer, speaker and childbirth consultant. She is one of the leading voices in the natural birth movement. She is the author of Unassisted Childbirth.  TOPICS: How to trust your body and become empowered around giving birth naturally + Laura’s four unassisted births + What we can learn from other about mammals giving birth + How to shift your perspective from our culture’s focus on birth being dangerous and painful to birth being a joyful, positive experience + Why women need to take responsibility for their birth and babies.

Dr. Gayle Peterson is an international expert specializing inprenatal and family development. She trains professionals in herprenatal counseling model and is the author of An EasierChildbirth, Birthing Normally and Making Healthy Families. TOPICS: Howto stay connected to your dreams and desires as you transition intomotherhood + How being a mother is a contribution to the world+ How mental and emotional issues can impact your birth+ Why it’s important to get clear about what you want for yourfamily + How your family blueprints impact your birth andparenting + How to navigate the pain of childbirth + Whylove is as important to your child as career andfinances.

Leo Babauta created Zen Habits, a Top 25 blog (according to TIMEmagazine) with 260,000 subscribers, and the best-selling booksfocus, The Power of Less, and Zen To Done. He is a formerjournalist of 18 years, a husband, father of six children, and in2010 moved from Guam to San Francisco, where he leads a simplelife. TOPICS: Whatun-schooling is + why and how to un-school your children + Howto live frugally and eliminate debt and financial struggles+ Why it's important for you to help cultivate self-relianceand self-sufficiency in your children + How to be a presentand loving parent while being creative and productive + How tokeep your intimate relationship alive and fresh + Why it'simportant for your children to take breaks fromtechnology.

Mama, founder and co-owner of VIRAYOGA in New York City, Elena in internationally acknowledged for her potent teaching and coaching, offering her students ways to approach our world with realistic reverence and gratitude. Author of Art of Attention, and coach for the Handel Group, Elena's been featured in Yoga Journal, the New York Times and Origin Magazine.  TOPICS: Elena’s yoga and nutrition practices to optimize her pregnancy + How your emotional states influence your children + The importance of listening—to your body, your baby and your life + How to keep your heart open and live with gratitude + How to stay balanced in the post-partum phase.

Sheri Winston offers empowering, enlightening erotic education for everyone as a teacher of Wholistic Sexuality. She’s an award-winning author & founder of the Center for the Intimate Arts, and has a background as a nurse-midwife, gynecology practitioner, registered nurse, holistic healer, doula & massage therapist. Sheri's book, Women's Anatomy of Arousal: Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure, won the AASECT* 2010 Book of the Year Award. Her upcoming book, Succulent SexCraft: Your Hands-On Guide to Erotic Play and Practice, promises to be an even greater success!  TOPICS: Hot tips for sex during pregnancy + Why orgasms are so beneficial for your health and your birth preparation + The fact that labor, arousal, birth and orgasm share the same equipment/pathways and why that matters + How to enter an altered state of consciousness during birth and why that’s important + Breastfeeding as an orgasmic experience (!)

Carla Stang received an honors degree in Anthropology at the University of Sydney and completed her doctorate in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. She is the author of A Walk to the River in Amazonia: Ordinary Reality for the Mehinaku Indians.  TOPICS: What modern women can learn from the Amazonian women’s experience of pregnancy and birth + How to appreciate your pregnant body + Self-care during pregnancy and why it’s important + Why co-sleeping and breastfeeding help with sleep deprivation.

Natalia Rose is a Clinical Nutritionist and the author of The Raw Food Detox Diet, Raw Food Life Force Energy, The New Energy Body and Detox for Women!  TOPICS: What a Life Force family is and how to create one + How to create a foundation for your family to really thrive + How to have the confidence and courage to be the best parent you can be + How to support, love and protect your children + Why self-care and healthy habits are crucial to parents + How to let go of perfectionist tendencies and expectations and really learn who your child is + Why a healthy relationship is so important to your child's health.

Dr. Jack Newman is the leading researcher in the field of breastfeeding. He is the author of Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding, The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers, The Latch and Other Keys to Breastfeeding Success.  TOPICS: How breastfeeding is about more than just nutrition + How formula can make your baby sick and set them up for a lifetime of disease + What to do about a low milk supply + Dealing with pain during or after breastfeeding + Why putting your baby on a feeding schedule is a terrible idea.

Elizabeth Davis is internationally active in promoting motherbaby-centered birth and is widely sought after for her expertise in midwifery education and organizational development. She is the author of Heart & Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy & Birth, Orgasmic Birth, The Women’s Wheel of Life & Women’s Sexual Passages. TOPICS: Research detailing the health and safety of a homebirth + How to choose a midwife + How to navigate the stages of labor and birth and what gets in the way of having a natural birth +  How labor/birth and sex are similar + How to avoid the cascade of medical interventions at the hospital + Why oxytocin is so important + How to prepare for an orgasmic birth + What you need to know about your brain waves if you want to have a natural birth.

Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova is one of the pioneers in the Birthing Field of Conscious Procreation. Elena created a revolutionary documentary, Birth As We Know It, about ecstatic birth and correlation between birth trauma and the quality of our life. TOPICS: Reclaiming your power to give birth naturally + How to re-wire your nervous system + What you need to know about your limbic imprinting and how that will affect your birth + How birth impacts our lives.

Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson is a motivational psychologist, speaker, author of SUCCEED: How We Can Reach Our Goals, blogger for Huff Post, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, SmartBrief, and Psychology Today.  TOPICS: How to work with your expectations of what parenting should be like and how your kids should behave + Setting goals for pregnancy, birth and early parenting + How to give feedback and motivate your children + What *not* to say to your kids if you want them to grow confidently + How to build your child’s self-esteem.