Sonja
Hristina
Bjelić
Poet, birth worker and PhD student based between NYC and Belgrade, Serbia
POET
I completed an MFA in Poetry from New York University in 2019.
My work (often collaborative) has appeared in Gulf Coast, Black Box
Manifold, Foglifter, Leveler, No, Dear, NECK, DATABLEED, 3:AM Magazine and
Mannequinhaus,
among other places.
My current project and first book explores identity, family constellations, love, war, and the potential and fallibility of language.
War chases war in the quietude,
just as birth burns despite the body’s exhaustion
Childbirth is our battle Spero finger-painted
on a pennant I return to
in the seventh hour
where the body expels itself
Standing in the clearing of my own making
where the barefooted muse
asks what dislocated hour wakes me?
In this eerie stillness where we are but phantoms
will the poet’s mural endure the nightmare
of a decimated now, where mothers beget children underground
as the foliage cedes to occupation
and the wind is a prisoner in its native land
Our hearts are tentacles transmitting light
she says, language impregnates earth
and we are all children spurred from dirt
We wake inside a gasoline dream
and yet we carry the hazelnut between our breasts
I was born into the century of suffering
I was carried in on the ailerons of verse
I was carried out on the pine's lowly dirge
-excerpted from current manuscript
SCHOLAR / TEACHER
I am an interdisciplinary PhD student at the University of Ljubljana. Situated in the field of Balkan Studies, my work is founded in the scholarship of reproductive anthropology, maternal healthcare, biopower, postcoloniality, and experimental ethnography.
At present, I am a lecturer at the City University of New York where I teach creative writing and composition.
I also co-lead a generative poetry workshop titled “Poetry, Consciousness, Birth" that focuses on the intersections between poetry, theory, creativity, and birth.
“This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in processes of transformation that set the stage for moments of acute insight. In this two-hour workshop we will explore how physiological changes become pathways to access altered states. Along the way, we will chart parallels in the manner in which undisturbed childbirth and acts of creation have been co-opted by mechanistic and capitalistic worldviews emphasizing production over process. In the spirit of maintaining our creative agency, we summon the cosmic from the quotidian. Proprioceptively, we come into our bodies as they are, and through verbal, aural and visual cues, venture along an inward trajectory that brings us deep into our innate poetic capacity, for we are natura naturans: “nature doing what nature does.”
Please inquire if you would like to host this workshop
HYPNOBIRTHING®
“I could not speak more highly of Sonja or recommend her to other women more strongly. She was with us from the very beginning of an almost 60 hour labor and stayed until after the baby was born. She was a tremendous help to both me and my husband. I don’t think I would have been able to get through it without her.” -Nataleigh
“We did a hypnobirthing class with Sonja and I am so grateful for the experience! She’s a wonderful instructor and has such a beautifully encouraging presence. She does so great with instilling confidence, I highly recommend!” -Veronica
“We can't thank you enough for your calming presence and for teaching us the hypnobirthing work. We feel so lucky to have found you and have cherished these sundays together. It has been so nice to have dedicated time to meditate together and stay focused on our baby. Truthfully, I'm a bit sad it's over. We both feel so much more prepared and equipped to have the type of birth we'd both like to have, we wouldn't be feeling this way had we not worked with you.” -Lauren & Jeff
“Sonja is a great instructor, listener, poet, and human being. She is articulate, patient, understanding, empathetic, and non-judgmental. It has been a very pleasant journey.” -Ivy & Henry
“Thank you so much for all that you do and helping me build the confidence I needed to have a peaceful, successful homebirth. I have so much respect for the work that you do and will definitely recommend your class to potential moms in the future. Thank you again!!” -Sandra
As a Certified Doula (DONA), HypnoBirthing® Educator (CHBE), and Family Advocate (Matrona), my vision is to support life givers in moving towards a mindful, dignified and emotionally fulfilled birth. By providing balanced care that tends to the whole person, I will meet you where you are and help to guide you in connecting with the transformative birth process.
HypnoBirthing® is a childbirth technique and philosophy that focuses on fear release and deep relaxation. Beyond being an evidenced-based childbirth education class, HypnoBirthing® focuses on the relationship between mind and body, exploring how our thoughts shape our experiences, and consequently our births. Through breathing, visualization, and self-hypnosis, HypnoBirthing® supports you in birthing instinctively and without fear.
Classes are held on Zoom weekends at 11:00 AM EST/17:00 CET. The program meets once a week over the course of 5 weeks for 2.5 hours each class.
HypnoBirthing® is a childbirth technique and philosophy that focuses on fear release and deep relaxation. Beyond being an evidenced-based childbirth education class, HypnoBirthing® focuses on the relationship between mind and body, exploring how our thoughts shape our experiences, and consequently our births. Through breathing, visualization, and self-hypnosis, HypnoBirthing® supports you in birthing instinctively and without fear.
Classes are held on Zoom weekends at 11:00 AM EST/17:00 CET. The program meets once a week over the course of 5 weeks for 2.5 hours each class.
