Mothers need mothering, too.

Becoming a mother changes your body, your brain, and your priorities at a cellular level.

It’s a profound and ✨magical✨ shift that will challenge you and allow you to grow in incredibly beautiful ways if you let it.

Yet sadly, Western culture has stripped mothers of the ritual and reverence surrounding birth and the postpartum period.

Mother Matricaria was birthed from my own experiences as a mother and my observations about the many ways in which our culture overlooks mothers and birthing people.

I look forward to supporting you on your journey and expanding my offerings as time and energy allow.

Much like a mother, matricaria chamomilla, or chamomile, is an herb with a calming — yet strong — presence. 

She’s a plant whose wisdom has been passed down through my maternal lineage, used for generations to soothe countless ailments and aid in relaxation.

I hold chamomile close to my heart, growing it in my garden, infusing it in my herbal products, and steeping it in a strong cup of tea to soothe a sick kiddo or get some rest myself when motherhood leaves me overstimulated.

Why Matricaria?

“Becoming a mother leaves no woman as it found her. It unravels and rebuilds her. It cracks her open, takes her to her edges. It's both beautiful and brutal, often at the same time.”

– Nikki McCahon

Kristen Gutierrez, MS, RYT, RPYT

Kristen Gutierrez, Founder

I’m a West Seattle-based mother to an energetic toddler as well as a perinatal yoga teacher, Birthing from Within mentor-in-training, and storyteller for health and wellness brands. I completed my 200-hour training at Yogaview in Chicago in 2015 and I’m a 2023 graduate of Sacred Birth, Awakened Spirit Yoga's prenatal and postnatal yoga teacher training.

Whether I’m wrangling my kiddo, digging up weeds in my unruly garden, gaping at mountains, or stopping to smell the flowers, yoga is the lens through which I examine it all. I’m passionate about birth work and believe pregnancy, birth, and motherhood are sacred rites of passage worthy of deep care and reverence.

  • •B.A. in Journalism, Marist College (2010)

    •M.S. in Health Communication, Northwestern University (2015)

    •200-hour teacher training at yogaview in Chicago with Jessica Carlin, Dorie Silverman, Quinn Kearney, Tom Quinn, and Claire Mark (2015)

    •Street Yoga trauma-informed yoga for youth training (2017)

    •Foundations of Herbalism with Wildroot Botanicals (2022)

    •85-hour prenatal yoga teacher training with Awakened Spirit Yoga (2023)

    •20-hour postnatal yoga teacher training with Awakened Spirit Yoga (2023)

    •Birthing from Within childbirth educator training (ongoing)

  • •Marketing and Studio Manager at Saraswati's Yoga Joint in Connecticut (2013-2014)

    •Yoga Instructor at OmTown Yoga in North Seattle (2016-2018)

    •Yoga Instructor for the University of Washington’s Mindfulness Program (2018)

    •Yoga Advisor at Namaste Yoga + Wellness in the East Bay (2019)

    •Prenatal Yoga Teacher at Limber Yoga in West Seattle (2023-Present)