Alanis Morissette opens up about breastfeeding on new magazine cover

It’s pretty safe to say that Canadian legend Alanis Morissette has changed lives with her music. At least that’s the general feeling from stars like Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato, who have admitted it was Alanis who opened the door for female musicians to show all kinds of emotions in their music. (Shout-out to Jagged Little Pill). Now the singer is changing people’s tunes again—this time by speaking out on important motherhood issues, including breastfeeding and postpartum experiences.For the May cover of Health magazine, which comes just in time for Mother’s Day and Mental Health Month, Morissette can be seen breastfeeding her baby son Winter in what the magazine calls a “tribute to moms everywhere.” The 45-year-old says that she wanted that image specifically because she loves women.“I love moms so much. If I talk about it too much, I’ll start crying,” she says in the interview. “I just think moms are so selfless day in and day out—women are just killing it all the time. And they are so often quietly suffering, or not-so-quietly suffering, and still going—functioning sufferers. And if there can be even one moment of respite that my humour around it or my validation of it can help—that’s why I did it.”

 

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“i realize that the more i share vulnerably—it makes life easier. i feel more connected with other human beings. humans have always seemed dangerous to me. i notice, though, that when i share my shame with a non-judgmental listener.. life feels safer. that kills me... that the answer is moving further toward the safe people in my life.” @healthmagazine #angelwinter

A post shared by Alanis Morissette (@alanis) on Apr 7, 2020 at 5:54pm PDT

Morissette also opens up about therapy (she’s being going since she was 15), self-care (water and meditation), and the cathartic energy of art. She also talked about postpartum depression, which she experienced with her first two children (Onyx, 3, and Ever, 9), and the anxiety she now feels with Winter, who was born in August 2019.“My first two children, it was mostly depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety. But the depression was so in my face that the anxiety was just background music,” she said. “With this one, it’s mostly anxiety and almost no depression. I’ve come to understand that this is purely animal. With breastfeeding, your oxytocin goes sky-high. Then cortisol goes sky-high because you’re trying to protect the baby from, you know, a potential saber-toothed tiger." She added that "modern times" don't allow for the comfortable recuperation period women need."Ideally, we’re supposed to be ensconced with, like, 51 women, broths, soups, and warmth as the body is reconstructing—as your identity is reconstructing," she said. "Cut to modern times, where the world is very masculine, very alpha, which is completely the opposite. On that animal level, you’re just supposed to be up all night feeding your baby and sleeping all day when they’re napping. Who the f--- does that?"[video_embed id='1906479']RELATED: New mom Shay Mitchell plans to keep sharing ‘the good, bad and not so great’[/video_embed]While those feelings may be relatable to many new (and experienced!) moms out there, Morissette also opened up about another method of parenting that can be pretty controversial: "unschooling." She, like fellow celeb Mayim Bialik, have ditched traditional classrooms in order to focus on child-led learning without report cards, grades and quizzes.“Unschooling, for me, is child-led education. So if there’s some agenda like, ‘Let’s play with these magnet tiles, and my daughter is like, ‘F--- those tiles. I want to put glitter on that thing and cut the tree and put the thing,’ boom—we do that. I basically get inside their eyeballs,” she explained. “I’m constantly watching their eyes and what they’re pulled toward, and then we do the deep dive. My husband and I create pods all over the house—here’s where the spelling area is, and here’s where the fake animals are. There’s probably a better definition of unschooling, but there’s no rigidity to it.”There’s no rigidity, but there’s also no turning it off. According to Morissette, unschooling is basically exhausting. "If my son is going to bed late on tour and he asks me three really huge, existential questions, there’s no, ‘Ah, we’ll talk about it in the morning.’ That is the moment. Unschooling is 24/7,” she added. “When I share with people that I unschool, a lot of people I’m close with say they’d love to do it but just can’t. And I get it. I’m like, ‘Yes. I understand, and I think it’s a smart choice not to do it.’ It’s a major commitment.”Agree or disagree with her parenting choices, fans everywhere can look forward to new music from Morissette in the very near future. Such Pretty Forks in the Road is scheduled to drop May 1, marking her first studio album release in eight years. If the first single, “Reasons I Drink,” is any indication, things are about to get angsty all over again.[video_embed id='1935405']BEFORE YOU GO: Exes Bruce and Demi self-isolate together in matching PJs[/video_embed]