Touch the Earth Birth

Would you love to understand birth from the inside out . . .

with a circle of women who want to go deep in their exploration? Yes, you want to really understand the research, evidence, and philosophy behind modern midwifery and make sense of what really serves mothers and families, and you. You want to learn about birth apart from politics and fear. You want to delve into the mystical nuances, deeper meanings, and hidden mysteries that pretty much aren’t covered in most midwifery or doula trainings. You dream of learning how to really help women who have had previous birth trauma understand, heal and transcend any traumatic residue, without dishonoring their status as birth warriors. Yes, you are ready to face hard issues, share and explore, in small community inquiry for the future of birthing women.

Right now you are still wavering on the precipice . . .

You feel the call to work with birth, but when you approach midwifery programs you cringe a little, and back away thinking maybe you’re not really cut out for it. You know you don’t want to be a medical practitioner and know deep inside that there is another way.

You have probably tried giving up the dream of becoming a midwife…

but birth just keeps calling you back. Or maybe you’ve done your share of just grinning and bearing it and you think you just might explode if you have to pretend even one more minute. You’ve searched for classes that are the least medical possible, but still you can’t quite find your way. You’ve tried finding mentors, but are feeling discouraged at your lack of community.

I know how it feels!

I still struggle with feeling like an outsider and renegade, and it can be very very lonely. I have soul searched and visited the very depths in this journey. I also know that there is a groundswell approaching and it is time to gather together and really sift through it all and begin to offer something different, for mothers and families…. but also for midwives who want to learn as equals and find their own way rather than be educated. It is time for a new paradigm in midwifery and birth education. This new breed of midwifes craves midwifery mentorship that honors their already-there inner wisdom rather than requiring a huge download and regurgitation of information. They want to learn from birth itself, not from authority and opinion.

That is why I created a program where becoming a midwife is not a power struggle . . .

So that we can gather and consult over issues that are often taboo in conventional midwifery and doula training. So that we can find our way back home, to our Ancestral Selves who really know this birth thing from the inside out. So we can grapple together with the paradox of safe birth, trauma and initiation. So that we can strengthen and clarify our perspectives, so that we can re-shape birth culture for our daughters and sons and be ready for the women who, like you, are being called to know birth as the archetypal rite of passage.

Much of what I have learned is from families who know the depths of traumatic birth, ritual interrupted, desperate search, surrender and loss. I am offering this program for the first time this Fall. It is for wannabe doulas and seasoned midwives, but mostly it is for mothers who know from their own pain, that something is very very wrong out there, Mother’s who want to recover birth for themselves, and also for their families, sisters and daughters.

But what is the solution? That is what this program is about… It is partly about my sharing what I’ve learned, but mostly it is about sharing the structure and process I use with clients and using them in our group to discover our individual solutions as well as broader cultural ones. The Touch the Earth Birth will serve as a template to help you find your own Instinctual Self, and ultimately serve the women you witness in birth do the same.

Here is what the program will include:

• 8 weeks of community, support and integration
• Lectures & Seminars
• Reading Assignments
• Soft Animal Full Course
• 3 Myth Mending sessions
• Folklore Foods healthy cooking course
• Lifetime Membership in the Touch the Earth Birth Village

Topics we will cover:

• Undisturbed & Unassisted Birth
• The Birth Field & Resonance
• Your (un)Midwifery Bag
• Authentic Apprenticeship
• Myth Mending in Prenatal Care
• Healing Birth Trauma & Birth Story Integration
• Curative Story & The Poetic Imagination
• Instinctual Self / Soft Animal
• Birth Rituals / Rites of Passage / Ceremonies

What to Expect…

You can expect a humble gathering of women who want to delve into the mysteries of birth. We will gather virtually in our private and secret Facebook Group, as well as on conference calls. Our meetings will follow the rhythm of the moon to increase efficiency and ease. We will start each New Moon with a quiet practice and introduction of a topic and then build to full intensity with the moon. After the full moon we will taper off into quiet stillness, integration and vision. You will be assigned research and writing assignments as well as practical assignments. We will get to know each other and have some fun too!

You Can Do It!

Your experience level and book knowledge is less important than your heart sense, and your passion for becoming a midwife. From my undergraduate days at the Evergreen State College, I have experience with learning systems that work for beginners as well as advanced students. True knowledge doesn’t come in levels, but through love. You will be free to start right where you are and encouraged to go as deeply as you wish. Your contribution will be honored regardless of your background.

Who Touch the Earth Birth is for:

• Midwifery students who want to explore birth more deeply than acquiring clinical skills
• Doula students who want to explore becoming a midwife
• Seasoned Midwives and Doulas who want to learn and (un)learn humbly as equals
• And especially Mothers who want to reclaim their rightful place in birth, their own as well as the births of their sisters, friends and daughters.

Who Touch the Earth Birth is NOT for:

• Anyone who is not ready to look deeper and stand in the face of the status quo
• Anyone who is attached to defending either natural or surgical birth. Instead we will delve deeper and find the emergent middle ground between these polarized oppositions.

Cost:

TBA

Start Date:

The (un)Midwifery Mentorship group will open again for enrollment in 2014. Please sign-up below if you would like to know when it starts:

 

Wanna learn more? Listen to the curriculum overview Q&A class below (coming soon). No rush. Keep poking around and contact me with your questions. Let me know what you need to find clarity! Here are a few (un)Midwifery Articles you might find interesting and helpful in making your decision.