Birthing Herbs Workshop

On October 18 from 5-9 pm I will be presenting a Birthing Herbs Workshop.

I have been using medicinal herbs for over forty years, and I would like to introduce some of my best herbal friends to you and encourage you to make your own. If you're interested in using more herbal remedies either for yourself, for your families, or with your clients, this is the place to start learning about how to approach these powerful plants. I presented this workshop at the Birth and Beyond workshop a few years ago, and everyone enjoyed it.

Herbs and Beyond!



Here are some questions we will have a look at:

What do herbs do?
How do we harvest herbs?
How to process herbs
Which herb should you use?

Here is a taste of my technique, and an introduction to my favourite herb, St Johns Wort or Hypericum perforatum. I was first introduced to this lovely but common plant by a peasant woman in rural Italy. She told me it was good for small abrasions, back in the day when I had four small boys running around. It's a lovely, versatile, powerful friend.

https://youtu.be/ubNbsCpQzfU

In this Birthing Herbs Workshop we will mostly be learning about how to approach the world of medicinal herbs and how to start using them with the respect and familiarity they deserve. What is your relationship to herbal plants? Do you love plants? How do you relate to lavender? will be some of the weirder questions we will ask each other.



We will meet on Thursday Oct 18th at 5pm at Caffe della Pace. Cost is $25 per person.

This workshop is open to all.

Coming up in 2018!

2018 has started and is moving along quite nicely. I can't believe it's been a year since I went to Greece to work with the families there who were fleeing war and destruction in Syria and elsewhere. That was a life-changing experience for me ... more on that in another post!

But for now, I am motivated and excited to present some very interesting activities coming up over the next few months. At the Peace Cafe, 1002 Van Horne, Montreal, we host all sorts of events, and listed below are most of our doula-related activities, led by leaders in their fields from our Montreal birth community:

On the third Sunday of every month, doulas and anyone who's interested can meet at the Caffe della Pace, 1002 Van Horne, from 6pm until 7:30pm, to catch up, share birth stories and support. The next one will be on January 21, at six pm. 

Sunday, January 21, 9:30am-5:30pm, Yoga for Doulas One (Prenatal)

Wednesday, February 7, 6-9 pm, Postpartum Herbs

Saturday, Sunday, February 24, 25 9 am-5 pm, Supporting the Breastfeeding Newborn

Sunday, March 18, 2018, 9:30am-5:30pm, Yoga for Doulas Two (Labour and Postpartum). 

I am also hosting two very exciting events!

On February 6, 2018, my Radical Doula Study group will commence. This will be an eight week course for those wishing an introduction to doula care. It will also be a chance for more experienced and knowledgeable students (and myself) to come together and learn more about the craft, and also in the process to teach the incoming students. This is a different way of looking at knowledge, learning, and how we process: February 6, 2018 - March 27, 2018. 5:30-9pm, Radical Doula Study Group. Cost $400 for new students; $100 per month for advanced participants (ongoing).

AND for the first time, we are hosting a Summer Doula Retreat up in our mountain hideaway!!

Mountain Hideaway

It is so important to recognize when you need to take a break! If you are working with people and their bodies, you may find yourself tired, fatigued, "burnt-out", distressed, or even physically ill. If you're working with people on the edges of our affluent society, you may feel that you do not deserve a break, but you do! I propose a week in the fresh air, away from everything (limited internet access, be warned!). We will take walks and learn about the herbs that live around us; meditate; think and talk; be silent. We'll eat good vegetarian food, and strengthen our bodies and our spirits for the year ahead. We'll laugh and probably shed a tear or two.

Come away with me!

https://www.mbcdoulaschool.ca/summerbirthretreat.html

Montreal Doula Training April 15, 2012

I am happy to announce that I have teamed up with Jana from Studio Vie to organize a doula course that will be starting on April 15, 2012.

The program is based on the approach that I have explored in my book, and we will be using the book as our text.

This program is comprised of three levels. Completion of the Level One course will allow the participants to volunteer as doulas for Montreal Birth Companions volunteer doula organization.

Level Two is a continuation and an exploration of themes introduced in Level One. This level will provide doulas with the necessary skills to run a private doula practice.



 Level Three courses are specialized, and they take place in all sorts of interesting places.

We will be going to Cuba together next spring, and this summer we will be exploring storytelling and healing with Lewis Mehl-Madrona, in Italy.

To be accepted into Level Three you need to have attended births as a doula or lay midwife, and you need a strong foundation in self-directed learning.

If you are interested in accompanying me on any or all of these journeys, please let me know. Our courses are filling up fast!

Italy, July 2012?

The studio

We are very excited to present a storytelling and healing workshop with myself, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Barbara Mainguy and friends that will take place in Umbria, Italy July 2012. It will be a unique retreat in a special place right in the center of the "green heart of Italy". We are inviting anyone who is interested in story, the healing power of narrative, writing, birth, or just plain relaxing and staring at the view.

Please go to Storytelling and Healing for more details.

Girl Code?

Please visit the sisters and like my post! This will earn me one vote towards earning my Jetsetter edition course.

I just love it when I see women doing innovative and upbeat stuff. I love Savon Populaire - run by a trio of women, who have a few kids between them  and still manage to run a successful business (that also smells like heaven!)

Or there's Motherwit, also a Montreal-based business, run by our city's busiest and well-known doula, who leads a team of women who have accompanied many families through pregnancy and beyond.

My  Sicilian friend Ninni mixes her love for design with her desire for social justice to produce amazing creations, and she shares her knowledge with prison inmates to assist them to imagine a life outside of their limitations.

When I think of it, there are hundreds of amazing women I know and have known through the years, who have an idea, dream about it for a while, and then just get up and do it!

So - the code part - I just discovered another gem of a business, run by two enterprising sisters, who have decided to open the doors of web design to the common woman! Their site, The Girl's Guide to Web Design, looks very cool, works like a dream, and is full of interesting tidbits.


I had a lot of fun working with my sister on The Birth Conspiracy, my recently released book on natural birth, doulas, and hospitals. I loved working with her, and I was so happy that she agreed to put her amazing talents into our project.

The book is selling well, and we are planning three launches in different cities over the next few months. We are organizing a workshop in Italy in the summer with a great bunch of people, including our friend Lewis Mehl-Madrona, doctor, healer, storyteller, and author of Narrative Medicine.

I have so much going on - my volunteer doula organization, my own private practice, my workshops here and abroad, writing projects ... and I want to be able to use my voice more effectively and with a bit of a splash - I love techy stuff and I am always looking to learn more.
I envision a site where women can browse and gather information about natural birth, or find a doula, or sign up for an international workshop; get resources on anything from birthing in Sicily to doula projects in the Caribbean; find out how to join a writer's workshop ...and I want it to look good, and to work the way it should: big, beautiful, friendly, and cosmopolitan.

Which program? Jetsetter, definitely. I have been doing self-directed study since I was in high school; I love the name; and I can go at my own speed wherever I am.

Fun secret fact? I love to play the clarinet - from Brahm's Clarinet Sonata in F Minor, to some low-down blues after a few shots....