Practice Makes Progress
Celebrating growth, confessions of a biz owner, and LAST CALL for the Care Immersion
As I prepare to close the 2nd year of enrollment for this community of caregivers and service providers, I’m once again reflecting and appreciating how my experiences as a mother and doula have seasoned me for this experience.
I said this the other day, but I am not built for the intensity of launch periods. It requires a stamina that I simply don’t possess. One of my favorite lessons from this past cohort of the Care Immersion (FKA Embodied Caregivers) was how I’ve used the Fertility Awareness Method to shape my daily life. Working a little more around the creative follicular phase and taking it slow in my luteal phase.
Developing body literacy is one thing, but navigating a society designed around disconnection from the body is another. Straight up: the expectation for constant production is simply unnatural. Throw in neurodivergence, parenting, and these generally unpredictable times and you can say I’ve been pushed from my comfort zone.
Birth work really distanced me further from the pace of capitalism and shined a light on just how unnatural and unproductive this expectation to be “on” for extended periods is. You know I love some birth lessons for life, so here are some reminders I received as I birthed this Care Immersion.
Rest
I grew up with rest attached to laziness or luxury, but it’s not a reward: its a requirement. Its the first thing I tell my doula clients to do when labor starts. Amidst all the excitement of baby coming, it can seem so counterintuitive to pause and practice rest but its the best thing people can do for themselves and baby.
While working through so many important projects and juggling my responsibilities as a mother and daughter, I caught myself thinking I didn’t deserve rest. And that’s exactly when I laid my ass down, closed my eyes, listened to the sound of my breathe, and rested.
Intuition
Rest opens up my intuition and that has been key throughout this process. Just as a laboring mother’s intuition guides them into The Birth Realm to surrender to the process, I’ve been sitting with my intuition throughout this launch process to check in regularly with where I’m at and if my actions are still aligned with my desired outcome (consent is sexy and that includes with your own body).
My intuition is what gave me the courage to ask friends for help, to design my programming at my altar with my ancestors, and to adjust deadlines and structures as needed. I know too well the feeling of ignoring an intuitive hit and later feeling like “ugh I knew that was gonna happen.” Connecting with my intuition has removed a lot of fear, attachment, and ego from my life.
Self Advocacy
As the saying goes, “closed mouths don’t get fed,” and that is the case in birth and certainly in business. As a recovering people pleaser, I’ve really worked through the story that I am asking for too much when really I’m asking for my basic needs to be met.
If you know my birth story, you know I notoriously did not advocate for myself and it is both a regret and a huge part of how I landed in birth work. Self advocacy in birthwork is both about asking for help and allowing yourself to receive it; something I’m so glad I did the past 2 weeks.
Surrender
Ultimately the outcome is not ours to determine. I can’t control how many people join my program; once the leg work is done its time to surrender to the outcome. Surrender is not a passive practice, it requires developing safety in the body to even access that state.
My somatic toolkit, trance journeys, and ancestor work really helped get me to a place where I feel safe to surrender. Having no doubt that the universe has my back and my ancestors DNA flows through my veins, I trust that I can surrender and be cared for. There’s a reason this is so central to The Birth Realm’s philosophy.
The process of enrollment reminded me of these lessons, but in a way that surprised me. While in the past they’ve been lessons learned the hard way, this time they emerged as affirmations of the work I put in for these things to become second nature.
I don’t always get it right. I still think on occasion “there’s no time to rest.” I still reach for my pendulum to confirm what my intuition knows. I still catch myself shrinking my needs for the comfort of others. I still try to game life, forgetting I don’t always run the show.
It’s all a practice. That’s why the structure of this year’s Care Immersion is so heavily conversation and practice-based. Over time I’ve learned that the mind isn’t enough to understand these concepts. It’s important to learn them through intellect. Its just as important to observe our bodies when they are confronted with these themes in real time. And its equally vital to surrender to the trance state and journey into deeper embodiment through spirit.
Applications for the Care Immersion close tonight. Book your alignment call by midnight to practice embodiment through the mind, body, and spirit through 3 monthly calls and individual support developing your care gifts and spiritual foundations with myself and the
team.I look forward to sharing more birth lessons for life and for the pregnant members, I’ll see you all in The Birth Realm this Sunday at 2pm PT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET.
The Care Immersion is a path to self, community, and collective liberation. This is a space for caregivers and change-makers to connect to intuition and take courageous action toward lives of deep integrity, authenticity, accountability, and pleasure alongside a community of people who share this desire and commitment to serve.
Guided with Soft Power, a collective and praxis for people of the diaspora ready to dream, design, and build the next paradigm. This is a space where healing happens through storytelling, genuine connection, rest, trance journeys, voice alchemy, flow state, and creative expression.