Dear Doulas and Open Hearted Birth Professionals,
Many of us yearn for the extraordinary. Our media tells us to. It often whispers the subtle message that our lives are not enough. That WE are not enough. We must achieve more, buy more, possess more than we did before. If we don’t, we are lesser beings.
Nothing could be further from the truth. We are adequate just we are, and that’s enough. Our lives are enough, just as they are. Ordinary. Doing dishes, making food, folding laundry, wiping noses and behinds as needed. Making love to the same person (your self) over and over again for years. As doulas we use our bodies and our minds in service of others. We find fulfillment in helping other people to grow and face
adversity by being at their side.
It’s the ordinariness of those acts, done with conscious intention and caring, that make them extraordinary. When we bring our hearts and full conscious self to the actions of caring, we are a blessing. Whether it's a diaper change for a client’s baby, or saying “Perfect, that’s the way” for the thousandth time to a laboring person, the act of being conscious and mindful makes it extraordinary. We are thinking
breathing human beings caring for and connecting to another. Our nervous systems and our brains are synced with theirs in cycles of oxytocin and oxygen. We help to regulate the laboring and postpartum person’s emotions by tuning in to them.
As doulas, we are already extraordinary. Our lives are already tremendously impactful. When we put our clients in the center and bring our mindful conscious self to caring for them and their families, that is enough. We are not lesser, we are more. We are bigger than we ever thought possible. Remember that.
