Embodied Birth Skills
Skills for an embodied Birth and motherhood
Do you believe that there is more to birth than what is portrayed in mass media?
Do you want to experience birth feeling empowered and embodied?
Are you confused or overwhelmed by all the different birth methods out there?
…Is it about working on your body? Or your mindset? Or maybe all you need is your intuition?
Birth is so multi-faceted that there will never be just one silver bullet to getting your birth “right.” Birth is an initiation. It is all-encompassing… body, mind, spirit, soul. Positions, movement, pleasure, nervous system, mindset, community…
You know that birth is going to require something extra of you, but you have no idea what that thing is. Or how to access it.
Do you know what skills it takes to birth without fear or share?
Do you know what skills it takes to birth with freedom of movement, choice and power?
The Embodied Birth Skills course is that multi-faceted approach that will take you from the meta level down to the actual, embodied skills for being in labor, transiting the void of birth and integrating the experience into motherhood.
“Dawn’s childbirth class prepared me for a different kind of birth experience. Other classes that I took gave me methods, but Dawn’s class gave me skills that were anchored in a deep understanding of the process of birth. I was able to say what I needed to say in the moment with confidence. Also the teaching on pushing WITH my breath was game-changing! This was my third birth but my first unmedicated birth, and being able to experience the full range of emotions during labor and birth was a gift.”
Listen up! I know your OBGYN has said they will do all the things that you want to do. But I’m sorry to say that you are going to need some REAL preparation for this experience! The lens through which modern allopathic medicine sees birth is that it is a medical emergency to be managed every step of the way - including financially.
But you sense - or know - that there is something deeper, more sacred, hidden beneath the stories of “emergency C-sections”. WHY is it that 1/3 of American women “can’t” have unmedicated birth?
It would be easy to blame the problem on the medical industrial complex. But that’s actually way too simplistic. And the causes are as much our own responsibility as they are the systems’.
I’m not telling you that you just have to set your mind to positive thoughts and trust your intuition and everything will be fine. Western medicine does have a role in certain pregnancy/birth situations. I also want to remind you that Western medicine has brought us more health than humans have experienced in thousands of years.
The Embodied Birth Skills course is a whole-systems approach to preparing you for the physical, mental and spiritual challenges of birth.
You will learn - and practice in real time - the skills that will give you access to your unique and inherent body-wisdom.
You will learn to “read” your intuition and discern which of the gut reactions your body-mind habitually goes to for self preservation.
You - and your support person - will learn the true meanings of surrender, witnessing and power.
What it is not:
There is so much talk around birthing in “freedom and power.” Of burning down the modern Western medical system to have a Freebirth in the woods alone. The words “sovereignty” “embodied” and “autonomy” are pretty cliched. If you have seen these things and thought… hmmm, yes I want to birth in freedom and power, but…
…I just don’t think I could do it alone - or even outside of the hospital
…something about those offerings just doesn’t sit right with me
…my partner/family member/doctor says its dangerous to birth outside the system
This course is not about spiritual bypassing the realities of birth - the complications, the challenges, the risks, the goals of the medical industrial complex and the systemic racism.
In fact, addressing these issues head-on is what leads to your power.
In this class you will learn:
How to feel safe and held in any location that labor and birth take place
Practical tools for comfort, safety and ease through labor
Just enough about the process of birth for you to trust birth. To trust pregnancy. To trust your body. To trust your intuition
The innate wildness inherent in your pregnant and birthing body. This wildness is what makes birth something that we were literally born to do. Not in the way that it is your destiny or duty as a person with a uterus, but in a way that is physiologically inherent to your anatomy.
The ways that being civilized, socialized humans impacts the natural blueprint of birth. And what you can do about that!
Tools and practices to embody your inherited power as a birthing person
The psychological shift in consciousness that occurs in labor and how to practice being in this numinous state
The phases of initiation that are inherent in birth and how to use those phases for an evolutionary experience
How to live your birth plan every day
“I feel so empowered and ready for birth. This class equipped me and my partner with tools that we will 100% be taking into the birthing room. Also the resources Dawn provides as part of the class can take you into even deeper dives of birth exploration. This class offered content that is not provided in your typical childbirth class. If you’re hoping to have an empowering birth, no matter the setting (home birth, hospital, birth center) this class is for you. ”
Course Details
Each week includes live and pre-recorded classes with practices, and a discussion group in our private community forum.
Course Format:
4 weeks of online live + pre-recorded content
4, 1.5-2hr live lecture classes to lay the foundation for the skills you will practice, recorded for future use if you miss the class
15+ pre-recorded videos and audio tracks for learning and practicing the birth skills at your own pace (over and over again)
Bonus PDF workbooks and content
Schedule:
The next session is by request
weekly course outline
Week 1: Birth as a Rite of Passage - Understand the archetypal journey of birth and the stages of a rite of passage - Partners learn how to hold space and be a witness
Week 2: Your Innate Wildness - Understand the physiological process of birth for your body and mind and for baby - Connect to your pelvis (bones, muscles, organs, genitals/intimate parts)
Week 3: Birthing in Captivity - Understand the medical system’s approach to birth and the choices you will be given - Understand how your nervous system works in birth and how your system might be effected by situations with care providers
Week 4: Embodying a Birth Plan + Fourth Trimester Planning - How to practice birth - Planning for your fourth trimester
Investment:
Full price: $349
Super Early Bird: $249
“I feel so empowered and ready for birth. This class equipped me and my partner with tools that we will 100% be taking into the birthing room. Also the resources Dawn provides as part of the class can take you into even deeper dives of birth exploration. This class offered content that is not provided in your typical childbirth class. If you’re hoping to have an empowering birth, no matter the setting (home birth, hospital, birth center) this class is for you.
”
Embodied Birth Skills Course is for you if…
…you if you want to birth outside of the hospital
…the hospital is the best or safest option for you
…have taken other birth classes but still didn’t have the experience you hoped for
…know that birth is about way more than just your mind-set and the choices you are allowed to make (and you want to create the right mind-set and know what choices you will be given)
…know that the answers lie somewhere within you, but you want help accessing that ancient wisdom
…understand birth as a sacred time
…are ready to face the darkness and fears that are lurking in the back of your mind
…you’ve experienced trauma (in previous births or life) and you don’t want that to impact your birth
…want to prepare for birth in a way that acknowledges the challenges to birth from the medical system but is grounded in skills rather than spiritual bypass
But what if I have a condition that actually does need medical management? Will this class have anything for me?
Yes! In the Embodied Birth Skills class you will learn to access your inherent wisdom and power for whatever kind of birth you dream of. And these skills will serve you in motherhood well before you hit the “terrible twos”.
This Course is NOT for you if…
…you just want to get the epidural or schedule the C-section
…feel like you “don’t have anything to prove by suffering through labor”
…are not willing to practice the skills and do the work of preparation
Your Teacher
Dawn Leonard, ERYT-200, RPYT, Reiki Master Teacher, Birth Doula, MotherCircle Facilitator, Vaginal Steam Practitioner
Dawn is a yoga teacher, somatic womb practitioner, birth doula and childbirth educator, and facilitator of circles and ceremonies.
She specializes in helping women transit the initiation of birth with embodied skills, access to ancient wisdom and through community ritual and ceremonies. In her 1:1 work, Dawn facilitates healing through energetic/spiritual and somatic practices so that women can grow into positive relationship with their bodies and each other.
