Awakening the Village

Doula Mentorship

January – June 2022

Awakening the Village is an online deep immersion, where together we dive into: what it means to walk with women through birth and parenting, and to contribute your gifts to your community in powerful, transformative ways. You will be joining a growing community of passionate and committed birth workers.

Whether you have completed a formal doula training or are just beginning your journey, this program will support and challenge you to nourish your unique gifts and serve the childbearing community at the highest level.

This unique mentoring program offers a structure that allows for the sharing of practical information and knowledge, as well as cultivating community and personal growth.

It is designed to help you unleash your greatest potentials, support you in becoming the powerful, magnificent, woman you came here to be and make the contributions and impact you came here to make.

We Need Doulas

The ideal birth, is not the pain free, natural, vaginal birth.
It is the birth that you stepped into
From a place of LOVE and not fear
A birth that unfolded as it needed to
A decision that was made
From a place of TRUST and not fear
Not to avoid something
But to embrace something
Larger, bigger, wider, unimaginable.
To suggest birth be one way,
That is; be easy, pain free
Is to suggest LIFE be such;
Easy, pain free, without challenge
Without an edge to push us into places
Of depth and darkness and growth.
We did not chose parenthood
To live a pain free life
Without challenge
This one sided conversation about birth
Being only about PAIN-
How to manage it
Avoid it, control it, endure it
IS AN INSULT
We have everything we need to cope with this pain
What we truly need:
We NEED someone to hold a mirror up to our
GREATNESS our POWER
We need someone to LISTEN
To be there when we say we need help
To be silent when we don’t
We need someone on the other side
To tend to our wounds and our mending
To hear our story
To stoke the fire and warm the bath
To pour the soup and wrap us
In a cloak of glory and love.
To touch those tender aching places
To stroke the muscles that are mending
To catch our tears and hold our hearts
To swaddle us so gently
And sing us back
To the fertile ground of all
That we are becoming
To sing us 
back home

The program includes a three-day in-person weekend retreat and  weekly online group sessions.

 

Dates for the Weekend Retreat

Will be determined

Once the new cohort has gathered and physical distancing protocols have been lifted.

The Six Month Program

Includes an in-person Retreat in Campbellford, Ontario

FOUR ONLINE SESSIONS PER MONTH
January 2022 – June 2022

 

Week One: Teaching/Workshop Call

Exploring, deepening and mastering knowledge and expertise in themes and topics  related to the childrearing year and relevant to who you are becoming and what you are creating as a Doula/Community Birth Worker.

Week Two: Integration Call

Integrating teachings, practice and role play, question and answer session.

Week Three: Wild Card Call

Guest Speakers, Workshops and Special Topics

Week Four: Group Coaching Call

Vision Sharing. Intention Setting. Reflections. Coaching. Anchoring

 

+ Monthly One – on – One Personal Mentorship Calls

from June to December 2021

 

These calls will be in our ‘living’ Zoom room. All sessions will be recorded in the event that you can’t be there in person and to have for future review.

This Mentorship is for…

Women who are feeling called to support pregnant women and their families through pregnancy, birth and/or during the postpartum period.

Women who have, or have not, done a previous doula training and are yearning for mentorship and a container/community that supports their growth and work as doulas.

Women who are working with pregnant and postpartum women (massage therapists, yoga teachers, physiotherapists etc.)  and are called to expand their knowledge base and skills to include doula services and support.

Women who are yearning for a professional community that fosters deep relationships, support, collaboration and inspiration.

Those who are seeking an immersive mentorship experience that will guide you through the process of honing your skills as a doula, aligning with your creative power, getting clear on your vision and what you want to contribute to the world, being an active member of a community that is committed to standing with you as you rise and leap into this work.

During the 6 months we will cover topics such as: Exploring our role as doulas. Exploring our intention and vision. Cultivating deep listening and developing the skills to hold space that support pregnant women and families. Creating bonds of trust with our clients.

Developing an understanding of the normal physiology of childbirth. Reading the landscape of birth. Understanding hospital culture and developing communication skills. Hands on support. Supporting caesarean birth.

Understanding the needs of the postpartum mother and family. Supporting whole body healing and recovery. Supporting feeding and nourishing baby. Creating ritual and joy. Understanding grief and loss.

Beyond these 56 contact hours

There will also be:

Reading Requirements
Assignments
Guest Speakers
Interviews of our Past Clients
Teaching Videos
Private Facebook Group

Awakening the Village Graduates 2018

“Awakening The Village Doula Mentorship is the most holistic training experience I have ever participated in.  An invitation to come forward with a conscious vision of ourselves.  Building community with an intimate group of women while diving deeply into what it means to offer our services as Doulas.   The program offers tremendous flexibility which makes it possible for mothers to participate with ease.   To learn through mentorship is a rare opportunity these days.  When you are lucky enough to be guided by the wisdom and wide open heart of Sasha Padron it is more than an opportunity, it is a blessing.” – Camille Stubel

Testimonials from Awakening the Village Graduates …

“This program exceeded all of my expectations. I received technical information, but it was delivered in a way that was embodying. I learned more about myself in the past several months than I have in years”.

“Awakening The Village Doula Mentorship is the most holistic training experience I have ever participated in.  An invitation to come forward with a conscious vision of ourselves.  Building community with an intimate group of women while diving deeply into what it means to offer our services as Doulas.   The program offers tremendous flexibility which makes it possible for mothers to participate with ease.   To learn through mentorship is a rare opportunity these days.  When you are lucky enough to be guided by the wisdom and wide open heart of Sasha Padron it is more than an opportunity, it is a blessing.” – Camille Stubel

“Certainly I learned so much about birth and postpartum care. But the real richness, knowledge is holding space, mirroring, listening, reflecting, supporting without advising, etc. And I think it could only have been done to the level and quality it was given over a long period of time like this program.”

“The thing I loved about the program was your clear intention to both model and teach us how to hold space for ourselves and others. This is so loaded with depth and rich meaning. We did this for each other one-on-one, we did this as a group, we did this in our personal and professional lives. It’s huge.”

“ This doula mentorship program has been incredibly impactful to me personally, and my career as a Doula. I have already completed my birth and postpartum Doula training with DONA international, and while I acknowledge the value in those trainings, and learned a lot, I felt there was something missing in my readiness to step into my Doula path. Something I couldn’t quick articulate, but I reached out to Sasha about possibly mentoring with her, and luckily she had this program in place – which I was thrilled to learn about.

So much of what we learn as Doula’s is through the work itself; throughout each prenatal visit, each birth, and postpartum support. It has been deeply empowering to Doula, whilst also being immerced in Sasha’s mentorship program. Her ability to allow each of us to find our way as Doulas, has much to do with the introspective practice of being present with ones self. For example; how our outlook on our day to day life experiences, is supporting or interfering with, our relationship to self, (self love, acceptance, discovery and awakening).

This mentorship is a beautiful balance of knowledge and evidence based information, as well as the more intricate layers of a Doula’s role. Sasha teaches in a way that allows each person enrolled in the mentorship program to feel empowered in our own discoveries that we find in the territory she so thoughtfully and intentionally leads us through.

As I begin to receive more beloved Doula clients, I am certain this abundance has been cultivated through the humble confidence I am putting out there, while so happily consumed by all I’m learning and reflecting on during this unique mentorship program.

Thank you Sasha, for supporting me, and blessing my path as a Doula, in ways I didn’t even know possible, yet so valuable it makes me better understand the saying “priceless” in a profound way.” – Mara Richardson

“There is so much value in [the program] being six months. I’m not walking away from the program going, “OK, now I can start applying this stuff.” We started using the skills and teachings right away, in our lives, with our children, in our work. We started applying this immediately throughout all of those months. So any transformation in ourselves or any change in how we are serving our community, has been going on for 6 months. I actually feel like I’ve honed these skills, like they were planted, like seeds, early on in the program and then had the opportunity to grow, like plants, in the right direction. So, I really see the value in the length of the program and how it required the intense commitment of the weekly calls, the one on one calls, the anchoring circles. All of that was so needed in order to create such an embodied experience.”

“What differenciates this program is the one-on-one mentorship, the group work, the accountability, the consistency and the set up of the agreements and the trust. All of that is ultimately teaching us how we want to make our clients feel. You are doula-ing us so that we know how amazing it is to be doula-ed properly and then we are invited to start trying it and share and learn from our mistakes and our successes. What’s clear to me is that this is an intensive mentorship. It’s not really just a doula training. You still get that basic information that is present in other doula trainings, you’re still getting that evidence based information, but the structure of other doula trainings is that you go out and do your workshops and then you complete the requirements. It’s very individual. Some people may reach out more to the organizers but generally they are very busy running these huge businesses with many other programs. I felt like I needed more guidance. This [program] was exactly what I knew I was missing, that apprenticeship. When the Alumni Program came up, there was no question in my mind that I would join. I want this space and format to continue in my life.”

“Sasha’s doula mentorship program continues to deepen my understanding of what it means to truly be of service and to hold space for life; whether it be attending a birth or simply navigating how to be human. The skills that I acquired through this training stretch far beyond what I anticipated from a doula training. All of my relationships have been enriched by this program as I learn how to listen deeply to myself and to others, this program has invited me on a journey to connect to my deepest creative visions for my life and my power as a woman. So often new doulas feel alone in this work which affects in a big way how long and how well they do this very needed work. Sasha has created a beautiful antidote for this, a community of intergenerational support with the intention of supporting each other as womxn and as doulas. I loved how this program reflects the rawness and intimacy of birth work. Even though most of our meetings were on video chat, Sasha artfully creates the container for us to feel safe to show up authentically with the intention of moving through whatever is coming up for us in love and mindfulness. This program has helped me navigate not only the beginning of birth work but also different parts of my life in such meaningful ways. I feel so lucky to have found Sasha and all the women that are connected to her vision. I sincerely encourage anyone who feels the spark for birth work along with a desire to deepen your relationship with yourself to reach out!”  – Jasmine Alanna

Building Relationships and Community

Sasha Padron

About your Mentor, Sasha Padron …

Sasha began attending births as a doula in 1992 in downtown Toronto. She co-founded the Pre/Postnatal Program at Yogaspace, is the Director of the Centre for Growing Families and leads the Yogaspace Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training. She is also the creator of the online course, Preparing for an Empowering Birth. She has attended over 780 births and attended thousands of families through her workshops, circles and retreats. Her mission is to create a strong container for aspiring doulas to discover their unique gifts, realize their highest potentials and serve their communities in meaningful ways. She is deeply committed to offering a unique program that helps you cultivate your doula skills, while creating time and space for personal growth and transformation.

My intention is …

To share the skills, experience and knowledge I have acquired over these past two decades supporting women and their families through pregnancy, through birth and postpartum.

To lead a mentoring program and facilitate a learning community that is committed to growing together, supporting each other and sharing skills and resources.

To create a circle of support in which aspiring doulas and yoga teachers can be guided into their fullest potential as birth and postpartum doulas and or pre and postnatal yoga teachers.

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