Imagine yourself on white sandy beaches, seeing the beautiful blue ocean, and palm trees swaying in the breeze. In this vision, doulas are coming together relaxing, learning, and connecting. This is not a dream or make believe; it is what you will experience when you come to the OneDoula retreat in Tulum. But when your life consists of giving to others, it can be really difficult to make the necessary sacrifices to make it work.
We have all been in this moment: we sit down to do something for ourselves, and instantly we are interrupted. It could be a bath at the end of a long day, sitting to read Facebook for a few minutes, hiding in our rooms for 5 minutes of solitude, or even going to the bathroom.
As soon as we find ourselves in that place of peace, life comes along to interrupt. Maybe it is our children, our animals, our partners, our clients, or our thoughts. When these interruptions come, we typically stop what we are doing to address them.
Since I’ve sat down to write this, my 12 year old has lain on my bed and tried to talk to me, my 2 year old has hollered “MOM!!!” and asked me to hold him, and my 7 year old has requested I make her a costume. There is always a reason to stop what I am doing and focus on someone else, focus on something else. It takes a great act of intention to focus on ourselves and what we need.
As doulas, our jobs require us to give of ourselves greatly. We are constantly thinking of our clients, how we can best serve them, what their needs are, and how to assist them in getting the information and education to have the best birth possible. We are always working to learn and grow so we can have the latest research and information at our fingertips. We are awake for hours on end giving physically and emotionally.
We are givers by nature. And givers typically have a very difficult time taking. Taking time for ourselves. Taking time to practice self-care. Time to focus inward and intentionally. Time for healing, personal growth, and love.
Intentional practice of self-care is a difficult task. It is not easy to set aside time and resources for ourselves, but it is so vital. When we do not fill our cups, we can not give to others. I think we understand this on some level, but it is easier in the short term to dismiss this as selfish, or something we don’t need or can’t do right now.
We are all aware of the high turnover rate of the doula profession. Doulas get burned out. We are on-call constantly, we are giving without end, and we are not taking time for ourselves.
The OneDoula retreat is your chance to intentionally put yourself first. Give yourself 5 days of self-care and love. Make yourself, your heart, and your job a priority. Do this for your clients, for your family, for your doula community.
When you come to Tulum, you will have the amazing opportunity learn from the best our community has to offer. You will gain the tools needed to activate your business. Every day you will wake to the smell of salt water and the sounds of the ocean right outside your bungalow. Nourish your body and soul with foods made fresh for you daily. Center with daily yoga, relax in the hammock, take a swim in the warm ocean water, connect, build connections, and learn what it means to thrive together.
There are a million reasons to stay home; cost, leaving family, scheduling clients, potentially missing births, fear. But there are so many more reasons to go.
Make the short term sacrifices that will yield long term benefits.