Hi, I’m Rachel
A Mother, bodyworker, doula and herbalist. My own journey through a life of joy, loss, and healing has cultivated within me a deep reverence for the body, the body of our Mother Earth and for the love and connection that moves between souls.
I have always had a deep passion for holistic women’s health and herbal medicine but in no way am I a purist. I just really value the whole and see our bodies as nature and therefore so beautifully intelligent and wise! My interest in the mysteries of women's bodies, and the cycles of life and death have been a thread woven throughout my life. From giving and witnessing birth and navigating my own matrescence, to raising my daughter to be her embodied sovereign self, to walking my path toward menopause, I continue to be drawn to the profound wisdom held within, and the transformative passages that shape us as women.
The work I do is very near and dear to my heart and is the accumulation of the pieces of myself that I have gathered and grown throughout my life. My greatest teachers have been my two beautiful children, our Earth and my body. Motherhood and the many years I spent serving families as a preschool teacher, nature connection mentor, and nanny taught me presence, patience, adaptability and that all good things grow from a connection that is rooted in safety and kindness. I have been shown time and time again that the moments that nourish and bring us into peace and health always begin with the nervous system. I carry these lessons with me as a bodyworker and birthworker. Connecting and building trust with those I work with is at the center of what I do.
I am moved by stories and music, flowers, smells, the desert, water and laughter (just to name a few :) I enjoy dancing in the kitchen, watching movies, making medicine for those I love, walking and having nourishing conversations with friends, and space to just be. I am a life long learner, with endless curiosity for the mysteries of life and death and the human experience.
My path to birth work
My call to birth work came in September of 2001 with the birth of my daughter. I was young, my pregnancy was unplanned, and in so many ways I was unequipped to become a mother. At a time in my life where I felt completely lost and isolated, becoming a mother felt like a truth that centered me and called me home. It was the one thing I trusted. By some great miracle, I was blessed with a fast and empowering home birth. I felt seen, supported and honored. I was in complete awe of what my body could do and felt eternally grateful for my midwives, my mother and my partner who supported me so beautifully. This experience birthed a truth from deep within me that said everyone deserved to be trusted, witnessed, supported and honored as they birthed their baby into this world. When my daughter was 2, I took a birth doula course and began supporting mothers. Not long after this, I became pregnant with my second child and my role as doula was put on hold. The years that followed took me deep into the challenges of life and single motherhood and I came to understand first hand that continued support after our babies were born was essential to health: health of the mother, health of the child, health of the family and health of the community. My heart was broken by the fact that in my culture this was far from the lived experience of myself and most women.
In 2021 (20 years after becoming a mother), the call to birth and women’s health became loud once again. I answered the call and began birth assisting for the midwife in my community and offering postpartum support to families through Vashon Island Midwifery. Around this time I was also introduced to Mayan abdominal massage and knew that this was something I wanted to offer to my community. Through my education and experience I have found purpose rooted in wisdom and I am so grateful that I get to serve people in this way. The path has been winding, full of blessings and heartbreak, the most epic lesson in love.
Education and Experience
Northwest Academy for the healing arts Massage School
Tul’ix Indigenous Arts : level 1, level 2 and level 3 pregnancy and postpartum
Birth assistant for Vashon Island Midwifery
Postpartum doula for Vashon Island Midwifery
Wombs of the World full spectrum doula training
Simkin Center birth and postpartum doula trainings