Da-a-Luz in South Wales, July 2021

Come and join our tribe, deep in the beautiful Pembrokeshire countryside, spend a day…. or a month.

This is a great opportunity for all Birthkeepers to up-date skills, learn new ones and add to their continuing professional development and to meet the Da-a-Luz team, especially if you are thinking of studying with us.

Get a taste of the Da-a-Luz magic in the UK….be inspired, supported in your practice and nurtured by like minded spirits and the landscape.

We will be running workshops throughout the month of July, covering topics such as: physiological and extra unique birth, cycles of our lives, herbs, shiatsu for birthkeepers, human/birth rights and lots more.

We are planning a Birthkeepers retreat 9-11th July, open to anyone who works with birthing, to restore, relax and refresh.

There will also be a family camp 23-25th July and a Da-a-Luz open day 27th July, for future students to come and meet the Da-a-Luz team and experience some of the magic in the UK.

Click on image above to download pdf itinerary

Accommodation is available locally and on-site, if you are interested in joining us please contact us via email:

daaluzoasis@yahoo.com and go to website for more info. www.daaluzoasis.com

Join our network of Birthkeepers…..lets come together and ”Be the change”

See you there! Fiona.

Moving to Wales, good bye Bournemouth

After spending time living in Andalucia,as part of Da-a-luz Midwifery community, nestled in the river valley of the Guadalfeo river and surrounded by the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, it was a little hard to adjust to living back in town!

The divine co-ordinator decided North Wales would be perfect! Surrounded by mountains and close to the sea, after spending years living by the sea on the south coast, it would be hard to give that up!

I moved to North Wales in the summer of 2018, and the summer proved to be as hot as Andalucia!

 

 

The landscape is stunning, and I am settling into my new home, which has beautiful views from the kitchen window. I am planning to continue helping women and their partners prepare for birth, will be learning welsh and I am already getting my hands dirty at “IncredibleEdible Porthmadog”, a local community gardening project based at the leisure centre in Porthmadog.

I look forward to helping you prepare for  birth,

Fiona.

Shiatsu for Midwives/Doula’s in the Alpujarra’s, Spain, Nov 2018.

Da-a-luz  Midwifery school is now in its 5th year !

This year, 10 students from around the globe have come to learn the ancient art of midwifery and also students from last year have returned to join them, for a second year, as the course makes its transition from a one year course to a three year course.

This autumn, it has been my pleasure and priviledge to facilitate a “Shiatsu for Midwives” module at the school, joined by 6 student midwives from the UK on their elective placement.

It has been my desire since I first learnt shiatsu to share it with other midwives, it is such a simple, safe and effective therapy for a midwife to use alongside other skills.

In the solid and safe environment of the school, we started by exploring the basics of touch, developing an awareness of “energy” sensitivity and learning some of the basic principles of shiatsu. Gradually weaving in the theory and beginning the process of viewing pregnancy and birth from an energy perspective. Learning some new concepts and terminology on the way.

We moved our energy, with our breath, self massage, movement and visualisations. Sharing touch with each other to facilitate the body to balance itself, learning a full body sequence and exploring shiatsu points for labour and birth. Working deeply with each other as we followed the pathways of the  “extra-ordinary vessels”, getting to the “essence” of life.

The arrival of the didgeridoo players at the weekly farmers market added another dimension to our shiatsu class, they were invited to join us and were delighted to play for us whilst we completed our head shiatsu sequence on each other. A magical sound bath to experience! That’s the magic of the Alpujarra’s! Adding some yang to our yin.

For further information about shiatsu you can use the contact page.

For further information about  the school contact:  daaluzoasis.com

 

 

Reflections on learning Shiatsu for Midwives with Samara Hawthorn at Da.a.luz Midwifery School,Spain

Reflections on learning Shiatsu for Midwives with Samara Hawthorn at Da.a.luz Midwifery School,Spain.December 2016.

Today I did some meridian tapping and chi gung in the afternoon sun and I was instantly flooded with images from the week we spent earlier in December with Samara, high up above the Rio Guadalfeo at La herradura, learning Shiatsu for Midwives. Samara teaches WellMother Shiatsu, created by Suzanne Yates.
Continue reading →

Herbs for the childbearing year with Rebecca Holloway at Da-a-luz Holistic midwifery school

At Da a luz we have just finished part 2 of herbs for the childbearing year with Bex, our lovely herbalist, from Austria.

In November(2015), she visited us for 2 weeks to do part 1; introducing us to the herbs commonly used in pregnancy and childbirth.

In April, this year, she returned to do part 2, guiding us into a deeper awareness of the herbs, with plant studies and tea tastings. Looking in more depth at the herbs used in pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.

2015-04-17 17.33.30We have studied: calendula, red clover, rosemary, sage, borage, red raspberry, mugwort, ladys mantle and many more! There is much to learn….I feel it is a lifelong study of getting to know the herbs. Feeling their effects and character through tea tastings and sharing our findings as a group, to explore how herbs interact with each individual. takes having a cup of tea to another level!

Its so important to keep this knowledge and wisdom alive, as more and more people take less and less responsibility for their own health…herbs are all around us and can help us with those everyday ailments. Especially helpful during pregnancy and for birth.

Bex is returning in October 2016 with herbs part 1…if you would like to join us for this module of the midwifery course.
for more information contact myself or Vanessadaaluz@yahoo.co.uk

Da-a-Luz Holistic Midwifery School

DA A LUZ HOLISTIC MIDWIFERY SCHOOL is based in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, La Alpujarra, in Andalucia, southern Spain.

The creator of Da a luz is a Midwife called Vanessa Brooks, who has been living and working here for 20 years or so.Her dream is to create a centre of learning, where midwives, doulas and other birth workers can come together to share their knowledge and skills and pass them on to the next generation of midwives.

20160427_141850The building of the school began in spring 2014. An inspiring building designed by Steven Wall, an ecobuilder from the UK. The school is being created from local materials, stones from the nearby river, local clay and trees from nearby, each stone has been laid by the hands of a team of wonderful volunteer builders, male and female. Progress has been slow…much of the year it is too hot to build, but now the inner walls are up to roof height and the impressive doorway is almost finished.

20160429_194249The building is being funded as a community project,in a variety of ways, through donations, fundraising events,a membership program to Da a luz and generous gifts from others.
The midwifery school received its first international students in october 2014, I was one of those 8 students, pioneers of a new model for educating the midwives of the future! It was an interesting and great year, to be a part of something so unique.

We are now in our second year of teaching, this year we have 4 students. We have had some wonderful teachers come to join us over the last 2 years, sharing their stories, skills and knowledge.

We also have places for student midwives to come and join us for their elective placements.
If you feel inspired by what you have read, you can contact me or Vanessa   vanessadaaluz@yahoo.co.uk

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Da-a-Luz Midwifery School – The first year….having fun in the Alpujarras!

Hi my name is Fiona, welcome to my blog.
The reason I am writing this blog is to tell you about my adventures over the last year, at Da-a-Luz midwifery school in southern Spain, where I have been enjoying learning and unlearning midwifery.
I intended to write this blog whilst the course was running, but it didn’t happen….so here it is now.

Da-a-Luz means to give birth or ” to give the light” (in spanish) and I had the priviledge to be on the first Da-a-Luz midwifery course, which I will tell you more about and the background behind it throughout this blog.
You may ask why? As I am already a qualified midwife, am I doing a midwifery course?….because this course is very different from a conventional midwifery training.Vanessa Brooks, the director of the school and creator of the project, myself and others hope that this will one day be a model for training future midwives and for offering an alternative training for midwives in europe.
For me, this has been the best “return to practice” midwifery course I could have wished for, meeting strong Independent midwives from other countries, learning new skills, sharing skills and knowledge and unlearning practices that were hospital acquired and don’t really serve women and their babies.
I am also learning to live in Spain, speaking a new language and learning to live life more simply! And living in a close knit community, with all its challenges….has been interesting! More of that later!
So welcome to my blog, I hope you will find it interesting. I don’t have electricity or internet readily available, but I will do my best to write regularly.For those who have visited my website hoping to hire my services, this is what I have been up to for the last year.
Here are a few photos….the river valley where we live….our classroom’s !


Click on an image to open a larger slideshow

 

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