Doula Certification Program

Module 2: Postpartum Period and Lactation

Lesson 4: 

  During your first conference call of this program we briefly discussed what we're referring to in this program when we use the phrase ' traditional Indigenous '. The Original Instructions School of Traditional Medicine and Practical Skills is committed to providing curricula which are based on the common threads of wisdom which can be found in the vast majority of Indigenous human cultures both past and present. Please watch the following video tutorial with Original Instructions teacher Brittany Jade on traditional Indigenous protocol in regards to herbal plant medicine and answer the questions below. 

 

  Please read the following questions, complete all indicated activities, and answer the applicable questions. You may submit all answers to the email address Brittany@OriginalInstructionsSchool.com in the form of

 -Word Doc, PDF, Google Doc, or Handwritten (submitted via high quality photo or scan)

 

1.) Why is it important to ' clear yourself ' before preparing medicinal foods and plants for others?

 

 

2.) Please name at least three alternatives to metal tools for preparing herbal plant medicine.

 

 

 

3.) When is the best time to prepare plant medicine?

 

 

4.) Do you have any experience working with sound, prayer, and/or singing while you are preparing food or medicine?

 

 

 
5.) Please identify at least two songs, prayers, hymns, and/or chants which make you feel at peace and healthy. Experiment with a daily practice of speaking your songs/ prayers/ chants of choice while preparing your daily meals. Repeat this practice for four consecutive days, and record your experience in writing.

 

 While it is important that you connect with songs that are meaningful to you personally, we will also provide you with many medicine songs, traditional stories, and meditation techniques throughout this certification program.   Here we offer you a Cedar song. We sing this song to honor and exalt the nature of the Cedar plant, and likewise can sing this song to honor others with the spirit of Cedar. This is a Kiowa song from a man named Grey Horse, and is to sung 2, 4 or 7 times.

   As a Postpartum Doula in the United States you have the ability and privilege of being able to provide support to childbearing women and their families throughout one of the most sacred and vulnerable moments in their lives. On a very primal level all humans can relate to the need to feel safe and nourished in moments of vulnerability, and in your last lesson (Lesson 2) you learned about the importance of heat, steam, warming foods, and aromatic herbs in creating an optimal environment for birthing and postpartum women. It is no coincidence that the traditional ways of providing food and medicine for new mothers nearly always incorporate those elements. 

 

  Like our fore mothers before us, and women from all continents, may you always remember the quiet strength of 

Teas, Baths, Steams, Stews, Smudge