Laura Paskell-Brown, Doula For Your Soul

Laura Paskell-Brown, Doula For Your Soul Comprehensive birth doula services in the Hudson Valley. Hypnobabies doula and instructor.

I also offer birthing classes through Hypnobabies, please contact me for details.

Mother's Day discounted tarot readings! For all of you mummas out there, visit https://tarotdoula.as.me/StrongMama and ...
04/18/2024

Mother's Day discounted tarot readings! For all of you mummas out there, visit https://tarotdoula.as.me/StrongMama and use code MOTHER30 for a 30% discount on readings in May. From this single mumma to y'all. Love you xoxo

I’m a birth doula but I’m not a baby person. Is that weird? It might seem counter intuitive but the baby isn’t the main ...
06/30/2021

I’m a birth doula but I’m not a baby person. Is that weird? It might seem counter intuitive but the baby isn’t the main event at a birth, not for us doulas anyways. What draws me to birth is:
✨ The privilege of being there. Most people keep their birth team small and sacred. They don’t invite randoms. Just being there feels like a gift.
✨ Being able to be with women at their most vulnerable/powerful. If you don’t believe that power is rooted in your willingness to be vulnerable, go to some births.
✨ Being able to offer support, whether she is suffering or feeling like she’s kicking ass. Sometimes it’s hardest to own the kicking ass part. Whichever she’s feeling I’m there to reflect back to her that she is held, she is loved and I’m not judging her experience, though I might try to help her reframe it if the story she is telling herself is adding to her suffering.
So yes, I’m not a baby person. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate babies. I love them. For about an hour. Then you can have the little darling back. Buuuuut I do love me some birth. And given that I only stick around for about 1 to 2 hours after the little one is earth-side, it seems to work out just fine. I’m a birth doula because I love being around women as they meet what is hard. I’ve never birthed but man, have I met what is hard in my life. Over n over n over. And I love me some sister-tribe when I do.
❤️ Lovely 📷 by (whose baby I love very much 😊)

Teaching my first ever class with ✨If you want a calmer, easier birth, this is an awesome way to set yourself up for s...
06/10/2021

Teaching my first ever class with ✨If you want a calmer, easier birth, this is an awesome way to set yourself up for success

Adulting has felt really hard recently. Owning a home in a cohousing community has been my dream for ten years and so ma...
05/28/2021

Adulting has felt really hard recently. Owning a home in a cohousing community has been my dream for ten years and so making it happen is literally a dream come true. ✨🙏🏻✨AND paying the bills / keeping up with home cleaning, repairs, maintenance etc has felt so scary and hard recently. Next week is the last week I have a second job. The week after my only source of income will be from birth doula work. That’s also awesome and also scary as f**k. Every day recently I’ve been trying to not worry about the future, stay present to what needs to be done right now and be grateful for what I have. I manage it about 30% of the time. When my house stuff gets too too much (I need a new roof, a new fence, a new carpet, to fix this, clean that, etc etc) I look at my shower (the only thing I’ve been able to replace so far) and I delight in the clean white tiles and my mini plants. And then I go give Charlie a hug (second pic).

One of the perks to getting older is the chance to mentor the next generation.Twice a year, as part of our work with ☕...
05/21/2021

One of the perks to getting older is the chance to mentor the next generation.
Twice a year, as part of our work with ☕️, and I get to hang out with the young women at University of Nebraska.
During a 3 day retreat they consider 3 questions:
🌿 who do I want to be?
🌿 what do I want to give?
🌿 what do I want to leave behind?
Along the way, we create a safe space for them to:
✨explore parts of themselves they’ve been too scared or distracted to look at
✨build a sense of safety and tribe with each other
✨practice meditation and basic emotional/mental tools for healthy daily living
Our job is not to “teach” them how to become a responsible adult (I’m still learning that myself) or to force them to decide exactly what they want to do. After all, nobody can give anyone else a map for how their life will work out. What we can do however is help them to (as Elisabeth so beautifully puts it) “calibrate their inner compass”. Because, if you have a sense of what your values are and enough inner sensitivity to know when you’re not being true to them, each step of the way becomes a little easier to navigate. You start to lean more into the “yes” that comes naturally when you’re doing something that resonates with your inner knowing.
I often wish that school had taught me this. I became a brilliant student and test taker. Give me a task to do and I would perform it diligently. What I had zero sense of however, was my own inner leanings and longings. It took me ten years of unlearning my schooling to uncover my inner voice and true calling. My wish for these young women is that they leave college with some connection to that inner calling, rather than a perfect GPA and no idea who they are.
Furthermore, these women act as my mirror for who I want to become. As I serve them and listen to their wisdom, I find myself becoming more of an adult, not just older but a real adult, as in a person who can see clearly, guide gently and reflect back the goodness of others.
Thank you, thank you to and all who make it possible for us to spend time with these incredible young humans. It makes my year.

Some days I tell myself really mean stories. Today was one of those day. Some of my prevailing thoughts were: I’m not go...
05/17/2021

Some days I tell myself really mean stories. Today was one of those day. Some of my prevailing thoughts were: I’m not good enough. Im not responsible enough. I’m lazy. Nobody likes me. Yada yada yada.
Thankfully I have tools for tackling such thoughts, my favourite one being from Byron Katie. In the method she simply calls “The Work” we take a specific situation and a belief that is troubling us and then we ask four questions:
🌿 Is it true?
🌿 Can I absolutely know that it’s true?
🌿 How do I feel when I believe that thought?
🌿 Who would I be, in this situation, if I didn’t believe that thought?
If it sounds too simple to work, then you would be wrong. It’s simplicity is why it works. It gives the brain no clever escape routes, and no option but to see the truth. So this evening, after a few hours of feeling sorry for myself and hiding, I did the work and I got free. From jagged, lonely tears to breathing easy. Here’s to freedom, temporary though it will probably be 😉

Pic of the protest my mum organized in Prestwich, UK (with mum in foreground). Love you mumma
06/12/2020

Pic of the protest my mum organized in Prestwich, UK (with mum in foreground). Love you mumma

Happy to every out there. However you birthed your baby, I salute you brave, sweet woman. Amazing 📷 by
05/10/2020

Happy to every out there. However you birthed your baby, I salute you brave, sweet woman. Amazing 📷 by

🌸 Do you need a conversation that’s not about the C word?🌸 Do you need a place to feel ALL your feelings without anyone ...
05/06/2020

🌸 Do you need a conversation that’s not about the C word?
🌸 Do you need a place to feel ALL your feelings without anyone trying to fix you?
🌸 Do you need a place to go that’s all about vulnerability and authenticity?
🌸 Do you need to curl up with a steaming mug, gather with some and just be for a while? Yeah, we all do.
If you’d like to join us this week
✨DM me for the link to register✨ 🌿 All are welcome and it’s totally free.

05/01/2020

Podcast snippet🎙(clink link in bio). In the full episode we talk about the amusing way I met Axe Man, how to track your cycle and, of course, my miscarriage. It’s long so if you want to skip ahead, we start talking about the miscarriage around 40 minutes in. 🎧🧎🏻‍♀️

...work in my garden, call my parents more than twice a month, stop using toilet paper, dance in my living room, listen ...
04/08/2020

...work in my garden, call my parents more than twice a month, stop using toilet paper, dance in my living room, listen to the birds sing, volunteer for charity. 🌱 What has quarantine forced you to do that you’d been putting off? And in case you’re wondering, I now clean myself in the bidet and then dry with a special towel (that I then wash). Eco friendly ass wiping.

Need to feel seen and heard but not have anyone try to fix you? Need a safe space to feel all the feelings? Need to conn...
04/07/2020

Need to feel seen and heard but not have anyone try to fix you? Need a safe space to feel all the feelings? Need to connect with other women? Need to giggle and cry all at once? Join us, Thursdays at 10:30 Eastern Time on Zoom. Message me for the registration for the Zoom link 🌱✨🌸

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Saugerties, NY
12477

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