Kaija Marshall
Jax of all trades, master of none
Holding space for others to tap into their mental and emotional depths is what drives me—I am committed to encouraging mind, body & soul connection in my doula clients, workshop participants and yoga students.
I have a professional background in community organizing and program evaluation [I received my Masters in Social Work from San Diego State University in 2015]-- so I like getting people together to engage in subtle brain exercises. It shows in my offerings: I’ve cultivated Workshops to be a space where participants engage in active processing while they ground their candle in positive intention and my Doula Support packages are built with the physical & mental progression of mom & baby in mind.
Throughout my college career, I served populations working through trauma-- survivors of violence and assault, asylum seekers and refugees-- as a Social Worker. I quickly became adept at picking up on energies, interpreting circumstantial and contextual information and helping folks brainstorm actionable items to mindfully move forward in pursuit of their goals & objectives. After graduate school, I chose to embark on Yoga Teacher Training to further my ability to help others' learn to heal & help themselves. All the while, I was moonlighting as a nanny: always finding a way to build strong relationships with the whole family-- the mothers in particular. After two years working as the Research & Evaluation Specialist, I left Girl Scouts San Diego and began working with One Moon Doula, a postpartum doula agency in San Diego, as a Program Coordinator in 2018. Through my role there, I witnessed how empowering perinatal support can be— for mom, dad, baby, extended family, friends and the doulas themselves. I found the multi-dimensional caregiving and grassroots nature of the work fascinating, and pursuing my own doula practice became a natural next step.
The skills I've cultivated and populations I've served are what inspire me to continually research and share holistic and evidence-based methods of self-care & mindfulness. I believe that data synthesis and gut feelings both have a place in decision making-- this is also reflected in my background: a unique mix of higher education & holistic training-- and this foundation allows me to help clients bridge the gap between the institutional & instinctual knowledge they encounter during their perinatal experience.
Yoga has been popularized by only one element of the practice-- the physical asanas. A full yoga practice includes strengthening awareness of the connection between self, others and the world around you-- it is my intention to support this state of being in my clients through my continual
Adventures in Yoga Pants.
