Does Taking Care of Yourself Actually Help Others?
Hello, hello! I’m back with the first official Warm Bread podcast episode, an interview with someone who has inspired me for over a decade, Asia Rikard. You’ll learn lots more about Asia in this episode, but at a glance, Asia is a doula, a community gardener, and an outdoorist—and I dare you not to fall in love with her over the next 37 minutes.
We dive into how taking care of yourself can actually help you take better care of others, and Asia shares her passionate thoughts on self-care, community building, and the healing power of nature and doing hard things. If you are someone looking to nurture yourself and your connections to your community and the world around you, you will find a treasure trove of insights and inspiration here.
Check out the video podcast above (I’m having a hard time using the word “vodcast”) and find the full transcript below if you'd prefer to read along! If you’d rather listen to audio only, you can find the episode on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6VRk9gfznpo4Z2kn0iZRrE?si=eo3u94SvSIiXSztp87qXdA], too.
If you want more Asia, you can find her on Instagram at @thebirthpartner [https://www.instagram.com/thebirthpartner?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==].
Thank you so much for being here. I’ll be back in two weeks with lots to share!
xo Taylor
Episode Transcript:
Taylor Rippy Monson (00:03)
Hi, and welcome to Warm Bread. I'm Taylor, and this podcast is all about creating a life that feels good to live in. Each episode, we'll explore stories, conversations, and ideas that help us create more connected homes, more thoughtful communities, and richer lives. So grab a cup of something cozy, settle in, and let's get started.
Taylor Rippy Monson (00:29)
What a treat I have for you today. You get to hear from an absolute ray of sunshine, Asia Rikard. Asia is one of the most inspiring people I know. I feel so fortunate to call her a friend. A little bit about her background. Asia is a Pacific Northwest native that has found her way to Orange County, California. She began her journey as a birth and postpartum doula in 2016 and is deeply committed to being a compassionate advocate to empower pregnancy, birth and the postpartum experience.
Asia's background is an intercultural peace building, specifically transformative mediation and business. And when she isn't attending births and supporting through the postpartum period, Asia enjoys spending time with loved ones, swimming, gardening, hiking, and enjoying live music. In this episode, we talk about the simple pen and paper exercise that changed the course of her life, her unwavering beliefs about self-care, what she learned from walking solo 500 miles in
32 days across northern Spain, the importance and power of doing hard things, fighting the temptation of hyperindependence, why showing up is one of the most important things we can do to connect with ourselves and others, and the magic of nourishing ourselves to nourish others. Without further ado, the one and the only.
Taylor Rippy Monson (01:49)
Asia. I wanted to start by talking about how we nurture ourselves first. And I know in your work as a doula, you spend so much of that time supporting others. How do you nurture yourself in the process of those crazy long hours and the time that you spend with other people being their support person?
Asia (01:51)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Yeah, I think the way that I nourished myself is knowing the things that fill my soul. So kind of a little backstory, the way that I became a doula was, I was going through a really hard time and I needed something to help me like heal and bring myself back into, joy and happiness. And so I got out a piece of paper and I wrote at the top, what am I passionate about and what excites me? And it's like, I still have to list it's like a bullet point listen, like,
Sunshine, the ocean, macaroni and cheese, celebrity gossip. And they were funny things, but then I also wrote women and empowering stories and overcoming obstacles, entrepreneurship. And so I had this list and I wrote, what can I do with these passions? And that's how I got into doula work, but I still go back to that list when I need to nourish myself of what do I love? And so it's like, if I need to nourish myself, I need to get outside in the sunshine. I need to go swim in the ocean.
I need to listen to like a trashy celebrity gossip podcast. know, those type of things that I know tried and true are going to like nourish my soul, treat myself. I always say like, have like a birth hangover, like after a birth. And I'm like, I'm gonna go through the drive-through and get like a KFC bowl because it's like, I need those things to like help me recover, recoup. And so I think, yeah, just knowing the stuff that
Taylor Rippy Monson (03:07)
Yes.
Hahaha.
Asia (03:32)
fills my soul and helps me recover is the best way that I can take care of and nourish myself in order to do the work that I do.
Taylor Rippy Monson (03:41)
And it's like that level of work having like being a doula and being present at birth is such a like crazy profession, something that you're doing on a weekly basis or like, I know that you've been doing a ton of births lately. So more than just a weekly basis, but like what that requires from you compared to a lot of other professions is a lot. I love the list idea. And it reminds me of like, I always think of like happy equations, like, okay, if I'm feeling off or some things like not right in my life.
Asia (03:46)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Taylor Rippy Monson (04:07)
what's a happy equation that I can plug and play and whether that's like watching an episode of The Office and getting Thai take out or whatever it is doing those things that help me kind of re-center. So I love that and I love the idea of writing out everything that helps you feel alive. That's beautiful.
Asia (04:19)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
And I mean, I think that's a recipe, right, for life. But when you are in a giving profession or if you're in a season of life where you're giving, I just went and saw a client. I was their birth doula. You know, they're transitioning into postpartum. And I was telling the mom and the dad, like, 24-7, you are giving, giving, giving. And so my assignment to them is every day you look at each other and say, OK, this is my time out. And they get to go have
20 to 30 minutes of like selfish time. And I don't even like to call it selfish, but right, something that fills their soul because we have to be able to give that to ourselves, you know, and know the things that will help, whether that's working out, reading a trashy novel, right? Something that you feel like you really need, For everyone, yeah, always, yeah, yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (05:10)
Yeah, for everyone, for everyone always. yes.
So has that, have those practices changed for you over time as like you've grown as a person? Has it always been the same type of stuff that you've returned to that you know works for you?
Asia (05:28)
yeah, I think I'm a pretty I'm a creature of habit. I think there are a few things that maybe I've incorporated over the years, but I kind of know my go to joys and happiness yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (05:42)
And it's interesting because I said, like, we can obviously develop new happy equations or new things that bring us joy and learn new things and have different experiences like that. But so many of the things for me, at least that like bring me joy are things that have brought me joy since I was a little kid.
Asia (05:47)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly I'm like, okay, eight year old Asia, like, she wanted to put on a swimsuit, find a body of water and kick her legs. And like, I still feel like that's what I want to do or go like ride a bike and have my hair in the wind. Like, I still want to do those things. I hope and yeah, and yeah, and like, and I hope I can do that when I'm 85 years old. You know? Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (06:14)
Yes, that is one of mine. Riding a bike really fast.
Yeah, yeah, and have
it nurture you the same way. I love that. Okay, so I want to talk to you about you did the Camino. Did that. It's a big deal.
Asia (06:25)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
I did, yes.
Yeah, the Camino de Santiago. I did it in 2022. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (06:41)
Okay,
so for people who aren't familiar with that, what is the Camino de Santiago?
Asia (06:43)
Yeah,
so the Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage across Spain, so there's different routes that all end up in this specific city, Santiago, and I did the French Way, which is essentially 500 miles from the border of France and Spain all the way across northern Spain. So I walked for a total of 32 days. I had two rest days.
Everything I owned was in a backpack and I walked from like town to town, city to city until I arrived in Santiago. And so people from all over the world do this pilgrimage. It's like the way of St. James. So a lot of Catholics will do it from like a religious perspective,
Muslims will do their journey to Mecca. A lot of Catholics will do kind of the pilgrimage of the Camino, but you don't have to be religious at all to do it. But again, I've been always really drawn to some of my favorite books have been about people that have done physical journeys and the emotional, mental, often spiritual transformations that happen. So one of my favorite books is about a guy, it's called A Million Miles and A Thousand Years, and he rode his bike across America or about
this woman who did the Appalachian Trail. You're familiar with Wild and another guy rode his bike from Canada to Patagonia. And I just love pushing ourselves to the max and then what happens to that. I think there's a lot of symbolism to that in birth, which we'll probably get into a little bit later. But yeah, I had been doing birth work for so long and I was seeing these women go through this physical journey, the transformation of
Taylor Rippy Monson (08:15)
Yeah.
Asia (08:24)
becoming a parent, becoming a mother. And I was like, I'm not a mom. Yeah, I don't have children, but I love that journey. What can I do? I heard about the Camino, COVID happened. My dad passed away and then things kind of settled. And I was like, okay, when else could I give this gift to myself or nourish myself in such a profound way? So I did it. Yeah, you wake up every day and you walk step by step, like you're present in your body and your thoughts.
And I was able to just be out in nature, saw the different climates, the different areas of Spain. And then I met so many people along the way, but I also had a lot of time to myself, like in solitude to really think about who I am, what my life looked like, the direction that I wanted to go. And it was really it was obviously life changing. Yeah. And I had,
Taylor Rippy Monson (09:17)
Wow, I love all of that.
Asia (09:20)
And I had a lot of blisters, a lot of blisters on my feet, but it was worth it. That's correct. Yes. I had a pair of walking shoes and within 12 days, my feet were so swollen and in pain that I like physically couldn't put my shoes on and tie them. And I had Crocs that were like my recovery shoe. And I walked the last 17 days in my Crocs and I loved them and it was great. Yeah, they were. But people would tell me like,
Taylor Rippy Monson (09:23)
Yeah, you ended it in crocs, right?
my gosh.
Asia (09:47)
Are you walking those? I'm like, I'm walking in them every day. I like had to, yeah. You don't understand my feet. But yeah, it was such a beautiful gift to myself again, to nourish my body, my soul, my heart, my mind. But it was hard and it was so worth it. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (09:50)
You're like, you don't understand.
And I
think of that, like the reason that I brought it up is because we were just talking about like the things that we do to take care of ourselves and that's such a gesture like for yourself.
Asia (10:12)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
I just, acknowledge that that's like such a privilege. Most people aren't able to take that much time off from work or to have that type of space to do something like that. But there are ways we can have mini-Caminos in our lives or mini-pilgrimages, you know, to do similar things for us. Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (10:34)
Yeah,
I think of what you mentioned, your birth work and being a doula and how physical it is and then to do such a physical act just your strength and being able to complete something that's that massive like you walked 500 miles. That's crazy. What did you learn about yourself in terms of like your strength and your ability?
Asia (10:48)
Mm hmm. 500 miles. Mm hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, I, I will say I'm incredibly proud of myself. And that was what I think was a huge accomplishment. I didn't go for the physical aspect. I knew it was going to be really tough. But I think my biggest takeaway was like, wow, our bodies are capable of so much, right? There are people that have quite significant health problems or
things like physical disabilities or things that wouldn't allow them to do something like that. But we are actually capable of so much in regards to pushing our bodies, recovery, strength. I was like, I never thought that I would be this strong as I was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (11:34)
Yeah. And you also did,
when you got back, you started doing more, like you did the Grand Canyon, right?
Asia (11:39)
Mm hmm. Yeah, then it gets like addicting. So a lot of people once they do the Camino, they're like, I want to do something else. and I couldn't, again, do a commitment like I did that time with the Camino. So I did last summer with a group of friends, the Rim to Rim Grand Canyon. So it's about 24 miles. You start at the top, you go down like 6,000 feet in elevation through the canyon and then back up like three or 4,000 in elevation in one day. So we did that.
Taylor Rippy Monson (11:42)
You
In one day?
Asia (12:07)
in one day.
Taylor Rippy Monson (12:07)
What was that like?
Asia (12:09)
So unbelievably hot. That was the worst part. I think I knew that physically I could do it because the Camino had pushed me so hard. But it was 90, 100 degrees in the canyon. And we were like, literally drenching our bodies in the river because it was so hot. But again, we were so proud of ourselves for what we were able to do.
And the other thing that I really love that maybe we're going to transition into is the people that I met along the way on the Camino. Here's a stranger, right? Like a 70 year old man from France. We can barely communicate. I don't know why he's here, why I'm here. And we just would walk side by side with each other, right? And then I'm meeting, you know, a 23 year old girl that was from Peru and I'm speaking the basic Spanish that I know.
and she's speaking the basic English and like for a time we're on this journey together. And then we'd split off and then we'd see each other again. And it was just so beautiful to walk side by side with people and to both look at each other be like, we're doing this, like we're in this. And so I think very similar with the Grand Canyon, there was six of us and there was always a moment where one of us would be like, we need to stop and take a break, right? And we would all support each other in that.
make sure everyone had water and snacks, and then we would keep going. And like the conversations that we had, the bond that we built because we shared such a unique, challenging, beautiful experience together, yeah, was like so impactful and life-changing as well. Yeah, yeah. Okay, great, great.
Taylor Rippy Monson (13:44)
That transitions perfectly into my next question I was gonna ask because
you have walked alongside people in some serious, probably moments of grief and moments of absolute euphoria, regardless, just really tender moments. And then literally walking with people in the Grand Canyon and the Camino, but what have you learned about how caring for yourself translates into caring for other people?
Asia (13:54)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think one of the biggest aspects or one of the most important things that I do in my work as a doula, and I was actually just talking to my client who gave birth like a week and a half ago about this is that it's not my skills, my job is to hold space. That their experience is their experience. And so going into a hospital room, going into someone's home after they just had
a traumatic birth experience, or they're really struggling with the postpartum journey. And I'm there to hold space for the multitude of emotions, feelings, thoughts, physical experiences, and hear them and validate them and say, right, who you are, what you're going through right now is real. And what's the one thing we can do to help you in this moment? Sometimes that's making sure that you're drinking and you're staying hydrated. Sometimes that's giving you the permission to
cry and say this is really hard. And other times that's advocating for something to make sure that you have your preferences met. And so yeah, I think I have to go in the best that I can, non-biased. I need to like clear my own chakras and make sure that I am coming in with the purpose of supporting them in their experience without any expectations of what
it needs to look like or how it should go because that's what they really deserve.
Taylor Rippy Monson (15:39)
And how do you do that? How do you drop all of those like personal preferences and ideas?
Asia (15:46)
I mean, I have a therapist. I think I go, think, I think, I think a personal therapist that helps me kind of process those things. I think I have other doula and like birth worker friends where we're able to talk through like, Hey, this was a, this situation came up for me in this birth. It never happened before. Help me walk through that so that I can kind of release it. I think that can be really helpful. And then, yeah, I think sleep is my coping mechanism. And so I think
Taylor Rippy Monson (15:48)
Yeah, good.
Mm-hmm.
Asia (16:13)
Making sure that I'm well rested so that I can show up the best version of myself is also important. And then, yeah, just tending to my needs when I'm not there, when I'm anticipating that a client's going to need me. Yeah, I got to check myself at the door and make sure that not that I can't have emotions or feelings or opinions, but I don't want those things to get in the way of the way that I support. And I think that happens all the time with
You know, I have friends that are therapists, professional therapists, right? And it's like, they could have lost a child. They could be going through a divorce. They could be going through really hard things, part of the profession and part of the way that they're able to help is that they, we have to do some internal processing to show up in a way that doesn't interfere with our clients or our patients' experiences. Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (17:04)
And you talk about like even just the small really intentional acts like the smallest things that can be helpful for any of us to pause and reflect and be like what do I need right now whether it is literally just a drink of water or it's like going outside taking a deep breath of fresh air like small intentional acts have an impact and I think sometimes for me at least like I think that it needs to be something like big or you need to do a huge shift or like have some big epiphany.
Asia (17:12)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Taylor Rippy Monson (17:29)
But
often, probably more often than not, it's like the incremental little things that have that impact, which makes me think. Go ahead.
Asia (17:35)
Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. Yeah. And I do think
I also have some rituals, right? Like I, when I'm getting in the car and I'm driving to my client's house at three in the morning, because they text me that they're having contractions, right? Or I'm on my way to the hospital. I think like, I'll play some music. And I'm like in the car, right? Getting into the birth zone. So I think there's some rituals in that way of stretching or moving and, you know, listening to things that are going to help me get in the zone for.
what I need to do too. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (18:04)
Yes,
one thing that I know about you that hasn't been brought up yet is that you are a gardener.
Asia (18:09)
Yeah.
I am a gardener. An amateur, an amateur, an amateur gardener. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (18:14)
So how does gardening?
say you're beyond amateur, but how, mean, that seems
like such a, like, such a good illustration of all of this kind of stuff. Like the, the fact of like tending to a garden, like planting seeds and like nurturing things and letting them grow. how does that play into the rest of your life?
Asia (18:30)
Yeah.
Yeah, it brings me and I didn't add that, like put that on the list, like it brings me so much joy. My dad who passed away in 2019, he was like a landscaper gardener and so he definitely had a green thumb and always had a garden. But I wasn't really interested in and I wouldn't say like really growing up. But then as an adult, I've always had house plants. I've always like really
You you know, wanted to like water them and sing songs them and nurse them. And then maybe in 2020 I was on a bike ride in Costa Mesa and I rode by this Costa Mesa Community Garden and I emailed the city and I was like, hey, like how do I get involved in this? And they're like, put your, we'll put your name on a wait list. Taylor, it took almost five years for me to get a plot in the Costa Mesa Community Garden because
Taylor Rippy Monson (19:25)
my goodness.
Asia (19:26)
because
the demand was so high. So I like forgot I was living in a townhouse and I had garden beds in my patio. So I was growing vegetables, doing that. And it was really fun, but just like on a small scale. And then last spring, I completely forgot I get an email. I'm like, hey, we're from the city of Costa Mesa. Like your garden plots available. And I was like, oh my gosh. So last spring, I got to break ground on my first personal garden plot.
And it has yeah, it's brought me so much joy to plant to nurse. think getting my hands in the dirt where I live. I'm in an apartment complex so I don't have the ability to have my own garden, but I just. I love the concept of community gardens. I love strangers from all over the place coming together with the purpose of growing like nutritious food, understanding where the food is coming from.
sharing. There's been so many times when I'm in the garden and people are giving me tips and points, you know, tips on what I should do or where I should plant things. And then we're sharing. Like I had so many zucchinis last year and that was one part I like one way I kind of like the zucchinis. I had a lot of zucchinis, a lot of bell peppers, a lot of tomatoes, but it was so satisfying that I would go and visit a friend or go and visit a client. And what was my like offering when I would come to see them was I was bringing them
Taylor Rippy Monson (20:34)
It's always zucchini.
Asia (20:50)
vegetables that I grew, that I grew with my own hands, you know, and I'd be like, this is actually from my garden. I grew it from a seed. But yeah, I also think the going back to like the physical aspect of like, my knees are in the dirt, my hands are in the dirt. There are times I'm just listening to an audio book or a podcast, and I'm just pulling weeds and that repetition. And kind of just, you know, we're so used to being if you work in like,
Taylor Rippy Monson (20:52)
Beautiful.
Yes.
Asia (21:17)
you know, corporate America, like sitting at a desk typing. And it's so nice just to be outside in nature and understanding that like, this is where our food comes from. Like it's a process. It takes work. And it also just makes me appreciate so much more what I'm eating because it's not easy for it to get here. You know, it takes a lot of people. But yeah, that nourishes me and also like my community by being able to
Taylor Rippy Monson (21:37)
Yeah.
Asia (21:44)
share what I grow and I was able to do that as well with other gardeners at the community garden. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, every community is different. Yeah, every, every community is a little different. Sometimes you have to like have an actual parcel and then there's others where it's like you show up and you commit a certain amount of hours every week and then you're able to take a certain amount from what is grown.
Taylor Rippy Monson (21:50)
Yeah, that makes I know I want to be part of a community garden. Sounds like even better than a backyard garden.
Asia (22:11)
So it's honestly, I think they're getting more popular in metropolitan areas, like in Portland, you'll walk around and you'll see a whole bunch of community gardens. Yeah, and we need that, we really need that. And there are some of these master gardeners, there's a woman there that's probably had a plot for 30 years and she just knows everything. And I love the opportunity, where else would I meet her? How else would I be able to
Taylor Rippy Monson (22:16)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, there's one just like in the neighborhood over from us.
Yes.
Asia (22:41)
Like learn of her specialties her talents her passions if I wasn't like showing up to this community garden, so Yeah It's so fun. Haha. Yeah, it's so fun
Taylor Rippy Monson (22:48)
I love that more than you know. And
there's also something like, I feel like we've had different conversations about this like years ago, but the act of doing something that's really ancient in terms of like movement or like pulling weeds or being in the dirt and like planting seeds, it feels connective and it feels, it feels, I don't know if like primal is the right word, but it's like something that's in us and our DNA from like a very long time ago.
Asia (22:56)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Taylor Rippy Monson (23:18)
And I think anytime
we do things like that, it's like really grounding and really, there's something kind of special to it.
Asia (23:23)
Yeah,
yeah, I think when you think about like the hunter gatherer, right, like the gatherer aspect of us, like, that's what gatherers do. That's what there's probably a little bit of like the feminine energy in gardening of like tilling the ground, nourishing the plants, you know, we're weeding, we're doing that. And then we're taking what we grew, what we gathered, and we're creating something out of it, right? Like, I was using all of my vegetables.
to make these incredible meals. I had all these zucchinis. was like, what can I do? I'm like Googling zucchini recipes. I made the most amazing zucchini chocolate cake that I shared with my boyfriend's family. And then was able to, you know what I'm like, that's what it's all about. I was literally nourishing someone else with something that I did to nourish myself. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (23:57)
you
Mm-mm.
It makes so much
sense, yes.
Asia (24:18)
like
gardening nourishes me and then the product of that I'm able to nourish others. Like that's the best. Yeah. That's the best. Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (24:25)
It is the best. It's what it's all about. Have you
read The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer? She wrote, she wrote Braiding Sweetgrass. That's like
Asia (24:30)
No. Uh-uh. Okay, so yeah,
I've read Braiding Sweetgrass, but I haven't read the other one. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (24:37)
Yeah, she just
published The Serviceberry . I think it was like in the fall, but it's so good. And it talks about that. It talks about like the law of reciprocity and how if we, if our economy function based off of reciprocity, how different that would be. And it's like exactly what you described and how much more like elevated collective consciousness would be in all of these different things. If we were doing things the way that they're like meant to be done in that really nourishing way. And there's so many parallels too, between like birth and stuff, but go on. Yeah.
Asia (24:40)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah. And I think.
No, yeah, I think specifically with with doula work and like postpartum in the fourth trimester, right? Like that's why I advocate for postpartum doula work so much because it takes a village, right? And back in the day when a woman was giving birth or after she had a birth, like women would come together and surround her. And this still happens in some cultures, right? Where like the woman lays for 40 days and people massage her and bring her warm soup.
and help her as she feeds her baby. And there's so much power in that. And because of the way that we live now and in society and women having to go back to work and family members having to, it just isn't happening in the same way. Like you don't know your neighbors as much or your sisters aren't able to come, but that is one way that doulas can kind of encourage that or bring that back in is to allow
families during one of the most life changing seasons of welcoming a baby and say, slow down, let us nourish you, right? And there's this phrase, it's like, everyone wants to hold the baby, but who's holding the mom, right? And that's where a doula can come in. That's where the community and family can come in to really nourish a new family in their time of need, you know? So yeah, yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (26:22)
Yeah, so critical, so critical.
This is a side note, but I did a piece in the last issue on a place called Partum Gardens. Do you know about Partum Gardens? Okay. good, good. I didn't know if you knew of it because it's like a Portland thing, but yeah. It's like all of this blended together. It's so powerful and it should be in literally every neighborhood in the world.
Asia (26:25)
Yeah.
I mean from you. Yeah, I just from you No, I only learned about it from you. Yeah. Yeah, it's Yeah,
it should and it rate none of us are blind to the challenges that our world is facing right now, right? There's so much hardship, devastation, it's really hard to watch the news and I think you and I both
have a little bit of like a peace building background and understanding in it and why I do the work that I do and why I believe in it so much is because it's like you want to strengthen the world. We have to strengthen communities, right? How do we strengthen communities? We have to strengthen families and how do we strengthen families like it by individuals, right? And as a doula, the way that I am able to strengthen families is like, let's set them up for success from day one.
Even before day one, like while they're pregnant, like let's help them understand what they're about to experience from a birth perspective, what it's going to be like bringing a baby home. Because if we can set families up on the right foot, or at least help them feel supported initially, what a difference that's going to make for them in three years and five years to be thriving in community that then we need strong, you know, community members to ripple out into our world. You know, that's the hope anyways. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (27:25)
Mmm.
Yes. Yes.
That sums it up. And that's like a big part of my mission with Warm Bread is like encouraging people to refocus back on like home and family and do it in a way that doesn't feel like it's just meant for certain people or like homemaking isn't just for moms, like all of these different things. Like we all have environments that we can influence and it starts literally with ourselves and like our own bodies. And then I just picture these like concentric circles coming out from
Asia (27:55)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Taylor Rippy Monson (28:21)
our literal selves to our homes
and to our neighborhoods and to our communities and towns. Like that impact has very real ongoing effects, like as you continue to go outward. And then I think that they influence one another, like going inward and outward. Yeah.
Asia (28:32)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think
I want to be very sensitive to the fact that there are people that are in survival mode, they are in survival mode. They're trying to get their basic needs met. And so it is hard for them to maybe think about what's outside of their situation right now. But the goal, I think, is we all can think of a time when we were in need and when someone helped us.
and what a difference that made and how it enabled us or helped us be able to get to a place where we could then give back, right? And I think that's kind of the, I think that's where the ripple effect is too, that there's times in seasons where I'm like, man, someone helped me and now I want to be able to do the same thing for them. And hopefully that, you know, can continues on. Yeah. In the most, in the smallest ways, like in the most, you know, significant, insignificant ways. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (29:11)
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, and I think people talk.
Yes. Yeah,
well, I'm not even insignificant, but just small feeling because those insignificant things are so massive. Like I've had experiences lately when it's just been like something very small that someone has said, or even like a physical touch where it it holds so much meaning and so much like nurturing built into it. And it's really beautiful. And I think it all comes with like slowing down a little bit, like slowing our lives down and being able to pay a little bit more attention to like
Asia (29:35)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Taylor Rippy Monson (29:56)
our
real needs and maybe the needs of the people who are around us. If we just kind of start like weaving that together, you know.
Asia (29:59)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, Taylor, could talk about this all day long. I think it takes also a little bit of bravery. it's scary sometimes for people to be like, I want to help, but I maybe don't know how or what if someone, what if someone thinks it's weird that I dropped off a loaf of bread to them, right? But I think it's, it's, it's the prac, it's the practice, right? It's the practice of like, we have a desire to
Taylor Rippy Monson (30:22)
Yeah.
Asia (30:30)
or a desire to give and a desire to spread love and we have to listen to that and honor what our desires are. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (30:39)
And be open to receiving too. think so much, so many of us like
hold ourselves back because from giving in the first place, cause we don't want it to be weird or we don't want it to be awkward. But it's like, I can't think of a time that anyone's brought me food that I've been like, that was really weird. I wish they hadn't done that. and then being able to like welcome the help and receive the help is, a tough one for, I think a lot of people, but it's how it all works. Like we have to do that if we're going to accept, you know, if we're going to give, we have to be able to receive.
Asia (30:52)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm hmm. It's how it all works.
Taylor Rippy Monson (31:09)
it's giving other people the opportunity to do the same thing.
Okay, so birth work can be very communal in a lot of ways. Gardening is also a communal practice, especially being part of a community garden. How has being part of both of these worlds shaped your perspective about communal care?
Asia (31:15)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Mm-hmm.
I think it's made me realize that it's absolutely essential. Yeah, absolutely essential in, again, in a world in a society that there's a lot of temptation for hyper independence and like a pull yourself up by your bootstraps and just focus on yourself. Like both of these, my work and my experience with the community gardens, like we need each other.
Like we will not survive without each other. And that is kind of, think what my worldview is, is I feel so fortunate to feel incredibly rich in community through that, but it can also be scary to put yourself out there, right? Like, well, I don't know, should I garden? What if I don't do well? But I think we really need it.
Yeah, we really, really need it.
Taylor Rippy Monson (32:18)
it is so crucial. And what you said, like it's crucial, but like, and that's not just a
It's not just kind of an idealistic pie in the sky perspective of like, we really need community. It's it's so real. And I think that it becomes increasingly clear as we see what's happening in the world. we need each other. Like it's not makes me cry, right? Like it's not. It's so literal. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
Asia (32:37)
you
It's so literal.
It's so literal. Yeah. And it makes me hungry to create more opportunities for community for other people. like, I don't, I'm not good at pickleball, but like one of my friends like created a pickleball like club. it's like, I was terrible, but the way that it was like 10 AM on Saturday mornings, there were people, they needed that. They needed to have a place to go and to show up and
to play some pickleball and yeah, were there these like crazy heart to heart moments? No, but was there an opportunity to connect with others and to discuss who are you, where are you from? What do you do for work? Like that it's so significant and I think it's more powerful than we realize. Yeah, yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (33:27)
I think so too. Yeah. And
it doesn't have to be deep dives. It's just a matter of like being present with other people. And like the example of pickleball, like moving your body with other people is also really powerful. Like being in a space where you're like, you're using your physical self and being able to connect. Sometimes it's like hiking or swimming or something like that is really powerful.
Asia (33:31)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah. Mom walks are becoming quite popular, right? So moms that they're like, I want to move my body, I want to kind of transition after healing from birth. And then these moms that are meeting up and just going for a walk. And, I love walking and I just, yeah, I think that's beautiful. You are wearing your baby, you're pushing them in a stroller and you're walking with other moms. And I'm like, we need to have that for everyone, you know? Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (33:52)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah,
I've been to many a mom walk. I love mom walks.
Asia (34:15)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Taylor Rippy Monson (34:19)
okay. So transitioning a little bit, looking forward. So like, I'm so curious. You inspire me in so many ways. What is inspiring you right now? Whether it is related to work or your garden, what's inspiring you?
Asia (34:21)
Mm-hmm.
That's a good question. I just have a deep belief in the goodness of humanity right now. And I do think that people are coming together. They want to strengthen their families. They want to find ways to share their gifts with the people around them. And I think that's
what I'm hoping and kind of always chewing on is, is it a physical space? Is it a online space for people to feel like they belong? And I, yeah, I think that's what I'm kind of looking for and hoping to be able to continue to grow and create for my sphere of influence.
Taylor Rippy Monson (35:04)
Mm-hmm.
Yes,
So along those lines, if you could leave listeners with like one piece of wisdom about nurturing themselves and nurturing others, what would you say?
Asia (35:25)
I think number one, think find a way to believe that you deserve to experience joy. And I think, Brené Brown talks lot about that, but get to a point where you know and deserve joy. And then once you have that belief, be as radical as you want in finding the things in your life that
bring you joy because as you do that, you're going to be a walking example. You're going to inspire others and you're going to want to share that joy with other people. And that's the ripple effect of nourishing ourselves. Finding stillness, peace, happiness, and joy that we all need, that our communities need and that the world really needs right now.
Taylor Rippy Monson (36:17)
Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Warm Bread. I hope you're feeling a little more inspired, a little more connected, maybe a little bit cozier. If you enjoyed today's conversation, please let me know. I love hearing from you. And until next time, take care of yourself and take care of each other. We'll talk soon.
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