Today we’d like to introduce you to Dorothy Keiper.
Hi Dorothy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, let’s start at the beginning! I grew up in a small town in northwest Ohio with my mom, dad, two younger sisters, and lots of animals. Cats, dogs, chickens, turkeys, and bunnies. I feel really fortunate for growing up in a loving, nurturing, and supportive family. My love for children really started with my own younger sisters as I would help my mom with anything and everything that I could. As soon as I was old enough, I eagerly volunteered in the nursery at church and babysat whenever I could!
I went to college in downtown Chicago for Elementary Education. It took me a while to find my footing and I partook in a lot of partying and reckless behavior. I had a lot of insecurities, self-hatred and privately struggled with bulimia for years.
I was always a people pleaser and chameleon making it really easy to fit in with whoever I was around. During these years of my life, I didn’t really know myself without the context of who was around me and I had an overwhelming fear of rejection.
The one thing I did know during this time was that I wanted to help people, work with children, and make the world a better place. I nannied throughout college and continued after as I fell in love with supporting families. I began to hear many stories surrounding pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and child-rearing. I have such a deep reverence for mothers, birthing people, and parents. There is a lack of support and education especially around birth and postpartum in the United States and I knew that at some point my work would include being a doula.
I started practicing yoga and it was the catalyst for my awakening and journey through self-discovery, self-study, and self-love. I began studying yoga, different religions, and various healing modalities. I stumbled upon a sound bath on Eventbrite, went by myself, and had a transformational experience! I had such a deep sense of knowing and calling. The next day I signed up for a spiritually-oriented yoga teacher training by Amber Cook, Wade Gotwals, and Gopi Om. They had such a profound impact on me… I am forever grateful to them!
My partner and I moved to Los Angeles in July of 2019. I continued studying, practicing, and attending various events. Meditation, yoga, sound healing, reiki, and breathwork completely transformed my life! I began to peel back the layers and get to know myself on a deeper level. I broke patterns, re-wired my brain, and began to step into my authentic power (all of which I will continue to do forever because it is a constant practice). My life began to slow down, I was more present, less reactive, and was able to feel my uncomfortable emotions without needing to escape them.
I felt the call to start stepping into sharing these practices with others. I began building my instrument collection and took a sound healer teacher training (by Ana Netanel of Shakti Sound Bath). My reiki master showed up shortly after and I knew immediately that I was to be attuned by her (Shayna Blackmar of Vurusha Healing in Austin, TX).
After years of nannying and doing sound baths and reiki on the side, I took the leap to pursue my passions and offerings full-time. As I stepped out of the role as a full-time nanny, space opened to complete my training as a postpartum doula. I am passionate about weaving my knowledge of meditation, nervous system regulation, sound healing, pranayama, and yoga into my work!
It has been a wild and oftentimes unexpected ride to get to where I am today and I look forward to what is to come. There is so much magic in this beautiful life.
It’s funny, years ago when people would ask what I did for work I would say, “I am a nanny! But not forever, I will teach yoga, do reiki, sound healing, and be a doula someday!”
I pinch myself that all of those things have come true in what feels like such divine timing. There was never any rush. Life unfolds in magical and unexpected ways when we lean into our callings, curiosities, and passions. It truly is the biggest honor to support people of all walks of life and hold sacred space for people to come home to themselves.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think a really important mindset shift for me has been seeing challenges as an opportunity to learn, grow, or try something new. The quality of the road is usually dictated by things out of our control. What we can control is how we navigate the bumps, turns, dead ends, etc.
Starting a business without much knowledge of business, finances, taxes, advertising, marketing, etc. has been really challenging! Lots and lots of mistakes. I am grateful to have access to this information online. Rather than have a solid foundation of understanding around business I have spent a lot of time in catch up and learning things along the way.
I think the other biggest challenge was trying to make my business my full-time job a little too quickly. This put an immense amount of stress and pressure onto myself. My work started to lose the magic when I pushed it to provide for me before it was ready. A beautiful lesson and a reminder to release my own timeline, slow down, and allow things to grow organically!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Sacred Support by Dorothy Keiper is my offering to the world as a Sound Bath Meditation Guide, Reiki Practitioner, and Postpartum Doula. I am passionate about providing sacred, safe, and non-judgmental support for people of all walks of life.
I do in-person public events throughout the Los Angeles area providing sound baths, reiki, meditation, and gentle yoga. A lot of my work is also providing private sound bath meditations for events such as baby showers, birthday parties, bachelorette parties, retreats, corporate wellness events, etc.
You can visit me in-person at Regenness Wellness Clinic in Sherman Oaks for an Energetic Rebalancing session, These are an intuitive blend of reiki, tuning forks, sound, breath, affirmation, visualizations, and love. They leave you feeling relaxed, rejuvenated, aligned, and empowered! Let your stress, pain, and anxiety melt away as you come home to yourself.
I work with postpartum doula clients in varying capacities! Prenatal consultations, postpartum consultations, and postpartum doula care. I offer evidence-based information and give emotional, physical, spiritual, and educational support. The list of how I can help a family is extensive from assisting with feeding to newborn laundry and everything in between. I empower parents, I am their (and their babies) advocate, and I bring a calm loving presence into their homes. I love to support parents using reiki, sound, and breath to help regulate their nervous systems and bring in a sense of peace and relaxation.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Success to me is to make my clients feel safe, seen, and supported. Authenticity and integrity play a role in accomplishing this, as well as being kind, non-judgmental, and loving.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dorothykeiper.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sacredsupportbydorothy/
- Other: https://www.meetup.com/lighthouse-sound-healing-collective/
Image Credits
Altha
