Daughter of Samoa

Daughter of Samoa I'm a birth and postpartum doula and Yoga teacher. I teach yoga all levels of Yoga asana, including prenatal and postpartum yoga, Yin.

Find out more about Leonora's yoga classes and birthwork along with special guest teachers and wisdom keepers coming through to share about pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum and how to support birthing people. I am also a continued student, practitioner and teacher of meditation, mantra, Yoga history and philosophy -- all rooted in Yoga as a soterological practice. I teach and co-own Barefoot Movement, a Yoga studio located in West Oakland, Ca. As a birth and postpartum doula, I work to help each client envision and experience the kind of birth they deserve, helping to inform, prepare and support them throughout their pregnancy journey into empowerment as a parent.

Caring for a newborn is both profound and full of new learning. 🌊This 2-hour workshop is designed to give parents and fa...
10/30/2025

Caring for a newborn is both profound and full of new learning. 🌊

This 2-hour workshop is designed to give parents and families the tools, confidence, and perspective needed for those first tender weeks. Together, we’ll explore:

🌱Newborn Basics: bathing, diapering, cord care, soothing techniques, safe sleep guidelines
🌱Feeding Foundations: chest/breastfeeding, bottle feeding, and combination feeding options
🌱Hunger & Satiety Cues: how to recognize baby’s signals and establish feeding rhythms
🌱Digestive Health: burping, spit-up, reflux, and supporting baby’s comfort
🌱Bonding & Regulation: skin-to-skin contact, baby-wearing, and responding to newborn cries
🌱Partner/Family Roles: ways your support team can nurture both baby and parent during the early weeks

This session blends hands-on practicality with evidence-based information, while holding space for your questions and unique family circumstances. ❤️ You’ll leave with a clearer sense of what newborn care really looks like, how to navigate early feeding, and how to approach this time with confidence and connection.☀️

What are your favorite ways to use a rebozo? ❤️Rebozos are supportive companions in a variety of ways during pregnancy, ...
10/28/2025

What are your favorite ways to use a rebozo? ❤️

Rebozos are supportive companions in a variety of ways during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. For example, the same rebozo can be a tool for applying comfort measures in labor and may later be used for baby wearing during postpartum. 🦋

The Red Cupboard at Daughter of Samoa carries Guatemalan silk and Oaxacan cotton rebozos. Get yours next time you visit the studio or by contacting Leonora. 🌟

If you're feeling in need of inner clarity and alignment—or simply seeking a nourishing evening of deep rest and renewal...
10/25/2025

If you're feeling in need of inner clarity and alignment—or simply seeking a nourishing evening of deep rest and renewal—join us for our monthly sound ceremony guided by Victoria Liu. This workshop offers a sacred pause from the demands of daily life, using breath, gentle movement, and the transformative power of sound as tools for profound release and restoration.✨

We'll begin with a short, gentle movement and pranayama practice (30 minutes) to ground into our bodies and awaken our breath. From here,, we'll transition into a deeply immersive Sound Ceremony (45 minutes), where the vibrations of singing bowls, chimes, and other healing instruments will guide you into states of deep relaxation and inner exploration. Allow the soundwaves to wash over you, creating space for what wants to shift, release, and settle within.🌊

This is an invitation to step out of the thinking mind and into the feeling body—a journey inward that can reveal new dimensions of yourself and open doorways to healing.

About Victoria Liu 🌻Victoria started an apprenticeship with Leonora Willis as a birthworker in 2023, first in perinatal yoga and eventually as a doula for both birth and postpartum work. She also trained in traditional yogic pranayama in Guatemala under Jenika Bronson, and completed her 200-hour RYT for Kundalini Yoga with Liya Garber. Her personal journey with meditation and movement began 16 years ago as a student, then in research for mental health at UCLA, and now as a teacher and facilitator in yoga and sound. Victoria has deepened her somatic studies in pelvic floor work and trauma informed teaching. Victoria brings a compassionate yet poignant tone to her teaching and facilitation, creating spaces that feel spacious, grounded, and warmly held. 🌱

Link in bio to sign up! 💌

It's here! The Red Cupboard at Daughter of Samoa is your one stop shop for all things pregnancy and postpartum. From ess...
10/22/2025

It's here!

The Red Cupboard at Daughter of Samoa is your one stop shop for all things pregnancy and postpartum. From essential oils and handcrafted soaps to benda elasticas and ethically sourced rebozos, you will find what you need to support your journey.

The Red Cupboard is based at the studio where you practice yoga and attend workshops. Please speak to one of our instructors about the items inside, and leave with some of our favorite pregnancy and postpartum essentials.

Rest, Recovery & the Return HomeWhile much of birth preparation focuses on labor and delivery, the early postpartum peri...
10/22/2025

Rest, Recovery & the Return Home
While much of birth preparation focuses on labor and delivery, the early postpartum period is equally deserving of care, foresight, and community support. In this workshop, we’ll gently guide you through planning for your first 40 days postpartum—what many cultures consider a sacred window for healing and bonding. Together, we’ll explore:

Setting expectations for physical recovery and emotional shifts

Building your postpartum care team and asking for help

Meal planning and nourishment for healing

Navigating newborn care while caring for yourself

Creating rhythms of rest, bonding, and connection

Ways to involve and support partners or co-parents

You’ll leave this session with a personalized postpartum care plan and a deeper sense of how to center your own wellbeing during this powerful time of transition

$55-75 Sliding scale per person

🔁 Refund & Cancellation Policy
No refund if canceling within 24 hours of the workshop.
Any other cancellation request will be a fund transfer to your Momence account for future use or a rescheduling to a future workshop.
Please plan mindfully and communicate as needed.

While much of birth preparation focuses on labor and delivery, the early postpartum period is equally deserving of care,...
10/20/2025

While much of birth preparation focuses on labor and delivery, the early postpartum period is equally deserving of care, foresight, and community support. In this workshop, we’ll gently guide you through planning for your first 40 days postpartum—what many cultures consider a sacred window for healing and bonding.

Together, we will explore:
🌱Setting expectations for physical recovery and emotional shifts
❤️Building your postpartum care team and asking for help
🍲Meal planning and nourishment for healing
🌞Navigating newborn care while caring for yourself
🧘‍♀️Creating rhythms of rest, bonding, and connection
🌊Ways to involve and support partners or co-parents

You’ll leave this session with a personalized postpartum care plan and a deeper sense of how to center your own wellbeing during this powerful time of transition!

Link in bio to sign up! ⬆️

Baby and me yoga THIS Wednesday, FREE! 10:00am - 12:00pm. Register and meet me in the zoom! This class is designed to as...
10/14/2025

Baby and me yoga THIS Wednesday, FREE! 10:00am - 12:00pm. Register and meet me in the zoom!

This class is designed to assist new parents after birth, providing a supportive community-centered environment, and an opportunity for self-care.

With their babies, present or napping nearby, parents can focus on easing tensions, restoring alignment in the body, creating energy and rest strengthening the core.
The class is taught by Leonora Willis and sponsored by Bananas .

Birth rarely unfolds exactly as planned—but that doesn’t mean planning isn’t worthwhile. In this workshop, you’ll learn ...
10/13/2025

Birth rarely unfolds exactly as planned—but that doesn’t mean planning isn’t worthwhile. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to create a birth map—a flexible, values-centered approach to birth planning that can help guide your decision-making before and during labor.

Together, we will explore:
🌞Clarifying your birth values and communicating them effectively
🌊Making room for flexibility and the unexpected
🌻How to talk with your provider about your preferences
❤️Creating supportive roles for your birth partner or team
🌱Knowing your non-negotiables and where you’re open to shift

Whether you’re birthing in a hospital, at home, or at a birth center, this session helps you prepare from a place of clarity, calm, and connection to your own inner authority.

Link in bio to sign up! ✏️

Values, Preferences & the Power of PlanningBirth rarely unfolds exactly as planned—but that doesn’t mean planning isn’t ...
10/13/2025

Values, Preferences & the Power of Planning

Birth rarely unfolds exactly as planned—but that doesn’t mean planning isn’t worthwhile. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to create a birth map—a flexible, values-centered approach to birth planning that can help guide your decision-making before and during labor.
Together, we’ll review some of the information from the previous workshop regarding Navigating Your Options in Hospital Settings to know and understand what core values, feelings or outcomes matter most to you, knowing your north star:

Clarifying your birth values and communicating them effectively

Making room for flexibility and the unexpected

How to talk with your provider about your preferences

Creating supportive roles for your birth partner or team

Knowing your non-negotiables and where you’re open to shift

Whether you’re birthing in a hospital, at home, or at a birth center, this session helps you prepare from a place of clarity, calm, and connection to your own inner authority. You will receive a few templates for birth plans that you can use to build your own and take into the hospital or birth center with you and share with your care providers.

Cancellation Policy:

No refund if canceling within 24 hours of workshop.
Possibility of a transfer of funds from workshop registration to your account if you miss because you are in labor.

According to the Listening to Mothers in California survey, while 74% of birthing people agreed that childbirth should o...
09/30/2025

According to the Listening to Mothers in California survey, while 74% of birthing people agreed that childbirth should only be medically intervened with when necessary, only 5% actually gave birth without major intervention. Many common hospital practices during labor and birth may be unnecessary, and in some cases, increase risks to both birthing parent and baby.

Join Leonora for this essential workshop designed to help you better understand your rights, options, and choices within the hospital setting. We’ll explore:

Common labor and postpartum interventions—what they are, how they’re used, and why they’re often routine

The evidence behind practices like induction and augmentation (especially in light of the ARRIVE Trial)

Tools for informed decision-making and advocacy, so you and your birth team can confidently navigate your care

What to expect as labor nears (around 36 weeks onward), including:

Cervical exams and fetal heart monitoring

Saline locks and artificial rupture of membranes

Pain relief options (epidural, nitrous oxide, IV meds, and more)

Early newborn care decisions—cord cutting, skin-to-skin, and routine wiping of the baby

Whether you’re a first-time parent or a doula, this workshop supports you in reclaiming consensual, respectful, evidence-based care at one of the most significant times of your life.

🔁 Refund & Cancellation Policy
No refund if canceling within 24 hours of the workshop.
Any other cancellation request will be a fund transfer to your Momence account for future use or a rescheduling to a future workshop.
Please plan mindfully and communicate as needed.

Address

3645 Grand Avenue Suite #205
Oakland, CA
94610

Opening Hours

Monday 10:30am - 1:15pm
Tuesday 5:30pm - 6:45pm
Thursday 5:30pm - 6:45pm
Friday 10:30am - 1:15pm
Sunday 10:30am - 11:45am

Telephone

+15104737138

Website

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Our Story

I teach in the Vinyasa Flow Style, which is rooted in the Ashtanga (8-limbed) Yoga philosophy, made popular by Patabhi Jois, passed down to him by Patanjali. Unlike Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow is not a set system; it does not operate within a certain set sequence of poses but instead, allows for some creativity on the teacher's part to devise sequences of poses that fluctuate, depending on the needs and abilities of the students, the time of day, year, weather, etc. Some focuses of Vinyasa Flow Yoga is to transition fluidly from one pose to another, with the breath, for a full, body opening and unveiling, ever-mindful of proper alignment in the transitions and within the poses themselves to aid the release of the blockages of prana (energy in the body), specifically in the nadis (channels where energy flows). Core engagement is important for the body's stability and safety, and some aspects of instruction, concerning the body's subtle energies, from a non-Western perspective, including doshas, bandhas, nadis, chakras, are often incorporated into a Vinyasa Flow class. I move students through sequences of poses that are designed to help deepen the connection with the body, to still the mind, aiding in the balancing of the mind and spirit. In a Yoga class with me, students are physically challenged while also feeling a sense of being nurtured, safe and supported, which encourages the connection between body and mind, self and universe.