Becoming a mother is one of the most magical transformations in a woman. At Santosa, we provide yoga and meditation private classes to future “Moms”. What can we do more to be ready? We are delighted to share more tips here.
Educate Yourself
There’s a lot of fear of the unknown as to what happens to our bodies during pregnancy and labor. The more fear we have, the more anxious we become and the more stress hormones are released, thus making labor, in itself, more painful. As you ease your mind–empowering it with information about what to expect throughout pregnancy and labor–the intensity of pain lessens.
Don’t panic
Pregnancy takes time for a reason. The gradual process gives you time to plan! So you have time to get things ready before you go to your birth place. Have fun with it, don’t panic, enjoy this moment with your partner and your other kids.
Tap into the Power of Prenatal Yoga
In a prenatal yoga practice, there’s a lot of emphasis on breathing, especially through the difficult poses. Through working with our breath, we are able to relax more in uncomfortable moments. Our breath will allow us to remain present and ground us during these times, as well as give us a break in tough times.
By practicing the poses common to most pregnancy yoga classes, you will learn how to release lower back tension, and open up your chest, shoulders and hips. All of these muscles can hold tension during pregnancy and labor, so learning how to release this specific tension is very helpful.
Santosa can offer private Prenatal Yoga classes upon request…
Just breathe
The most important thing to do is just to breathe deeply and naturally like you would if you were exercising. Focus on breathing OUT any tension that you may have. It sounds crazy but it works. A good birth can be as simple as mastering the breath.
Make Time for Meditation
A meditation practice puts your body and mind into training enabling you to sit be with discomfort at times. The deeper we are able to go into a practice, the more objectively we are able to observe everything around and within ourselves, rather than reacting to it. It will allow us to remain present with everything.
Eat Nutritious Food
Almost all pregnant women need to get more protein, increased amounts of certain vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, iron and calcium, and they require a higher calorie intake to keep up their energy. If your diet is poor to begin with, making the transition to eating nutritious meals is one of the best things you can do for your baby’s health. A healthy diet includes proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and plenty of water. But eating better doesn’t mean eating more – or rather, not much more.
We can’t control everything
Some women give birth exactly as they had planned, but many don’t. You can have a great empowering birth, even if things did not go exactly as you had planned. Both natural and surgical birth can teach us an important lesson for being mothers: that we don’t always get to pick how things go, and sometimes just need to surrender.
Becoming a mother is one of the most magical transformations in a woman. Enjoy the journey and remember to treat yourself well.