“HypnoBirthing” or natural birth, not so far from yoga…

Giving birth is something women have been doing for centuries but it seems, today, we have forgotten how to do it. With our modern lives, where everything is fast and easy to get, we forget the most simple and natural things. We want to decide the sex, the date and even the time of the birth of our child and we forget to listen to our body, to nature. We think with our intellect instead of letting our instinct talk. We hear everywhere, in stories and from other women how giving birth is about pain and we get scared. Our brain is conditioned even before experiencing; we believe that giving birth is going to be painful, we panic and a lot of us capitulate and let the doctors be in charge of everything. We become complete spectators of our own bodies. And birth becomes a surgical act instead of being natural.
My first experience of giving birth was like that; I felt like I wasn’t deciding anything and all my wishes went out the window once I set foot in the hospital. I was disappointed. I felt like I had missed something. I was not going to let this happen again, I wanted to stay in control, so I decided to search for other possibilities. One day, being pregnant for the second time, I heard about HypnoBirthing®. It is a unique method of relaxed, natural childbirth education, enhanced by self-hypnosis techniques. It provides the missing link that allows women to use their natural instincts to bring about a safer, easier, more comfortable birthing. As a birthing method, HypnoBirthing® is as new as tomorrow and as old as ancient times. Marie F. Mongan, the author of the book method said: “We believe that every woman has within her the power to call upon her natural instincts to bring about the best possible birthing for her baby and herself”
This method will prepare you a few months before your due date to move through your limitations, fears and expectations, it will prepare you to relax and control your breathing. You will learn how to naturally stimulate your body to auto-reduce the pain with body hormones. When a woman is about to give birth and starts having surges (contractions), she needs to be relaxed and positive thinking to be able to breath deeply and let her body open with the rhythms of the surges. If she is scared and contracts when the surge arrives she will be working against her body. The breath is the key for the body to open. By letting the breath flow with the surges we are working together with nature to stretch the pelvic bones open. If on the contrary, we contracted and hold our breath, while the surge is trying to open our bones we are contracting our muscles against it and that’s when the pain is strong.
In the Raja Yoga Sutras 1.2 by the sage Patanjali, you will learn that controlling the mind is not possible without controlling the prana (vital energy, breath), as the two are intimately connected. We can easily see the connection if we observe the breath of a person engaged in a deep thinking or meditation. The breathing will be slow and calm. Alternatively, when the mind is affected by negative emotions, it will be seen that the breathing becomes irregular and unsteady. By withdrawing our attention from the external environment and by focusing inwards on the breath and sensations, you still the mind and increase your awareness of the body. When you are confident and you trust your body, the baby inside you will feel it and work with you to come out easily. The mother together with her child accomplishes birthing.
The HypnoBirthing® method will also talk about how visualization is important. During labor, it’s crucial to visualize your body relaxing, your hips slowly opening and the baby moving down, you see yourself strong, confident and graceful. You can picture yourself as a rose button slowly becoming a fully beautiful flower, as each surge is a petal opening. When your mind is focusing on a calm and gentle scenery, it’s easier for you to go deeper in the concentration.
I feel giving birth in peace and in full awareness is very important for the child being born and the mother to be. This little baby has been nurtured for 9 months in the womb, in constant intimate relationship with his mother; and suddenly he is pushed out from his warm and safe place, so it is best if he feels accompanied along the path. He will come into the world gently and surrounded by love. And for the mother, to be going through birth, to be feeling her body and her baby working together will make her invincible.

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