With the beautiful blessing of pregnancy, can something also bring anxiety. What could possibly go wrong? Your anxiety and endless google searching will let you know. Maybe you’ve suffered from anxiety prior to pregnancy, or maybe this is an all new sensation brought on by the need to protect your precious baby. How in the world will you get through this and motherhood without losing your mind over every small detail?
Simply put: mindfulness and meditation. These concepts may not be for everyone, but when used seriously they can successfully bring calm and help to wash away your anxiety. Doesn’t that sound magical? Yes, but these concepts also take practice. You may feel silly completing these at first, but I promise, they do help and you will get the hang of them eventually.
In this post, I will cover a few topics as they relate back to mindfulness and mediation during pregnancy. I will cover what they are, why they are important, how to fit them into your daily routine, why they will help with pregnancy/childbirth/motherhood, resources and guides, and I will share my thoughts and personal experiences at the end. Let’s jump right in and get into why mindfulness and mediation are important and what they are.
Mindfulness and Meditation Explained
To start, it’s important to understand what mindfulness and mediation are and why they are important. Without your “why,” you’ll likely not stick to this and then it won’t be all that helpful.
According to Mindful.org, mindfulness is being fully present without being judgmental and meditation is a form of mindful exploration where you explore your thoughts and feelings using your breath as an anchor. As you can see, these concepts go hand in hand. Incorporating them into your life is a simple process, but it has lasting benefits.
What is your why and what are the benefits? Your why is unique to you. Do you want to be calmer, have a mindful approach to life, or something else? Start by defining your why and revisiting it frequently to ensure it still fits. The benefits of mindfulness and mediation are seemingly endless. They help to ease your mind, enhance your awareness, reduce stress, foster connections and relationships, boost your overall well-being, and enhance creativity.
Mindfulness may already exist in your life and mind. It’s the act of pausing prior to completing an activity to consider your thoughts and feelings without judgement. Meditation can help foster mindfulness by exploring your thoughts and feelings. The two really play off of each other to cultivate a new way of understanding life.
This all sounds flowery and magical, but how do you really incorporate this into your life to foster calming thoughts and ease anxiety, especially during stressful times in pregnancy and motherhood? Start with your daily routine.
Your Daily Routine
Begin by introducing mindfulness and meditation in small increments. Thirty seconds is all that you need. Start a timer and focus on your breath; in and out. If your mind begins to drift, swipe away those thoughts and refocus on your breath. Increase the time as it fits in your life. At its simplest form, this is meditation.
The start of your day is a great way to practice meditation. Before you even lift the covers off and hop out of bed, take those thirty seconds to mediate. Prior to making a decision or writing an email, again, take thirty seconds to meditate. Angry at your partner? You guessed it, take thirty seconds to mediate before you respond. Then, respond with a clearer mind.
Whenever you encounter a stressful situation, take a moment, whether it is thirty seconds or five minutes, to meditate. Begin and end your day with meditation and mindfulness. Practice mindfulness by writing in a journal without judgement. If you are afraid you’ll read it and judge yourself later, consider writing and then shredding the pages.
These practices, as they relate to pregnancy and motherhood, can be monumental in keeping a calm mind and really considering how you feel in a particular moment.
How Mindfulness and Mediation can Help: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood
There are so many stressors and stressful moments that can occur while pregnant. When your mind is racing with fear, mediate. It won’t make your problems disappear indefinitely. However, it will help you proceed with a calmer mind. Proceeding with a calmer mind will help foster practical decisions.
Mindfulness and meditation can be powerful tools during the child birthing process. Take any prenatal birthing class, and you will learn the power of breathing through your contractions. This cannot only combat pain, but also, mindfulness can aid in knowing your true feelings. It can help you realize if the pain is too much and you need some help. If a natural birth is what you are after, this is the first place to start. If you know you’ll be undergoing a c section, practice mediation to calm your mind prior to your procedure and to help wash away the pain afterwards.
If you already have some children, practicing mediation can help in times of stress. Take time to focus on your breathing before you yell. Chances are you won’t be able to hold onto your anger and you will respond in a calmer, more mindful way.
Both concepts are amazing tools when used appropriately. Beginning is simple and will foster a wonderful relationship with your spouse and children as you walk through this life hand in hand. From the nuances of pregnancy, to child birth, to motherhood, let them guide you through.
Resources and Guides
Beginning a new journey alone can be daunting. This is where resources and guides come in handy. Finding a resource that resonates with you is important. Here, I will list several, but it won’t be an all inclusive list. You can research additional resources as you see fit.
On motherhood.com, there is a beginner’s guide to mediation and mindfulness during pregnancy. If you are beginning during pregnancy, this is a great place to start. It shares when and where to mediate as well as how. This article is written by mindfulness expert Lauren Eckstrom. You can find more helpful resources from Lauren on her YouTube channel. Here, you will find mediation and yoga to follow along with. She even shares some great prenatal yoga!
Birth Matters NYC offers some wonderful resources. Specifically, they offer 10 Ways to Use Mindfulness Through Labor and Delivery. This article details ways to practice mindfulness prior to labor and then all the way through delivery. They offer some mediation classes, beginning at about $50 and going upwards from there. I have not completed these courses so I cannot speak on what they contain or how effective they are. I would personally check with your local hospital or birthing center for free classes first. They will likely teaching breathing techniques in any birthing class offered.
My personal favorite and where I started is the Mindful Mama Podcast. Hunter Clark-Fields MSAE has a plethora of resources beyond the podcast. She shares on insightful topics and also has short mediation episodes. Her motherhood books have helped me immensely on my journey to mindfulness. My favorite is the Raising Good Humans Guided Journal. It has caused me to really stop and think about what I want for my kids and has significantly helped me decrease my yelling in stressful situations.
Since you are probably reading this on your phone, I will list some helpful apps as well with a brief description:
- Mind the Bump: brief guided mediations that span from day one of pregnancy to your child’s second birthday.
- Headspace: provides themed mediation packages (after subscription) to a calmer mind. The free version includes 10 mediation sessions.
- Expectful: gives access to your own curated mediation sessions depending on your situation. These range from trying to conceive to motherhood.
- Insight Timer: search for a specific time or topics and then save them in your app. This isn’t geared directly towards moms, but does contain several sessions relating to pregnancy and motherhood.
- Stop, Breath, & Think: the name of this app really summarizes mindfulness and mediation well. When you open this app, you are prompted with sharing how you are today. After sharing, the app with curate meditation based on your mood and emotions.
From podcasts, to YouTube, to books, to apps – you don’t have to begin the journey to mindfulness alone. Start with that resonates with you the best and go from there. If you find a resource to be boring or unhelpful, try another before throwing in the towel.
Final Thoughts
Prior to beginning your mediation journey, you may have considered the topic a little “whoo whoo.” However, it can be immensely helpful during pregnancy, childbirth, and beyond. Simple put, you must first just take the step to begin. No matter what stage or season you are currently in, just trying it out will not hurt.
For me personally, I did not discover this practice until well into my journey of motherhood. My first daughter was in the thick of her terrible twos and I felt like I was constantly yelling. This is when I discovered Hunter Clark-Fields, MSAE. I began with her podcast and then ventured out to her books. It has really helped me to decrease my yelling and take pause before reacting.
Have you just began your journey to mindfulness and mediation? How have you decided to begin?
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