Posts Tagged ‘relaxation’
Written by Stacia on 17 August 2010
Breathe and enjoy the blessings of a new life soon to be!
Meditation doesn’t have to be a long, involved process. It’s simply the art of slowing down, sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing for a few moments each day. It allows you to stay connected to your body and mind and lets you learn to listen to your body’s demands. No one else is listening to it, so do yourself a favor and just breathe a few times a day.
How to breathe? Try reverse pattern breathing.
Breathing is both a voluntary and involuntary action. Here, I’m going to teach you to focus your attention on your breath. Breathing in this manner requires focus to do it correctly. When you find your attention wandering, simply bring it back to the pattern.
This is not the style of breathing taught in Voice Coaching, nor will you find it in Yoga, Qi Gong or any other of the soft styles of movement. Each of those techniques has a specific outcome, to increase your lung capacity and to allow you to feel the breath and energy move along your body. Reverse Pattern breathing is only about focus.
Sit up straight for the moment, so you can really feel your body following the movements. The mantra, or phrasing you want to hold in your mind, is “In and up, out and down.” You’re going to breathe in, pulling your navel into your spine. And up, allowing your lungs to expand and fill with air.
- Breathing out, reverse it. Allow your lungs to collapse and your belly to round.
- Slow and steady. Repeat it at least three times to start and work yourself up to using it as part of your relaxation sessions. That’s all there is to it! Yoga and Qi Gong will teach you alternate patterns to focus your attention as well. I find this one works for me no matter where I am. If I focus my attention on breathing in this manner, I can control my blood pressure at the doctor’s office or even calm myself before stepping in front of a large group of people to give a lecture.
PS – You can teach Reverse Pattern Breathing to anyone! It will help a toddler calm down during a temper tantrum, help you control your temper and response in an argument, and even keep you calm at the dentist.
Tags: hypnosis, nutrition, relaxation, trimester
Posted in motivational, pregnancy, relaxation | 2 Comments »
Written by Stacia on 20 July 2010
It is important to establish a good support system through family, friends and Mom’s groups. Check out some support meetings for expectant Mom’s. Places online like iVillage and BabyCenter are great resources. We’re building a network here as well. Check meetup.com and see if there are any local moms looking to find others going through this same life-changing event.
The development of a strong support system can help you get through the rough patches of pregnancy as it can be a time of stress, fatigue and anxiety as well as great joy.
It is a time of tremendous change, psychologically and physically. Women need support, both emotionally and physically, through this important life-changing event.
The first place you will turn for help during pregnancy will be your spouse, then your family and your friends.
These are the people who are in your life on a consistent basis, so it is natural that you would seek their support first. You want to be selective with your support system. If there is a person or persons in your life who are being negative, you will want to limit your exposure to them. Surround yourself with the people in your life who are supportive and helpful. It is important to avoid emotional conflict and stress where you can because you will have enough of that on your own.
Other places to build a strong support network are prenatal groups and childbirth classes.
They can help you connect with others who are experiencing some of the same issues as you are right now. Your primary care provider, childbirth educator or hospital social worker can place you in contact with support systems in your area. Many times the friendships formed through these groups can continue long after the pregnancy and birth, and sometimes can be a support system for life.
I’d established early on in my pregnancy that I didn’t want to hear the ‘bad’ stories. I threatened to wear a No Negativity button just to keep people from sharing. What is it with us? We have to share all the pain and details of what wasn’t up to our expectation for that first pregnancy? Umm, hello??? Not all births are painful. Nor do they need to be. Industrialized nations are the ONLY ones who consider birth to be painful and pregnancy to be something other than the purely wonderful action it is. More natural regions, women have babies in fields and go right back to working….NO PAIN. I swear, it’s the media’s fault.
I surrounded myself with positive people.
I warned those who started down the path of a bad story to keep it to themselves. I and the baby could hear them. If I found myself obsessing over something too negative, I leaned into meditating or searching out positive stories.
Make sure others are aware of you’re no negativity zone. Friends and family may have great stories to share, but cut them off if they start to make you nervous. Remind them, good stories only! They’re supposed to be there to support you.
Tags: 1st trimester, baby, childbirth, health, relaxation
Posted in health, motivational, pregnancy, relaxation | 3 Comments »
Written by Angel on 02 May 2009
presented by Angel J. Miller, MSN, CNM
From the 34th week of pregnancy and onward, your own postural awareness and habits can potentially encourage your baby to lie with his or her back to your left front/side (occipital anterior) so that the baby’s head engages in the pelvic brim in this position. This will increase the potential for a normal and straightforward birth.
A baby who is already lying the other way, with spine against your spine and facing forward (occipital posterior or “sunny side up”) can be encouraged to rotate to the anterior position in late pregnancy or during early established labor.
A few babies will remain posterior and this may not be a problem. However, because of the extra rotation needed, it can mean a longer labor and complications do sometimes occur with posterior births (i.e., prolonged latent phase (early labor), slow progress in active labor, prolonged second stage.) It is worth doing your best to encourage your baby into the optimal position.
How to help your baby into an anterior position:
Use upright, forward leaning postures regularly. This allows more available space in the abdomen for your baby to rotate spine to the front. Be on your hands and knees now and then, swinging your hips (pelvic rock exercise.) You can do 100 pelvic rocks on hands and knees, several times a day (100 pelvic rocks takes about 1 ½ minutes). Pelvic rocks are a quick rocking motion of the pelvis, without much arching or movement of the back.
You can encourage your baby to take up an anterior position by making sure that your knees are always lower than your hips with your back vertical. Do this by using 2 or 3 cushions to sit on and another one in the small of your back, if necessary. Sit like this to read on a dining chair, with your elbows resting on the table, knees apart, leaning slightly forward. Sitting on a birthing ball is another idea.
- Sit on a cushion in your car to lift your bottom up and to prevent the pelvis tipping backwards.
- Check that your favorite chair doesn’t make your bottom go down and your knees come up
- Kneel on the floor leaning over a large beanbag, birth ball or floor cushion to watch TV.
- Assume a knee-chest position (knees, head and chest on the bed, with buttocks up in the air) for 20 minutes, three times a day.
- Sit your partner in a chair, kneel on the floor knees apart, and lean on his thighs
- Hang onto something with arms well above waist height (e.g., your partner’s shoulders) and let your body sag from time to time, turning your knees outward.
- Swim with abdomen forward (avoid breaststroke- the kick can potentially strain the softened pelvic ligaments).
- Scrub all your floors and skirting boards! – Our grandmas used to say that washing the kitchen floor was a good way of preparing for labor. When you are on all fours, the back of your baby’s head swings to the front of your abdomen.
- Take regular breaks and move around if your job involves a lot of sitting.
- Lay the majority of the time on your left side, with a pillow or two supporting the top knee to rest or sleep (roll over almost on the stomach, left arm behind back, right leg bent and proper on a pillow, left leg straight). However, you do need to turn onto your right side sometimes too.
- It is ideal to use forward leaning postures when having Braxton Hicks contractions as this increases their effectiveness with regard to helping the baby to maneuver into the optimal position.
Positions to AVOID:
- Avoid ALL RECLINING POSITIONS, which encourage the baby to flop onto its back. These tip the pelvis back with knees higher than the hips so that gravity will encourage the baby’s spine posterior. Instead, relax in forward leaning positions.
- Do not take long trips in cars with bucket seats (these tip the pelvis back). If you must, use wedge cushion to prevent the pelvis from tipping backwards.pelvic-rock-position
Tags: 3rd trimester, childbirth, fetal position, fitness, pelvic rock, pelvic tilt, relaxation
Posted in fitness, holistic, pregnancy | 9 Comments »
