As an child birth health practioner I had a bad feeling about the early reports of COVID-19. Specifically, the stories coming from other pregnant people in Wuhan.
Because of this, I thought today it may be important to think about kindness towards ourselves especially if you are a pregnant mamma! From caveman times we have a brain that is circulated with a flight/freeze/fight mode to help keep us safe. IF you feel feelings of anxiety or panic you can go into a FREEZE mode and if you do this while pregnant this could be harmful for your body and may have an effect on your pregnancy. So it is important now more than ever, to be self-compassionate to stay away from the FEAR and really strive to cultivate compassion. But this is a skill we are sometimes not conditioned to focus on in our society especially as we are raised as children it is not always a skill addressed in our schooling.
The good news with regular practice even when you are pregnant you can overcome your threat system with a compassionate voice, soothing system. So let’s start this journey within the next minute. Close your eyes, take a big inhale and a slow deep exhale, and say to yourself this is hard…..and then say these words…WISDOM…..STRENGTH…WARMTH…..NON-JUDGEMENT. Maybe place your hand on your heart. And observe how these qualities of compassion feel in your body. Notice how you feel…..do you feel better? Do you feel relief? This is a small practice that can help calm your mindset and most importantly help you manage the anxiety in your body during pregnancy. Try and spend a minute every day doing this. Maybe every time you have a cup of tea or coffee! Close your eyes and take a moment. This will help you cultivate warmth and non-judgement in your body. Allow yourself to enjoy this feeling of unconditional acceptance. You feeling completely accepted without any judgement at all.
No matter what any of us decide, we’re all united by navigating pregnancy and parenthood in this truly unprecedented time. I have no doubt that other parents and parents-to-be could use a little extra support these days just as much as me. If you want to learn tools to strengthen your experience in mindfulness please contact me at info@janujoyfulservices.com or would like more information on bringing a leadership mindfulness-based program to your work please email or visit: https://siyli.org/programs/bring-siy-to-your-organization
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