MOM-Mindfulness On Monday I

I am excited to start a new weekly series of blog posts to be called MOM for mindfulness on Monday. In these posts, I will identify a common fear that birthing women bring with them into their births and an affirmation or perhaps several to rewrite positivity over the fear in their mind. HypnoBirthing utilizes 5 types of strategies to get your mind fit for birth. Affirmations is one, and the others are visualization, hypnosis, breathing and relaxation.

Affirmations are statements that you say to yourself frequently and repetitively. When deciding on an affirmation for birth or anything else it must be a positive statement. So a good example of a daily affirmation would be "I am safe and protected all day long" instead the same thing written with negative language such as "nothing bad will happen" Affirmations need to be phrases that state what you want rather than what you are trying to avoid.

A great strategy is to pair an affirmation with a trigger...something that you do frequently. Perhaps answer the phone, sit at your desk, pass through a doorway. You can trian yourself to say your chosen affirmation each time the trigger occurs in your life which will ensure that you benefit from these positive thoughts frequently and repetitively.

The first fear that does not serve birthing women that will be addressed is tearing. No one wants that and many pregnant mamas fear it. One affirmation that is great to combat fear of tearing is: "my baby slides effortlessly and gently into the world" and another that is really good is: "my perinium is designed perfectly to accomadate my baby's entry into the world"

If you have another great affirmation to combat fear of tearing then please leave them in the comment section. Also, if you are brave enough to share your concerns and fears in the comments then I will do my best to address it next Monday or a Monday in the near future.