You can heal your birth. That's my little play on words with much respect to Louise Hay's book You Can Heal Your Life, the revolutionary classic which brought forth use of the "Law of Attraction" and its profound effect on our bodies. Louise Hay took the leap to write about what was always known in ancient cultures, our thoughts affect our physiology. She allowed modern readers to understand very simple manifestations of the mind on the body, starting with dis-ease and continuing on to rewrite the subconscious scripts that we tell ourselves that lead to and compound disease. By use of affirmations or statements of positive thought Hay helped a whole generation of AIDs sufferers to heal emotionally and strengthen their immune systems.
Power of the mind on the body
Over the years my work as a HypnoBirthing® practitioner and Doula has allowed me to witness the power of the mind on the body. Each new family I meet comes to speak to me of their fears. As we consult, I hear the subconscious stories they have been telling themselves… "Oh Paula, I can handle anything, just not a cesarean, I'll do anything not to have a cesarean. Can you help me not have a cesarean?" "Yes, certainly" I say, "let's start with your choice of words". These words hold power, for they are the description of an image. In this case we have words which create the visualization of a cesarean birth, on top of that image is the word "NOT", and yet the image is the image is the image… which our words offer back to our subconscious as a message. Our subconscious picks up this image/message and gives it value. It becomes a kind of goal, and so our subconscious drives us towards our goals, whatever they may be…often times towards what we are most afraid of.
So begins our work of self awareness...
What stories are we telling ourselves?
What if the new choice of words was "I'm planning a vaginal birth" or "Can you help me prepare for a natural birth?"…now we have a new image or message that the subconscious works with. Not everyone feels confident enough to make declarations like those. When I suggest affirmations such as those, a pregnant mom might say to herself "but what if I can't handle it?" or "what if the baby needs medical intervention?", or other common verbal manifestations of classic birth fears. So then together we search for the affirmation that can support us where we are in the moment. For instance: "I plan to be fully present at my birth", "I breathe to bring plenty of oxygen to myself and to my baby."
Using affirmations is an unfolding process, how far will you dare to dream? How many fears will pop up in the meantime? Take them one at a time. Give them space. Self awareness is the key which opens us up, and allows the release of fear. Be sure to replace the fearful thought with a new positive image. Ask yourself, what would I say YES to?