What you think if what you get

What you think is what you get...

From the Midwifery Today newsletter:

A 2002 Taiwan study investigating the association between demographic-obstetric factors and perceived labor pain in 90 primiparas (1st time mothers) having normal births found that their perceived level of pain was related to their expected level of pain. The researchers found no significant association between the pain and newborn birth weight, maternal age, body mass index, confidence in labor or duration of labor. They concluded that the "findings suggest that primiparas' perceived labor pain is correlated with psychogenic rather than physical factors."— Kaohsiung J Med Sci, 18(12):604–09, 2002

So, be mindful of the language you are using. In HypnoBirthing, we teach our class members to eliminate the word "pain" from their language & use the word "sensation". I even have my class members play a little game: Whenever you bump your elbow or knee or stub your toe, instead of instantly saying "Ow! That's painful!", I want you to say, "Oh! What's that sensation!" If you do this exercise, you will find that the sensation is throbbing, stinging, numbness, etc. AND that the sensation will go away much faster than concentrating on the "pain". I encourage my class members to do this exercise often so that their brain begins to be conditioned to look for the sensation rather than an automatic response of pain. That way, when the time comes & labor starts, the body/mind will be trained to go to an automatic "sensation" response as well.

www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com

Attitude is everything

Hi-
Attitude is everything. You can be the kind of person that thinks the glass is half full or half empty. I tend to be the kind of person that thinks the glass is half empty & I'm working on being more mindful of looking at the glass as half full instead. I really need to take notice of my thoughts & catch myself when a negative thought passes by. It happens so easily that sometimes I don't even notice it. But when I catch myself & change the thought into a positive one (for example...Ugh...another day spent indoors with the kids & changing it to...I'm thankful to have this time with them), I notice I end up having a much better attitude & outcome.

I think especially for HypnoBirthing moms or moms that want a natural birth, attitude is so important! What you think affects how your body responds. Therefore, positive thoughts & visualizations of birth must be what swim in your head. When & if any negative images or thoughts come up, they must be quickly replaced with positive thoughts even if you don't feel it 100%.

Here is a cute, inspiring little story:

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?" So she did and she hada wonderful day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "Hmmmmm," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?" So she did and she had a grand day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary...for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly,
Leave the rest to God/the universe.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass . It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Hope that inspires you to be more mindful of your attitude.

AWellLivedLife.net
AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com