Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Embodiment

We have begun our fourth group serving the Iowa City area's expectant parents and it was an inspirational class. I so appreciate the lively discussion during the class as well as during the breaks and afterwards. When I went home this week I was reading an excerpt from Gayle Peterson, Ph.D.'s book "Birthing Normally" and found that it had a strong link to our mindfulness practices so I thought I'd share it.

"Unhappy, dissatisfied mind states are reflected in body posture and movement. Our feelings can be read in our movements, as we physically relate to the world in context of our perception of ourselves in relation to others. the importance of getting familiar with our bodies and of making such information accessible to ourselves is reflected in the body experience of birthing. The more a woman can cooperate with her body to push her baby out, the smoother the journey through the vagina becomes. Being aware of tension, being able to relax and to let go of tension in a particular part of the body, becomes the process of yielding and working actively with the physical labor of birth."

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tips for Safe Babywearing

You may have heard some warnings in the news lately about the dangers of baby slings. What you may not be hearing is that there's one brand of sling in particular that causes problems: the bag-style sling. When wearing a baby in a sling, it's important to be aware of how to position the baby safely. The sling you use should mimic the way you would normally hold your baby in your arms.

For individualized help with babywearing, I encourage everyone to attend the Iowa City Babywearers group. They meet the first Saturday of the month at FairGrounds Coffeehouse. Here are a few other good resources:

These drawings are courtesy of Sleeping Baby:

Yes


No



And here's a nice video on how to properly position a baby in a ring sling:


Postpartum Meal Planning Tool


MealBaby is the online tool for setting up a meal registry for parents postpartum. You can set it up for yourself or have a friend set it up for you. This would make an excellent baby shower gift.
Check it out!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Interesting Article from the New York Times

A small, underfunded hospital, run by the Navajo Nation, with about 500 births per year, is out performing richer institutions in keeping Cesarean rates down. Larger more well funded institutions are taking notice. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/health/07birth.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Natural Cycles of Labor

Here is a fantastic article by Michel Odent, phenomenally mindful French obstetrician and world renowned childbirth expert, explaining the body wisdom and physiology involved in, as well as the environments that optimally support the natural progression of labor. It is an informative, easy to understand and fascinating read and is a great refresher to Monica's wonderful presentation of the stages of labor. You may find this very useful in helping you to clarify your preferences for your birth plans, whether you are planning a hospital or home birth.

Please click, or copy and paste this link to view or download the pdf file. http://embedit.in/tyauRLuUi7

Enjoy! And happy birth planning!

Inspirational Birth Photos

Labor & giving birth is an adventure which may challenge us to the core of our being; a right of passage that invites us to realize that we are so much more, so much stronger, far more capable than we ever imagined. While none of us can expect that this journey will end up looking exactly as we've planned, it's important to align the anticipation and imaginings of our labors with images that inspire us. I wanted to forward a link to a website with images that have brought a lot of inspiration to many, myself included.

One of the co-teachers of my prenatal yoga teacher training was another amazing childbirth educator, doula/birthing advocate, like our phenomenal Monica, named Anna Verwaal. She was featured briefly in the film, The Business of Being Born. In her sojourn through doula-hood, after witnessing too many Dads/partners stressfully juggling the role of birth photographer while simultaneously attempting to stay intimately involved with their birthing counterparts, Anna found herself putting on the birth photographer hat. We had the good fortune in our training of Anna using her enormous, awe inspiring volume of photographs, collected over many years in many different birth places and situations, as she guided us through the childbirth education portion of our training. I do hope she puts a book together someday. Her photographs, taken in all birth settings from hospital non-emergency, hospital emergency, cesarean, and home birth environments, have an incredible story to tell. The images posted on her website, however, present birth in the home setting. There are a few graphic images, in the same nature as the film Monica presented, Birthing in the Squatting Position, but the majority of the photos capture the essence of each couple/family as they work together supporting Mom in the delivery of their new baby. I love returning to her site from time to time to sit with these images, the spirit of peace & joy they generate. Regardless of whether you are planning a home or hospital birth, you may enjoy viewing these photographs, too.

Check it out! www.fromwombtoworld.com Click the "Photography" link at the bottom of her homepage. Her story in the link "About Anna" is interesting, too. Actually, each of her other links feature more of her birth photography. Two of my favorites, highlighting Dad's experience, can be found in the links "Services" and "Contact".

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Prenatal Yoga Series #1

Taking a few minutes each day, or regularly a few times a week, for yoga & meditation can make an enormous difference in our overall energy levels, how we feel in our bodies as our pregnancies progress, our moods & sense of inspiration to take on the day, as well as preparing the body for a more comfortable & enjoyable labor. As promised, here is the prenatal yoga series that we practiced our first class together this session. Click this link to download the pdf of this series,http://embedit.in/PydtCZEb8Y. This series is a wonderful quick tune-up. It can be done in a very short amount of time, or the times of each exercise can be extended as noted in the directions. This series covers a lot of ground in a very short amount of time helping to stretch out areas in the body that can become compressed uncomfortably as our pregnancies progress, as well as opening up & strengthening the pelvic floor.

Remember in the squatting position to use any props, such as sitting on a bolster against a wall, or rolling up a yoga mat in a tight cylinder to place solidly under the heels, that can help you relax into the posture & support you to keep the feet parallel & able to rest your weight primarily down through your heels (and distributing some of it across the foot to your toes) so that your lower spine & bottom, back side of the hips get the deepest amount of opening. This is a wonderful posture to practice every day to help prepare for an easier labor, as well as supporting your overall comfort, especially during the last months of pregnancy. If hemorrhoids are an issue for you, you may wish to practice the version seated against a wall on a bolster, or bolster-like thick pillow, or a few blankets folded to the height that you need for the best support.

For optimal results remember to tune with Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, 3X before you begin your practice. This will help you to tap into the deepest resources of wisdom already within you as you go through your practice. You can use this mantra anytime you wish to tap into that infinite wise flow that moves through you.

Keep up exercises are highly recommended to add to the end of the yoga set to help practice our mindfulness & observe how we react to increasing sensation in the body, which is a tremendous labor prep. This is not included in the Prenatal Series #1 pdf, nor is our breath (pranayama) meditation we practiced. Descriptions of these to follow below. These would be inserted at the completion of the physical portion of the yoga series, just before the final relaxation. Remember the relaxation at the end is just as important as the physical exercises to fully assimilate their benefits.

Keep up exercise to release fear from the body & mind: Sit in easy pose, or a comfortable posture with a straight spine. Stretch the arms straight out to the sides parallel to the floor, four fingers curled into their corresponding mounds, thumb stretching straight up. Slowly circle the thumbs forward, down & pointing back as far as you can, then let them circle back up & as far backwards in that direction as you can. Keep that going, moving with your breath. Eyes are focused at the brow. Following the sounds Sat on your inhale & Naam on your exhale (Sat Naam rhymes with "But Mom") will help to deepen the affect of the subconscious fear release. Continue for 3-11 minutes. To close inhale stretch the arms out to the sides & as far back as you can, hold for a few moments, then exhale & relax.

Sitali Pranayama to calm & soothe the mind: This breath meditation is a very effective tool for releasing the grip of irritability, peevish moods, anger. It assists the liver to detox, freeing up stagnant flow in the system which can lead to unhealthful deposits or blockages in the body. This pranayama has been called "a cure within you". It will help you to keep your cool. It is reputed to be a powerful cancer preventative when practiced regularly both morning & evening for 26 breaths each. It will take an edge off, relieve the nerves, foster tolerance, calm & soothe you. It is also reputed to cool fevers. It supports us to act from our authentic selves, as opposed to reacting to our partners, our children, our loved ones, co-workers, or whoever we're dealing with from an emotional place. It's wonderful to remember to practice when visiting with relatives. No matter how much love there may be between us, we all have differing opinions & views of the world which can sometimes lead to frayed nerves. You can actually practice the breath itself any time you need; washing the dishes, taking a shower, watching TV, reading a book, writing an email, driving the car, etc. Keep this one in your tool box!

To practice it as a meditation, sit in easy pose, or a comfortable posture with a straight spine. Eyes are closed. Make a tight circle of the mouth & poke the tongue out. If possible, curl the tongue into a "U" shape. Some people are not genetically disposed to make a "U" of their tongues. If this is the case for you, just peak the tongue out just past the lips of your tightly circled mouth & let the air pass over your tongue. Inhale deeply through the straw you've made with your tongue, exhale completely through the nose in long, deep breaths. Enjoy the cooling, calming inhale, consciously release tension with the heat of the exhale. Continue for 3 minutes or up to 26 long deep breaths, as long as that takes. To close, inhale, hold the breath a few moments, exhale & relax.

The Prenatal Series #1 is from The Khalsa Way(r) Pregnancy Yoga Training Manual, as developed by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, based on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Gurmukh is the founder and director of Golden Bridge Yoga in Los Angeles and NYC, and author of two wonderful books, Bountiful, Beautiful Blissful: Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalini Yoga and Meditation, and The Eight Human Talents. Both the pranayama & the keep up exercise can be found in Gurmukh's book Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful, as well as the manuals which contain the Kundalini Yoga kriyas as taught by Yogi Bhajan. If you feel inspired to take a prenatal yoga teacher training course with Gurmukh she offers a wonderfully thorough training in Los Angeles as well as NYC. http://www.goldenbridgeyoga.com/uploads/TT/PTT_2008.html

Monday, February 15, 2010

Mindful Birthing Part 3

Welcome new and old Mindful Birthing families. We began our third round of our class on February 8th with nine lovely families. We've also added a wonderful prenatal yoga teacher to our team, Jennifer (JaiHari) Harman Deslippe. She comes with a wealth of knowledge and has shared two glorious sequences for all trimesters which we will post in the coming weeks. You can read more about Jennifer here. We hope you take time to peruse the resources and submit questions, comments and concerns.