Healthy Pregnancy - More than Just Nutrition
We put so much emphasis on a healthy body in our modern culture we tend to leave the practices that nurture a healthy mind in the dust. More and more mothers are realizing that finding the perfect prenatal (gummy - yum) vitamin isn’t enough to ensure a healthy mom and baby. I and other metaphysically minded birth workers strongly believe that a healthy mind and spirit shape our unborn children just as concretely as optimal nurition. There are clear steps you can take to promote healthy thought patterns on a daily basis that will set you down a positive path toward an enlightened birth experience and a peaceful postpartum period.
1. Clean out your Closet
Your emotional closet. This seems intuitive, but it’s likely the hardest part of your prenatal journey. The moment the initial excitement eases from the acknowledgment of your pregnancy, thoughts of concrete preparation settle in. I suggest the shift from material preparation in favor of emotional preparation. The more we research the power of our mind we understand the impact of positive mindset. The things you need for your pregnancy and baby come easier when you are in a place of ease and gratitude for the situation you currently have and that better one you will inevitably have. The thing is, you cannot maintain that sense of ease without laying long held stressors and false emotional realities to rest. You have to clear the skeletons from your closet. This is of course imperative to the advancement of your life in general, but it has never been more imperative than this moment as you prepare to nurture another being. The level of responsibility is huge and it begins with the responsibility you have to yourself. To confront your skeletons is surprisingly simple (simple, not easy). You think about your current external reality and the things that cause you tension. Then you look at the sources of that tension. Is it perhaps a family member or a lifestyle you’d previously committed to but has to transform? The trick is to not just look the tension then return to coping strategies you’ve built to survive it. You look at the sources of tension then immediately commit to cutting them. Shot, no chaser. Seriously, put that bagel down. Don’t turn click that instagram app (my vice). Sit in the empty room, no music, and mourn the things you have to cut from your world to be your optimal. It sucks, but it’s worth it. Your body, mind and baby will thank you!
2. Prioritize Enjoyment
Prioritize enjoyment to perceived obligation. Your obligation is to maintain a state of joy! If getting that promotion before baby comes isn’t making your skirt fly up with glee, then it may be one of those tensions you have to evaluate your motivations for. Concrete things like money follow your sources of joy. Instead of taking a second job to save up and smile and sleep less...travel. Confront foreign cultures and concepts. If you love to paint, do more of that. The trick is to think of effective ways to monetize your joy. It’s actually fun to start and affiliate under that travel blog/YouTube channel if travel is your passion. And people will support the energy you put behind it. The money will follow. This is the principle from that old Kevin Costner movie where the angels tell him “if you build it, they will come.” I used to think that was stupid (as a kid) but man do I get it now. If you push away fear in your now to embrace the possibility of your future joy, you are so much closer to grasping it. It’s almost like the trick is to dare more in the direction of your specific bliss. And to build as if you’ve already got yeses to everything you request. Because really, you do! Reality is poised and waiting to dump bounty in your lap as you raise your vibration by satisfying your curiosities. Do it now before baby gets here and continue long after trusting that he or she will fit into your ideal life, even if that looks unconventional.
Make and Maintain Positive Routine
Similar to following your bliss, identify the positive routines that support your health and bliss and stick to them. Like really don’t let up. We all resolute then justify our humanity when we allow them to leave our side. This time see positive routine as a tattoo that decorates your life for the better. Letting them go is not an option without significant pain. Associate letting go of your morning quiet time with backwards motion and the pain of atrophy.
Simple morning routines is probably a familiar thing, so select a few practices that support your gradual improvement. Something that challenges you a tiny bit but is fun and easy to embrace as a part of you.
For example, I never got out of bed easily, so I started doing “bed yoga”, where I threw over my covers and did simple stretches before I even sat up. That one change, energized my commitment to others and the changes to my emotional well-being and overall outlook were almost immediate. Like in a week I started jumping out of bed to squat after the routine instead of grumbling to the bathroom.
I hope these suggestions contain something good for you. Maybe some shift in the ways you perceive your childbearing year responsibilities. More fun, less preparation, y’all!
Much love always!
Zuri Sabir, CD-B/P