Our thoughts have the power to dictate how our body responds to certain things. When you imagine a nice cold glass of lemonade or a sweet juicy apple, your mouth may start watering at the thought. The production of saliva is meant to be a natural exercise, but you’ve taught your body, over time, to welcome these thoughts with an even greater more positive response. Through the power of positive affirmations and so much more, you can do the same when it comes to labour. This is one of many techniques explored in our hypnobirthing classes in Melbourne and they will all work in your favour to build a mind-body connection that results in positive reactions to birth.
What is the mind-body connection?
80% of labour is about getting your mind and body to connect and work in harmony. Labour and birth relies on the firing of our reptilian brain; our instinctual brain! Just like our heart rate and respiratory rate, labour and birth is controlled by the same system. No active effort is actually required to birth a baby if we allow our body to labour undisturbed: with no external or subsequent internal influences. With the right environment, tools and support you really can labour with greater ease. When learning how to practice hypnobirthing, you will discover everything that is within you to become skilled in bringing your mind and body into harmony so that your hormones can flow in abundance and influence the contraction of your uterine muscles. Conditioning your body and mind to work in sync with one another is one of many ways to bring you closer to an empowered birth. To ensure that we continue to labour undisturbed you will learn how to positively influence your hormones and condition your body to react towards your thoughts in a positive way during labour. Our minds can be very powerful at reducing tension in our bodies and letting nature take its course: allowing your cervix to soften, shorten and dilate, creating the pathway for your baby to move down into the birth canal. Your thoughts, and the subsequent physical reactions, should work towards ensuring that this journey is faced by as little intervention as possible. Our hypnobirthing courses will teach you the techniques that will help you trust in the ability of your body. Positive affirmations, visualisation, meditations, breathing techniques and other skills will help you to embrace that journey with calm confidence and let your body do the rest.
Mind-body connections in perceiving pain
The pain we feel in labour is the by-product of the intense work our uterine muscles are doing to labour and birth your baby. Labour is the most incredible feat a woman oruterine beholding person can experience. We’ve been doing it for centuries. It is raw, it is NATURAL, and it is INSTINCTUAL. Your body is not trying to hurt you, in fact it’s just the opposite. It’s trying to work with you. Feeling pain sends alarm bells no matter how small or mighty the pain you are experiencing might be. A sense of fear will quickly overcome us; kick starting our “fight/flight” response system which is followed by a build-up of tension- most often seen through our shoulders and neck but affecting our entire body including areas we cannot see such as our uterine muscles. This cycle is what we call “fear, tension, pain” syndrome, a term coined by Dr. Grantly Dick Read in the early 1900’s. If we don’t break this cycle, the pain will continue to bubble and build and very quickly snowball into an overwhelming ball of fire within you screaming for help. We know that if we can surrender to our body’s sensations, we are sending a message to our brain and our nervous system that we are still safe, there is no reason for our fight/flight system to kick in and create reason for more pain and more tension. So how do we do this? We create a space of calm, of safety and unwavering support to a labouring person.
Learn hypnobirthing techniques with Little Bird Flies
Hypnobirthing Australia ™ Positive Birth course at Little Bird Flies will teach you and your birthing partner a variety of techniques including learning how to rewire and condition your mind and body to labour and birth just as you were designed to; instinctually. We’ll do it all while providing a safe, welcoming environment that is only made sweeter by other expecting parents joining you on this journey or if you would prefer 1:1 in your own home with Melissa. While we do not guarantee that you will experience a birth free of pain or some degree of intervention, we do intend to give you all the knowledge for you to have a calm pregnancy and a positive birth experience. Our course keeps everyone fully involved, including your birth partner, to ensure that everyone plays their important part in delivering a birth experience that feels right for you.
Childbirth is the beginning of a transformation like no other. It sees you in your rawest form, in your ultimate power. If you have feelings of anxiety or uncertainty about your birth or labour, hypnobirthing may be a worthwhile investment for you. We welcome all expecting parents whether it is their first time or otherwise because we can all gain from the shared experience. We offer a range of classes and packages and even cater to those who would prefer individual online sessions. All you have to do is contact us on (+61)423 835 242 and Melissa will be in touch with all the guidance you need. We are located in Surrey Hills and surrounding Eastern Suburbs, but we also offer online learning options.
