La méditation du sourire, pour bien se préparer à l’accouchement!

La méditation du sourire, pour bien se préparer à l’accouchement  

Dans mes cours de yoga prénatal ces dernières semaines on a pratiqué la méditation du sourire, qui vise à cultiver la gratitude. C’est l’un de mes exercices de respiration préférés pour bien se préparer à l’accouchement, tout en étant très utile dans le postnatal!

On n’a même pas besoin d’être enceinte pour tirer bénéfice de cette pratique… tout le monde peut en profiter!

Cette méditation consiste à visualiser une image du sourire qui d’abord commence au ciel et qui traverse tout votre corps.

C’est une méditation de gratitude qui permet de cultiver les sensations de remerciement, bien-être, chaleur et compassion.

Pourquoi faire cette méditation pendant la grossesse? A quoi sert-elle ?

On peut utiliser ce type de visualisation qui accompagne les respirations ‘pleine conscience’ pour bien se préparer à l’accouchement, pendant le travail même, et aussi après l’accouchement dans la période postnatale, pour se remonter le moral.

Rappelez vous aussi que le simple fait de sourire (oui ! même pendant le travail et l’accouchement !) permet de stimuler les hormones d’endorphines et d’ocytocine - et tant mieux si vous pouvez même rire, ce qui produit encore plus d’ocytocine ! 

L’ocytocine est l’hormone qui facilite les contractions de l’utérus pendant le travail, et qui rend le travail plus efficace et rapide, si elle se secrète en abondance.  Les endorphines sont les hormones naturelles ‘antidouleur’ ou de confort que votre corps produit naturellement pendant le travail s’il est dans un état de relâchement et de calme…

La visualisation d’images paisibles et agréables (en complément de l’ancrage aux sensations de respiration) permet de rester concentrée et calme pendant le travail et d’attacher votre attention au moment présent, dans ce qui est en train d’arriver dans votre corps. Cela vous aide à rester calme, présente, consciente et à éviter les peurs. Cela facilite un travail et accouchement plus serein, efficace et confortable, en étant véritablement connectée dans le flux du travail.

La pratique

Vous pouvez écouter un mp3 (gratuit !) d’une méditation du sourire que j’ai enregistrée pendant un des mes cours de yoga prénatal ici

On commence d’abord par bien s’installer confortablement pour la méditation, se connecter avec le rythme et les sensations de respiration.  Puis, on imagine doucement, l’image d’un ciel bleu et vaste.

Ensuite on imagine la forme d’un sourire qui apparaît progressivement dans le ciel, et qui se diffuse dans le ciel tout en entier.

Puis on imagine la forme d’un sourire qui apparaît sur vos paupières, et on reste connecté à cette image pendant quelques respirations. Ensuite, l’image du sourire descend à votre bouche, puis votre gorge, vos épaules, votre cœur, votre poitrine, votre abdomen et dernièrement sur votre bassin…

Lorsqu’on arrive à l’abdomen (pour celles qui sont enceintes), on peut rajouter l’image du sourire qui enveloppe votre bébé dans votre utérus, et qui berce votre bébé.  On peut aussi imaginer un sourire qui apparaît quelque part sur le corps de votre bébé…sur sa bouche ou autre part sur son corps.

La deuxième partie de la méditation de la gratitude consiste à mettre vos mains (une main sur votre cœur et une main sur votre utérus/votre bébé) et de ressentir quelque chose pour laquelle vous avez de la gratitude :

Il peut s’agir de la gratitude pour cette grossesse même, la gratitude pour votre corps qui a nourri et gardé votre bébé à l’abri, la gratitude pour quelqu’un qui vous a soutenu ou inspiré pendant cette grossesse. Ou même de la gratitude pour quelque chose ou quelqu’un dans votre vie en général.

Au cours de cette méditation on reste conscient des sensations de respiration, et on prête attention aux sensations qui sont produites dans votre corps grâce à cette visualisation du sourire qui traverse progressivement l’ensemble de votre corps. Ressentez les sensations, vos réactions, et vos émotions face à ces images.  Revenez souvent à votre respiration et à la sensation de respiration ! 

Enjoy!!!

More Happy Hypnobirthing News in Paris - and why Dad's heart Hypnobirthing

This week I received a lovely email from one of the mums who did my Hypnobirthing Group Courses in Paris recently, and gave birth to her first baby a few weeks ago.

As always, it made my little heart leap to hear that the Hypnobirthing course had been so useful to yet another couple during the labour and birth of their baby... But I was especially happy in this instance to hear about the benefits of the Hypnobirthing preparation for the Baby Daddy too!

I’ve received lots of lovely feedback from Dad’s in Paris recently who have really enjoyed and benefitted from the Hypnobirthing course  Even the one’s who at first seem reluctant that we’re all going to sit round in a group holding hands and making Dolphin noises, very quickly transform into super enthusiastic Hypnobirthing converts when they see how clear and useful the information is.  And whilst most Dad's 'Do it for Their Partners' they quickly realise that by doing the practice together as a couple, they themselves too start to feel much more relaxed and at ease about the whole birth process.

I dedicate a lot of time in my Hypnobirthing group courses to explaining the science behind the progress of labour and signs for Dads/Birth partners to look out.  Admittedly this often involves me getting down onto All 4's and acting out a labouring women -  in all of her hip-rocking and low-groaning glory -in order to demonstrate the more, errrrm, visual signs & auditory signs of labour progress.

I find that this information is really crucial to demonstrating to Dad's/birth partners how they can be such a vital support their partners during labour, helping them to stay calm, focussed and relaxed.

And I have to say that the feedback from Dad’s recently has been really great!

I find that what dad’s/birth partners really want is clear and tangible information and techniques that they can use to be both useful and helpful to their partner during pregnancy & birth – and the KG Hypnobirthing course gives them exactly this.

SO it was really great to hear how this couple used the techniques and information learned during the course to get the best out of their birth experience.

I was ESPECIALLY pleased when I received this message as this particular couple had their baby at a very ‘classic’ maternity clinic in Paris which is not at all renowned for a ‘natural’ or physiological approach to birth.  We had discussed this during their hypnobirthing course and how in fact, one of the positive things about these classic maternity clinics (where they are used to an approximately 80% epidural rate) can be that couples are pretty much left to get on with the labour on their own, with the Midwife coming in once every hour or so to ‘check’ what’s happening.  For a Hypnobirthing couple who are very well prepared and know exactly how to manage the labour alone this can actually be a very positive thing, as they are left to get on with out without too much interference. And this turned out to be exactly the case for this couple…who were left to do their thing and did it brilliantly!  

Well Done You Guys!!!!!!

I hope this story will be of benefit to other couples in Paris who are wondering how it all works out with the Hypnobirthing in one of the more classic/private maternity hospitals.

As I always say, hypnobirthing helps you – as a couple – take control and responsibility for you own birth experience. And preparation is everything…

The Art of Loving Kindness - for pregnancy, labour and new motherhood

The Art of Loving kindness for pregnancy, labour and new motherhood

« In modern life we have become so busy with our daily affairs and thoughts, that we have forgotten this essential art of taking time to converse with our hearts….If we are still, and listen deeply, for even a moment, we will know if we are following a path with heart… »    

Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

In my prenatal yoga classes this week I introduced the technique of loving kindness or « amour bienveillante» as it is known in french.

This afternoon I was just about to send out an email to all of my mum-to-be yoga ‘students’ to remind them of this beautiful practice when I thought, « why not share it with other pregnant mammas and new mums who might also benefit ? » so I decided to thrash out a quick blog post about it instead.

As some of you already know I could HARP on about the benefits of yoga and mindfulness practice ALL DAY long, and list the many books that you absolutely HAVE to read and podcasts that will UNDOUBTEDLY change your life, but I’m going to try and make this relatively brief and focussed on the practice itself. BECAUSE, as we all know, it’s actually DOING the practice that creates the truly radical changes in our lives.

The practice of loving kindness is one of the key elements of modern mindfulness programmes, but it is equally found in many of the other ancient traditions. 

I first learnt the technique myself when I did a Reiki initiation programme whilst studying my undergraduate degree at Durham University, back in 2009.

The practice is a simple yet powerful way of cultivating positive regard for both yourself and others around you, as well as the world at large.  It both taps into our innate capacity to be kind and compassionate towards one another, whilst equally recognising this ubiquitous human desire for happiness and wellbeing.

The answer is always Love.  And the question starts with YOU

« If you can’t accept yourself – if you hate yourself and get angry with yourself – how can you love another person and communicate love to him or her ? …Self understanding is crucial for understanding others, self love is crucial for loving others. »                                              

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Communicating

There is consensus amongst almost all of the many ancient wisdom traditions that we must first seek to love ourselves more fully before we can authentically and honestly give love to others.

The overarching message is : the work starts with you. 

Cultivating compassion for yourself must come first if you are to seek to respond more compassionately to those around you.

Many of us have developed a strong reflex tendancy towards being ‘hard on ourselves,’ judging ourselves and our own achievements harshly.

Such tendencies can result in a cycle of suffering, as we perpetuate feelings that we somehow fall short of our own potential and/or that of others.

Developing a practice of compassionate understanding and kindness towards ourselves and our experience can thus be a radical and crucial first step towards loving acceptance of things ‘as they are.’ And oursleves ‘as we are.’ And this is where our mindfulness practice truly starts to take flight…

WHY is this practice especially benefitical during Pregnancy/New Motherhood?

« You are giving birth to your mindfulness teacher » Nancy Bardacke

The first part of this practice directs loving kindness first towards your baby, and then towards yourself.

It is therefore especially useful during pregnancy and early motherhood as you begin to cultivate a relationship of compassionate understanding towards both your baby and yourself, right from the get-go, and perhaps even before he or she is born if you start this practice during pregnancy.

In a nutshell, you’re setting off on the right foot ! or «c’est un bon premier pas » as the french would say.

Whilst most mums do fall madly in love with their babe from the minute they clap eyes on them, you will undoubtedly meet with many emotional obstacles in both pregnancy and the early days of motherhood as your pre-pregnancy life and identity shifts and you meet with the many challenges of stepping into this new version of yourself as «mamma.»

Developing this practice of loving kindness and compassionate self-acceptance is thus an important aspect of meeting these challenges with an open heart and an open mind.

Most importantly, it helps us to steer away from these old habits of negative self-judgement that can potentially tell us « we’re not doing it right » or comparing ourselves harshly to others who somehow appear to be « coping with it all better. »

The practice

The benefits of loving kindness are endless, and the good news is : it’s VERY simply to practice.

We simply repeat these 4 phrases below first towards your baby, and then towards ourselves.

It’s helpful if you can begin by establishing yourself in a meditation position, connecting with the rythm and flow of your breath to first settle and focus yourself into a state of ‘awareness.’

(If you are new to meditation I would recommend listening to free guided meditation MP3  that you can get online such as those from Peter Renner***, or using one of the many mindfulness meditation apps you can get on your mobile phone, to get started…)

You may find that an image of your baby or yourself arises during your loving kindness practice and that you can direct your words towards this image. Alternatively, a felt sense or awareness of your babies presence may become apparent to you.

This is all fine, and as with all mindfulness practice, the important thing is that you simply observe what is occuring, your reaction to it, and any feelings or emotions that arise….Whatever they are, good or bad, they are all welcome.

REPEAT the following 4 phrases to your baby, then to yourself

May you be safe and protected

May you be healthy in body and mind

May you be happy

May you live with ease and in peace

(IN FRENCH)

Que tu sois à l’abris et en securité, preservé de tout mal interieur ou exterieure

Que tu sois heureux et satisfait

Que tu sois aussi sain et complet que possible

Que tu connaisse le confort et la douceur du bien-être

Adaptations

There are hundreds of variations of this practice, therefore feel free to adapt the phrases to suit your own sentiments and what feels natural to you.

Encountering resistance

As a result of the tendancies of self-criticisim and suffering described at the beggining of this blog, it can be very normal to feel some resistance to these words when you begin to direct the phrases of loving kindness towards yourself. Again, simply notice these reactions and try to meet them with the same spirit of care and acceptance.  Remember, everything is welcome, in mindfulness practice we are not trying to be anything ‘other’ than that whihc we are, or change anything, we simply observe and accept things as they are, seeing if we can gradually meet them with compassion and understanding. The mindful birthing queen herself, Nancy Bardacke suggests that it you continue to encounter resistance towards your own positive self-regard it may be helpful to imagine yourself as a baby or child, who once was loved and cared for by your own mothers, and begin to direct these phrases towards your own inner child who too is worthy of this same love and acceptance.

Extending the practice

When you feel ready, you can move the practice away from your baby and yourself and experiment with directing the phrases of loving kindness towards friends, family and/or teachers/mentors that may have inspired you.  You can also try out sending these sentiments towards more neutral figures or even strangers that you might pass on the street, on the tube/metro etc.

It’s best not to start with people whom you have more difficult or complex relationships with in the beggining of your practice, first get used to cultivating loving kindness to those who you easily feel a warm positive regard towards, and then move onto more difficult relationships.

You can equally extend the practice to other non-human ‘beings,’ plants and animals if you wish…

What generally results from extending this practice is a compassion towards and sense of connectedness with, all other being. An appreciation that each one of us is struggling in some way on our own journey, that we are in fact all in need of the same essential loving kindness and acceptance.

Simply listen, then see what come next…

Doula Paris Recommends…

***Peter Renner has lots of great (and FREE !) meditations online including a loving kindness meditation (it’s not adapted for pregnancy but you can tweak it) on his website here :

Tara Brach’s online guided meditations and talks have a WHOLE LOTTA HEART and often include themes of loving awareness and self-compassion.  Check them out here :

Nancy Bardacke’s book « Mindful Birthing » included exercises of loving kindness and other mindfullness exercises for birth. My yoga teacher Ayala Gill recommended it to me a couple of years ago and it’s become one of my staple recommendations to EVERYONE in the birth world.

Jack Cornfield’s book, « A path with heart. » touches on many themes of putting our hearts into our mindfulness practice, and why it all begins there…

Anything written by Thich Nhat Hahn. Anything…