Mind-Body Medicine for Mothers
Mind-body medicine is being touted on magazine covers, in bestselling books, and sold-out yoga classes. Only a short time ago, hypnosis, yoga and meditation were considered superstitious nonsense by mainstream medicine. Today, with hard science backed by substantiated data proving the benefits, the subject is no longer debated. Instead, it is being applied to dozens of serious ailments such as cancer, AIDS and chronic pain. It is high time its wonderful balm is applied to the life-changing journey of becoming a mother.
Long locked away and underappreciated in the "domain of women", the journey into motherhood with its unique set of physical, psychological and spiritual challenges on a woman's body and soul are finally beginning to be appreciated. Although a natural and healthy part of human life, becoming a mother is hard work and it takes every nook, cranny and crevice of a woman's being. As though taken over by an ancient intelligence of nature the body, mind and spirit all guide a woman step by step through a mysterious transformation which has been the marvel of poets, philosophers and mystics for thousands of years. The mind-body connection is a potent tool mothers can use to consciously embrace and cooperate with the wisdom of the body and the soul while walking down this ancient path. Touching one's deeper waters daily in consciousness can become a powerful source of replenishment, strength and fortification.
Science is providing reams of new hard data about how our mind states affect our bio-chemistry. We now know how both physical and psychological health are profoundly impacted by everything from stress to being in love, from positive and negative attitudes, from fear to gratitude. In addition, every religious tradition around the globe agrees that by dipping into our spiritual core regularly we keep in touch with a vital sense of the miraculous dimension of life. Because being a mother is so commonplace and filled with many mundane day -to-day chores, it is easy to loose our perspective on what a magical and meaningful role it is. By taking a moment to step back from the pressing activities that fill our days and nights as mothers we keep alive an awareness of the spiritual wonder which fill the simplest building blocks of human life.
We all have the life-giving and healing potential of deeper states of consciousness within. The classical East has been honing these skills for thousands of years and these meditation practices with their roots in Tibetan Buddhism have been tailored to serve the purposes their names imply. Calm Birth and Calm Mother provide the tools to enter into deep alpha brain wave states of consciousness which are restorative to body and soul. There is no pill, potion, class, diet or regimen that could benefit us more--and it is free to be taken advantage of whenever we want. As a busy expectant mom or a mother consumed in the day- to-day realities of caring for young children your reaction may be a tired groan at the thought of cramming one more thing into a schedule bursting at the seams. You will be relived to discover this practice isn't looking for an austere superwoman who rises at dawn to practice for an intensely challenging and lonely hour with ram-rod spine perched on a zafu. All of these meditations are easy to master, are practiced in comfortable chairs or lying down and all that is required is to create the time and space as they are enjoyable and instantly replenishing. Practitioners are encouraged to experiment with which of the meditations suit them and how often and for how long it is realistic to fit them into their schedule.
Calm Birth and Calm Mother have three basic meditation practices with slightly different imagery employed to suit the variables of each stage of motherhood. Calm Birth has an emphasis on physical and psychological health in pregnancy, nurturing the unborn child and providing tools for relaxation and pain management for the labor and delivery. Calm Mother focuses on the arc of healing and integration postpartum and the ongoing challenges of caring for young children for their first years of life. Two of the practices have their roots in Tibetan Buddhism and the progressive relaxation technique comes from Edmond Jacobson MD of Harvard Medical School.
The meditations are:
● Practice of Opening: is a reclining meditation which systematically brings the attention and then release of tension to all parts of the body. As each part of the body is brought to awareness the tension held in the muscles is systematically released and the correlative tension held in the mind is eliminated.
● Womb Breathing: is a sitting meditation done comfortably in a chair or meditation cushion. It is based on what is classically called Vase Breathing in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. It is a combination of visualization and breathing which draws the attention and chi down into the navel center. (Chi or prana is the vital energy circulating in the energy body which is the foundation of Eastern disciplines such acupuncture, Tai Chi, Qi Qung and the martial arts.) The navel center is said to be the holder of the life force, critical to the vitality of the chakras and important in the mastery or release of fear. Many women find with practice this breathing will naturally arise in labor and help them access a transpersonal state of consciousness which makes pain medication unnecessary.
● Giving and Receiving: is the Tibetan Buddhist meditation known as tonglen and can be done in any position one finds comfortable. This meditation taps into the collective self and establishes a living link with all mothers everywhere. This classic healing practice reaches out to all mothers everywhere using ones intention and focus to dissolve any fear or distress in one’s own being and in their being simultaneously. One visualizes breathing in all the pain, fear or distress mothers all share in common and have it dissolve into the light at the core of ones cells and metaphysical being. As the darkness is transformed into light the pure and refreshing energy of the spirit is transmitted back for the collective healing of all mothers everywhere.
Being a mother is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges of a lifetime. Dipping as often as possible into the healing waters of deeper consciousness within can provide us with the nourishment and strength to stay in tune with the wonder and love we naturally feel for our children. By taking care of ourselves in body and soul we can help insure along with the challenges it is also a time of discovery and enjoyment.
