Most mums-to-be spend a lot of time worrying about their developing baby.
But remember, it’s just as important during the next nine months to tune in to someone else’s cues: your own.
Maybe you’re exceedingly tired. Or thirsty. Or hungry. Maybe you and your growing baby need some quiet time to connect.
Your doctor or midwife may say, “Listen to your body.” But for many of us, that’s followed by, “How?”
Meditation can help you listen to your voice, your body, that small heartbeat — and help you feel refreshed and a bit more focused.
What is meditation?
Think of meditation as some quiet time to breathe and connect, be aware of passing thoughts, and to clear the mind.
Some say it’s finding inner peace, learning to let go, and getting in touch with yourself through breath, and through mental focus.
For some of us, it can be as simple as deep, in-and-out breaths in the bathroom at work as you try to focus on you, your body, and the baby. Or, you can take a class or retreat to your own special place in the house with pillows, a mat, and total silence.
What are the benefits?
Some of the benefits of practicing meditation include:
- better sleep
- connecting to your changing body
- anxiety/stress relief
- peace of mind
- less tension
- positive labor preparation
- lower risk of postpartum depression
Doctors and scientists have studied the benefits of meditation on pregnant women and they have shown that it can help mums-to-be throughout pregnancy and especially at birth.
Mothers who have high levels of stress or anxiety during pregnancy are more likely to deliver their babies at preterm or low birth weights.
Prenatal stress can also impact foetal development. Studies have shown that it can even affect cognitive, emotional, and physical development in infancy and childhood. All the more reason to squeeze in some meditation time!
Mothers-to-be don’t spend their entire 40 weeks of pregnancy glowing radiantly; there are also midnight worries, endless shopping lists, and swollen feet. Somewhere around 18 percent of women are depressed during pregnancy and 21 percent are struggling with heightened anxiety.
Research is starting to suggest that mindfulness could help. Not only does cultivating moment-to-moment awareness of thoughts and surroundings seem to help pregnant women keep their stress down and their spirits up—benefits that are well documented among other groups of people—it may also lead to healthier newborns with fewer developmental problems down the line.
The research is still in its infancy (pun intended), but researchers are hopeful that this low-cost, accessible, and positive practice could have transformational effects.
Try our guided meditation
The 10-minutes-a-day approach to guided meditation will help you feel positive during your pregnancy, practice guided meditation alone or with a partner or a friend.
Instructions of how to use your audio therapy session once you have purchased it, Click Here
- You will also get access to our private community group full of likeminded people that help motivate each other on a daily basis.