So, this week I wanted to talk to you about the power of affirmations and I want to know if you’re not using them yet. If not, why not?
Affirmations are a fundamental part of The Calm Birth School Method and for good reason; despite some people in the past questioning how valid it is to repeat the same phrases over and over again with the expectation of creating a birth experience where a woman can feel calm and in control. I’m here to let you know that this isn’t just hot air.
While it’s not the only thing you need to be on top of, for sure this a super important element.
The average person has about 70,000 thoughts per day (Laboratory of Neuro Imaging) and many thousands of these thoughts are said to not only be negative, but are repeated again and again throughout the day, creating a negative frame of mind. The way we think plays a huge role in determining how we react and respond to our life experiences. So, the person who is constantly on the lookout for someone who is up to no good, is consistently flooding their body with the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. The best-case scenario for a person who is dealing with this type of low level stress, is anxiety and irritability. The worst-case scenario is this person is primed to lash out, whether a scenario warrants that type of response or not, because their body is already primed to do so.
If you place this into a birthing context, where many women are primed to feel fear around birth, we find that affirmations provide a valuable tool in creating a far more positive foundation for birth.
Why?
Affirmations allow us to consciously and subconsciously change our expectation of our birth (or any area of our lives) as we consistently create positive imagery and feelings to accompany our words. This repetition allows us to literally re-wire our brain and our expectation of birth. Why is this important? Because our expectation and anticipation of what is about to happen will has a massive impact on how we respond physically within our environment.
So the more we are able to consciously say to ourselves phrases like…
My surges are not stronger than me, because they are me.
I birth calmly and confidently.
I am strong and confident mother.
… The more positive hormones like endorphins and oxytocin you will have coursing around your veins when the time finally arrives for you to meet your baby. It’s these hormones that will play a huge role in your body birthing more efficiently and enabling you to stay feeling calm, confident and relaxed. This leads to more positive birth experiences.
You can reinforce this effect by listening to audio affirmations when you’re engaged in other activities such as driving, cooking, walking, and just have them on in the background, so that you’re subconsciously absorbing positive thoughts and preparing for your baby too.
If you’re not on the affirmation soul train yet…. time to get on it.
