You have completed your training and started teaching but something doesn’t feel quite right.
It is likely that you decided to train to teach hypnobirthing because you had a transformative experience yourself (whether it was “picture perfect” or not). You feel the strong desire to support women in their pregnancies and help them to create the most positive experience that they can. You are ecstatic to be able to offer these services and feel sure that you can make a difference.
But why does something feel off?
The method of hypnobirthing you teach is designed in such a prescriptive way that you feel like you are regurgitating someone else’s words. After a short while, this is going to (if it doesn’t already) feel fake to you. Are you sticking to the script (sorry for the pun) too much?
Your clients are all different people with different feelings and interpretations of emotions & experiences, whether you are teaching a group or privately, they deserve to be taught in such a way that suits them. Adapt to your client. Afterall if you can’t show her that you can go off “piste”, how can she if her birth doesn’t turn out to be the one that she planned.
You aren’t bringing your unique self to your classes or your business
The instructor down the road from you, who trained in the same method, is saying the same thing as you in her classes and in her marketing, in the same way. Why would someone book with you over her? The premise of hypnobirthing is the same with every method but the difference comes from the brand you work under and your own unique values. Don’t be a carbon copy, be yourself, you are amazing after all (even if you don’t believe that yet).
You don’t feel good about the materials you provide
Perhaps the MP3’s are too flowery or the book isn’t relatable to the type of women you want to work with. Maybe the handouts make you cringe or the scripts you read in class make you squirm. If you aren’t totally in alignment with this part of your offering, how can you expect your clients to be?
You aren’t being real
Had a bad day and didn’t manage to hypno the hell out of it? Guess what, that happens to all of us.
Stop pretending you are perfect. No one wants to work with or be supported by “Mrs Perfect”. That is way too much to live up to. Show your clients who you really are and what life is like for you (within what you feel reasonably comfortable with of course). You are enough.
You don’t practice what you preach
Which brings me onto…Are you taking care of yourself mentally and physically? Are you getting enough (or as much) sleep as you can? Do you have a daily self-care practice? Are you feeling connected to your loved ones? We ask our clients to immerse themselves into hypnobirthing by listening to the MP3’s, practicing the breathing, connecting with their baby. We build up their confidence and encourage them to take the steps that they need to, to feel as good as they can in pregnancy and in preparation for a positive birth.
But if you aren’t taking care of YOU…it’s a little hypocritical isn’t it?
Making a short daily practice of whatever it is that makes you feel good, will help you to connect with your clients (and your loved ones) more easily as well as helping you to stay motivated in your business.
You aren’t telling the whole truth
I know you aren’t lying to your clients but you aren’t giving them the whole picture as you see it. Tell your clients the truth in terms of what you TRULY know about birth. Don’t sugar coat it and then cross your fingers and hope that everything turns out “picture perfect”. If they are expecting painfree and they get painful – how are they going to deal with that? If they have planned a homebirth but end up with an emergency c-section, do you feel they will have the right mindset and knowledge to be able to process that?
Perfect births are possible however, they aren’t guaranteed. I know you tell them that but you also have to teach them that.
You blame yourself
I know that when a client’s birth hasn’t gone to plan, you take it personally. You feel responsible and really sad about it. The reason you feel like that is because you are setting expectations for yourself and your client that often aren’t achievable. You are responsible to your client; you must give them all the information that your course offers, the tools, the techniques, the truth. You are not responsible for your client; what they do with that information, how they interpret it, how they use it in the birthing situation and ultimately how their births turn out is nothing to do with you. Equally, when things go “right” …that is also nothing to do with you.
You feel unsupported
You feel pretty much anonymous amongst your fellow instructors. The brand you teach under offers little or poor support. You are trying to build your confidence in teaching and in running your business but there just isn’t enough guidance or help beyond the training course. You feel stuck and unsure which way to turn.
At The Calm Birth School we welcome teachers who are already trained in another method but who just aren’t feeling aligned to how they currently teach and what they offer.
TCBS Instructors are a beautiful family of women who support each other in every way possible making you feel like you are part of a family.
I offer continuous and ongoing support & mentoring to all my instructors designed to see you shine and create an amazing business which is totally in alignment with who you are and what you believe.
Stop feeling disconnected to what and how you teach. Stop feeling trapped. Stop feeling alone. Book a call with me here and let’s talk about how you can start to really spread your wings and soar!
