Choosing Waterbirth: Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth (12 page)

This completes the exercise portion of the class. We now move on to the deep relaxation.

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Chapter 13—

Deep Relaxation

The idea of doing the deep relaxation exercise is to relax completely. This is done through a systematic tensing and releasing of the individual parts of the body. By the time you have completed this process, every part of you should feel relaxed. Be aware of this goal as you follow the steps. Choosing a quiet place to do this exercise and turning down the lights or closing the curtains will help make it easier for you to forget everything else, and allow your mind, as well as your body, to sink into a deep, relaxed state.

Deep relaxation should always be done at the end of each yoga class as it helps to relieve any tension that may have built up during the class and offers a set opportunity for your body to rejuvenate.

PLACE AND POSITION: You can do this exercise anywhere that is comfortable for you—on the floor with a lot of pillows, or on the bed with a lot of pillows, or on a couch with a lot of pillows. The pillows will help you to be comfortable and allow

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you to relax fully. The relaxation is always done on the left side as this allows for the easiest flow of maternal blood to the placenta and back again, benefiting the baby.

Lying on your left side, put one pillow under your head, another one or two under your right, top leg, which should cross over the bottom one and rest on the bed/floor/couch in front of you. Another pillow can be placed under your belly, to support its weight, if that is comfortable for you. Check to make sure that everything is supported and comfortable.

PROCEDURE: Begin with the breath: take a slow deep breath, filling the abdomen, inhaling as much as you can. Exhaling, think to yourself "relax." Inhale into the abdomen, exhale, and relax. Do this one more time: inhale, exhale, relax. On the inhale, imagine you are breathing in fresh, pure air. Inhale fresh, pure air; allow it to go to all the cells in your body to rout out any tension; exhale, and expel that tension. Inhale fresh, pure air; exhale hot, tense air. Do this a few times until you feel the tension easing.

In this exercise, you will be systematically tensing and relaxing every part of your body. Bring your awareness to your legs. Tense them. Squeeze the muscles in the legs, point the toes, tense the feet and ankles, the calves and thighs; squeeze tightly, then let all the tension go at once. Gently roll the legs a little, making them comfortable, then forget about them.

Next, bring your awareness to your buttocks. Inhaling, squeeze the buttock muscles, make them tight; inhale deeply, relax, let your breath go; relax the muscles, then forget about them.

Stretch out your arms, wiggling the fingers, rolling the wrists. Then squeeze them tight, make fists, tighten all of the muscles of the arms; squeeze and then relax, letting them fall down. Roll them a little to make sure they are comfortable, then forget about them.

Bring your awareness to your abdomen. Take a deep inhalation, push out your abdomen, fill it up, and hold the breath for a moment. When you exhale this time, let your breath burst out of your mouth. Let your stomach relax, then forget about it.

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Moving to your chest, take another deep breath, inhaling into your chest. Fill it as much as possible. Hold the breath for a moment, then relax, letting the air burst out of your mouth.

Now, tense your neck and shoulders, raising your head a little, and hunch your shoulders to your ears to make them tight; squeeze and relax. Let all the tension leave your neck and shoulders; move a little to adjust your position, then forget about your neck and shoulders.

Next, squeeze your face, making a tight prune face; hold this for a moment; squeeze, then relax. Wiggle your face a little until it feels comfortable, then forget about it.

Now you will be going back over your body, part by part, checking to make sure every part is relaxed. Feel this as if a wave of relaxation is moving over your body, relaxing it completely.

Beginning with your feet, relax the toes, the soles of your feet, the heels, the tops of your feet. Relax your ankles, your calves, your knees, the fronts and backs of your thighs. Relax your buttocks, your abdomen, your lower and upper back. Relax your fingers, your wrists, your forearms, your upper arms, your shoulders. Relax your neck, your ears, the sides of your head, the back of your head, your face, the top of your head. Allow the last little bit of tension to go out through the crown of your head.

Now you will be completely relaxed, with no tension anywhere, allowing your breath to flow gently in and out.

While in this relaxed state, you can do a visualization. Imagine as you inhale that your breath brings pure energy into your body. Feel it filling you, from your head to your toes, then feel it encompassing your baby. Feel the breath turning into golden light, coming in, swirling down and cascading over your abdomen. See it enveloping your baby with light, filling it with peace and the warmth of your love. Connect with your baby, extending the deep relaxation you feel to your little one. Rest there for a moment in that peace, quiet, and love.

After a few minutes, allow your awareness to come to your mind. See how calm your mind is, how peaceful. If there are Page 73

any thoughts, just watch them; become a witness watching your thoughts like clouds moving across the sky. Don't be affected by them; just watch them. As you relax more fully, you will begin to sink into a deeper relaxed state, becoming aware of a peaceful, pure energy that is beyond the mind. When you become aware of that, just rest there; rest in that peaceful state. This is the true you. Beyond the body, beyond the mind, this peaceful, clear energy is
you
. Stay there for a while, feeling it, resting in your peaceful state. (Rest here for as long as you like; at least five minutes is recommended.) When you are ready to come out of the relaxation, bring your awareness back to the breath. Slowly begin to deepen the breathing. On each inhalation, feel fresh, pure energy flowing into you, filling every part of your body. Breathe in and feel the energy come in through the top of your head; allow it to move slowly over you, down your body, to your toes. Feel the energy revitalize you. Slowly begin to move, wiggling your fingers and toes, gently moving your arms and legs. When you are ready, sit up slowly, coming into a crosslegged position. Feel the peace and the energy that is still with you. Close your eyes and stay in that peace. Sit for a moment, enjoying the peace and stillness.

Now you have completed the relaxation. Try to do it as often as you can. If you can't make it every day, aim for three or four times a week. Even doing it once a week will bring you benefits, but doing it more will bring you more.

BENEFITS: Deep relaxation is so important that it should not be omitted. If you find you are short on time or energy, skip the exercises in the previous chapter and do only the relaxation. Learning this technique of relaxation will be invaluable to you both during the labor and delivery and for the sixweek adjustment period following the baby's birth, when your energy reserves will be taxed and you could suffer from sleep deprivation.

Learning to relax deeply will help you during your labor. Relaxing during the contractions will allow your uterus to do its job of opening the cervix faster and with less difficulty.

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Relaxing between the contractions will allow you to get some needed rest so your energy level will remain constant. After the baby is born, relaxation is vital due to the heavy demands, both physical and emotional, of having a new baby. Learning to rest when your baby is resting, to relax while the baby is breastfeeding, and to breathe deeply and fully, will help prevent you from getting overwhelmed.

A nice way to do this exercise is to have someone read it to you. Or you could taperecord yourself reading it then play it back.

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Chapter 14—

Breathing Techniques

Breath, essential for life, is very often taken for granted. You can live without food for a few weeks, without water for a few days, without breath, not even for a few minutes—such is the power of breath.

Breathing is necessary in order to live, but how we breathe can also affect how we feel. Often, we can alter the way we feel by changing the way we breathe. When upset or anxious, a few deep breaths have the power to calm us. When tired, the same deep breathing can be energizing.

The following two breathing techniques can be practiced any time but are especially beneficial during pregnancy and birth.

ThreePart Breath:
This is a very specific, deliberate way of breathing that allows you to take in the maximum amount of air. Begin by exhaling, fully pushing your belly in to push all the air completely out. As you inhale, let the air come into your belly first, so it pushes out like a balloon. Continuing to inhale, let the air then move up to expand your rib cage. Inhaling even more, allow the air to fill your chest, fully culminating in the lifting of your collarbones. Once you have taken in all the air you can, begin by first exhaling the air from your chest, feeling your collarbones drop and your chest contract. Next feel your rib cage contract as you push the air out of your rib cage. Lastly push the air out of your belly as you exhale fully. Inhale again into your belly, moving up to your

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rib cage, then up into your chest. Exhale out of your chest, out of your rib cage and last, your belly comes in, pushing all of the air out. Begin by doing three full breaths in and out and move up to doing as many as you like. It is not uncommon for me to sit for fifteen or twenty minutes doing this deep threepart breathing.

BENEFITS: This breath is very relaxing and energizing. In the same way that a regular deep breath triggers the release of a chemical into your brain that makes you feel more relaxed, the depth of this breath has the same effect. With practice, this type of breath will allow you to take in enough air to fill your lungs to their capacity. This is why the breath is so energizing.

I used this breath extensively during my pregnancies to relax and rejuvenate, and during all of my births. In between contractions, it helped me to relax; during the contractions, it helped me to focus and to breathe through the pain. A variation of this breath that I also used extensively during my births is belly breathing.

Belly Breathing:
Begin this breath by exhaling fully, blowing all of the air out. Breathing in, you allow the air to come in and push your belly out just as you would in the first step of threepart breathing. Inhale deeply and fully. This will cause your belly to be pushed way out. Exhale pushing out all the air, then repeat three to five times to get used to how it feels.

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BENEFITS: When you have fully inhaled you will notice that your pelvic floor feels very relaxed and open. As you continue to breathe, you will notice it is almost impossible to retain a tight pelvic floor while you are belly breathing. Because of this, belly breathing is ideal to use during the dilation stage of your labor when your cervix is opening, as having a relaxed pelvic floor can facilitate the cervix opening.

This completes the sequence of exercises and relaxation and breathing techniques. It should have taken you about thirtyfive to forty minutes to complete the class as presented in the last three chapters. Once you have finished, you may sit for a moment, enjoying the serenity produced by your yoga practice. Done regularly, yoga will help you have a happier and healthier pregnancy and an easier delivery.

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Chapter 15—

Following Your Instincts

As in all things, it helps to practice a technique before you are required to depend upon it. Following your instincts is one of these techniques. Godgiven, like breathing, it can nevertheless require a focused effort to relearn it.

From as early as the first labor contraction, your body and mind will begin prompting you about what will help you through your birth process. This prompting may appear in the form of a simple desire, such as, wanting to have only family and close friends around you. It may be felt as a gut instinct; you may feel a strong inclination to walk, squat, moan, or to sway through a contraction. Or it may come in the form of a violent reaction against something; you may suddenly have a strong aversion to noise, bright lights, music, or conversation of any kind. All these feelings are a natural part of the birth process. They are your body's way of telling you what you need in order to have an easier and more productive labor and delivery. When listened to, this innate instinctual ability will allow you to move through your birth feeling powerful, connected to a deep inner strength.