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5 facts about mindfulness
What exactly is mindfulness? And why do we hear and read more and more about it? And how can you apply this during pregnancy and childbirth? Mindfulness actually means being fully aware of your current experience. How many times a day do we do things on autopilot? Think of driving, actions while cooking or routines at work. Mindfulness works the exact opposite.
In Mom & co’s pregnancy course we use elements from mindfulness and hypnobirthing to prepare for the birth. But mindfulness is not only healthy during pregnancy, but also after childbirth or for partners, mindfulness offers many benefits. To learn more about mindfulness, we have 5 facts for you here.
1. The basic principles behind Mindfulness come from Buddhism.
Buddhism originated in India about 500 BC. Buddha spent his entire life discovering where human suffering came from. He was the one who argued that suffering came from humanity itself because we attach ourselves to pleasant experiences, and reject unpleasant experiences.
2. Mindfulness lowers stress stimuli.
Today we receive about as many stimuli per hour as in Prehistory per year. Just let that sink in for a while. Your phone, the TV, a tram passing by; all incentives. Too many stimuli can cause anxiety. Your head can literally be full because you are overstimulated. Mindfulness ensures that you are consciously engaged with your experiences at that moment. For example, a story that you are told or a breathing exercise that you are talked through step by step. By focusing on what you are doing, whatever you are doing, you can relax. It reduces worry and stress. During pregnancy and childbirth it is essential to be able to relax properly and mindfulness can therefore help.
3. Mindfulness can improve focus and concentration.
Mindfulness ensures that you can focus and distribute your attention better, with the effect that you are less likely to get distracted. So it ensures that you are not only physically present at a meeting and stare out dreaming, but that you are more aware of what is going on now. This way you can become more concentrated in this moment. During pregnancy, it is important for bonding with your baby to make conscious contact every now and then. But this conscious contact can also be very motivating during the birth and it gives you positive power to absorb the contractions.
4. You can use mindfulness in combination with physical tools (breathing exercises, visualizations and affirmations) during labor.
Your body and mind are much more connected than we sometimes think. You can trigger a physical reaction with your thoughts. Think saliva when you think about your favorite food, or blush when you’re in love. This also works during childbirth with, for example, stress or limiting thoughts: it has an effect on your body. As mentioned before, you can reduce stress and anxiety with mindfulness. It can be a distraction during the delivery. By going with your thoughts to a pleasant memory, such as a beautiful holiday, in combination with a breathing exercise, you can ensure that your body relaxes and you gain confidence because you have the contractions under control. We explain in detail how this works in our pregnancy course.
5. Mindfulness can be practiced, so you can get better at it.
In many studies, attention is compared to a muscle; and you can train a muscle. You can train attention, for example, by means of meditation, visualization or a body scan. All these tools are covered in Mom & co’s pregnancy course. But these tools are also very useful outside of pregnancy and childbirth. For example, if you have given birth, it is very good to lie down between feedings, relax and let your thoughts go. And not only for the women, also for the partners, applying mindfulness is a very nice way to pay attention to the moment.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
