Bedbugs in Paris
You might have seen in the news recently, about the bedbug infestation in Paris? If you haven’t, then you can read more about bedbug’s in Paris here.
I have recently returned from a trip to Disneyland Paris. Before I went, I did some research into what to look for, when checking to see if I’d be sleeping alone or with some little buggy bedbug friends. I followed the recommended advice and thankfully I didn’t find any little creepy crawlies in my hotel room. However, that first night, when I got into bed, I decided to have another little look around the bed, just to triple check. It was all looking good and so I turned out my light and closed my eyes. Within a few minutes, my arm started to itch, then my leg and then my little toe. My whole body started to feel itchy and the more I scratched, the itchier I became. Of course, the itching I was experiencing wasn’t real. It was all in my head. The more I thought about the possibility of being in a bed that might have bedbugs in it, the more I became itchy.
The Mind Body Connection
The mind is incredibly powerful and we can convince ourselves of things that are not even real. The mind body connection can create symptoms that are not real, but we believe that they are. After all the scratching that I was doing on my body, I managed to create a red itchy rash. It wasn’t real and I knew it wasn’t real, it was self-inflicted. It’s the same as if we imagine sitting next to somebody who has nits and we start to get an itchy head or if we think about our favourite food and our tummy starts to rumble.
So, what has this got to do with pregnancy and birth? Well, we can create a similar situation for ourselves during pregnancy, labour or birth. We can believe that labour is going to be painful, from stories we've heard from the TV, friends or family. This can then create fear, this fear then creates tension and the tension creates pain. This then confirms to us that labour is painful.
“What the mind believes, the body achieves.”
Positive Mind, Positive Birth
We need to change our mindset and we need to believe that labour and birth can be positive. We need to approach birth with a positive mindset, so that we feel calm, which makes us feel relaxed and when we feel relaxed, we feel comfortable. Using visualisation can be really powerful here and visualising a positive birth is more likely to create a positive experience. This is something that many sporting people do, before playing a big match and it helps them to relax before a game and perform well. Just like imagining our favourite food and our tummy starts to rumble or our mouth starts to drool, we can imagine a positive birth experience and that is more likely to lead to a calm and comfortable birth.
Why Hypnobirthing is good for pregnancy, labour & birth
Hypnobirthing is a super way of creating a positive mindset for birth, using various tools and techniques. On my Hypnobirthing courses, we talk about the mind body connection, visualisation and relaxation and how to approach birth with a positive mindset. Doing a Hypnobirthing course during pregnancy, isn’t just a great way to prepare for birth, but the practice that you do during pregnancy can have amazing benefits for you and your baby. It has been said that “hypno” babies are calmer babies!
I offer group Hypnobirthing courses in Oulton, in Leeds and I also offer 1-1 private Hypnobirthing courses in and around West Yorkshire.
Visit my website where you can find out more about my Hypnobirthing courses and how to book. Alternatively, if you’d like to have a free 30 minute Zoom call with me, just get in touch.
Julia x