Every few days I get out my journal and I ask myself a question.
- What are you afraid of right now?
- What are you looking forward to about (birth)? (Or something else big and scary and pending).
- What do you remember about …?
- What would it look like if this goes really well?
In my journal, I try to write freehand for at least a page or two, in the style of Morning Pages (something I learned about from the artist Julia Cameron).
This year, I’ve been playing around with more mantras and affirmations, or words of encouragement that I repeat to myself. Beliefs that I hold dear. Phrases that I can use when I’m feeling tired, fatigued, or stressed.
You might have some mantras or affirmations that you already use and just don’t know it. “This too, shall pass,” is a widely used phrase by people in the thick of it. “Everything happens for a reason,” is another one.
By consciously choosing the words we use, I think we can gently encourage ourselves in new directions.
The word “mantra” means “mind-tool,” and it’s a way of helping your brain do what it already does, just in a way that supports you a bit better.
Below, I want to share some of my more personal mantras I’ve been mulling on as I go into the tender space of welcoming a new person into our lives, on the precipice of giving birth again.
Let go.
Let go of anything that doesn’t serve you.
Release and relax into being.
Soften.
You are brave, powerful, and soft.
Your body is powerful, tender, and supple.
You are more ready and capable than you know.
You are oh so tender and soft.
You can handle whatever comes your way.
You are surrounded in the universe by powerful women who love you.
Let other people hold you and lift you up.
This may crack you open in ways you can’t expect.
Allow yourself to be broken and cracked: you might need this in order to let go of things that are no longer serving you.
Keep letting go.
Breathe. Exhale deeply.
Soften your jaw. Open your mouth.
Deep exhales. Deep sounds.
Let go of whatever doesn’t serve you.
Light yourself on fire.