Intuitive Mothering
Have you heard what we as mothers are capable of: nurturing, intuitive, selfless, boundlessly loving women!? What incredible super-humans we mothers are! Except when this description does not fit how we actually feel.
Was your mother this way? Is society this way? If we have few examples of this wonder woman, how can we know how to do it? We may think all other women are this way based on social media, but I can tell you that I, for one, am not this super woman.
The birth of my son 3 years ago was a catalyst for my quest back to my intuition, but it was a rusty practice that I wished that I had done BEFORE he was born. This is to say that I did not feel like an intuitive mother during those crucial first 12 months when his only communication was non-verbal.
Our intuition is always with us. Always willing to point us in the right direction, ever forgiving of us ignoring her, ready whenever we are to have a conversation. But having those conversations with our intuition takes practice! If all your life you have been taught to listen to others (parents, peers, media, society) without consulting your intuition, or worse ignoring what you do receive from her, you may have no idea anymore what your intuition sounds or feels like.
Then the idea of intuitive mothering becomes another expectation of motherhood where we may feel we have failed.
The good news is that you can reach your intuition whenever you are ready. It will be a learning process, a bit like learning a new language. Because how do you know when intuition is speaking and when it is your ego, or your mother's voice? Sometimes intuition communicates through words, at other times through images and feelings. As a woman are you connected with your feelings? Practice noticing how your emotions feel in your body.
The best advice I received on this was that if the thoughts are fearful or negative, they are not coming from intuition. Your intuition (or your Higher Self, or Source even other loving beings in the Spiritual Realm) will speak kindly and truthfully, but in a way that you can be receptive to. The voice of criticism is not your intuition.
During your labor and birth, did you receive from your intuition? Were you able to respond to those requests, perhaps to move in this way, or be in that position? Maybe you experienced something deeper. (I had the joy of receiving a vision of my son as an adult while in transition!) The labor room is one of the places where listening to your Inner Voice should be easy (labor requires that we dive deep within), and yet that voice is commonly overridden by the "experts." This is not to say that a doctor and nurse don't know, but they don't know what YOU know about your body.
When we are parents for the first time, with everything being so new, the common response is to seek out what others do, especially experts in the books. So from the beginning of pregnancy through labor, birth and on through motherhood, we're constantly looking to others for answers. I'm not saying that those people don't have answers. In fact my Facebook "village" often helps me when I'm at wit's end and I need an objective view. But from there, I still need to sort through all of the advice and take what feels right for me and my family.
Its really about as simple as listening. Listening to baby's cues and listening to your inner voice. If you've received some parenting advice, whether that's about sleeping, nursing, crying or anything else, and it doesn't resonate with you, then it isn't for you. Remember, YOU are the expert on your child. Every child is different, every relationship is different. Fortunately intuition is patience and persistent. If you don't get the message, Source will keep sending it in different ways until you do get it.
So keep listening.
