What does your heart have to say about that?
Do you trust your body?
Do you know how to "listen to your body?"
Have you ever felt betrayed by your body?
I think a lot of women feel confusion about their bodies, what their bodies are "saying" or are fearful about something in their bodies. I think many of us feel like we wish our bodies could do more. Like, the brain says, "you should be able to just get up and do that thing..." or "just keep going, it will be fine!" and then later it is NOT fine! You're exhausted. And either ashamed that you couldn't just push through it or that you should have known better.
Look, from a very young age, all of us (but women especially) have been taught to ignore and suppress the urges and information from our bodies. So its no wonder that you might not know what your body is trying to communicate to you.
Even if you know all about HOW the body works, do you know WHO your body is? Because she is a miraculous experience happening through you and with you.
In yoga there is the idea that you HAVE a body, but you are not your body. You are a soul living in a body. But I pause at that because HAVING a body implies that we are separate from the body and that the soul is somehow more important than the body. It is true that the body will someday die (and I believe that the soul will continue to live on and reincarnate into another body), but the body is also an expression of creation. Every single body - every single living being - has its own innate intelligent, even those without a brain.
Your body knows how to grow a human! Let’s please give her some credit here!
Your body also knows when she is ready to birth this tiny human, and how to do it. And baby also knows how to traverse the experience of birth.
What hubris we humans have to think that we - doctors or practitioners of any kind - can control the process and outcomes of birth! BUT, it takes dedication and skill to truly understand the body (and the soul in which the body is embedded).
My invitation for you today is to notice how often you communicate with your body. Do you ever ask her what she needs in this moment? And how do you respond to what you receive?
Whenever there is a new student in yoga class, I give me schpiel about how I've been trained by many Iyengar teachers with a lot of alignment principles, and top-down direction, but that in my classes now I invite you to listen to your body and let that inform your movements.
Can you do that in your daily life too?
If you are pregnant - or trying to get pregnant - or recovering from pregnancy - where is there a disconnect from your mind and your body? Do you need help making that connection?
Private sessions with me are a great way to explore this connection! In my last private session, the woman noticed how her heart was acting as a guard for the rest of her body, and that when she could feel from her heart (instead of her mind), the information was more clear, more kind and easier to receive. These are subtle pathways. But you are brilliant!
You can also learn these skills through
my Embodied Birth Skills childbirth education course (which will be live and in-person soon)
hiring me as your Birth Doula and/or Postpartum Doula
I would love to hear how you connect with your body, or an ah ha! moment you had with your body. Reply to this post and let me know! Or let's work together to explore your connection with your body.
