This is for mothers - how can I recover
from a traumatic birth?
The stress
of a difficult birth can take its toll both emotionally and physically on
mothers. There is no such things as trauma will go away with time if you do not
do something to help yourself. Hoping
that the feelings will go away or assume that they are not important too does
not help with your healing. Remember you
are not alone when you feel your birth experience was not as what you expected. It affects your partner, your baby and family
dynamics. Do seek support and share your
experiences with others to help you to make sense of what happened.
Here are
some experiential exercises you can do to help your central nervous system to
self-regulate. Remember, when you are
calm and relax, your baby resonates to your calm and relax energy and in turn
he can be relaxed and calm.
Mindful breathing. To quickly calm
yourself in any situation, simply take 60 deep breaths, focusing your attention
on each out breath. Practise becoming aware
of the rate of your breath, is your breathing deep or shallow, what is moving
in your chest when you are breathing, can you sense, hear and feel your
heartbeat while breathing, are you aware you are holding your breath when you
are occupied in your thoughts.
Sensory input. Activate your five
senses to keep you grounded and in the present moment. This would help to regulate, regain and reset
the function of your central nervous system to a state of balance.
Listening: Does
listening to an uplifting song make you feel calm? When listening to music, sing and hum along to
the music. Singing and humming
stimulates the muscles in the back of the throat and creates an internal
vibration in our throat that stimulates the vagus nerve.
Smell: Diffusing essential oils can help you to calm
down and relax. Find a good source of
essential oil, learn more about the properties of the essential oil and use
them correctly to help you eliminate your birth trauma. You can easily order them online here.
Touch: Get a therapeutic massage. If this is not an option for you, get your
partner involved in your healing process. A good hug or cuddle (lots and lots of this) helps release oxytocin. Oxytocin is
a hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, a
pea-sized structure at the base of the brain. It’s sometimes known as the “cuddle
hormone” or the “love hormone,” because it is released when people snuggle up
or bond socially. Oxytocin plays a role
in behaviors from maternal-infant bonding and milk release, so get yourself
lots of cuddles.
Sensory input. Activate your five
senses to keep you grounded and in the present moment. This would help to regulate, regain and reset
the function of your central nervous system to a state of balance.
Listening: Does
listening to an uplifting song make you feel calm? When listening to music, sing and hum along to
the music. Singing and humming
stimulates the muscles in the back of the throat and creates an internal
vibration in our throat that stimulates the vagus nerve.
Smell: Diffusing essential oils can help you to calm
down and relax. Find a good source of
essential oil, learn more about the properties of the essential oil and use
them correctly to help you eliminate your birth trauma. You can easily order them online here.
Touch: Get a therapeutic massage. If this is not an option for you, get your
partner involved in your healing process. A good hug or cuddle (lots and lots of this) helps release oxytocin. Oxytocin is
a hormone secreted by the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, a
pea-sized structure at the base of the brain. It’s sometimes known as the “cuddle
hormone” or the “love hormone,” because it is released when people snuggle up
or bond socially. Oxytocin plays a role
in behaviors from maternal-infant bonding and milk release, so get yourself
lots of cuddles.
Taste: Get that taste buds involved in overcoming anxiety
with changing your diet and eating habits. There are foods that will help reduce anxiety
and foods that will contribute to anxiety, and by choosing the right foods, you
can drastically cut down on the amount of anxiety you experience – and possibly
improve your mood. One best source of calming food is probiotics. Your
gut bacteria is needed for production of neurotransmitters, including
serotonin, dopamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, which play an important role
in mood. There are many researches that
say gut bacteria has a direct link to the brain and the immune system, so
restoring balance in the gut through use of probiotics can benefit the brain. You can either
take a probiotic supplement or fermented
foods.
Vision: Love at first sight: remembering the first
time you saw your baby. What was it like for you? What was it like for father? Recall your
experience when you first see your baby. Each time you look at your baby, describe to yourself how do you
feel. Make a journal of your experience. (If Vision is not an option for you, leave
this out)
Water
Keep
yourself hydrated. Take small and
frequent sips of water.
Cold showers
Researchers
have also found that exposing yourself to cold on a regular basis can lower
your sympathetic “fight or flight” response and increase parasympathetic (relax
response) activity through the vagus
nerve. Take cold showers or simply immerse
your face in ice cold water.
Give this a
try and let me know how things go with you. If you need any assistance you can call Adida to book a craniosacral
therapy session for yourself and your baby.
Give this a
try and let me know how things go with you. If you need any assistance you can call Adida to book a craniosacral
therapy session for yourself and your baby.
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Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle and subtle whole body approach that releases tensions deep in the Central Nervous System so that every other systems in our body can relax and self correct, free itself of pain and other health issues.
"Each of us has an innate capacity for healing, to heal ourselves, to heal others and to help others heal themselves" - Subagh Singh Khalsa
Sometimes we need a little bit of help and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy could be just that.
To book a session please call Adida at 97426791. Thank you.
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