25 Ways to Awaken Your Birth Power

*At the end of each section, the asterisk denotes a positive resource for further exploration.

1. Breathe Consciously Deep, full, conscious breathing relaxes you, unifies the efforts of your body/mind, maximises the force and energy of your contractions so your labour progresses smoothly, infuses the cells in you and your baby's bodies with nourishing oxygen, and helps you focus your attention on the present moment. Your breath is a powerful tool. *Preparing for Birth with Yoga, Janet Balaskas.

2. Smile Each time you smile, you are telling your body/mind that you are happy and it responds by releasing serotonin, the happy hormone, so you actually do feel happier. Your muscles relax, especially your jaw. Yoga teaches that when the jaw is relaxed, the muscles of the vagina and pelvis relax- perfect conditions for giving birth. *Peace is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh

3. Surround Yourself With Love and Support The space around you is precious and sacred, especially during pregnancy and birth. Preserve it's positive energy by gathering people around you who encourage you, affirm your strength, and help you feel empowered. When the space around you feels right, you will be able to relax and truly concentrate all your energy on your birth journey. *Birth Reborn, Micheal Odent

4. Let Go Then let go even more. Surrender to whatever you are feeling, to whatever your body is doing or experiencing. Stop fighting and resisting. Your resistance causes friction and conflict. Surrender creates flow and peace. Surrender presumes trust and creates trust. Your birth power shines when you trust in yourself, the birth process and the perfection of all that is happening. *The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle

5. Be Curious A healthy sense of curiousity inspires exploration; you may find exciting new resources, books, classes or people that could help you have a good birth experience. Curiousity entices you to get to know your body and its sensations and this leads to a better understanding of how to work with your body instead of fighting against it. Curiousity lets you approach birth with a sense of playfulness, excitement, openess, joy and personal growth. *Mother as First Guru, Swami Gurupremananda Saraswati

6. Be Patient Buddists say that by practicing patience, you avoid harming others and you avoid harming yourself. These words are particularly relevant to birth where impatience can cause you to start down the slippery slope of medical intervention. Patience is a close companion with trust in your body and trust in the birth process. Your patience needs to be complimented by equally patient support people who are in tune with your philosophy and who respect and honour your inner wisdom. *Mothering the Mother, Klaus, Kennell and Klaus

7. Move Your Body Movement increases blood flow and brings oxygen and nutrients to every part of your body, including your uterus and your baby. Movement causes the release of hormones and neuro-chemicals that make you feel good. It gives you a focus and helps your baby find the best position through your birth passage. It releases tension, helps you work with your body, and gives you more energy- think of a runner's high! *New Active Birth, Jenet Balaskas

8. Let Love Renew YouLove is not "just an emotion", it is a powerful, healing biochemical. Researchers now know that thoughts and feelings are biochemicals that affect the health and function of every cell in your body, including the muscle cells of your uterus and pelvis, the cells in your placenta, and even your baby's cells. Positive emotions create life enchancing chemicals; negative emotions cause destructive chemicals. Focusing on positive emotions like love truly does renew you, heal you, and strengthen you (and your baby!) *Quantam Healing, Deepak Chopra

9. Go Within Ocean waves are a strong, universal metaphor for the surging pattern of birth. Imagine yourself trying to stay on top of the waves as you push out into the surf. You get battered and pounded by each wave; your progress is slow and difficult. Now imagine yourself diving into and beneath the waves, being welcomed into the weightlessness of the ocean water; you are no longer battered, your progress is easier and even pleasurable. Going beneath and within the waves is going deep within yourself where there is a wellspring of peace, joy, wisdom and strength. *Birthing from Within, Pamela England and Rob Horowitz

10. Get Loud Sound can have incredibly positive and healing effects. It releases stress and tension and creates healing vibrations throughout your whole body. Since ancient times, women have chanted the sound OM, the ancient symbol of creation, to connect with their creative energy in their bodies and to bring their babies into the world. Don't feel embarrassed to make whatever sounds feel good to you! *Chanting Robert Gass, and The Mozart Effect, Don Campbell

11. Embrace Change Change can be scary. But leanring to view life changes as times of sacred transition and endless possibility will allow you to move gracefully and joyfully into motherhood. See this as a chance to reevaluate, renew and rediscover who you really are. Watching the changes in your body can also be fun and fascinating rather than alarming- it's all in how you choose to see your life. *Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan Jeffers and Letting Go of the Person You Used to Be, and other books by Lama Surya Das

12. Be Strong and determined, Yet Flexible and Yielding Your strength helps you focus the power of your mind/body, make decisions that are right for you and engage your spirited side that rises boldly and determinedly to challenges. Your flexibility allows you to respond moment by moment to needs of your body and your baby without becoming blocked by preconceived expectations of how your birth will go. Both are important aspects of birth power. *Birthing Normally, Gayle Peterson

13. Go With The Flow Confidently invite all the new experiences and sensations to wash over you. Replace struggle and resistance with relaxation and surrender. Visualise yourself flowing down a mountain stream, being swept along an exhilarating current, knowing you are safe. Imagine yourself as the water- strong and powerful yet always seeking the path of least resistance. *ENd the Struggle and Dance With Life, Susan Jeffers

14. Believe in Yourself. Whatever you believe about yourself, you create. If you believe you are too weak, too small, too unhealthy, or too tired to give birth, you will consciously or unconsiously create the conditions that will inevitably justify these beliefs. It is important to a positive birth outcome, then, to choose beliefs like, "I am strong and healthy!" and to work towards creating this everyday. *Ina May`s Guide to Childbirth, Ina May Gaskin & You Can Heal Your Life, Louise L. Hay.

15. Make Love. Birth is another aspect of making love. The hormones that contribute to a healthy labour and birth are the same hormones that bring you pleasure during moments of intimacy, love and orgasm. Humans, like all mammals, Naturally seek darkness and privacy in order to feel safe, relaxed and uninhibited enough to give birth. Imagine the right environment for making love and you have the perfect environment for giving birth. Spiritual Midwifery, Ina May Gaskin and Pleasurable Husband/Wife Childbirth, Marilyn A. Moran.

16. Feel Reverence Seeing your life and your baby's life as meaningful events with spiritual importance is called reverence. Reverence leads to pateince, gratitude, awe, empathy and gentle loving actions- all perfect ways to approach giving birth. Anyone who has had the honour of being present at a birth where mother and baby were treated gently and revently would attest to the overwhelming feeling of sacredness and the tangible presence of the Divine. *Birth Without Violence, Frederick Leboyer

17. Challenge Yourself Any difficulties you face are not meaningless, random chance or bad luck; they are important ways that you learn new life skills for the next stage in your like- mothering. Your experiences, whether "good" and "bad", are helping you prepare to effectively and lovingly mother your baby. Challenging yourself to respond in positive ways allows you to grow, learn and discover strengths within yourself you didn't even know you had. *Anatomy of the Spirit, Carolyn Myss and The Journey, Brandon Bays

18. Trust the Rhythm of Your Body Your labour may be quick and fast- challenging you to "keep up" and stay centred. It may be slow and gradual- challenging you to trust that all is well. The length and character of you labour will be unique to your body and your baby, just as the length and character of your mentrual cycle and your pregnancy is unique to you. Know your body. Be aware of what feels right to you. Trust in your body's way of birthing. *The Birth Book, William and Martha Sears

19. Feel a Oneness with Nature Nature is incredibly powerful, complex and unimaginably interconnected. You are part of Nature, intimately connected to it's cycles and forces. The moon moves the tides and affects your menstrual cycle. The sun brings life and warmth and affects your body clock and emotional state. Spend time in quiet contemplation of Nature's perfection and trust in your part in the great circle of life! *Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, Christiane Northrup and Choosing Waterbirth Lakshmi Bertram

20. Let Go of Control For some women, the feeling of being out of control, like riding a roller coaster, galloping full speed on a horse, even having really good, uninhibited sex, is exhilirating and joyous! You know you are alive and experiencing Life!! This attitude is empowering when approaching birth; letting your body and your baby take the driver's seat allows you to flow with the deeper wisdom of your body. Sit back and do what you need to do to enjoy the ride! *HypnoBirthing, Marie F. Mongan (book and classes)

21. Stay Present in This Moment It is easy to live in the past, reliving it again and again. Even when the past is only a few moments ago, like your last contraction. It is easy to live in the future, wishing impatiently for it to come faster or wishing fearfully for it to stay away. EVen when the future is only a few moments away like your next contraction or a few hours away like the birth of your baby. Let go of the past; let go of the future. True joy and fulfillment are felt when you stay grounded in the present moment. Open your mind; open your senses. Happiness is right now, even during labour and birth- or, perhaps, especially during labour and birth. *The Miracle of Mindfullness, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn

22. Express Your Needs Your needs, opinions and feelings are important. Learn to express them with "I-statements": I need...I feel...I want...I would appreciate...These do not constitute egocentric language; on the contrary, I-statements are essential for clear, honest communication and empower you and the people to whom you are speaking. Effective communication helps you get your needs met. And when they are, you can relax and enjoy your pregnancy and birth experience. *The New Pregnancy and Childbirth, Sheila Kitzinger

23. See Your Body Blossoming and Opening Your subconcious mind, the orchestra conductor of your labour and birth, responds to imagery. When you visualise your body softening and opening, your mind sends signals to your body to comply. The image of a flower opening is a universal metaphor for birth that is part of a woman's collective unconscious. It has come spontaneously to women around the planet for thousands of years. Choose a flower you love and become that flower in birth. *Creative Visualisation, Shakti Gawain

24. Be With Your Baby During pregnancy, your baby is already a perceptive human being with the ability to communicate, to bond and interact with you and to remember and give meaning to experiences. During birth, your baby is an active participant, moving and wriggling to find the right position through your birth passage. When you make the effort to visualise or feel what is happening with your baby during labour and to communicate to your baby through words or thoughts, at some level your baby feels your loving intentions. You also feel more grounded, centred and heartened. You find you do have a companion on this amazing journey. *The Mind of Your Newborn Baby, David Chamberlain, www.birthpsychology.com

25. Feel a Spirit of Celebration The fact that your baby is nearly here is not the only reason to feel a spirit of celebration. Your thoughts and feelings are biochemicals that are released throughout your body so your feelings of excitement and love are experienced physically and emotionally by you and your baby. Your baby is literally floating in a sea of your positive, nourishing emotions. Together, you and your baby's birth-day truly becomes a day of joy. *Nurturing the Unborn Child, Thomas Verny

[center]Focusing on possibilities creates probabilities