Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Meditation & Motherhood

Today I wanted to blog about the importance of Mind/Body Connectedness during pregnancy, and boy is it a struggle. 


Your hormones are raging, your emotions and thoughts are racing, and you are now growing what feels like the alien from Predator inside your body causing the most random physical changes and symptoms. 

For me, meditation has been my saving grace during this pregnancy which has not been easy on me by any means

At the beginning of 2015, my health coach Emily urged me to start meditating daily and said that it would be life changing. And she was right. It has been said that prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening to God. That's the best way I can explain it. Sitting in stillness and silencing all of the doubt, fear, frustration, and anxiety each day is what helps you truly live in the here and now and be happy with the present moment. 

Last year was a very stressful year on my family and I, and honestly I don't know how I would have gotten through it without daily mediation. My body craved it. My mind craved it. Especially when life felt so out of control. I was in a great routine with it until... I got pregnant. 

I was so sick and miserable the first trimester that any sort of routine I had went out the window. Although my body physically started feeling better in the second trimester, I could tell my mind was falling back into its old habits - dwelling on past hurts, worrying about the future, and trying to control things beyond my control. It's tough, because pregnancy does require you to plan ahead (registries, nannies, life insurance policies, 529 plans, yada yada yada... the list goes on and on!) All of this planning was making it very hard on me to stay in the present. 

So when I was dealing with Restless Leg Syndrome and weeks of no sleep in March, I had been told Magnesium supplements would help, but I also knew I needed to get into a nightly meditation practice again that would help with my sleep. 

To kickstart things I began Oprah & Deepak Chopra's 21 Day Meditation Class and felt a complete difference in myself by Day 3. Despite these changes in my body, my mind was starting to feel much calmer, connected, and 'in flow' again. 

I cannot stress how important meditation has been in my life these past two years and I know it needs to remain a priority even with a newborn. Whether you are a mom or not, everyone could use a little stillness in our chaotic days! Just try it for a week, and let me know if you notice a difference. 

Here's how I started: I would listen to this Reiki Zen Song on YouTube and set my timer on my phone for 5 minutes. At first your thoughts are racing but as time goes on they start to silence and you are able to just sit and be present in the moment. Keep increasing the time as weeks go along. I reached my goal of 20 minutes and do that daily.

In this world of social media (which I would gladly bow out of and probably will at some point, if it wasn't for being able to share my blog and writings with all of you!) it is so important to realize that all of these posts are just filtered, photoshopped, snapshots of what people what you to see of their life. It's not real life. Comparison I believe is the number one killer of happiness. Meditation has taught me that happiness isn't found in things. It's a choice and that choice lies within me. 

Sorry for the babble and emo post, but this kid has put me through the ringer already and I always love to share with you all the things that actually work in my life. Now, try it out for a week, and let me know if it works for you too!




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