Top Tips For Childbirth Preparation: Whatever Relaxation Technique You Use, DAILY PRACTICE Gives Best Results
A Revolutionary Neurobiologist demonstrates the effectiveness of repetition on a molecular level in our bodies!
By Mavi Gupta, M.D., C. C.Ht.
Co-creator - The Birth Relaxation Kit™
If you use the Birth Relaxation Kit then you already know how we stress daily practice as one of the key ingredients for a relaxed and comfortable birth.
Whether you are using visualization, Lamaze, yoga or hypnosis, you need to practice regularly for these techniques to work...and all of the experts in these programs will tell you that. Starting 6 weeks before birthing is the ideal time to begin.
With daily practice, your visualizations will become stronger and easier to evoke, your breathing will become deeper and smoother and your hypnotic state will be more easily achieved.
The Science Of Repetition
Neurobiologists have long known that learning takes place when new connections are made between brain nerve cells. A neurobiologist named Joe Z. Tsien, Ph.D. showed that learning is a molecular give-and-take between nerve cells in our brains. Tsien's great advance was to prove that special communication channels in the nerve cells of our brains called NMDA receptors produce associative learning by facilitating the process of making new connections.
In other words, Tsien demonstrated that there is something specific going on chemically in our brains when we learn--a sort of conversation between our nerve cells.
It turns out that the NMDA receptor is also sensitive to the activity of surrounding nerve cells.
Let me explain using an example of learning and remembering people's names. Imagine I were talking with you in a crowd and I said your first name. If you reply with your last name when I speak, I reward you with $100. Because it is the specific word I am keying in to, anyone else that happens to say that word at the same time gets $100 too. Motivated by the cash, that person will be encouraged to speak whenever you do.
Associative learning works just this way. When you say a name and see a face, the two brain patterns become associated because NMDA receptors strengthening one set of connections strengthen the other as well.
One key point of Tsien's suggestion is that when a nerve signal passes from one cell to another, a "receipt" is sent back to acknowledge that the signal has been received. This receipt is also sent to any other nerve cells that happen to be firing at the same time. When this receipt arrives back it does things that facilitate the passing of future signals, which strengthens the nerve connection. The result is learning.
Strengthening Your Positive Birth Nerve Connections
We can easily apply Tsiens demonstrations to birth preparation, simply by practicing, practicing, practicing.
Tsien's work also illustrates how our negative associations with childbirth have gotten stronger over time. We have repeatedly heard birth horror stories, seen TV shows with frantic, screaming birthing women who only find relief from drugs and medical interventions. It's no wonder many of us get more anxious as birthing day approaches.
This is even more reason to practice your breathing, positive visualizations, affirmations and hypnosis as much as you can--hopefully daily. We need to unlearn all of those negative associations that result in stress, tension and pain. And we need to replace those associations with new, positive ones.
How Often I Practiced
Just to give you a good idea of what worked for me...I practiced my positive birthing affirmations daily, and I listened to hypnosis recordings every night, many times just before bed time during pregnancy. This kind of repetition took me from a someone who invited every medical intervention necessary to make my birth less terrifying, to someone who birthed peacefully at home, naturally and completely relaxed. You might be interested in finding out more about my transformation.
Your goal should be to use whatever technique you choose--breathing, yoga, hypnosis, massage--daily. But don't beat yourself up if you miss days here and there. After all, the point is to be relaxed. Don't add more stress to your life with daily demands.
In my experience, when you find the technique that resonates with you, you will likely be looking forward to doing it. I looked forward to my relaxation sessions with hypnosis and my nightly massage (thank you Jeremy!). After a long day at work, I couldn't wait to come home, nap, eat and escape for a half hour with my hypnosis session.
Til the next newsletter.
Don’t be stressed...be serene!
Mavi Gupta, M.D., C. C.Ht.
BirthRelaxationKit.com
mavigupta.com
| Please share this article with expectant parents you know to help have the fear-free birth they deserve. |
If you want to truly deepen your relaxation and eliminate stress and anxiety, you need to do more than just a few breathing techniques and visualizations...and that calls for a relaxation program to give you the right mindset and the best “tools” to relax on command during pregnancy and birth.
If you have listened to our free hypnosis mp3 and are considering the full Birth Relaxation Kit hypnosis program, or if you have any questions about whether the Birth Relaxation Kit is right for you, go here.
If you have listened to our free hypnosis mp3 and are considering the full Birth Relaxation Kit hypnosis program, or if you have any questions about whether the Birth Relaxation Kit is right for you, go here.
