Affirmations

Affirmations

We constantly send ourselves messages, in line with our internal beliefs, that are associated with the belief we have in ourselves.
This part of our belief system is built up by other people based on their belief systems which is based on the belief system of another set of people, and so on.
In these cases, we cannot often get a reliable external source we can test things against, so when the details are suggested over and over again, they form our belief system and become our point of reference. Any time something different is suggested, our conscious brain steps in and rejects it because it does not correspond with what our subconscious is saying.

Every time we have a thought there is a hormonal response in our bodies (the ideomotor response) which creates a physical effect such as goose-bumps or if someone mentions head-lice and your head starts itching.

It would be really helpful to use positive thoughts to help change your mind-set.
Affirmations or positive thoughts can make a huge difference.
Based on our beliefs and learnt behaviours we can have difficulty changing these. Affirmations let you choose how you want to feel and so reframe the patterns or anxieties.  A little like a hamster stuck on the wheel we can go round and round by using affirmations we give ourselves the choice to get off and therefore a positive physical effect

Affirmations are a useful tool to use if you think negatively about your ability to give birth or if you’re told a distressing birth story.
“I trust in my body’s ability to work with my contractions”.

In a way, affirmations are about re-framing the things we’re worried about and by doing so they become less scary.


Try it now.
Write down three things that make you anxious about birth and then re-frame them into an affirmation.

For example, instead of: “I’m worried about labour taking a long time” Reframe/Affirmation: “I have all the endurance, strength and stamina I need to birth my baby”

If you’re finding it hard to write your own, there are plenty of birth affirmations on the internet but some you may like are:

Giving birth is a normal and natural occurrence

My body is designed to have a peaceful, calm and joyous birth I

I’m more and more calm and relaxed when I think about the birth

I know my baby feels my calmness and confidence

I trust in my ability to give birth

My body knows exactly what it is doing

I’m confident in my ability to give birth

I’m excited at the amazing journey ahead of me

Check out the “Goody Bag” for your The Ripple Effect Affirmation cards.

Another exercise you can try is to make a note of the ones you like but also the ones you’d like to say but maybe can’t quite bring yourself to believe at this point.

The ones you find difficult are the ones you need to challenge yourself to say.
Your mind and body work as one so giving yourself a positive thought you are creating an ideomotor response.

Affirmations – the more you think/read/say them the more the subconscious accepts them as reality.
What you may want to do is to choose the ones that resonate with you and create a birth space so you see them every time.

Vision boards can also be useful and have these in your labour/birth space.
You could also record them or get your partner to record them so you’re listening to them, just like you would the hypnosis downloads.
Use your name, to make the subconscious sit up and listen and make them current – i.e. write about what is happening as opposed to what will happen so “I remain calm and relaxed throughout each contraction”

Your mind is strong, stronger than you may have previously given it credit for.
Using tools such as affirmations can have a powerfully, positive effect on how you feel. They can be used in combination with hypnosis or on their own, either way they are an extremely effective way of changing your mindset and helping you to look forward to the prospect of giving birth.