What is conscious pregnancy?
Conscious Pregnancy? I’m sure you’re wondering how in the world can someone be pregnant and not conscious during it, right? Well, it’s easier than you would think, especially in our busy, industrial lives, when taking a breath – or taking a break – can be a big undertaking.
During pregnancy, we learn, read, and hear a lot about how important diet and exercise is for our body and our baby. This is absolutely true! It’s important to eat nourishing, healthy food and limit unhealthy foods, because baby is tasting them too.
It is also important to make sure you move daily, which helps you and baby to have better health outcomes. Walking (a lot), practicing yoga, dancing, and swimming are all great; just make sure you move every day because movement also helps with stress.
Find something that you enjoy doing so it sticks!
Protecting your body during pregnancy is crucial and so is protecting your mind and your heart. While ancient cultures have known this for thousands of years, and, so have put into practice a number of traditions that nourish the mama-to-be, science is still catching up to that ancient wisdom.
Recent studies have found that toddler tantrums are connected to stress during pregnancy. So, the stress that you feel when you’re pregnant stays in the body, affects baby, and later manifests during infancy or when your child is a toddler.
When my sister was pregnant, my mother asked me and my other sister not to bring up any stressful topics. I didn’t understand it and thought it was silly for her to think that my sister would be so sensitive. I was mistaken.
You see, when a woman is pregnant, everything that she sees, hears, consumes, is shared by baby. They are, in fact, sharing the same space, right?
Stem cell biologist, Bruce Lipton, talks about the field of epigenetics, and how our thoughts create our reality.
When a pregnant woman is stressed, the very taste of the amniotic fluid changes for baby. There is an evolutionary reason for this. Mom is preparing baby for the world he or she will be born into. If mom lives in extreme poverty or violence, baby needs to be prepared for that environment to survive.
Unfortunately, modern-day industrial stress presents itself in the same way. Fear is created and danger is reality. The body doesn’t differentiate between industrial stress and the stress of survival.
Furthermore, the genetic memories of our ancestors can be passed down for 14 generations. So, when we do not clear out the negative energy, we are destined to pass it to our offspring.
“If we do not heal the wounds caused by our parents, our children will carry those scars.”
Our daily lives are filled with stress. Stress from work, commuting, family obligations, relationships, health concerns, etc. But how we react to those stressors is in our control.
Meditation, therapy, affirmations, deep breathing, and reiki can all help with this.
If you have a stressful day, engage in something that you find relaxing and talk to baby about what happened, what you’re doing to feel better, and assure him or her that everything is okay.
Humans are not only physical beings, but also emotional, spiritual, and energetic, and we have to take that into account when creating a new human with our existing body.
So, in addition to eating healthy, drinking lots of water, and moving every day, you should read, watch, and listen to positive, uplifting things. You don’t want to cause stress to your baby unnecessarily.
And, if you’re a news junkie, turn it off for the duration of your pregnancy, if possible.
For symptoms, look into holistic practice like acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, reiki, essential oils that can help with a variety of common pregnancy symptoms, reduce the need for unnecessary medications, and improve birth outcomes.
A holistic and conscious pregnancy is about being intentional about how you experience your daily life and how that will impact your unborn baby, thus contributing to the consciousness of the planet.
About the Author:
Khyati Desai-Seltzer is certified by the International Association of Infant Massage to provide instruction to parents on massaging their babies for short term and long term benefits addressing sleep, gas/colic, immunity, bonding, congestion, growth, and so much more. She graduated from LSU with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and International Studies and from GMU with a Masters in Public Administration in Nonprofit Management. In her former career, she dedicated her work to community development and affordable housing in low-income communities. Khyati believes if every baby had a chance to experience loving, physical touch on a regular basis, our world would look very different. She is passionate about holistic living and wants to share the power of infant massage with as many parents as possible. She also co-hosts a weekly video series called Mom Meets World, where the mission is to honor and to celebrate the birth of a mother and the goals are to share resources and wisdom so women can make empowered choices and to build community, which we all need to thrive in motherhood. Khyati lives in Arlington with her husband and four-year-old daughter. She enjoys yoga, meditation, travel, dancing, and exploring new places in her free time.
You can find her at www.vyanainfantmassage.com or @vyana.infantmassage on Instagram and @vyanainfant on Facebook
