Part 1: A journey into motherhood — turning inwards…
I was given by a dear yogi teacher friend (thank you Cindy!) a book called Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin, when I was pregnant with my first. At that time I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to have the baby as naturally as possible and also have a sacred and spiritual experience too. The image above is a from the book Spiritual Midwifery. This became my inspiration and the start of my investigation into natural birth and conscious birth.
🤸🏻♀️When I conceived I was teaching yoga at studios in Sydney, and had naturally been drawn to yin yoga and was teaching a lot about surrender and leaning into the feminine aspects of the practice of slowing down. It seemed to have resonated with me quite a lot, perhaps this was my higher self preparing me for the changes ahead into naturally conceiving and falling pregnant and preparing for motherhood.
🧘🏻♀️ I also pre-booked a 10-day silent meditation retreat before knowing I was pregnant, and this became a fortunate timing in the first trimester as It was beneficial to keep me grounded, and allow my uncertain mind to find some solace. ✌🏻
I walked out of the experience, uncertain of how life would unravel, but I felt more content and grounded. I learnt key techniques that would encourage me to find inner stillness with my mind, which proved very useful throughout the rest of my pregnancy.
So going back to the book… 😇
I remember being absorbed by this book, with free, wild and raw hippy vibes of women giving birth in the 70s. The real-life tories talked of positive birth experiences, anatomical diagrams with references to the pregnant body and many ways a baby might be birthed, and lots of raw images of undisturbed natural births. I was fascinated, ‘could I have such an experience myself?’ I questioned.
What I found in this book, whilst most of it was radical for me at the time… it was very grounding to hear these past stories for a woman to birth naturally. And that many women before me going decades and centuries ago have given birth naturally - with no interventions and had midwives which were able to handle many adverse experiences with varying births.
It gave me comfort in knowing that anything can happen, and with good care and and strong belief system that a baby can be born healthily into this world naturally.✨👶🏻
The image above of the baby coming through the birth canal through a lotus flower is a beautiful analogy. The symbology of the lotus flower is that it thrives in nutrient-rich, muddy conditions. As the lotus blooms, the exquisite blossoms grow and unfold one by one. The lotus flower is considered to be a sign of life. The mud, as opposed to the flower, stands for the suffering, challenges, and difficulties we face. The flower is said by Eastern philosophy to stand for rebirth, reincarnation, self-purification, and spirituality. ☯️
So we inevitably go through the muddy waters during this process of pregnancy and even preconception for new life to unfold. 🙏🏻🌸