Birth Prep: My Body Is Designed To Birth

Your body was designed to birth. As midwife Ina May Gaskin says, “Remember this for it is as true as it gets: your body is not a lemon. Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body." Your body has every capacity to birth naturally and your intuition has every ability to identify when you need more support to create a birth that serves your body and soul. This meditation will explore your body through 4 elements: earth, water, fire and air. You will recognize that you have everything you need to birth your baby within you already. As you connect with each element, you will find within yourself how you are supported in every second, you will connect with your ability to let go and flow, you will connect with your internal power, you will connect with your ability to create a vision and live it. Mother, you are more capable than you have ever imagined!

Transcript

Let's begin.

Today we are exploring your being as Mother,

As creator,

Through four elements,

Which are earth,

Water,

Fire,

And air.

To begin this meditation,

Lay comfortably on your back or on your left side.

Let your eyelids gently close.

This practice will require you to use your imagination.

If you are new to meditation and do not see clearly when asked to imagine,

That is alright.

Meditation is a practice and your abilities to see,

Hear,

And feel will develop as you use them.

Just relax and let the image or sense come to your mind as it does.

You do not need to use any force.

To show you can already do this,

Think just for a moment of a lemon.

Since you already have a good understanding of a bright yellow lemon peel and the slightly rough and waxy surface of a lemon and the sour smell and taste,

It was easy for you to imagine or sense a lemon when prompted.

You will see that the rest of this meditation is just as simple.

As you are laying in your bed,

Begin to become aware of your body.

Specifically note anywhere that is solid.

Do you feel your head against the pillow?

Your side pressing against the bed?

Most of your body is solid matter.

This is the earth element within you.

Solid matter.

What else do you notice?

Your skeleton,

Strong hard bones,

Your joints,

And your muscles.

As you lay here,

Feel your right hand.

Feel your left hand.

Bring your attention to your hair,

Your eyes,

Your brain.

And your nails are made of solid matter.

This is a time that you can use to connect with the earth element in your body.

When you use your imagination,

You are not limited by what you can see or physically feel.

What you sense is equally important.

Imagine an embrace with the loved one,

Their arms wrapping around you.

Their solid matter meeting and sending ripples of sensation through your own solid matter,

Your own earth element.

Brace your finger along your skin.

Notice how your arms are soft and your forehead hard.

Both compiled of solid matter.

Now,

I want you to imagine your internal organs as well.

Right now,

If you are quiet,

You may feel your heart beating in your chest.

Both heart and rib cage being solid matter,

As are your liver,

Kidneys,

And intestines.

Each solidly taking up space within your body.

You are probably very aware of your womb.

The tiny bones and muscles growing inside of you are also solid matter.

Hello baby.

Now,

I want you to feel where the solidness of your body is meeting with the solidness of the bed beneath you.

How the support runs from your head down your side,

Along the side of your legs,

Even your feet and heels are solidly supported beneath you.

This bed is in a room which has walls and a floor made of solid matter.

This room is in a building.

The building is embedded into the earth with a solid foundation.

The earth stretches far away from you in every direction.

Do you see the solid matter around you?

This is external earth element.

Do you see the solid matter within you?

This is internal earth element.

Think of your body.

Where did your body come from?

It didn't just appear.

Remember yesterday,

You ate a meal.

Bite by bite,

Your plate of food entered your mouth,

Was swallowed and then digested.

And now,

Some of that solid matter is sitting here being aware of itself.

This has been happening your entire life.

If you think back to the very beginning of life itself,

Two cells meet.

One from your mother,

One from your father.

Neither of these were you.

That cell absorbed nutrition from your mother.

That nutrition wasn't you.

Yet you grew,

You absorbed more nutrition,

Which again was not you.

Everything that created your body,

That created you,

It all came from the outside world.

Right now,

You are thinking of yourself as a baby,

Which is made of matter,

Which is entirely not you.

That process has repeated itself until this very moment.

Here you are.

And here that process repeats itself.

Think again of the solid matter that you've connected with inside of your body.

Be aware again of the bones,

Of the muscles,

Of each part of your body that makes up you.

And recognize that there is no you earth element and outside earth element.

There is only one element,

Earth.

Realize that what you are aware of right now inside your body is already on its way somewhere else.

As you are sitting here,

Your body is using the solid matter inside of you.

And then will allow it to leave to serve other purposes outside of you.

As yourself breathe out,

That air leaving your body is full of carbon dioxide,

Which just a few moments ago was solid matter in your body.

That is the earth element of the body returning to the world.

Right now you are shedding cells and will shed your entire outer layer of skin in less than four weeks.

All of this is part of the solidity of your body returning to the earth.

Now you are becoming aware of the transitory nature of the solid matter.

When you first thought of your body,

It seemed to be a solid thing clearly defined.

And yet,

Now you know it is all coming from somewhere and going somewhere.

It is like a cloud forming at one end and dissolving at the other,

Constantly changing every second.

Everything that is solid,

Everything that makes up your body is borrowed.

It is all on its way back to the earth right now.

As you are laying here right now,

Being aware of your body,

Being aware of how the element of the earth makes up every part of your body,

You can say to yourself,

I am mother earth and she is me.

I am mother earth and she is me.

I am mother earth and she is me.

Allow yourself to feel how mother earth has created you.

How she supports you is you.

And yet,

She is not you.

You are you.

A mother with the ability to utilize this earth element to form it into a new body,

To nourish a new life that is part of you,

That is not you.

Think of the beauty woven into your creation to be a part of life,

Awareness,

Spirit,

Entering this world and the sacredness in your body for no other reason than because it exists.

Solid matter giving life to your spiritual self.

Solid matter that is supported in every single moment.

Solid matter that is nourished,

Loved,

Guided,

Cared for constantly.

Now we will consider the water element.

Become aware inside of you of the water that makes up your being.

It is time to tune into the part of you that flows,

The part of you that wears away and overcomes even the hardest challenges that seems like they will be eternal,

But they are not eternal.

You are eternal and matter is not.

Events are not.

Birth is not.

All things will come to an end.

Do you feel your heart beating,

Pulsing blood filled with nutrients,

Protection and life throughout your body,

Which is one with your baby's body at this moment?

If you place your hands on your stomach and gently press in the right way,

You may feel the heartbeat of the child within you.

A child who is suspended in amniotic fluid,

Suspended in the water element inside of you.

Where did all this liquid come from?

You didn't create it.

You may have had a glass of water or juice before this meditation.

You may have had food that contained both earth and water elements.

Consider an apple,

Solid yet moist.

How did the water get to the apple?

It was pulled up through the solid earth by deep roots.

The water came from raindrops and was directed from lakes.

You can taste the saliva in your mouth and feel the protective moisture around your eyes.

You are familiar with the feeling of dampness leaving your skin and mixing with the water that dwells in the air that will become rain,

That will become the river and oceans that are the source of all life.

You may even notice the dampness in your yoni that gives you the power to expand and contract like a river.

This is the place where you create and birth life.

Notice the water element.

Where fluid both aided the creation of the life inside of you and where the rivers of your own being will guide this perfect body inside of you to meet the outside world.

Where did this water element inside of you come from?

It is the same molecules that create the rain,

River and oceans.

Repeat to yourself,

I am a river allowing life to move through me,

Out of me.

I am the rain nourishing and bringing life drop by drop.

I am mother earth and mother earth is me.

I am grounded and yet I flow.

Now we will connect to the fire element.

As Terri Degler says in the book,

The Divine Feminine Fire,

The feminine fire is a primordial elemental force that is powerful beyond our wildest imaginings.

It is in fact power itself.

The fire element within you is your energy,

Your power,

Your creativity,

Your movement.

The fire warms our homes,

Cooks our food.

As you feel your body,

Become aware of the warmth within your body.

Even the feeling of coolness in the air around you is a sensation of heat leaving the body.

If you breathe on your hands,

You will notice the warmth of your breath and you certainly can feel your heart beating and energy pulsing through you.

You can feel your pulse in several parts of your body,

Behind your ear,

Your wrists,

The back of your legs,

And your feet.

This is the feeling of aliveness inside of you.

Life,

Movement,

Being.

Outside of you,

You may notice the heat around you.

The sun is shining energy down onto our planet,

Where it is stored in plant matter,

In animals,

And in food inside of your house.

All of this is the external fire element.

And again,

You can see that there is no difference between the internal and external fire element.

Where did all your energy come from?

From the food you consume,

From the life given by the sun,

The moon,

And the earth.

You can repeat to yourself,

I am life,

I am creativity,

I am power.

The sun radiates through me with purpose and power to bring forth sacred life.

The fire is me,

And I am the fire.

I am completely comfortable with intensity.

I am completely comfortable with my own strength.

I embrace my power because it is my birthright.

Now let us consider air.

You inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Air is everywhere.

Yet it is not seen by the eye.

Where the earth grounds you in stability and safety,

The air moves you as a sailor upon the sea,

Reminding you always that there is much more to the world than you can see.

Air is the magic of the words on your lips.

Through it flows your ability to remain negative or to activate your own creation powers and move into situations that are aligned with your desires.

As pressure builds in labor,

It is the mindful breath which is the catalyst to surrender.

To peace and strength and relaxation through intensity.

It is the breath that will allow you to open,

To soften.

It is the air element,

The movement that will push you closer to the event of birth.

Every single one of your inhales more full of life-giving certainty until that moment when the baby inside your womb inhales and exhales its own deep breath of oxygen.

And if air seems hard to bring into your life,

Movement,

Power,

Safety seem far from you.

Remember this.

Focus on the exhale and the inhale will take care of itself.

The more air you push out of your body in your exhale,

The more air your body will automatically bring in on the next inhale.

Focus on the exhale and the inhale will take care of itself.

Now repeat to yourself,

I am the unseen magic that upholds the highest potential of all life.

I am powerful beyond all imagination.

I am constant and peaceful.

I have the ability to surrender and flow.

I am eternally safe.

I am eternally supported.

I was given life and I give life.

Now place a hand on your heart and a hand on your womb and whisper to baby,

May you be rooted in my love,

Suspended in the ocean of nourishment.

May your heart beat with purpose and may you breathe your first breath at the perfect time for you.

May every barrier to love be released.

And as we finish,

Repeat with me a simple O.

You will breathe in and on the exhale repeat a long solid O.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

May you be well mother.

Reviews

A lovely meditation on the nature of life and our connection the elements. Not very focused on birth itself but will doubtless be helpful for expecting mothers to practise in the frame of a holistic and natural run up to giving birth.