Bringing yourself to a comfortable position wherever you are.
Whether you're lying down or seated,
Making sure you have plenty of support from pillows or other ways to prop yourself.
A position where you can let go of a need for the muscles to hold you there.
A position where the only movement that needs to remain is that of the breath.
And beginning to feel into that breath now.
Noticing the passage of air.
Noticing where you feel it moving into the body,
Spreading into the body.
And becoming aware of the exchange of air between your surroundings and inside you.
As the breath draws in,
Feel it enter through the nose,
Into the throat,
Down into the lungs.
And as it exits through this same pathway,
Perhaps you can notice the difference in temperature as the body has warmed the air.
As you continue to follow that breath in and out of the lungs.
Taking your mind's eye past the nose,
Throat,
Down into the lungs,
And to the bottom of the lungs now,
Where the diaphragm is located.
Noticing how the diaphragm moves down when you take an inhale.
And moves up again when the air is expelled.
And it's amazing to know that the movement of the diaphragm means that it's actually our surroundings that breathe us.
It's the air that breathes us.
When the diaphragm drops down on the inhale,
It creates a negative pressure in the lung cavity and the air rushes in.
We don't actually draw the air in,
Even though it may feel like it.
So with this knowledge,
Just letting yourself be breathed.
Trusting that the air around you is breathing into you.
And trusting in the automatic response that your body makes to move the diaphragm and allow this breath to occur.
And as you are breathed,
As you breathe with this knowingness that it's happening for you,
How do you begin to feel?
Perhaps it's a comforting feeling.
Perhaps it's a relief.
As you enjoy this feeling and enjoy the breath and its movement,
Beginning to realize that just as the breath breathes you,
So you breathe for your baby.
As you take oxygen into your body through the lungs,
As it diffuses into the cells of the body via the heart and the arteries,
Transported by hemoglobin down towards your uterus,
Where it enters the spiral arteries of the uterus,
Where it crosses the placenta and reaches your baby.
The oxygenation your baby receives comes from you,
Comes from your breath.
By simply breathing,
You are sending vital nourishment to your baby.
Even now,
Before your child's birth,
You are able to nurture them with a simple gesture of breath.
And so it cycles.
Just as breath nurtures you,
So you nurture your baby.
Can you feel now that breath seeping not only down into your lungs,
Spreading down into your abdominal cavity,
But diffusing down into your womb space,
Filling down into the cells of your baby.
And pregnancy can sometimes feel like a time when we're not in control,
Where things are out of our hands.
But know that at any time that you have these feelings or worries in relation to your pregnancy,
Or your unborn child,
Know that you can make a choice to breathe deeper,
To breathe mindfully,
To breathe your baby.
And through this transmission of air,
You can also transmit energy,
Energy of love,
Moving through the breath and into your womb space,
Diffusing to your baby.
And for these last few minutes,
You may like to bring one hand onto your chest and one hand onto your womb.
Feeling each hand move,
Gently up and down,
Back and forth,
As you are breathed,
And as your baby is breathed.
Allowing yourselves to become connected as part of this breathing process.
As you share the same oxygen and the same energy,
The same breath that breathes you,
Breathes your baby.
The same breath that benefits you,
Benefits the growth of your child.
All you need to do is breathe and be breathed.
Namaste.
