Relaxation During Pregnancy

Practice two self-help JSJ acupressure holds that physically help to balance our hormones and harmonize our reproductive functions. These holds mentally help us let go and release mental stress such as anxiety, frustration, overwhelm, etc. Struggling and "trying-too-hard" to make things happen? Want to make everything go perfectly? Continually practice letting-go of perfectionism especially during pregnancy and focus on basic needs and trust everything else will fall into place.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to JSJ Meditations where you experience a new form of meditation That includes a guided practice of a highly developed form of acupressure called JSJ Which is the main focus along with emotional freedom techniques affirmations visualizations and more In today's episode I would like to look at the imperfections and Finding perfection in them and the reason that I would like to practice this today is because I Currently am sitting in my car Recording an episode not the ideal place for me to be recording a meditation and I found myself getting frustrated before I left my house today because of many reasons But they're all irrelevant because when when we practice meditation we can be anywhere We don't have to be in our perfect spot.

We don't have to be in the perfect position Sure,

It can be beneficial to be sitting cross-legged straight up with a pillow under our seat or lying down with our spine straight There are benefits to practicing in more traditional ways But when it comes down to it practicing meditation When we can and where we can is gonna be the most beneficial for us when we can learn How to do that in today's busy societies Especially right now for me my life just seems really busy and instead of resisting the busyness and resisting the imperfections This week especially I'm just really wanting to focus on welcoming them and Accepting and Bringing about a comfort For myself for this growing baby inside of me no matter what situation that I'm in whether I View it as positive or negative and just really letting that go and knowing That I'm safe loved protected no matter where I am and what I'm doing So with all that being said we'll get into position for today so wherever you find yourself Find a somewhat comfortable position.

We will be practicing a self-help Self-care hold that helps balance hormones that's good for reproductive functions and Really all aspects of pregnancy is a very simple hold and we will hold this for About five to eight minutes,

And then we'll move into one more holding position so the first thing that we do is take our left hand and We place it on the back side of our neck on the left side So your left fingertips are on the back of your neck on the left side of your neck So that your fingertips are just right off to the left of your cervical spine in the center of your neck so most people the center of your neck doesn't really mean anything because your fingers are gonna basically cover the whole back side of your neck and You can always poke around and see if you find a little bit of a tense or sore spot and if you do Then rest your fingertips in that spot.

You don't need to push This is not a practice where applied pressure is necessary.

Just rest your fingers there and If you can find something to prop your arm up or your elbow if if that seems like it will be uncomfortable to hold for five minutes or so Go ahead and do that now and then with our right hands we Take our right thumb and place it on the nail bed of our right ring finger So again,

Take your right thumb and place it just on the nail bed of your right ring finger So you're kind of making like a little circle And then just just relax all the other fingers relax both hands Just try to relax in the space that you're in get comfortable in this holding position And exhale fully and completely Whatever that means for you Just provide your body with a full exhalation It can be slow it can be fast it can be loud it can be quiet Whatever you're needing tune into yourself turn your attention around Tune out the external world in this moment and figure out what sort of exhale will feel good to you right now Let's practice some emotional freedom techniques to help relax your body Let's practice some emotional freedom techniques to help relax our bodies and minds even more I disentangle from the thoughts of perfection being the best and I reintegrate now I realign with feelings of letting go Feelings of ease Feelings of relaxation and I reintegrate now I realign with acceptance and wholeness realign now I disentangle from the thoughts of that I need things to be perfect and I reintegrate now I reintegrate instead with going with the flow Tuning inward and being comfortable in all situations reintegrate now I realign with trust Acceptance and feelings of forgiveness reintegrate now I disentangle from trying too hard to please other people and I reintegrate now I realign with caring for myself and others around me with ease without judgment of myself and following my gut instincts reintegrate now I realign with slowing down I realign with accepting life as it is as it is in this moment and realign with feelings of letting go realign now exhale fully and completely disentangle from worrying about what other people think of me and the way that I run my home or the way that I perform in my job or the way that I am in general and I disentangle from all of these things now I reintegrate with acceptance of myself I reintegrate with knowing what I need and I reintegrate with the non-judgmental mind of myself realign now realign with feelings of acceptance trust and peace realign now and now we move into our second position so please take your hands and cross them over the front of your body and tuck your hands under each armpit like you're giving yourself a hug have your thumbs rest on the front side of your arm where your arm and shoulder meet and then have all the rest of your fingers go directly beneath your armpit so that your fingers are resting on the outside edge of the upper part of your body and exhale and exhale as you relax your entire body intentionally let go of the muscles in your face let go of your tongue if it's tense bring awareness to your jaw and let go of any tension there and then bring awareness to your eyes and all the muscles around your eyes and if there's any tension intentionally release those muscles and then take a very long and slow deep exhalation when we focus on our exhalation we automatically receive our inhalation so in my practice instead of focusing on both the breath in and the breath out i allow my mind to wander during the breath in and then i bring all my awareness to my exhalation because when we allow our bodies to fully exhale and just allow it to feel good we can automatically receive we don't have to take an inhalation we just receive it and sometimes the inhale comes in strong sometimes soft mild or quiet everybody's breath is unique to them and everybody's process of breathing during meditation can be different there are many practices that we can take and there are many practices that practice very specific techniques and those are wonderful so feel free to breathe how you know feels good for you and how your body responds and now bring your awareness inwards find your center and whatever that means for you imagine the center of your being the center of your energetic being it doesn't have to be the center of your physical body but just the center of this energetic being that you are alive in this world and take a deep breath in and out as you relax all your muscles once again so we'll finish up today's meditation with a few affirmations to support our pregnancy i trust the process of life and i accept life as it comes i release control i release tension i release resistance to what is i maneuver around situations with grace and ease and creativity when faced with challenges i come back to my center anytime i need to feel recharged anytime that i need to feel love connection wholeness i find my center and i focus on my exhalation i let go with ease i surrender to the beauty and to the imperfection in this world i surrender i let go i know that i have to do absolutely nothing to grow a perfect baby whether it be the universe or god or just creation in general this baby growing inside of me is growing perfectly no matter what i do i don't have to imagine growing its arm in order for the baby to grow its arm the growth and the creation is happening automatically without effort i disentangle from resistance of what is and i reintegrate now i realign with acceptance and trust and i realign now i realign with confidence now what's perfect to me is not perfect for somebody else and what's perfect for somebody else isn't perfect to the next person i understand this i let this go i go with the flow stay in mindful awareness and i breathe i am comfortable in all situations i find ways to give myself exactly what i need during pregnancy sometimes stripping everything away and just focusing on our basic needs can be the most important for me i focus on staying hydrated i focus on staying nourished i make sure that i take time to rest and i take time to meditate and exercise and as with everything these things do not have to be perfect i receive whatever is given to me the water that's available the food that's available the five minutes that's available to rest the five minutes that's available to move my body i let go of perfection and i accept the imperfection and i take small graceful action within these imperfect moments i encourage you to take a few deep breaths finish up this meditation today and as always i thank you so much for being a listener