Breastfeeding Practice

An embodied awareness practice to be used during breastfeeding, helping us to ground, centre, connect and listen to what is needed.
The more we practice tuning into the experience of our body in our day-to-day, the more capacity we have to stay grounded and be guided by our embodied wisdom.

Transcript

Welcome to your practice.

This Soma-ing practice is intended to be used while you're breastfeeding using the time that you spend nursing your baby as an opportunity to be present with your own body as well as your baby to use this in support of your own wellness,

Your own sense of grounding,

Support,

And connection and ease with your baby.

Using this as an opportunity to be and be aware and become more aware of what is working for you and where there's opportunity to make shifts.

You may hear my baby breathing in the background.

It's recommended to use this practice in a way that you can still hear your own surroundings.

So I recommend that you either only have one side of your headset or earbuds in or if it works to have it on some sort of speaker.

You can see it's a little bit more of a speaker.

You can see if it's helpful or distracting for your baby to be hearing this as well or if it's better for you to hear this on your own.

I'm going to start our practice by just noticing the position that we're in.

So whether you're seated or lying,

Probably you're not standing but whatever the position that you're in,

Noticing the shape of your body and what's supporting you as you bring your awareness to how you're situated right now,

How you're sitting or lying.

Notice if there's anything that you need to do and that you're able to do in this moment.

Any shifts that you need and can make.

I'm shifting myself as I'm guiding you.

So I'm finding a position where you can feel the most support possible in this moment as well as the most ease possible in this moment.

And that invitation continues through the entire practice.

So as we tune in and listen to our bodies,

We might notice at any moment that a shift is needed and what is needed now and what's needed in two minutes from now may be different.

So that's the opportunity to listen.

You don't need to stay still.

It's also an opportunity to notice what works for our babies as well.

Finding the best possible position for ourselves and for them.

And as you settle into most easeful,

Comfortable position possible in this moment while you're nursing,

Really taking this time to feel into what's supporting you.

Whatever it is that you're making physical contact with.

It's a bed or a couch or a chair.

And really feel that sense of support.

And when you notice that sense of support,

Can you let your body soften into it?

Can you really drop more weight into the points of contact you're making with what's beneath you?

Letting yourself letting yourself feel a little bit heavier.

Even taking a big breath and exhale.

Letting yourself soften even more.

Can you let go of any unnecessary holding right now?

Maybe you might notice some holding in your shoulders,

Your neck,

Your face.

Can you really let your face soften right now?

Let your jaw relax.

Letting each breath bring more ease and softness to your face and entire head.

Seeing if you can find a place where your head and skull supported on top of your spine.

So that might be,

You need to shift your head a little bit to let the structure of your body really support your head right now.

And as you feel your head supported on your body,

Your body supported by what's beneath you,

Just noticing how you are supporting your baby's body.

Feel any strength or holding that you're doing.

And just see if there's anything you can do to make that holding as easeful as possible.

And noticing where you do need to hold on to your baby and where you might be able to let go a little bit.

Unless there's anything that you can shift in your baby's position that's okay with them and okay with you that feels as comfortable and easeful as possible.

And through all of this,

As we attempt to find the most ease and support possible,

Also knowing there might be times that there are places that don't feel easeful or feel uncomfortable or painful,

Especially if this is early in our breastfeeding journey.

So we're going to intend to find as much support and ease around any of those aspects that don't feel like things we can change in this moment.

So to have more capacity and space around anything that feels difficult right now.

You really want to use this opportunity to feel where our body is supported,

The ways that we can rely on our structure to give us that support.

You know you're probably holding up a lot right now for yourself and your baby and the other aspects of your life.

And when we spend this time feeding our baby,

Giving from our bodies,

We also want to use this time to feel as nourished as possible.

That we can be more resourced to give to our babies.

So in this moment while you're nursing your baby,

See if you can start to feel the sensations in your body from breastfeeding,

Where your baby is making contact with your body.

See if you can bring some curiosity to the sensations.

See if you can avoid labeling them as good or bad.

Just notice how they feel.

This physical connection right now between you and your baby.

If there is something uncomfortable and it's something you can shift in your latch or anything else,

I invite you to do that.

And as you continue to nurse your baby,

Feeling the movement of your own breath.

And your baby may be moving with your breath.

Allow that continual breathing and inhaling and exhaling remind you of the continual giving and receiving and in and out and up and down of breath and in life.

And also beginning to notice your baby's breathing.

Notice any of the ways that he's moving his body.

Notice how he's breathing in and out.

Notice any of the ways that he's moving his body.

I'm going to use your visual sense now to take this time to look at your baby.

Take her in.

Notice all the aspects of his head,

Face,

His little body,

Hands and arms.

Our babies grow so quickly.

Can you drink in this moment of where your baby's at?

However he may be feeling in this moment,

However easeful or challenging this nursing session may be feeling.

As you look at your baby,

Tune in as well to the sensations of his body against yours.

Feeling that connection,

The weight,

The warmth,

Any textures you can feel and noticing the sounds.

Any sounds from your baby,

Any sounds from your own body,

As well as the sounds of my voice,

Sounds of my baby in the background.

And as you take this opportunity to practice embodied presence with yourself and your baby,

See if there's anything that you're aware of that you are needing right now.

Is there any signs or messages that your body wants to communicate around its needs?

Needs of feeling balanced and grounded and resourced,

Or anything else.

Maybe it's connection,

Time,

Rest,

Movement.

So just listening to just listening to those messages from your body.

What you most need in this moment.

And now spending a moment to feel that connection with your baby.

And can you become aware of anything they need in this moment?

Just listening through your body,

Through your sensations,

Through your intuition,

Letting go of any ideas or advice from the outside.

And what can you become aware of and really feel into in this moment from the connection that only you have with your baby of what your baby needs.

Noticing what it feels like to give yourself the space to feel into the sensations that you're feeling,

The awareness of how your body's feeling and how the connection with your baby feels.

And knowing that you can drop into this awareness in any moment when you're breastfeeding and through the rest of your day.

That the more we practice these embodied awarenesses,

The more that we can use this awareness,

Even through the busyness,

Through the challenging and chaotic times as well,

That we practice really tuning in and listening to the awareness in our body,

The needs in our bodies,

Being able to find more grounding in what we need to foster the connection to ourselves and to our babies.

And I'm going to come to the end of our practice today.

You're always welcome to restart this practice now for having a really extended nursing session or return to this practice at any time.

Or to check out any of my other practices that you can use within your other daily activities that can support your connection to your own body.