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Why
do you need to work with your breathing?
Breathing deeply, yet feeling
relaxed while you breathe is an important part of tuning into your body
while you are pregnant. Breathing is relaxing, it helps your body to work
better, it can help you become more aware of your breathing. When you
do any form of exercise, it can be helpful to be aware of your breathing.
When you stop and rest, breathing deeply can help you to experience a
deeper relaxation. Breathing deeply can help give you the space to be
still and to be more aware of your baby. Try to spend some time each day,
from early pregnancy, just sitting and breathing and being - with your
body, with your baby.
The
breathing exercise
Find a comfortable upright
position. You may find you are comfortable sitting cross legged on the
floor. You may want to prop your back against a wall. You may find you
need to sit in a chair. The important thing is that you are comfortable
and your spine is in an upright position.
Close your eyes and begin to
notice how you are breathing. Follow the movement of breath as you breathe
out and in. Notice if you are breathing shallowly - which means that you
will be more aware of movement in your chest and ribs - or deeply - which
means that you will be aware of your abdomen moving with the breath. Notice
if you hold your breath at all. Gradually begin to deepen your breath
by breathing OUT more slowly. It is important to begin deepening the breath
on an out breath as this is the breath of relaxation, of letting go. Each
time you breathe out see if you are able to breathe out a little more
slowly. It is important not to force the breath out - just relax and breathe
out. As you breathe out more deeply, you will find that you gradually
breathe more deeply - which means you will be more aware of the movement
of your abdomen.
Feel your abdomen filling
with air as you breathe in and emptying as you breathe out. Place your
hands on your abdomen and feel your hands being drawn in to your body
as you breathe out and pushed away as you breathe in.
Gradually become more aware
of your baby. Imagine how it feels to your baby as you are breathing out
and in. As you breathe out, your body pushes against your baby. Your baby
feels squeezed, feels held, feels hugged. As you breathe in your baby
feels more room to move around in. Maybe you have a strong visual image
of your baby - you can see the shape of your baby’s body, curled up in
the foetal position. Head and knees tucked into body, spine curled around.
Maybe you have some idea of the different parts of your baby’s body -
where is their spine, where are their legs, what are the different movements
pushing against you. Maybe you just have a sense of a body growing inside
you. Imagine what your baby is feeling. Warm fluid surrounding him/her.
A sense of weightlessness. A floating feeling. Lots of space. A body to
push against. Your baby is hearing the sounds you are hearing, muffled
through the warm water of the amniotic fluid. Listen to the sounds around
you. Your baby most of all is hearing the sound of your heart beating,
the rhythmic sound of your heart, It is a constant sound for your baby
- changing only slightly to speed up as you get busy and to slow down
as you relax, like you are doing now. Feel the slowness of your heart
beat. Your baby senses that you are relaxing. Let images, thoughts, feelings,
sensations flood your body. Thoughts of your baby. Colours. Shapes. Feelings.
Let your connection with your baby take you wherever you both need to
go.
Rest breathing deeply for
as long as you need to and then slowly become aware of your own body and
the position you are sitting in. Follow the movement of your breath as
you breathe out and in. Gradually begin to ease your body out of your
sitting position - Keep aware of your baby as you ease back into the world
outside.
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