When Does Learning Begin - The Latest From Brain Science

Pop quiz: When does learning begin? 

Answer: Before we are born. 

Science writer Annie Murphy Paul talks through new research that shows how much we learn in the womb -- from the lilt of our native language to our soon-to-be-favorite foods.

Listen to this fascinating talk on TED.

Why Pushing Is Not Necessary…..

Why Pushing Is Not Necessary…..

Most experienced midwives know and wholeheartedly agree with Marie Mongan’s concept of HypnoBirthing and what Mongan is saying about pushing.

Pushing, not even excessive pushing, but just pushing, can be detrimental in labor, particularly in final stages of labor.

When a woman is taught to push, she is pushing the baby’s body against the opening that is not open yet enough to let the baby through. She is pushing, urging the baby to come out, and the baby’s body and the mother’s body are not yet synchronized in their readiness. While pushing the baby he mother  misunderstands the references she is working with.

What is implied in the HypnoBirthing philosophy is that a woman should listen to her body and wait for signals. For this ability to listen to her body and to “hear” what her body tells her is happening, a woman needs to prepare herself ahead of labor with exercises in relaxation so she can be attuned to her body. In the last stages of labor there will appear the “urge” to push.

In her book HypnoBirthing Marie Mongan suggests that the urge to push is a conditioned response, and midwives know this as reference to the rectal pressure that all women feel, and that many women translate as "an urge to push". They say they feel the pressure and then have an urge to push and then they DECIDE to push with that pressure.

On the contrary, rectal pressure is ONLY RECTAL PRESSURE and should not be interpreted as pushing urges.

We are so conditioned that when we feel pressure on our rectums we must sit down on the toilet. Pushing out the poop is a normal sequence to feeling that rectal pressure.

If you don’t sit on the toilet and push the poop back in, what happens?

Your poop would eventually COME OUT BY ITSELF!!

There is also an element of pleasure associated with doing your number 2. Freud referred to it since very early childhood experiences, when at the age of 3 all children experiment with holding their poop and then letting it out, experiencing a suggested secondary sexual pleasure.

Back to birth....so when a baby has moved very low into the moms pelvis she will feel rectal pressure from the baby’s head. First she begins to experience this pressure feeling it at the peak of every surge. Then she begins to feel it during the whole surge, intensifying at the peak. Eventually, the rectal pressure is constant, peaking higher with each surge and her muscles begin to propel the baby downward. It is a REFLEXIVE action. She cannot DECIDE to do it or not. Her body does it, and beautifully. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE WAITING FOR!!!

The trick to pleasure is while she is having those rectal pressure urges, she MUST BE BREATHING, utilizing the HypnoBirthing Birth Breathing.

During the final stage of labor, when experiencing the Urge Surge, mom’s job is to breathe!

Dads! READ THIS: Keep her focused on her breathing, otherwise she may shift her attention to her sensations and then her pleasure will escape.

The intensity of her muscles working may make her breath catch for a moment...this is ok...she should continue to listen to her body and breathe her baby DOWN. Some moms feel that bearing down during the peak of this surge is helpful and feels good (even orgasmic). Other moms feel better if they only allow their uterus to work and they breathe. The important thing is for her to listen to HER WISE BODY and to be given the space and respect to do so. AND BREATHE!

Happy Birthing!

HypnoBirthing is about Hypnotic Techniques Like Breathing for Birthing

Hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention to the exclusion of everything else. Nothing else. Trust me. I have been teaching hypnotic techniques for over 10 year.

Once you concentrated your attention on some activity, like reading a book, or breathing,  you enter in a hypnotic trance.

Besides, setting you at ease, relaxing and developing your imagination, as in meditation, hypnotic trances are a very healthy state. Research shows that regular use of hypnosis, self-hypnosis or meditation improves immune system and other functions in our body.

Very few know this and most are deathly afraid if hypnosis. So let me tell you.

The top model Gisele chose natural birth in water. She insisted to get this right in the papers, as it is important to her to show that the birth that she had was NOT a medicated hospital birth.

She used breathing and relaxation. That's hypnosis.

One hypnotic exercise we teach in the HypnoBirthing class is Deep Breathing for labor.  A recent student mom in my HypnoBirthing class could not breathe deeply. All she could do is inhale on 3 - 1,2,3,  and exhale on the count of 2: 1, and 2. Blowing all the air out at once. She just could not do it. 

It took a little adjustment and relaxation before she could inhale on 4 and exhale on 6. Three weeks later she is doing so well as inhale on 8 and exhale on 10. 

What did she do in those three weeks?

Just practice. Practice breathing and practice with intention. 

Her intention was to have her baby a natural way, just as nature intended, peacefully, and comfortably, with no emergencies, somewhat like celebrities do. 

Two weeks from now she is due to have her baby. Wait for an update. 

Sabina (mom from a class two months ago) said I was tough on her. She could not find the time, she was a busy lady). I showed her a choice. I showed her a video of a birth that was quiet.  A real birth. Peaceful and quiet. She wanted that. That made her practice her breathing. Now she is happy to have birthed her first baby peacefully and with a feeling of comfort. Here is her testimonial:

"Morrin, you are a wonderful teacher. I am so glad I met you. (My husband) and I are thankful for your work with us so we could do what we did - had a peaceful birth. (Husband) was frantic at first and then I reminded him to be focused. He then as if flipped a switch. He stayed focused and guided me the entire time of labor. Your insisting on my practice my breathing was key to my success. Thank you for teaching us." Sabina, 38.

What birth do you want? 

Are you ready to learn HypnoBirthing Hypnosis for Birthing?

Check for 2010 spring schedules and curriculum at HypnoBirthing.

What's a Doula? Statistical research:

What's a Doula? Last year a met a woman who told me a story which starts a few years ago, when she was at a doctor's office, waiting for her appointment and was thumbing through magazines. In one of them she found an article about doula services. She said to herself: What's  a "doula"? Reading along she found out more about what doula does. She became interested. She came home and went on the internet. One thing led to another... So what's a doula? A doula is a labor support woman, a hand maiden. She aids a birthing laboring woman throughout the birth and stays with her the entire time of the birth (as many hours as the birth lasts). Doula understands physiology and gives emotional support to a woman in labor. Doula assists the woman and her partner in preparing the birth plan, and provides objective support.  Doula protects a woman's dignity, confidentiality and birth memories.

Doula in Greek means slave. Doula is a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during, and just after childbirth. Having a female support during labor has been proven to decrease discomfort, help prevent special circumstances and provide easy recovery, breast feeding and alleviate post partum depression. A HypnoBirthing doula is a great addition to the HypnoBirthing training you had, a person who keeps you on track with your scripts and practice of your birth breathing. So my heroine became a doula and quit her job of 20 years as an administrative officer in one of the universities in New York, and now passionate about assisting women in birthing their babies. She says, she finally found what she loves to do in life, after her own 3 children and 6 grandchildren, and never knowing about HypnoBirthing, she now has found new meaning to the words Take a Deep Breath and Relax. With Questions and for more information or for HypnoBirthing doulas contact information go to http://newyorkawareness.com/HypnobirthingNewYork.asp.

The Importance of Practice, Part II

What a wonderful time allowing yourself to relax, just for few minutes, reading the part I of the post today, wasn't it?

Just before, I got a call from a new mother sharing her experience of birthing her baby. She just "had to tell me" that her practicing HypnoBirthing in class and at home paid off greatly.

Just because, she says, she practiced in the last few weeks before the birth, during labor she was able to stay calm and peaceful. I reminded her, how worried she was about keeping calm during her labor. She responded saying that her husband reminded her to stay focused, when she wandered away with her focus elsewhere.

Mom experienced her first strong uterine activity at 11pm, after a few weeks of on and off 'practice labor', during which she timed herself. The activity of surges repeated a few times each lasting about 40 seconds, and the time inbetween from 10 minutes to 7 minutes to 5 minutes. At 1am, she decided to call her midwife. And at 3 am, when the midwife arrived, she was already 8 cm, dilated.

The little girl was born after JUST another couple of hours of labor, around 5:30am, determined breathing and walking around the house. She walked while inbetween surges, and calmly found herself settling in a position on a couch, or on the toilet, on the arm chair, or in the kitchen, until she finally returned into her bed, where the birth took place. This was a home birth; assisting were just the husband and the midwife.

Baby came quickly and safely without pushing, just with a very focused J-breathing.

Promising to write about it more in detail, she told me that breathing and the husband's cool were the main highlights of her birth. She distinctly remembers that as soon as she thought of a glass of water he came offering her one, as soon as she thought of wanting to hear some soft music, or Rainbow relaxation, he was putting it on already.  This connection is not accidental. This was achieved by practicing together during the last few weeks before birth.

I remember this couple arriving to classes separately, from different places, and even not being able to complete some of the tasks in class because there was lack of agreement with each other. However, because they made a decision to practice, and came around to actually show up as a mature team working together on the birthing of their  baby, a new horizon of their life opened up and a new level of understanding without words, the new higher level of connection came to being.

Hope you enjoyed reading this story. Let me know your thoughts by commenting.

Subscribe to being a member of the New York Awareness Center for more posts on more subjects by following into the website link and putting in your e-mail address in the window on the left side bar for our newsletter to reach you shortly.

With Love and Light,
Morrin

The Importance of Practice, Part I

In every Hypnobirthing class I teach, every time we meet, I remind mothers and fathers to practice hypnosis exercises together at home, in addition to the classroom time we have together.

It is a great experience for all three of you (including the unborn baby/babies) to bond and begin to experience each other in yet another way, in preparation to your life-long time together in person.

Not only is it a good way for all of you to bond, but also for the baby to get acquainted with the ways of the mother allowing the baby the time to develop in peace.

Mother notices how well she feels after a relaxation. She also notices that the baby kicks like crazy while she tries to relax. In response to the hypnotic relaxation the baby begins to move around and, finding mother at peace and sitting or laying, in a stable safe environment to try out the boundaries of space and his/her own baby muscles, stimulating survival mechanism of preparing for the birth. Allowing the baby this time is crucial especially in the last few weeks of pregnancy.

Here is a short relaxation for you. You can share it with your partner if he is around. While you are reading it, allow yourself to sit comfortably and slowly follow the words, placing your attention on each word, breathing deeply through your abdomen (into your baby!)

During this relaxation you will keep your eyes open.

There is no need to close your eyes now, you will read the text and follow my instruction and check in your body that you have completed it, and feel great, while keeping your focus on the words that you are reading.

Take a deep breath into your abdomen, on the count of 4 and slowly exhale on the count of 8.
1,2,3,4
Out
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Are you sitting comfortably? Uncross your legs.

Again Inhale
1,2,3,4

Out

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

and another one:

Inhale

1,2,3,4

Out

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Continue with breathing normally, and begin to count your breaths. Count to 25 breaths.

Count now, 1 inhale-exhale, 2 inhale-exhale....

....and begin to check for the comfort in each part of your body.....

4....

Deep breath....

First your forehead, then your chin, then you shoulders,

5,6,7......

Your shoulders sag, melt, drop your shoulders down,

Still counting?? ......9,10.....

Counting breaths.....

11,12,13...

Shoulders relax, relax your arms, the right one and the left one, chest, your abdomen, your uterus ....

18,19....

Legs, thighs, knees, toes....

Feel the tingling in your toes.

Notice that you mind relaxes too. As you begin to stare at the words longer.

... 23,24,25.

So allow yourself to stop reading and relax for a minute or so. After that you will re-emerge all by yourself, because you have the well working internal clock, while feeling relaxed and energized to continue with your day in the most productive way, feeling great about yourself.

Re-emerge Relaxed and Energized.
With Love and Light.

How to Do research About Important Information for Your Baby Birth

A really easy way to start thinking about the way you want to give birth to your baby is to research lots of stuff on the internet. One of my HypnoBirthing couples (from the HypnoBirthing class in March 2009) allocated 2 hours each evening when the both of them were totally consumed by the amount of information. To research the birthing information correctly you must create a list of things that interest you in birthing your baby.

For example, you want to give birth painlessly, and naturally. You might come up with a series of trainings, books, and techniques for painless natural childbirth. One of my student moms actually mentioned that she wants a bit of discomfort, so she could feel her body, baby moving down the path and the chance to use the techniques that she learned in her hypnosis class.

Secondly, you might want to research about various birthing practitioners. Doulas, midwives, doctors, nurses. To find out what they do, so you can choose being informed. There is nothing worse than making a decision about something important like.... birthing your baby, and not knowing what the options are.

Many mothers come to my class uninformed about child birth, about what hospital procedures are, what doulas do why they need them and what midwives are for. They believe that their doctor will stay with them through the hours of labor and then wave a magic wand and the baby is born.

It is not so. Your own participation is important.

A good start is to read a good HypnoBirthing book, by Marie Mongan. Mongan is the creator of the HypnoBirthing theory and the series of curriculum standard classes that moms and dads take in order to prepare for the birth.

If you chose a hospital birth you must decide if you want medicated birth or normal birth and from this point direct your research further.

A student mom asked me what she needs to do, on her 29th week of pregnancy, if after reading the hypnobirhting book she found out that her doctor is not a natural birth friendly. I can't advise on that! She decided to stay in line with the hypnosis techniques for birth she was learning and she decided to ditch the doctor and find another hospital to birth her baby in. I went out to communicate on the chat-line for midwives and doulas to help her locate an available midwife and doula. We'll update on this next week.

So you don't find yourself in a position where you are unsure on how you doctor feels about your wish to birth, research early.