Labor and contractions are gifts that bring you closer to meeting the love of your life. In our culture, there’s a lot of talk about how painful and scary childbirth is. What we don’t talk about is how effective and essential labor contractions are. Contractions can’t physically harm you. The uterus is a strong muscle. When the muscle fibers contract, they cause the cervix (which is just the lowest part of your uterus) to open (dilate) and thin (efface). Every contraction gets you closer to a completely dilated cervix, so that you can birth your baby into this world. In other words, what we call labor pain is also a gift that brings you closer to the biggest love you’ve ever known.

Mindfulness Practice:

Change the language you use when you talk about labor and contractions. This will allow your brain to transform its subconscious negative beliefs about contractions and labor into neutral or even positive beliefs. Altering your subconscious, underlying beliefs can literally improve your physical experience of labor.

Pick a new word to use when talking about contractions. Here are some ideas:
Surges
Waves
Forces
Birth Rhythm
Upsurge
Influx
Flow
Or have some fun w/ it and make up a word that suits you!

Pick a new word to use in place of “labor”. Be creative! Some ideas:
Birth Journey
The Passage
Birth Sojourn
Birth Adventure
Birthday Party
Voyage
Baby Union
Badass Birthing Day
Odyssey

Any time you think or talk or worry about your labor, say this to yourself:

Every (your word for contraction) is here to serve me and my baby.
Every (your word for contraction) is a gift that brings me closer to the biggest love I’ll ever know.
I trust the (your word for labor) is here to serve me and my baby.
I am confident that my (your word for labor) is a gift that brings me closer to the biggest love I’ll ever know.