Positive Affirmations For Motherhood

 Your thoughts are a powerful thing. What you think shapes your internal dialogue and how you perceive the world around you. During pregnancy, delivery and beyond, what we think plays a huge role in shaping our experiences. Through the practice of affirmations and mantras we can help to mold our experiences.

Often in my yoga and meditation practice, I am drawn to using affirmations and mantras. These positive words, sayings or feelings have the power to shift internal energy and bring forth change.   Affirmations assist in instilling this positive mental outlook in you in a deep and lasting way.

When my husband and I first talked about conceiving, I set an intention to create a welcoming space in my heart and mind for a baby. With each meal I nurtured this space and kept this affirmation in the front of my mind. In my yoga practice I set the same intention before each class.

During my pregnancy, I set an intention of letting go. So much in pregnancy is beyond our control. We determine what we digest and how we take care of our bodies, but the process is not ours to control. Being that this was my first pregnancy, I felt hyper-aware of every feeling and change occurring within me.   My mantra became “let go.” During my meditation I would visualize breathing in the word “let” and breathing out “go.” This allowed me to relax and trust the process and inherent wisdom of my body.

Throughout pregnancy and then going into labor, I kept this mantra close to me. As my due date approached, I started to focus on the affirmation of trusting my body. I meditated on the idea that women have been birthing babies for thousands of years. This trust in the wisdom bestowed in my body allowed for me to relax into the delivery process. With each contraction, I thought of our baby coming to us rather than thinking of pain. If you anticipate that labor will hurt, you will find what you’re looking for! I visualized a smooth and beautiful birth, my body opening up to allow the strong and healthy baby to enter the world. I pictured myself as a confident and loving mother, surrounded by love.

Some people prefer to write down their affirmations. It may help to write them over and over again or to post in a place you will see daily as a reminder. A post-partum doula I worked with gave me a magnet for our fridge that reads, “Never forget, YOU are an amazing and powerful woman, you are a mother!” What a powerful message and wonderful reminder for all of us mothers.

Through the practice of mantras and affirmations you can alleviate stress, worries, even aches and pains in your body that manifest through emotional tension.   You can train your brain and shift your perception about conception, pregnancy and motherhood.   In doing so, you will bring more positivity and lightness into your being.

Meg Everingham

Meg (Zirm) Everingham is classically trained in ballet and translates her love of movement to teaching yoga, Pilates, barre work an d mind-body wellness. A student of yoga and Pilates for over 15 years, she believes in living a natural, healthy “yoga life.” Through the study of Ayurveda, eating a pla nt-based diet, and this yogic lifestyle, Meg has built an extensive knowledge of holi stic health, nutrition, and wellness.

Fusing her classical training with her love of movement, Meg strives to empower her clients through the freedom and strength o f mind-body movement and wellness. She specializes in working with prenatal and p ostpardum moms in yoga, Pilates and mind-body wellness. She welcomed her baby Geo rge, to the world in July 2013!