All tagged Initiation
Do you ever get tired of hearing about surrender? Yay, me too.
The reason birth workers go on about it so much though, is because surrender is often a necessary part of birth and parenting – sometimes it’s surrendering to the power of the surges running through your body, or surrendering to the need for unwished for medical interventions, or surrendering to the sleep deprivation and high needs of your newborn in the early weeks of postpartum.
“Here’s the thing – emotion and cognition undefined and unexplored drive every decision you make. I mean, you either develop self-awareness or these things control you.” ~ Brené Brown
I love this quote! First, because it’s true. But also because it explains why it’s so important to look for the reason behind the reason of our behaviour.
What I mean by that is that all of our behaviour is driven by deeply held beliefs about ourselves, about our world, and about how we fit into that world. Most of the time we’re unaware of what those beliefs are and unless we consciously choose to go digging, they’ll likely remain unexamined (and in control).
If you spend any time at all in "natural" birthing communities someone will inevitably tell you that you can "trust birth".
Usually, what they're saying is that you can trust the process, the physiology of birth; you can trust that all of human evolution has brought us to a place where birth actually works quite well.
So you don't need to be afraid. You can just trust birth.
Stepping into new motherhood, I felt really prepared. I had an arsenal of doulas in my corner and I had a library of resources to draw from (should I need them). I felt quite confident that I could face the unknown and roll with the punches. Even with all the reassurances, it was still an initiation that my heart wasn’t prepared for.
