“Pain is an inevitable part of life, suffering is optional.” Buddha
“Yoga does not promise to remove pain, it promises to help a person see things as they really are, quiet the mind, and remove suffering.” Sri Swami Satchidananda
When I read quotes like those I think to myself that is exactly the role of a Birth Doula. Yet another way Yoga and Birth are deeply and instinctively bound to one another.
Birth Doulas, also, do not promise to remove pain, they promise to help a pregnant woman see things as they really are, quiet their minds, and remove their suffering.
“Knowledge replaced my fear and my suffering diminished.” Penny Simpkin (and 1000’s of others who have all said the essentially same thing about many things- Ms. Simpkin was wise enough to apply it to birth)
A means to make a painful situation tolerable, a way to work around sensation, so that you can cope and not be overwhelmed.
My hypothesis is that Birth Doulas are a physical expression of the essence of Yoga and like everything else that Yoga touches your Childbirth experience will be the better for it.
The choice at its most basic: painful helplessness OR supportive powerful action
I cannot think of a more compelling reason to have a Doula at your side for your Birth experience.
It’s not just me…
According to this excellent article on the website Evidence Based Birth, doulas have been clinically proven to be a viable source of pain relief.
The choice to use Yoga-Based Birth Skills during your pregnancy and Birth layers in even more support. Coming to my Prenatal Classes and learning to utilize these skills is yet another way of allowing Yoga to assist you to cope rather than suffer.
Using your body to quiet your mind and to genuinely assist your body as it prepares to give Birth.
Simply “believing” that you want to be an Outlier and go the natural physiological route is unfortunately and generally not enough especially when placed in a hospital setting. You will need knowledge, commitment, practice and the discipline to stick with it. AND YOU WILL NEED SUPPORT.
Belief is easy because you aren’t required to do anything, just believe. This approach requires you to do, to actively prepare yourself.
So you will need to arm yourself with Education, Yoga, and Support because Birth like Yoga is not a belief, it is a doing, which is why it is so challenging.
You will come to the truth not through belief but through experience.
Meditation isn’t complicated. Yoga isn’t complicated. Meditation and Yoga will work for anyone, anywhere, pregnant or not, but the secret is that you have to let it.
And, you won’t know until you experience it for yourself.
