By Yolande Hyde. You move into the final phase of pregnancy around week 24 where the seeds of stillness and silence represent the coming together of all your preparations and are a definitive pathway towards the moment of labour and birth. This is the bridge between maiden and mother and has the potential to be greatly beneficial when walked with conscious awareness and deep appreciation. A special and very spiritual time in a woman’s life.
The further you venture into this space the deeper into yourself you will inevitably travel. The desire to socialise, work or externalise your focus naturally falls away and you will find yourself with time opening up in front of you in ways that perhaps you have not yet experienced. Although at first irritating, even boring it will eventually grow into a gentle invitation to sit and be with yourself and your growing baby. To fearlessly close your eyes and go within, to hold your torch light high so that you might survey the internal landscape, become familiar with the pathways, the lay of the land, your obstacles, your strengths, the emotions your hold around birth and mothering and also your courage, determination and your love.
Many difficult stories with their deep roots in our early years have a habit of rising to the surface at this time. This heavy baggage is calling out to let you know that the time is right to let it go. Far from being a distraction in the process of labour preparation, such journeys have the potential for great healing and great freedom, and in the face of labour and birth this liberty can be encompassing and all powerful. Trust that what you let go of now will create space and opportunity for a wonderful new way of being, with yourself and with your child.
Other common themes in these final months can come in the form of relationship strain as you struggle with physical changes, emotional readjustments, the now approaching birth and a partner or relative whom you feel isn’t meeting your expectations or ideals. With ripeness comes fullness and if there were any difficulties existing below the surface before, they now have a habit of intensifying and expanding 10 fold in these final months. Again we are being offered an opportunity rather than an obstacle; again we have on opening for making good, repairing and restoring. All the relationships you have, with your mother, your father, your partner, even your siblings and friends will change as your become a mother. A period of adjustment is inevitable, be brave, embrace it, for many new and delightful ways of being with others awaits you.
There are many ways to work with the energy of transition; of the deep unfolding of story, the difficulties of physical limitations, the fear, doubt or anxiety of the last trimester. The most obvious, and luckily one that comes quite naturally to us as women is to talk; with those whose opinion you value and with those who are directly involved, be open and willing in your engagements and enter each situation in a spirit of compassion and healing. Sitting in anger, bitterness, stress or frustration is like holding a hot coal and the time is right to throw that coal away.
Journaling and writing is another way to gain emotional clarity and eventually lasting personal freedom. Things workshopped and rationalised privately using our own unique methods have a delightful way of dissolving, much like a river meeting the sea. Remedies such as flower essences can give much in the way of support as can time spent alone and silent. If you find yourself grieving please remember that nothing helps you to heal more than time and love. Take good care of yourself, cry when you need to and allow yourself to be held in the arms of those who love you.
You are nurturing your baby in your womb, and soon in your arms, you are already a beautiful mother with the right person and at the right time in your life, even if it may not seem so right now. Dig courageously deep as each uneasy story reveals itself, knowing that each one is the messenger of a deeper life lesson showing its willingness to be healed and cleared. One day soon you will be so ripe and ready that you will let go of the tree and fall, without fear, towards the earth below where you will put your own roots down, in your own unique way and it will be your turn to blossom and grow on this most wonderful of journeys.
Our guest blogger, Yolande Hyde, is a prenatal yoga instructor, a qualified doula, and runs Avalon Yoga studio as well as Barefoot Birth Services. She teaches holistic childbirth preparation courses and helps women to achieve trust and confidence through yoga and breath work. She is also a guest blogger on Miranda Kerr’s KORA website.