Preparing for Birth

No matter what you read or study or hear, there is no way to really explain the emotional intensity of the whole thing. Then the added pain, fatigue, confusion and emotional "come to Jesus" I call it. Birth really serves you your own butt on on a platter. There is no where to run, no where to hide, no space for denying anything that is coming up, it's coming up. It's also an emotional invitation, to really go deeper. To experience life on a deeper level. On a real. I so love this work for it's realness. It also invites me to go deeper and get closer to the essence of all things human and nature and God and creation. 

If we could do the birth without any fears for the baby and mom, it would be so much easier. So the marathon parallel too many people draw, again, it's nothing like a marathon. In a marathon, you are not worried about your life and/or the life of your unborn mystery faced child. That little detail my friends, is what makes this so much harder. 

Again, an invitation. An invitation to trust. An invitation to look God in the face and not try to control or dictate, but surrender. And in that, you feel that infinite power and it can be so scary. I remember I compared my contractions to those crazy rolling summer thunderstorms. Those storms really remind you who is in charge here. When I lived down by the beach I used to go to the end of our block during those summer storms that shake the earth and stand on the rocks in thunderstorms and just experience just how crazy powerful mother nature is. Strong, scary, both life giving and powerfully destructive at times too. She gives and she takes away. She tornadoes, and hurricanes, and she thunders and lightening. But it's not a punishment, it just is. It's just the waves, and you have to ride them, you cannot conquer them, we are a part of this cycle, not the boss. She's also sunshine on beaches, and flowers that bloom exquisite colors, and the animals, the amazing patterns of fur, feathers and scales, and the seasons, and the awesome wisdom in a newborn's eyes. She is all things and we know that. 

The rain will make you wet, the waves will sweep you away if they want to, the sun will make your skin feel hot, and your birth will take you where it will. Smell the amazing perfume of the flowers, look up into that rain bravely with your bare face and enjoy the magic that is nature, all around you, and inside your body as well. 

And we are human. So we make houses, and we evacuate before hurricanes, and go indoors during storms, and put on sunscreen to avoid sun damage our skin. And we give birth with hospitals and technology. That's all fine and good, and we must always remember that we are still part of this divine, intense, strong and powerful natural world and existence. 

With love,
Maiysha