Mindful Birthing by Nancy Bardacke

Author:Nancy Bardacke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Saturday arrives bright and clear. I’m happy that the famous San Francisco fog is passing us by today and that we will have some warm sun when we practice outdoors. Maddie, the midwifery student who is attending the course as part of her training, meets me at the door of the Osher Center. We’re busily arranging chairs in a circle when couples begin to arrive with their gear in tow—a favorite back pillow, a shawl for meditation, and large brown shopping bags filled with food for the day.

As I hug Eileen hello, I feel her hair, still wet from her morning shower, cold against my cheek. Carlos gives me a one-arm hug, holding his cup of hot coffee away from me. Sharon breathes heavily as I lean over her large belly (she’s carrying twins) to give her a hug. “A good-morning hug to the three of you,” I say, and we both laugh.

I greet Veronica and Ruth, midwives in the community who have shared a ride over the Bay Bridge this morning. They are taking the MBCP course in part to learn mindfulness practice for themselves and in part because they’ve seen the positive impact mindfulness practice has had on their clients and are curious to find out more. They are what I call participant-observers, making the same commitment to daily formal practice as the couples have made. Ruth is considering training to become an MBCP instructor.

As the couples continue to arrive, they greet each other warmly. The air is filled with chatter and laughter as I gather my meditation bells, a few notes, and the poems I will read at different times throughout the day.

I take my seat and ring the bells. The room becomes quiet.

“Let’s begin by just sitting for a few minutes, to help us more fully arrive in this moment,” I say.

And so we formally begin our day of silent meditation practice together.

After about ten minutes of sitting, I ring the bells, and people stretch and open their eyes. Then I begin to share some guidelines to help the day go smoothly.

“It’s important to know that this is not a day to try to feel a certain way, like peaceful or calm or relaxed. In fact, we’re not here to try to do or feel anything other than how we are. Like the day you give birth, this will be a day of non-doing—a day of unfolding. If boredom or anxiety or frustration or sadness or fear arises while we are practicing today, we won’t turn away from them. We will apply the same approach we have been learning for being with physical discomfort to being with unpleasant emotions: we will look at them closely, explore them, and observe as best we can the relationship between our thoughts and our emotions, just being with them, because this is our life in this moment. And we’ll watch them change. So too, if times of peace or calm or joy or curiosity or relaxation are present, we will experience those fully as well.

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