Holistic Articles
|
...there is knowledge
|
Birthing a Sound
- Rachelle Robinson
What comes to mind when we say the words "birth labor" or "contractions"? Did your whole body contort to the thought of all the sensations one might experience throughout labor? Many women today associate the phases of labor as a painful journey. Many would automatically resort to medication to help alleviate any discomforts the body may experience during the process of giving birth. It has only been in the last 50 years or so that laboring women began to seek medical reprieve from the aches associated with labor. Before this time, women were giving birth in a natural, non-medical way. Many of today's women have started to "reclaim" "giving birth", as their rite of passage, in a wholistic manner.
More and more women are seeking the help of doulas to help them reconnect to this natural process. As a doula, I can help mothers with a variety of non-medical comfort measures to help relieve the aches of a contraction. In particular, I have developed a technique called "Birthing a Sound", as a way for laboring women to manage the ebb and flow of contractions. The natural sounds produced throughout labor (laughs, cries, groans, wailings, sighs, moans, grunts, etc.) could be very therapeutic and help alleviate aches experienced during labor. The inner vibrations produced by these natural laboring sounds can travel through our bodies and thus have a healing effect on our physical, emotional and spiritual self.
On the emotional level, a particular sound can help you communicate your feelings. It can have a calming and soothing effect. On a physical level, a sound can create a state of relaxation thereby reducing stress hormones (adrenaline) and promote the release of pain relief chemicals (endorphins). Exhaling a deep low sound provides oxygen in your bloodstream allowing the lungs to function more easily and nutrients are able to reach your cells more rapidly. Finally, on the spiritual level, vibrations produced while emoting positive sounds can be conduits of happiness, unconditional love, stillness and acceptance. It is a great release for energy blockages which allows you to let go.
I feel that my "Birthing a Sound" workshop will help childbearing women develop therapeutic cleansing and purifying emotionally charged sounds. My "Birthing a Sound" workshop blends western birthing ideologies and aboriginal concepts of the birthing journey.
Details of the "Birthing a Sound" workshop:
Please call Rachelle for details on this workshop
Phone at home 519.742.8441 (after 6 pm)
Work 519.743.0534 (during the day)
- Rachelle Robinson B.A., B.Ed., Doula
Kitchener, Ontario
Back to Articles
|
