Thankful Thursday - thankful thoughts

"One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick."
~ Rabbi Harold Kushner

"Illness or pain is just an extension of negative emotion. When you are no longer feeling any resistance to it, it's a non-issue."
~ Abraham Hicks

I received both of these quotes the same day in my inbox, which seemed a little bit like fate to me. I've known what it's like to be in pain and feel like I have no control over it. About five years ago I was in a car accident that really messed up my lower back that propelled me into a tailspin of anxiety and depression. Probably the lowest point of my life, and I now know it all had a ton do with my own negativity towards certain areas in my life, which I let spiral out of control.

Yoga is the reason why I'm still not in this funk. Yoga was my bridge over troubled water when I didn't think I had any hope. Yoga allowed me to realize my physical and mental pain could be cured without drugs. Yoga has allowed me to discard negative thoughts and habits and to focus on how to make my life the best it can be right now. Yoga beckoned me to explore how the power of my thoughts affect my life. I now have control over my happiness and don't allow life's ups and downs to drag me with their peaks and valleys (well, at least not as much!). With my husband's job loss at the end of last year coupled with expecting our first baby, I could have allowed myself to fall back into a hole. However, my hubby and I have tried to stay on the positive side of things and continue to focus on our gratitude of what we do have in our lives. Now he's growing his own business and will be able to take care of the baby part time, which is a better scenario than we could have imagined before the "bad" news. We now seem to have more abundance in so many areas than we've ever had before, and I truly credit our prosperity towards focusing on it and being thankful for it.

Thank you God! Thank you life!

False alarm

On Tuesday, I woke up in the middle of the night with very strong cramping. Reminded me of my worst premenstrual cramps ever multiplied by 10! They kept going and going and then would stop for an hour and start back up without seeming to stop. By about 7 a.m., I read one of my many pregnancy sheets from the doctor, and it recommended calling the doctor if contractions lasted longer than two minutes.

I didn't want to be the girl who cried wolf. However, when I had another one of the long, painful contractions, I thought I better call. Luckily a nurse called me right back and said I better go into the office. Frantically I finished packing up my hospital bag - this could be it - and threw it in the car! The baby is finally on its way!

After the midwife checked me and baby out, all seemed fine, but I was not ready to deliver. I am still dilated at 1 cm and now am effaced about 75%, which is pretty far! The baby is also VERY low and facing up, which apparently makes delivery harder so I'm doing lots of cat/cows to try to flip the baby around.

So false alarm... guess it was Braxton Hicks. But now I feel sooooooooooooo impatient for the baby's arrival. I just want it to happen. I truly understand why women late in the pregnancy just want it done. It's not like I'm in that much discomfort or pain, but I'm just sick of the wait. Let's get this show on the road.

I'll probably be eating these words after the baby is truly here, and I'm so exhausted I'll hardly be able to type.

In honor of my false labor, here's an online article I found on 10 Ways to comfort a woman in labor.

Meditation Monday: Intuition

Lately, I keep hearing and seeing the word "intuition" so my own intuition began to sense I was supposed to be tuning more into my own or developing it ... not sure which.

This weekend I went to the library to pick up a book and began looking at the other works surrounding it. One was titled Divine Intuition by Lynn A. Robinson - I knew immediately I had to check it out. Read about half of it this weekend and definitely am glad I found it. Very short and specific chapters crammed with tons of great quotes, which I always enjoy. Similar to the teachings of Louise L. Hay and "The Secret" but focused on how to utilize and listen to your own intuition to create a life you love.

On page 19, the book includes a meditation called "60 seconds to peace" or "One-minute to God" that I thought would be good to share on Meditation Monday.

Get into a comfortable position, shut down your eyes and take a deep breath in. On your exhale, say the word relax out loud. Do this a few times until you feel centered. Now "call on the presence of God." The book says you can do this however makes you comfortable and suggests focusing on the "stillness of your breath."

Next say to yourself, '"I am filled and surrounded by the presence and spirit of God. I am at peace."' See yourself surrounded in God's love and light and just sit in this energy of peace.

According to the book, taking this brief minute will help you alleviate stress and gain more energy. It will also allow more room for intuitive thoughts to make their way to you. Try it out and see!

Happy Mother's Day

Found a great overview article about prenatal yoga on YogaJournal.com called Yoga for Moms-to-be; thought it was fitting for Mother's Day.

(Photo of me today at 38 weeks!)

Not sure if this is technically my first Mother's Day or not, but I did receive some Mother's Day cards, which was nice. I also was able to check out the DVD Yoga for Your Pregnancy that I blogged about earlier this week. Received it from Netflix and practiced the energizing, 30-minute practice a few times along with the meditation, pranayama and birthing room section. There's also a 17-minute relaxation practice and a postnatal section.

If you're new to yoga and expecting, this is a good DVD to try. If you have Netflix, I strongly suggest renting it first to make sure you enjoy it. I'm not sure if I recommend buying it, especially if you're more versed in yoga because it's fairly basic. However, it's definitely a great practice to do later on in your pregnancy, and the birthing room and meditation section are unique to any prenatal yoga DVD I've found. The alternate nostril breathing demonstration within the pranayama or breath section was very good as well. In addition, there's three women representing each stage of pregnancy and doing the poses in various ways, which is always nice so you may use the practice throughout your entire pregnancy.