Mindfulness Exercise for New Mothers

Last week, via Instagram, I shared something I’ve been working on for a little while. For those of you who aren’t in the Instagram world, I thought I would pop it up here, too.

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When I began writing my book I knew I wanted to include a chapter on paying attention to yourself. There is so much noise out there telling us what we should be doing, how we should be feeling & how we should be caring for our baby. It’s distracting. We need to be able to tune in to ourselves - our body, our needs & those of our baby. Mindfulness can help us do this. It can help us to pay attention, be present & feel grounded at a time when we are vulnerable to self-doubt, anxious thoughts & mood disorders.

This is all stuff I knew in theory. After devouring journal articles & speaking with my psychologist parents, I came to the conclusion that mindfulness was magical. It was important, I wrote, & we should do it.

But I didn’t, at least not in the way I needed. It wasn’t until five months ago when I found myself unable to continue pushing my grief aside that I started purposefully incorporating mindfulness into my life. At the time I felt overwhelmed with fear - fear of experiencing more loss. I couldn’t breathe without panicking. It was awful. But as my friend Yasmeen said to me, sometimes you need to crack open to heal. Mindfulness helped me heal.

Day after day I would find pockets of time to sit, breathe & notice; & little by little I felt my brain rewiring. After some time I found myself observing my thoughts without falling into them. It felt like a super-power. Magical, see?

I started writing again. I wanted to make it easier for new mothers to be mindful - to pay attention to what is going on in our body & mind at such a tender time, with the hope that doing so will strengthen the muscle that allows us to be observant & kind, & to move about in the world with a greater sense of contentment because we are more able to sit with & accept the hard stuff.

Follow the link HERE to get your copy of the mindfulness exercise. It’s free, and while I created for new mothers anyone can use it; simply tailor it to your needs. I’ve also provided links to purchase my book, where you’ll find more mindfulness exercises including the one my mum used with me as a child.

Heidi xo