The holidays are upon us and so (at times) is stress, anxiety, and a bit of chaos. To limit unwarranted emotions from impacting your pregnancy, we encourage you to incorporate mindfulness exercises into your daily routine. Mindfulness activities can positively prepare you for the stressors of life and labor. 

Mindfulness is not one size fits all and can be practiced in many different ways. From reading a book, taking a bath, or journaling, mindfulness is meant to be a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Mindfulness meditation is increasingly being used as a way of managing pain, reducing stress and anxiety, and can be used as a strategy during labor. 

Nancy Bardacke, a nurse-midwife and mindfulness teacher shared how mindfulness training is effective for working with physical pain during labor. She said, “By using mindfulness to work with the contractions of labor, noticing that they are temporary and that there are spaces of ease in between, expectant parents learn a skill they can use later in parenting.”

Like any new habit, mindfulness takes practice. We invite you to explore the mindfulness exercises created by the folks at Tommy John to take small steps towards managing the pain experienced in our lives and during labor. Follow the instructions below outlining each activity. 

Box Breathing

Instructions:



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