You may be wondering what do breastfeeding and meditation possibly have to do with one another?
When your baby arrives, and if you are anything like me, you may feel as though you are feeding your baby non-stop and around the clock. The lack of sleep wears you out, which means finding ways to relax are even more vital. For some of you, you may be fighting those baby blues. Leaving you desperate for a way to clear your mind, and center yourself to adapt to a monumental life changing event.
In the beginning weeks following the birth of my son, my emotions seemed to get the best of me almost like clockwork. Every day 5:00pm would roll around and I would start to break down. The exhaustion from long nights of very little to no sleep would set in, and I would fall apart.
As the time passed my body started to heal which contributed to putting my emotions back in check, but I also discovered a way to help myself relax that stuck with me and benefited me with my second child as well.
I learned to meditate while breastfeeding. If you are just starting out breastfeeding, it would not surprise me if you thought that was CRAZY! But over time breastfeeding gets easier as your baby gets better at it, and it becomes more natural for you to relax.
Breastfeeding releases hormones to relax Mom, so why not take full advantage of that, right? At least that is what I thought. You can try closing your eyes and meditating while sitting up, but my favorite way to do it is lying down while feeding. Most often I took the opportunity to meditate while breastfeeding for the last feeding of the day when winding down to start getting ready for bed.
Close your eyes, taking deep breaths while your baby feeds, drawing your attention away from the day’s trials of being a new Mom. Center your mind and bring your focus to the love you have for your baby, and the love you have for yourself and the amazing ability you have to nourish your child and give life.
While your baby eats keep following your breaths like you would if you were meditating on your own. In the beginning feeding baby can take a long time. See it as an opportunity to relax your mind and body.
I first came across meditating in the company of my baby when I would lie on the floor wishing, hoping, praying my son would go to sleep in his crib. I thought if I closed my eyes and imagined him sleeping peacefully that maybe, just maybe it would happen. That didn’t really work for me, but it later led me to stumbling upon closing my eyes, breathing deep and meditating while feeding my baby. Although the exhaustion of being a new Mom does not necessarily go away, meditating while breastfeeding can be just the small miracle you need to refresh and rejuvenate you.
Should you struggle with a restless mind while trying to meditate, try my favorite technique I wrote about in a post titled Road to Meditation.
With ♥,Wendy Irene
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