Sophie Fletcher

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Hypnobirthing and mindfulness for a confident and calm and pregnancy birth and motherhood.
📚 #mindfulhypnobirthing #mindfulmamma
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Couldn’t have said it better myself. The photo i

Couldn’t have said it better myself. The photo is from my second book which is basically a hug for a new parent. Every chapter is written in a way that makes you feel better, stronger, more confident. It’s hypnobirthing 101 but for all the aspects of the first year you struggle. This book is the book I wished I’d had.

Checkout the free tracks that accompany the book in my bio ⬆️

Repost from @heytanyaedgar
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✨WTAF IS HYPNOBIRTHING??✨

It's no secret that the first time round I really struggled adjusting to motherhood. This time, I spent quite a lot of time considering my self care before I even had baby M, starting with birth prep.

One of the best things I've done is explore 'hypnobirthing' (a term I bloody hate and I wish they'd just call it Birth Psychology). You know when you watch elite runners on the telly and they approach their starting blocks with headphones in, in the zone, and they look FIERCE and you just want to know what they're listening too? My bet is it's the sports version of hypnobirthing tracks.
For me, hypnobirthing is essentially 3 things:
🏅an understanding of the mechanics of giving birth
🏅clever breathing techniques
🏅visualisation tracks to listen to regularly and train your body to relax when you hear them

The combo of these things puts you in a powerful place: one of CONTROL. You can do anything if you feel in control!

I used hypnobirthing as part of a holistic approach this time round and it helped me to achieve my dream homebirth. I honestly don't know why it isn't mandatory for all expecting parents.
My hypnobirthing journey still continues today with this brilliant book from @sophiefletcher_author. This morning, I had 53 seconds to myself so I drank my tiny coffee and did one exercise. This one small action, if done everyday, will have a huge impact over time. Hypnobirthing is not just for giving birth!
Has anyone else done hypnobirthing and did you do a course or self study? Have you heard of it and thought it wasn't for you (like I did originally)?

#hypnobirthing #hypnobirth #mindfulhypnobirthing #positivebirth #4thttimester #2ndtrimester

Your vagina is amazing and part of a whole structu

Your vagina is amazing and part of a whole structure that is sheer brilliance created by nature. Ina May Gaskin said “there is no other organ quite like the uterus. If men had such an organ they would brag about it”.

When medical terms were being given Latin names in the C17th in the new dawn of medicine, women’s genitals were called the pudenda membra which translates as “parts to be ashamed of”. Even today we use this. The pudendal nerve is responsible for sexual pleasure but translated means, nerve to be ashamed of.

Shame is part of our legacy, it’s it time you actually started to think like Ina?

Women know so little about what our uterus and vagina does during birth. We aren’t taught how the muscles move and how your body accommodates your baby and their birth into the world through clever mechanics and movement.

In fact when I watch nature programmes, especially the pufferfish mating ritual (seriously look up the incredible geometric love circles they create) I wonder how can we see these wonders and not question our cultural approach to birth.

Discover, learn and be bewitched. When you know what you body can do, how your muscles move, how your body adapts and what you can do to support it, it’s a lightbulb moment. The amount of times that I’ve heard “why do we not know this?!”

But I’m still asked this a lot…..

“Why is it even important if you can go in, have an epidural, and hand over to the medical team?”

Birth is physical, emotional and spiritual. Something extraordinary can happen when you connect to that power within you instead of abdicating it to others. Shrug off the a patriarchal legacy going back hundreds of years and start to tap into what’s been hidden in plain sight.

Birth can be the biggest act of self-love if you allow it to be.

Sophie x

#vagina #birthpartiarchy #mindfulhypnobirthing #mindfulhypnobirthing #mindfulmamma #positivebirth #hypnobirthing #hypnobirth #dynamicbirth #birth #gblaf

Beautiful illustration from @_kallenmikel (I think you can also buy prints)

A quick birth story.... Ok not exactly a human bi

A quick birth story....

Ok not exactly a human birth, but this is a real dog (puppies born this week ❤️) and a real story about how mammals birth. Never forget that you are a mammal and have the same instincts and responses to your environment. Birth hormones need to feel

🏡 Private
🟢 Safe
⛺️Unobserved

When you feel like this your soothing system is in control and oxytocin is able to rise.

Just like other mammals, any threats, or interruptions - even from the lovely children who will cuddle her and make a fuss of her - are off limits. I often say zookeepers would make great midwives as they know not to touch, make noise or go near mammals that are birthing.

Those threats aren’t only external they are also internal. As mammals with ++ brains we also have complex belief systems to navigate. If your belief is that birth is something to be fearful of, if you have previous anxiety about hospitals it can slow birth down and make it more uncomfortable. If you are self-conscious, anxious about pain or worried about feeling out of control these can act like threats.

When you think about the physiology of birth, you should look beyond the pelvis and to your brain. Your brain is part of your physiology. Your thoughts and feelings, the threat centre of your brain all influence how you birth, just as much as everything else.

Mindful Hypnobirthing helps you to explore this, to reduce fear, give your tools to build birth confidence and support your partner as well.

In the bio, you’ll find some free tracks that go with the book.

Have a go, buy the book. Read up on it. It’s life changing not just birth changing.

Sophie x

#hypnobirthing #mindfulhypnobirth #hypnobirth #mindfulbirth #positivebirth #3rdtrimester #2ndtrimester #pregnant #pregnancyanxiety #anxiousandpregnant #gentlebirth #birth

Hello! Today I’ve made the break! You may hav

Hello!

Today I’ve made the break! You may have noticed how my account name has changed…..

My heart has been split between the birth work I have been doing for so long and the menopause work which I’m increasingly immersed in. I have avoided going deeply into either and have kept my account quite light touch on both.

It’s time to do this differently! These two beautiful transitional stages, each with their own challenges, can benefit from in depth knowledge, tools, preparation and support. So, I’ve decided to create two accounts, which mean that I can go into deeper into each experience for you.

I’m heading over to @mindful_menopause in a personal capacity and for midlife, menopause work. This is my life, where I am now - it’s where my heart and my clinical work has been pulling me for years now. But I needed a mighty big shove from a few people to put it out there!

I want to share my stories of how I’m navigating this stage with a focus on the connection between heart, head and body - and more. As well as practical tools to help......

These all rise up to meet you 👇 - how can a transition be a transition without these things?

⚡️Physical changes
⚡️Emotional changes
⚡️Vulnerability
⚡️Fear
⚡️Anxiety

But it can still be….

✨Exhilarating
✨Powerful
✨Meaningful
✨Life changing
✨Positive
✨Full of opportunity
✨Joyous

Most of all they can both be a deeply spiritual and magical. There are so many crossovers and similarities between these two stages of our lives.

Come and join me @mindful_menopause, tag me in posts or come and be a guest.

I’m still going to be here on the @mindfulhypnobirthingbook - but now this account is going to go much deeper into supporting you around birth and beyond. I have some exciting changes ahead that will deepen your connection to your body and your mind during birth.

Wishing you a restful evening.

Sophie x

#menopause #mindfulmenopause #mindfulmenos #midlifecalm #motherofteeens #midlwifewomen #midlifeparents #perimenopause #perimenopauseprep

It feels like a time to retreat and to know that i

It feels like a time to retreat and to know that it’s ok to do that. Moods and life can be like the weather. When it feels stormy anchor yourself to parts of you that have carried you through before.

I am in full retreat mode. Hunkering down supporting my teenage boys who are really struggling with the restrictions now.

Wherever you are you can create a small retreat space, full of associations that remind you of your true values.

Here is mine, I have some crystals from the first place I worked that remind me of friendship, love and purpose. I have a wand gifted to me by a beautiful soul. I have an angel from my grandmother, which is unconditional love, a picture of my special place which connects me to my roots. My journal. And other things that remind me of that sometimes it’s good to focus on the depth of life not just the breadth.

I used to have a box under my bed that kept them all in and now I’m lucky enough to have a space. Which has all the resonance of these energies to retreat into.

You can do this too, perhaps you do already?

🌟 Rest and retreat when you need
🌟 Connect with your needs
🌟 Meet your needs.

Sending you restful vibes to carry you through.

Sophie x

#retreatandreflection #winterhibernation #connectingwithyoursoul #slowsundays

World prematurity day...my youngest was born at 33

World prematurity day...my youngest was born at 33 weeks after my water released early. Here my eldest, just 17 months, meeting him for the first time. I have lots of pictures of skin to skin but the reality is that often we were separated by a wall of plastic.

(2) In the second picture you can see the fixed concentration in my mouth as held this tiny fragile little boy, he was like a bird ❤️ sometimes I felt that in all my focus to make sure he was getting the care he needed, there was no space to swim in the love that other parents describe when they hold their baby for the first time, but my attention and focus, the jostling for the right care, was a fierce type of love too. ❤️

(3) Photo 3...this is him now! When I was in NICU I saw a thank you card from a family whose boy had just turned 13 which said "look at him now". The photo made me cry with relief, in that moment I believed that all would be ok.

🌟Having a premie can be tough, but I utilised all the hypnobirthing skills I'd learned . 👉 In my book Mindful Mamma I have a technique breathe..baby...connect for when a parent and baby are physically separate. You can also find this in my IGTV.

✔️ Despite all the odds my experience was positive which is why I am a huge advocate for hypnobirthing..it is for any birth and I can say that with depth of experience.

❤️ A big shout out to all the nurses, doctors, support workers who do an incredible job. You rock!

Sophie x

#worldprematurityday #hypnobirthing #mindfulmamma #prematurebaby #mindfulhypnobirthing #premie #nicu #nicunurses #nicunurse

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