How to relieve anxiety + fear: a quick guide to releasing fear during pregnancy just by using your breath!

I’m 37 weeks pregnant. I am on the very home stretch! Physically, this pregnancy has felt AMAZING. I have never felt stronger + the normal aches and pains of pregnancy have not bothered me very much this time around. I am grateful. However, for some reason this has been the hardest on me mentally.

My mindset has been all over the place. I am finally realizing and becoming aware that I need to pay attention to nurturing my mind and bring it back to balance. Maybe its the third pregnancy? My physical body can handle it but my mind knows WAY to much at this point. Like how deep my love has grown for my two beautiful children. How my heart aches when they are sick or upset. How beautiful my relationship with my husband has become as I watch him be an excellent father. Or how precious time is and how fast it goes by. Or how damn hard it is to get anything done in my personal life because my energy is consumed by my kids alot of the time. Or how the level of noise in my house has reached a decibel that is almost out of range. Or how I’ve been stretched as a person, a woman and a wife to meet the needs of the people I love. How rich my perspective on life has become just by witnessing my children grow and learn and explore the world around us. How many deep questions I’ve answered from their tiny little minds about big ideas and life itself. I do, I know too much.

My mind knows how beautiful and fragile life is. I feel my mind starting to panic with how much I have to lose now. I have opened my heart and its vulnerable. My mind needs distraction and order. So I ignore the fears and anxieties and push through. Until I can’t ignore it anymore. I have felt the old familiar feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, irrational fear and panic come back into my life… the same fears I felt during other major life transitions (moving cross country, getting married, starting grad school, etc). The feeling of not being entirely safe in my own skin. Its anxiety. Its awful. But here’s what I’m learning… there is a way out. There is always a way through and out. Want to know how? Its so simple that I avoided it for way to long.

Its through the BREATH. your BREATH is the way out.

Your body’s natural state is to be relaxed. It is natural + safe to feel relaxed. We need to allow ourselves to let go. The root cause of my anxiety is not allowing myself to relax and let go. Imagine being dragged out in a strong ocean current and being way to far from shore… the waves are big and are enveloping you, and you are panicked and fighting to hold on, you are struggling to swim and to fight the huge powerful ocean. Yet the only way to truly get to safety is to let go, stop the fight and surrender. Allow the waves to carry you safely back to shore. Stop wasting your energy on fighting the waves and give in. This is the perfect metaphor for labor by the way and its interesting that I am just now putting all this together.

Divine timing is real. The universe always has your best interest in mind, the universe always has your back if you just stop fighting. I have surrendered to my anxiety. I have called it by name and I am now in the process of releasing it. Even at the height of it I can see a glimpse of peace and calm right around the corner. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

1. Deep breathing throughout the day. Every time an anxious thought, feeling of dread, drop in my stomach or knot in my throat presents I say, “time to breath, your breathe is the way out”. and I slowly inhale and count to 4. Then I slowly exhale out my mouth and count to 5. I do this for as long as I need to until the unpleasant feeling passes, The other night I had to do it for 15 min straight.
2. Aromatherapy. I realized I was not leaning on the tools I so dearly love, my essential oils. I used my reference guide to identify a few oils that I should be working with to support calmness, relaxation and to relieve anxiety. Lemon, lavender and orange were the top recommendations. I found the vita flex points on my ear and feet that would be most beneficial to apply these oils. And I take time throughout the day to apply the oils and anoint myself with intention, to relax. I have seen a profound shift in my nervous energy and I am so thankful for the wisdom from these plants ❤
3. Guided meditation. I have been starting and closing my day with a guided meditation to invite relaxation and calm. I am loving the meditations from Power Thoughts Meditation Club on youtube. The words he uses were exactly what I needed to hear to calm my thoughts. I have made a commitment to do this first thing in the morning and right before bed and sometimes once in the middle of the day while I take Piper for a walk.
4. Prenatal Yoga. I love yoga but my practice is virtually non-existent this pregnancy. I forgot how good it feels to let my body flow through the movements while my mind focused on breathing. I found some great free classes on Youtube and have been rolling out my yoga mat during nap time and flowing through a 25min class. There is amazing research showing the benefits of yoga in alleviating anxiety. I am absolutely seeing the results. I feel So much better. I really can feel the stagnant, fear-based energy leaving my body each time I practice.
5. A break from caffeine. I was still drinking my half a cup of coffee every morning during the majority of this pregnancy (because #momlife with a 4 and 2 yr old) but I realized that my body needed something different. I switched to my decaf raspberry leaf tea, which is very beneficial for strengthening the uterus and prepping it for productive contractions during labor.
6. Increased my water intake. I thought I was drinking lots of water but I don’t think it was enough. Pregnancy requires more water intake plus I live in the mile high city where dehydration happens faster. I started making a more conscious effort to drink water throughout the day. Research also shows that more water intake is a natural way to reduce feelings of anxiety.
How are you taking care of yourself? What natural remedies have you tried to relieve anxiety, stress and tension?

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