During active labor
In the same position, have your partner press firmly with a thumb at the center of each arch. Just to the left and down slightly from the arch of your right foot, and just to the right and down slightly from the arch of your left foot is the diaphragm.
Press and hold at the same time, alternating with small circles or strumming across the areas. This reflexology point will help you breathe. Increased breathing enables you take fuller and longer breaths allowing relaxation, especially during contractions.
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Thoughts
You’ve heard the phrase “mind over matter.” The birth process certainly proves that the mind is one of the most effective pain-fighting tools available. The more a woman focuses on the pain, the more pain she will feel. Hypnotism, visualization and imagery are all methods that pregnant women have used for pain relief.
The following are some ways you can use your mental energy to focus on bringing your baby into the world:
Quick body scan: Scan your body from head to toe to notice any tension and then release the tension with exercises like head rotations, shoulder rolls, shaking arms and hands, ankle rolls, and pelvic tilts.
Progressive relaxation: Begin by relaxing the muscles of your head and face. Release down the back or your neck, across your shoulders and arm, down your chest, abdomen and back, all the way down your legs to your toes. Breathe slowly, releasing more and more with each exhalation.
Each time you release a muscle, concentrate on the positioning of that muscle and on the feeling of complete relaxation. It may help to think of a comforting touch smoothing gently from your brow, up into your hair, over the top of your head and down your body.
Visual Imagery: Imagine a relaxing place—a sunny beach, a fireside, a bubbling brook, or a pristine lake surrounded by mountains. Use some pictures from favorite vacation spots to help you.
Hypnosis: With a little practice throughout pregnancy, women learn the process of becoming deeply relaxed and free of fear so the uterine muscles can work with minimal pain. Classes, videos and tapes help women learn a conditioned reflex in which they are able to create their own state of profound mental relaxation, physical relaxation and concentration all by themselves.