Sometimes it is a wonder that God is patient with me. Today I was doing a breathing meditation followed by a cleaning my house meditation and I realized that What I Learned This Summer is also something I need to teach Phoebe. Even though I have been reading my scriptures first every morning, I still read hers to her right before bed. A few nights ago I was really tired and I was just tucking her in and told her "no story tonight." I was totally going to skip scriptures too, and she called me on it.
"But we're gonna read the scriptures, right?"
"Um....Of course we are...."
Oh boy. If reading in the morning brought me so much more peace and abundance and happiness, what might it do for her or for our relationship? Why didn't I think of this sooner?
I think maybe I was just testing out the principle first. And I was enjoying the summer time schedule when she sleeps in longer than me (I have waited years for this!). But now I am motivated to get up even earlier, do my reading and meditation, then get her up for some kid scriptures and meditation. She loves to meditate with me. Yay! I think this will be a good thing to do before school starts. I can't believe Kindergarten is here.
I'll let you know what happens.
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Learning Lessons From the Past
As part of the book, The Gift of Giving Life, we plan to include a chapter about our legacy—specifically, our legacy in regards to pregnancy and birth. In my mind, this legacy logically starts with our Heavenly Mother, then Eve, and some other Biblical greats like Mary. After that, we plan to include information about our early LDS legacy, which will include much of the cool info that Heatherlady wrote up in her guest post, Midwifery as a Calling. If we continue moving through time this way, it naturally leads us to our own legacy—our ancestors, of whatever faith or origins, our mothers, and our own birth and personal history.
I have been thinking a lot about this more recent legacy (our mothers and us) and wondering what it is I am supposed to write about it. There is so much about our own stories that influences the way we birth. There is our own birth story--most of us tend to birth how we were born, whether we know it or not. There is our own history, such as sexual abuse, how past pregnancies and births went, and so much more.
Last Sunday in Relief Society we studied Elder L. Tom Perry's talk, The Past Way of Facing the Future. I think that the story of the early saints who built the Manti temple is fascinating. They knew nothing about building a roof, but they used their shipbuilding knowledge (they were immigrants from the Netherlands) to make a watertight roof. This is the kind of story that I love. It is a great example of how God gives us things to do that seem totally not congruent with our talents or abilities, but when we examine all that we know and have learned from or for other sources, we often find that we have the exact skills necessary--they just need to be turned upside down.
I wish I had a cool picture of the roof blueprints here.
The lady who taught our R.S. lesson is an older woman who likes to marvel about how things have changed. She gave this example:
“In 1916 every female over age 14 was a Beehive girl until she entered Relief Society. A Beehive girl had a possible 374 requirements to earn her individual award. Some of them were:
She chuckled about how silly these things were, but I think, because we ran out of time, we missed the whole point of the lesson, which was, what we can learn and use today. While this list seems crazy to us 100 years later, it would be comparable to asking a girl to learn how to change a car tire, change her own oil, or participate in a 16-mile hike at girl’s camp (all of which I did as a young woman). All of the activities on this list from 1916 required intense commitment, physical stamina, and mental focus. These are the lessons that these women would need to draw on in the future when they had children and raised them.
It is the same for us. We have all learned lessons from the past that, whether you know it or not, have prepared you, or are preparing you, to birth and nurture children. Hiking for more than 12 hours and climbing the sheer face of a granite mountain when I was 15 years old certainly taught me about labor and delivery, though I didn’t know it at the time.
Just last year, I went back and climbed Half-Dome again, and the whole way, I found myself comparing it to labor. There was a point, right before I reached the top, where I felt I couldn’t do any more. I took a video diary of myself at that point and I look just like I did in labor. I even said to the camera, “this is like the point of every woman’s labor when she says, I can’t do this—and that is usually when she is crowning.” And sure enough, the top was in sight as I rounded the next bend.
Here's a close up.
I made it.
I still had to climb all the way back down. I made that, too. Though there were casualties. I lost two toenails which took about 9 months to grow back.
Another simple example of lessons learned from the past are the keep-up exercises we do in pregnancy yoga. We do an exercise with our arms for 3 minutes (like holding them out straight or flapping or rotating the wrists in a figure 8). Three minutes is a long time, and the sensation in the arms starts to feel very intense by the end. But by tuning into our breath or a mantra, we can get through them powerfully, even smiling. This gives the mind a "known" for power and grace through intense physical sensations. The lesson being, if you can do a 3-minute keep-up, you can do labor—because no surge, or contraction, will last longer than one minute.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are so many lessons from our past that we can draw upon during this critical time, and they are all just as unique as you are.
What is really cool, though, is that on the other side of this experience, after a woman has an empowering victorious birth, it then becomes her lesson for the future--because she now knows she can do anything. And you can! You are doing great things. Along my journey to birth this book, I have been connected to so many amazing women who, as I like to say, don’t take impossible for an answer.
I would love to collect and hear other examples of from of lessons you have learned from the past, or what you have been empowered to do since having that victorious birth.
Sources:
1. Martha A. Tingey, Hand Book for the Bee-Hive Girls of the Y.L.M.I.A. (1916), 36–46.
I have been thinking a lot about this more recent legacy (our mothers and us) and wondering what it is I am supposed to write about it. There is so much about our own stories that influences the way we birth. There is our own birth story--most of us tend to birth how we were born, whether we know it or not. There is our own history, such as sexual abuse, how past pregnancies and births went, and so much more.
Last Sunday in Relief Society we studied Elder L. Tom Perry's talk, The Past Way of Facing the Future. I think that the story of the early saints who built the Manti temple is fascinating. They knew nothing about building a roof, but they used their shipbuilding knowledge (they were immigrants from the Netherlands) to make a watertight roof. This is the kind of story that I love. It is a great example of how God gives us things to do that seem totally not congruent with our talents or abilities, but when we examine all that we know and have learned from or for other sources, we often find that we have the exact skills necessary--they just need to be turned upside down.
I wish I had a cool picture of the roof blueprints here.
The lady who taught our R.S. lesson is an older woman who likes to marvel about how things have changed. She gave this example:
“In 1916 every female over age 14 was a Beehive girl until she entered Relief Society. A Beehive girl had a possible 374 requirements to earn her individual award. Some of them were:
1. “Care successfully for a hive of bees for one season [and] know their habits.”
2. “Cover 25 miles on snowshoes on any six days.”
3. “During two weeks keep the house free from flies, or destroy at least 25 flies daily.”
4. “Without help or advice care for and harness a team at least five times [and] drive 50 miles during one season.”
5. “Clear sage-brush, etc., off of one-half acre of land.” (1)
She chuckled about how silly these things were, but I think, because we ran out of time, we missed the whole point of the lesson, which was, what we can learn and use today. While this list seems crazy to us 100 years later, it would be comparable to asking a girl to learn how to change a car tire, change her own oil, or participate in a 16-mile hike at girl’s camp (all of which I did as a young woman). All of the activities on this list from 1916 required intense commitment, physical stamina, and mental focus. These are the lessons that these women would need to draw on in the future when they had children and raised them.
It is the same for us. We have all learned lessons from the past that, whether you know it or not, have prepared you, or are preparing you, to birth and nurture children. Hiking for more than 12 hours and climbing the sheer face of a granite mountain when I was 15 years old certainly taught me about labor and delivery, though I didn’t know it at the time.
Yes those are people climbing up the side...
Here's a close up.
I made it.
I still had to climb all the way back down. I made that, too. Though there were casualties. I lost two toenails which took about 9 months to grow back.
Another simple example of lessons learned from the past are the keep-up exercises we do in pregnancy yoga. We do an exercise with our arms for 3 minutes (like holding them out straight or flapping or rotating the wrists in a figure 8). Three minutes is a long time, and the sensation in the arms starts to feel very intense by the end. But by tuning into our breath or a mantra, we can get through them powerfully, even smiling. This gives the mind a "known" for power and grace through intense physical sensations. The lesson being, if you can do a 3-minute keep-up, you can do labor—because no surge, or contraction, will last longer than one minute.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are so many lessons from our past that we can draw upon during this critical time, and they are all just as unique as you are.
What is really cool, though, is that on the other side of this experience, after a woman has an empowering victorious birth, it then becomes her lesson for the future--because she now knows she can do anything. And you can! You are doing great things. Along my journey to birth this book, I have been connected to so many amazing women who, as I like to say, don’t take impossible for an answer.
I would love to collect and hear other examples of from of lessons you have learned from the past, or what you have been empowered to do since having that victorious birth.
Sources:
1. Martha A. Tingey, Hand Book for the Bee-Hive Girls of the Y.L.M.I.A. (1916), 36–46.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Beginners Mind
When we are beginners at something, we must learn from books or teachers. Before we can paint a masterpiece, we must study the masters. Before we can surf, we observe, then we practice "popping up" on the board on land. Then one day whatever you were studying comes naturally to you. You can leave the rules and instructions behind and follow your instincts. A surfer leaves behind the programmed set of moves and responds to what each individual wave is giving her.
We begin our first pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies too, with a beginner's mind. Not all of us are the same as beginners. A beginner's mind is sometimes a blank slate, but it is sometimes fearful, insecure, and easily led. Beginners, by definition are inexperienced, yet in spite of, or because of it, beginners can be cocky and overconfident.
It is true that pregnancy is a natural process and that your body knows what to do, but if you don't know what your body is doing, you may not trust it, which can cause all kinds of problems.
Now, in the beginning of your pregnancy, is the time for honoring the beginner that you are. Now is the time for book learning, for seeking out teachers, knowledge, options, and stories other than the ones you know.
Doctrine and Covenants 109:7 says "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;"
In next several blogs I will be including a history of childbirth throughout the last several millennia. But feel free to share your own histories or your own stories regarding the beginners mind--how you began your pregnacy and how you ended it. For example, most people who didn't know me before i had a child find it hard to believe that I once wanted to have a planned c-section and didn't want to nurse at all (I didn't want to ruin my perfect breasts). But through learning about my options and being in tune with what my body and my baby needed, I completely transformed. I ended up having a natural home birth and nursed my daughter till she was 3 years old. (And incidentally, my breasts are still perfect.)
You can post your stories here or email them to me privately. If you desire I'll reword them and post them anonymously or change your name.
Love and light.
We begin our first pregnancy and subsequent pregnancies too, with a beginner's mind. Not all of us are the same as beginners. A beginner's mind is sometimes a blank slate, but it is sometimes fearful, insecure, and easily led. Beginners, by definition are inexperienced, yet in spite of, or because of it, beginners can be cocky and overconfident.
It is true that pregnancy is a natural process and that your body knows what to do, but if you don't know what your body is doing, you may not trust it, which can cause all kinds of problems.
Now, in the beginning of your pregnancy, is the time for honoring the beginner that you are. Now is the time for book learning, for seeking out teachers, knowledge, options, and stories other than the ones you know.
Doctrine and Covenants 109:7 says "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;"
In next several blogs I will be including a history of childbirth throughout the last several millennia. But feel free to share your own histories or your own stories regarding the beginners mind--how you began your pregnacy and how you ended it. For example, most people who didn't know me before i had a child find it hard to believe that I once wanted to have a planned c-section and didn't want to nurse at all (I didn't want to ruin my perfect breasts). But through learning about my options and being in tune with what my body and my baby needed, I completely transformed. I ended up having a natural home birth and nursed my daughter till she was 3 years old. (And incidentally, my breasts are still perfect.)
You can post your stories here or email them to me privately. If you desire I'll reword them and post them anonymously or change your name.
Love and light.
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