Focusing is a treasure in my life.

As I read a short article online, I instinctively thought, “I should learn about Focusing so that I can provide it as a service to/for my clients. A quick search seemed to put that possibility out of my reach. However, a week later I received an out-of-the-blue invitation to attend a local introductory class. This solidified my sense that the intuitive response I had to the original article had merit. It didn’t occur to me that developing my own Focusing practice would be transformative in my life, nor could I have known that it would be a 10-year long journey of self-discovery and movement through life’s challenges in order to complete my professional training.

Why choose Focusing sessions?

• To enhance your capacity to make decisions and creatively solve problems
• To gain insight into the deeper motivations beneath your habits and limitations
• To open the door to greater communication with (between?) your body’s wisdom, your heart’s promptings and your mind’s insights
• To develop greater self-love and compassion
• To develop greater love and compassion for others

My hope is that as you become a mother, either for the first time or once again, developing the internal resource of Focusing will become a treasure in your life as it has in mine.

Focusing is a body-centered process that provides an opportunity to gain insights and understanding about oneself.  With a Focusing Professional accompanying you as you turn inward and attend to somatic sensations, you discover that Focusing is a means by which you can

• Gain greater clarity about a particular issue
• Gain insight for taking action or to cease from activity that no longer serves
• Develop greater self-love and compassion
• Develop greater love and compassion for others

Once learned, Focusing is an accessible resource in all moments when you want to be in touch with your felt sense, with your intuition and with the wisdom that your body holds.   Focusing is a tool that supports you in order to:

• understand what you are truly feeling and wanting
• surmount obstacles, make decisions and solve problems creatively
• become more attentive and friendly to yourself and others
• integrate body, mind and spirit
• find relief from tension and chronic pain
• be independent from external belief systems

The mission of HUG:  Based on child development, lactation and pediatric literature, HUG Your Baby’s trainings and resources help parents (and the professionals who care for them) understand a baby’s body language in order to prevent and solve problems around eating, sleeping, crying, and parent-child interaction and bonding.

Soon after I completed the HUG Teacher Certification, I had this lovely experience:

“I recently attended a wonderful home birth in a small community south of the Triangle. The new mother and father were well supported by extended family, but had not been able to attend any classes in preparation for their new responsibilities as parents.

When I returned for the 24 hour visit I had the opportunity to answer many questions regarding what is normal for a newborn. Towards the end of the visit we all sat down and watched the H.U.G. Your Baby DVD with plenty of pauses for more questions and observation of the beautiful little boy in our midst.

I returned for one last visit, a little over 2 weeks later. It is natural for parents to build confidence in their parenting skills over time and that was certainly the case here. This mom repeatedly mentioned how much the information she had received during our last visit had allowed her to confidently care for her baby. In particular she enjoyed the fact that she could watch for the active sleep cycles that would occur near the time for a feeding so that she could gently rouse him and bring him easily to the breast. She spoke so proudly as she said she was able to attend to his needs and that he rarely cried to signal hunger. In fact at that point he rarely cried at all. I reminded her of the crying chart; …there would likely be some tears ahead. But with her ability to pay attention to his S.O.S.signals and sleep cycles she felt confident that she could minimize his distress and enjoy him to the maximum!”

Materials included are listed below. I also offer Home Study Advantage classes which help Home Study Course Students learn, understand and more fully experience their Hypnobabies course and techniques. Hands-on hypnosis demonstrations, personalized classes and an individual Hypnobabies Birth Rehearsal allow you to feel much more confident and prepared for your Hypnobabies birth.

Materials for six-week series:

• A comprehensive Hypnobabies workbook
• 17 hypnosis tracks for the Hypno-Mom
• 1 hypnosis track for the Birth Partner
• The Hypnobabies Quick Reference Guide for use during your birthing time
• The Birth Partner’s Guide Booklet
• 5 Hypnobabies scripts in a spiral bound book
• Additional handouts and brochures

What happens during a Hypnobabies class?
The majority of your time in class is spent preparing for a healthy pregnancy and a positive and joyful experience during birth. You will learn about nutrition, exercise, the stages of labor, choices available to you during childbirth, how to be a well-informed consumer, and how to use the Hypnobabies tools for comfort during your birth.  The last half hour of class is dedicated to learning self-hypnosis by practicing as your teacher reads a hypnotic script.  You will go home with the materials necessary to practice and deepen your experience of hypnosis. Your birth partner and other members of your birth team are able to learn supportive practices to help you both learn the techniques of hypnosis and use them during your birth.

In between classes, you will have “home play” assignments to complete, these include reading, exercises and the, all important, hypnosis practice.  As with any new skill, time is needed for learning process; you can plan to spend approximately 30 minutes per day practicing hypnosis by using the scripts provided, plus time for reading,  and incorporating suggested exercises into your routine.

​After the series is completed, a schedule will provided to support you as you continue to practice hypnosis every day until the baby is born.  This practice will strengthen the power and efficacy of all the tools you have learned throughout the classes and during your home practice sessions.  Preparing in this way for a positive, calm and joyful birth takes time and focus….and it’s worth it!

What topics are covered?
Hypnobabies is a comprehensive childbirth preparation class.  Here is a partial list of our topics:

• How to stay Healthy and Low risk
• Staying Comfortable during Pregnancy
• Anatomy and Physiology of Birth
• Stages of Labor
• Baby Kick Counting
• Belly Mapping
• Optimal Fetal Positioning
• Turning a Posterior Baby
• Avoiding Back Labor with the Abdominal Lift and Tuck
• The Risks, Benefits and Alternatives to Common Labor Interventions
• How to give informed consent or decline procedures
• Birth Empowerment Skills
• Birth Plans & Baby Plans
• Detailed birth preparation and training for Birth Partners
• Information for making personal birthing choices
• Avoiding Induction and Cesarean Section
• Delayed Cord Clamping and other Baby Kindness information
• Birthing Rehearsals using Hypnobabies techniques in class
• New Baby Care, Breastfeeding and Postpartum

Course outline

Class 1: Introduction to Hypnobabies:
Introduction to Hypnobabies’ Philosophies and Positive Mindset; Pregnancy Anatomy and Physiology; Belief Systems; The Power of Words and How They Affect Us; How Your Mind Works – The Conscious and Subconscious; The Mind/Body Connection; What Hypnosis is and is NOT; Demonstrations of Hypnosis; How Fear Affects Comfort and Length of Labor; Fear Clearing for Childbirth; The Importance of Daily Birthing Affirmations; The Gifts Your Body Gives You – Your Beautiful Uterus and How it Works; Creating Your “Mental Lightswitch”. Partner Communication Exercise and the “Contract of Trust”.

Hypnosis Script: “Learning Self-Hypnosis” (Entering hypnosis on your own and controlling all sensations in your body.)

Class 2: Staying Healthy and Low Risk:
Importance of Diet in Pregnancy; Nutritional Guidelines; The High Protein Advantage; Eggs, Salt and Calcium in Pregnancy; Drinking Water for Two; Avoidance of Harmful Substances; Safe and Comfortable Prenatal Sleeping and Resting Positions; Natural Comfort Measures for Pregnancy; Introduction of the Stages of Labor including the “Baby-Kindness” Stage; New Baby Sensitivity Through Bonding; Using Hypnosis for Pregnancy Discomforts and Health; Prenatal Exercises for Birth; Birth Partner Assistance.

Hypnosis Script: “Creating Anesthesia” (Modifying your hypnosis to include Hypno-anesthesia and “Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis”.)

Class 3: Your Options in Birthing:
Birth Partner’s “Relax and Feel Confident” CD; The Importance of Making Excellent Birthing Decisions; the “Big Secrets”. Detailed Childbirth Choices – Risks, Benefits and Alternatives for Common Procedures; Getting Informed Consent, Hospital Forms and Your Rights; Questions for  Caregivers – Consumer Issues and Positive Communication; Creating the Birth Plan of your Dreams; “Big” Babies; Packing Your Birth Bag; Touring Your Place of Birth; Benefits of a Professional Labor Assistant; “Hypno-Doulas”; Introduction of Belly Lift Techniques.

Hypnosis Script: “Hypnotic Childbirth # 1 – Birth Hypnosis Tools” (Learning cues for deepening hypnosis and anesthesia instantly.)

Class 4: The Onset of Labor:
Your “Guess Date” and Normal Length of Pregnancy; Preparing for your Birthing Day; Signs of Birthing Beginning; Amniotic Membranes Breaking – Your Safe Choices; True vs. “False” Labor; How to Time Your Birthing Waves (contractions); Your Birth Log; When to go to the Birth Place; Automatic Comfort and Relaxation on “The Drive” and Arrival at Your Place of Birth (if out of your home; Hypno-Guardians; Nurses – the Unsung Heroes; Using Hypnosis for Comfort During Internal Exams; Dilation, Effacement, Position and Station of Baby; The Beautiful Progress of Labor, Including Fast , Average and Slow or Stalled Labor; Artificial Induction and Natural Induction Techniques; Creating a Safe and Serene Birthing Environment; Nausea Elimination; Optimum Fetal Positioning.

Hypnosis Script: “Hypnotic Childbirth # 2 – Deepening Your Hypno-Anesthesia” (Birth Partner Cues for instantly deepening hypnosis and moving anesthesia around to different areas of your body.)

Class 5: Birth Partners, Transformation and Birth:
Birth Partners Training: Your Role During Pregnancy and Birthing Reviewed; How a Labor Assistant Can Help the Hypno-Partner; 4 Pages of Verbal Birthing Cues; Physical Comfort Techniques; the Change of Plans Hypnosis Script.

Late First Stage Labor – Transition…or  “Transformation”; Hypnosis Deepening techniques; Trusting in Your Body, Your Mind and your Baby; Protecting the Hypno-Mom!; Effective Positions for Birthing; Benefits and Use of the Birth Ball; Exhale Pushing and Avoiding the “Ring of Fire” with Hypnosis; Safe Birthing of the Placenta; Cord Traction,  Pitocin, Post-Partum Choices. Review: Membranes Releasing, Hypnobabies Tools, Using Your Mental Lightswitch, Fear Clearing for Childbirth; Avoiding a Cesarean Section.

Hypnosis practice: Using Hypnobabies in the Moment! Full practice of our Hypnobabies Lightswitch techniques, Peace cue, Release cue, Birth Partner’s cues, and Moving Hypno-Anesthesia around Your Body.

Class # 6: Birthing Your Baby and Beyond:
Hypnosis Script: “Visualize (Create!) Your Birth” (a mental practice of labor and birthing that creates your childbirth experience for you exactly as you desire it to be.)

Followed by our In-depth Birthing Rehearsal using all Hypnobabies Techniques, Birth Balls, Walking, Positional Changes and Eyes Open Childbirth Hypnosis where our Hypno-Moms and Birth Partners practice their Hypnobabies cues and techniques together, in hypnosis, culminating with “giving birth” using Hypno-Anesthesia.

New Baby Care: Baby Kindness, Apgar Scores, Normal Newborn Appearance, and Choices for Baby’s Care including Hospital and Homebirth Newborn Procedures, Bathing … or Not?, Vaccinations, Circumcision and  Rooming In. A Good Start with Breastfeeding, Latching, Non-Schedules, BF Resources, Attachment Parenting Information, and much more!

“When I was pregnant with my second child, I was very anxious about having another rapid and intense birthing experience. I sought out a Hypnobabies class to help me cope better with the unknown. During the 6-week course, I felt my anxiety level decrease as I began to envision a different, more comfortable, birthing experience. When my birthing day came, I relied heavily on the Hypnobabies CDs and positive affirmations to stay calm and focused throughout labor. With the help of my CDs and my Hypno-doula, I was able to comfortably participate, and this time, it WAS a wonderful birthing experience!”

Donna E.

 “…we can say that if the body is completely relaxed, it is impossible to entertain fear. …Complete general relaxation is the ideal to aspire to, but on the other hand, it is astonishing how even imperfect relaxation may alter the whole course of labor.  …if women have tried to learn relaxation and are able to put it into effect, astonishingly gratifying results are obtained, for the discomforts of labor vary inversly to the woman’s ability to relax” – Dr. Grantley Dick-Read  in Childbirth Without Fear

Visit the Hypnobabies website for more information. including a free introductory MP3

Lymphatic Breast Massage can relieve breast tenderness, reduce engorgement, unblock plugged ducts, improve skin tone and increase milk production.  .

Most women feel a sense of breast fullness as a normal part of the lactation process as their milk “comes in” in the days following birth.  Milk production begins  and the breast tissue swells as blood, lymphatic fluid and milk collect in the ducts. Along with feeling full, the breasts may feel heavy, tender and warm. When milk isn’t being removed frequently and effectively by nursing the baby, this normal swelling of the breast tissue can develop into engorgement.

In our session together, you will receive a breast massage and also learn a self-care routine that you can continue at home for ongoing relief and to support a high quality of breastmilk. If you choose to learn and practice the routine during pregnancy, you may decrease your chance of becoming engorged when lactation begins.

Why do women massage their breasts?

Lactating women

There’s a growing amount of research suggesting that breast massage may have many benefits for lactating women.

For example, in one study, a group of new breastfeeding mothers were given two 30-minute breast massages in the 10 days after giving birth. Compared to the control group who didn’t receive the massage, these mothers experienced less breast pain while feeding. Not only that, but their babies also suckled more at the breast, and the milk itself contained less sodium.

In another study, researchers found that breast massage greatly increased the quality of breast milk when performed in the first year after delivery. The parts of the milk that improved with massage included the:

• solids
• lipids
• casein concentration
• gross energy

The most benefits were seen between the first day and 11 months postpartum. The only property of the milk that wasn’t changed in either the early or late lactation period was the lactose content.

Massage may also help improve the flow of milk. An older study from 1994 suggests that the combination of suckling and massage works to both empty the milk ducts and encourage the production of more milk. Massage may also help prevent and treat issues like engorgement, plugged milk ducts, or mastitis, an infection of the breast tissue.

Source:  https://www.healthline.com/health/breast-massage#purpose

Fascia is a specialized system of the body that has an appearance similar to a spider’s web or a sweater. Fascia is very densely woven, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein, as well as, all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. The most interesting aspect of the fascial system is that it is not just a system of separate coverings. It is actually one continuous structure that exists from head to toe without interruption. In this way you can begin to see that each part of the entire body is connected to every other part by the fascia, like the yarn in a sweater.

Trauma, inflammatory responses, and/or surgical procedures create Myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures that do not show up in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.) Many people suffering with pain and/or lack of motion may have undiagnosed fascial restrictions.

The Pregnant Pauses® DVD set has over seven hours of proven instruction compiled into six different “Pauses” each aimed to teach simple movement methods that ease everyday tasks such as getting up and down, sleeping, rolling over and breathing. Each “Pause” is explained step by step so you will gain the maximum benefit along with a short talk that will help you understand the thinking and theory behind each “Pause.”

Pregnant Pauses® increases your energy and improves your quality of life, while helping you adjust to the changes occurring through each stage of your pregnancy. By doing small, gentle movements for only 20-40 minutes a day you will be amazed at how easily you’ll be able to do everything from rolling over in bed, carrying your growing baby more comfortably, getting up or down, learning how to do Kegel exercises in an easier, more efficient way, getting in and out of a chair, and moving more freely. It is as simple as doing slow, easy movements, at your own pace, in the comfort of your own home.

Pregnant Pauses® utilizes your nervous system’s innate intelligence to bring about a new and more effective relationship between your muscular and skeletal systems. Based on years of research through wide-ranging applications, Pregnant Pauses® is a direct application of the Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic Education.

Easier than Yoga, more fun than Pilates, you’ll be guided to a new understanding of how your body works and how you can move.

Pregnancy Massage

• Deep muscle relaxation, tension release, and postural alignment
• Relieves joint discomfort and pressure in neck, shoulders, hips and lower back
• Increases circulation in mother and placenta
• Reduces pregnancy induced edema
• Promotes the balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, thereby reducing stress to mother and baby
• Specific techniques applied at term can encourage the onset of labor

Massage During Labor

• Supports deep relaxation between contractions
• Can reduce lower back discomfort
• Massage during labor has been shown to shorten time in labor, minimize discomfort and reduce medical intervention

Postpartum Massage

• Re-establishes pelvis structural integrity
• Supports healthy lactation
• Reduces stress hormones
• Facilitates the healing of bladder disorders, post-episiotomy soreness, and Cesarean Birth
• Relieves neck/shoulder/backdiscomfort or pain
• Supports healthy emotional state
• Aids in maternal bonding

Spinning Babies® Aware Practitioners have been trained in a bodywork protocol intended to allow:

• Comfort in pregnancy
• Spontaneous change to a more optimal fetal position, where space is available in the womb
• Progress in labor

Visit the Spinning Babies Website for much more information! 

During Transformational Birth Coaching sessions individuals are supported as they identify the areas of their lives (as related to pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period) that are most important to them.  For example: health and pregnancy discomforts, coping with labor, clarity about the desired birth experience, ability to advocate for oneself, preparing for life with a newborn.

Each session is unique, allowing time for self-reflection on the part of the client with guidance, input and connection to resources provided by the coach.  Goals are set by the client. Accountability is provided by the coach. Transformational Birth Coaching is

• Success oriented
• Action oriented
• Doing better in order to Feel Better
• Focused on the present with life forward momentum
• Partnership between client and coach.

Aligning your beliefs, goals, and actions moves you towards the birth and postpartum experience you desire.

Authentic Movement is a completely self-directed form of dance movement therapy in which individuals discover a path that bridges the conscious and the unconscious.

Authentic Movement explores the relationship between a mover and a witness, being seen and seeing. With eyes closed, the mover listens inwardly and finds a movement arising from a hidden prompting, a cellular impulse.

The witness brings a receptive quality of clear attention to the mover. The witness is mindful of the inner world of sensation and meaning. Though personal shadow issues may emerge, the witness accepts the mover without analysis and speaks only when the mover asks for a response. The mover and witness together can achieve a level of perception of self and other that evokes deep respect and empathy.

“The symbols of the self arise in the depths of the body.”  C.G. Jung