What To Do With Your Birth Fears

This past fall I started teaching  live-stream classes online about Ecstatic Birth. These class are hosted by en*theos a fabulous, progressive, online learning academy. This is a huge opportunity to share my voice with a wider audience and I was excited to do this, but while preparing for my first class I had a total meltdown.

I’d never done this before. I’m a writer, not a speaker. I don’t “do” video. I don’t like to be seen.

After I finished ranting to anyone who would listen… I had an epiphany. This was a birth. I was birthing a whole new version of myself and I should prepare myself accordingly. I decided to use everything I know about preparing for birth to guide me.

As creative beings we are birthing all the time. Our creative babies can challenge us just as much if not more than our physical ones. Just like in childbirth, fears come up along the way and clearing them is an opportunity for huge growth and healing.

Here is my protocol for dealing with fear….

Be really honest with yourself. What are you afraid of? Clearly identify each fear.
Is it realistic? Can this fear really come to fruition?If so, is there anyway you can prepare, so the chances of it happening are less?
What sources of support can you draw on?
What if, regardless of all your preparation, your fear comes to fruition?
Are there any circumstance under which you can be ok with that outcome?
If so, how can you surround that outcome with pleasure?

Even with the classic childbirth fear of a c-section, a woman having gone through and applied this protocol can get to a place where a c-section no longer feels like a looming uncontrollable fear. Instead she can spin this undesired possibility into gold, if need be. Her fear no longer overwhelms the situation. Her birth desires lead.

Whether or not you give your fears conscious headspace, they are real and they live in your body. I’m an advocate for looking fears in the eye. This disarms them and empowers us to move past them.

As we begin to birth, empowered with all our preparations, there is still a part of us that will have to surrender to the unknown. In that moment, just remember to breathe.

So, armed with my birth prep, I birthed the part of myself that is a public speaker.  I worked my butt off to prepare, move beyond all my fears, and deliver the content in the absolute best way that I can. I can tell you that I think I am rocking it!