5 fun and simple exercises:
Stand up. Open your mouth. Stretch your arms…and YAWN. Yawn as loudly as you can. Let the sound out. Yawning is usually contagious so relax (try not to laugh too much) and YAWN your head off!
Crawl around on your hands and knees and pretend you are a cow! Kids love this one of course! Even if you are not a kid, you will get a kick out of it!
- LAUGH! Do “Ha ha ha’s” and “Ho ho ho’s” and “He he he’s” and “Hu hu hu’s” and a combination of them all. Make high and low, fast and slow sounds, i.e. Make your laughing interesting! Be creative! And enjoy laughing at each other! Laughing is also extremely contagious!
- Take a deep breath, open your mouth wide and sigh “Ahhh” several times. Allow yourself to relax as you do this. Release any stress or tension that you may have held in your body through the day. Let it all go!
- Crawl around on your hands and knees and pretend you are a cow! Kids love this one of course! Even if you are not a kid, you will get a kick out of it! Choose some other animal sounds to explore together – monkey, dog, lion, kookaburra, elephant, cat.
- Everyone holds a piece of ice in their hand for 1 minute (the time of a good contraction) without making any sound. Talk about how this felt. Do it again this time making some long “Ahhh” and “Oooo” sounds or just moan and groan… allow whatever sound to be OK. Notice and discuss the difference when it came to coping with the pain.
More to discuss:
“Here’s how you can support me to make more sound during labour”:
- Remember that the sounds I make are not necessarily an indication on how much pain I’m experiencing… they are just me expressing myself, which is helping me to stay strong and release tension in my body. “It’s better out than in” as they say!
- Staying calm will help me to stay calm.
- If you notice my breathing is shallow, my face is all tense, I’m not making any sound or I’m making high pitched sounds, remind me to make low, groaning moo cow like sounds. Do this by making those sounds with me.
- Make sounds with me. “Singing” in a group is much less scary than singing solo, right?? This will help me feel supported. Just hearing that you are “with me” will help me to relax.”
So there you go! Prepare yourself and your loved ones during pregnancy. Learn to LOVE your voice (even just accepting it would be good enough!) and then make the choice to draw on it as an awesome coping tool during labour.
Enjoy making sounds with your loved ones! Let me know how you go!
If you want to find out how to add the soothing sound of a crystal singing bowl to the SoundBirth equation, do The SoundBirth Course! Through Soundbirth, Nicole Lloyd teaches expectant couples and birth professionals how to use a crystal singing bowl and their voice during labour. Follow Soundbirth on Facebook and Instagram.
