Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives
A Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth Through Meditation, Ayurveda, and Yoga Techniques
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4.8 • 5 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A much-needed antidote to our modern, assembly-line approach to childbirth, this new book is designed as a guide for all who wish to participate in the wondrous process of bringing new life into the world. Its ideas derive from two sources: the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, with its emphasis on body, mind, and spirit, and the latest Western scientific prenatal research. By integrating the best information from these two very different perspectives, this remarkable book gives readers the tools to ensure that our children are nourished by thoughts, words, and actions from the very moment of conception.
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives is rich in practical information, including strategies to help enliven the body intelligence of unborn babies by nourishing each of their five senses, as well as through Ayurvedically balanced nutrition and eating with awareness. Specific yoga poses and meditation techniques reduce the mother’s stress and improve the infant’s emotional environment, as do tips for conscious communication with a partner. Exercises prepare parents for the experience of childbirth itself, followed by natural approaches to dealing with the first weeks of parenting, from healing herbs to enhancing your milk supply to coping with postpartum depression.
Inspiring, expansive, and remarkably informative, this unique book from acclaimed experts in mind-body medicine will profoundly enhance the experience of pregnancy and birth for both parents and baby.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chopra (Peace Is the Way; The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga; etc.) and his colleagues at the Chopra Center for Well Being offer pregnant women, their partners and healthcare providers a practical, thought-provoking framework in which to experience pregnancy and childbirth. Chopra advocates techniques drawn from ayurveda, the centuries-old Indian medical science, combined with daily yoga and meditation practice, to help deepen a woman's connection to herself, her baby and her own intuitive wisdom. Chopra says that the months during which a woman carries a child are a naturally introspective period and provide an ideal opportunity to cultivate awareness of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states. To facilitate this process, the Chopra Center developed the Magical Beginnings program for parents and training programs for prenatal educators to aid them in integrating ayurvedic therapies (focused on nutrition, sound, sight, touch and aroma), meditation, yoga, visualization and journaling into a holistic approach to pregnancy. According to Chopra, Western images of childbirth can instill unconscious fears, causing undue stress to mother and child. To help women tackle these worries, he offers helpful medical information on the physical aspects of childbirth, ways to process difficult emotions, and suggestions for healthy communication between partners. In addition to pregnant women and their caretakers, readers interested in birthing and raising conscious children will likely be inspired by Chopra's stirring call for mindful parenting from conception through birth and beyond. 23 illus.
