All emotions are welcome here
For some people birth is only physical, they see it as a mechanical function of the body. But for most people birth is something transformative. We birth our babies and we birth a new version of ourselves.
Labor and birth can push us into a place we didn’t know existed. It can challenge every fiber of our being, mental, physical, emotional, spiritual. To be present in the room when someone goes through this deep transformation is, to me, magical. I don’t take it for granted. I always express gratitude. It’s like each birth teaches me something even though the journey I’m witnessing isn’t mine. Birth forces us to strip down, to remove all those layers of who we are and who we want to be perceived to be. We are forced to show up as our authentic selves, raw and beautiful. We have to give in to the moment and trust our entire being. There is only one moment, the moment you are in.
Sometimes there is rage, sometimes there’s frustration, sometimes there are tears. At times I’ve heard myself say “It’s good, let it out.” As I move physically closer to the person. Sometimes it’s important to feel held by someone else when you experience big emotions. There was a time when I could fear other people’s emotions, but I’ve learned to welcome them. Whether it’s in Hypnobirthing class, during a birth or after the baby is born. Maybe I was scared of my own emotions back then and now I am not. Maybe it’s because I know how destructive it can be to bottle emotions up, and now I release them. Maybe because I know that what you feel is valid and should be respected, acknowledged and cared for.
All emotions are welcome in my presence. This is something I’ve been thinking about lately. That I can’t always “solve the problem” but I can hold space. I can always be open and present for the other person’s emotions. Maybe if we, as a people, would take better care of each other's emotions, if we told each other to let them out more often, then maybe we would have less broken people on this planet. Maybe if we teach our children early on that everything they feel is valid and shouldn’t be pushed down and tucked away they would become emotionally healthy adults that create a better and more peaceful world for all.
