PART 2:
A Resilient Pregnancy
02/22/2020
Guest: Emilia Ortega-Jara, LCSW
Some of the explanations of why you are the way you are today can be traced back to when you’re still in the womb, where a lot of things are being passed from generation to generation. That’s why it is extremely important that we focus on every woman’s parenthood journey as this is where everything started. The life that’s being created will be part of the next generation and the responsibility to honor, respect and take care of the overall health during the most transformative and sacred times of a person’s life is huge.
Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health During Pregnancy
Emilia Ortega-Jara, LCSW, PMH-C, founder and clinical director of Corazon Counseling, shared these amazing ways on how you could take care of your mental health from pregnancy to postpartum and parenthood.
- Have the self-awareness and be in touch with your intuition. Pay attention to your intuition as the more you become aware and sensitive to your body's needs, the more you will be conscious of the changes in your body and have that inner knowledge on how to nurture it.
- Sit quietly in nature and connect with the elements. Take some time and put your cell phones and other obligations away. Sit quietly with nature and connect with the elements - go outside and sit on the earth, feel the wind, light up a candle and just look at the fire. Including the elements is a way of connecting into your ancestral knowledge and that wisdom within.
- Connect with local, indigenous, or Latinx doulas and modalities. Connect with someone that could guide you through your journey. Local, indigenous, or Latinx doulas are very knowledgable about traditional and holistic ways and are now throughout the United States. There are also groups and communities you could connect with that offer holistic approach to pregnancy.
- Use of wellness models from a holistic perspective. This could be through journaling and art exercises like coloring and clay molding. Explore your beliefs and narratives of pregnancy from a holistic perspective to really get in touch of the changes that are happening not only on the physical but psychological as well.
- Apply somatic-based techniques. This includes attunement of your body sensations, tapping, or simply asking what your body needs. Pay attention to what your body tells you as a way of connecting to your inner self.
- Do a passage ceremony to honor the rite of passage of pregnancy and birth to postpartum. At Corazon Counseling, they facilitate a ritual ceremony where the pregnant or the couple invites friends and family who will form a beautiful circle representing different elements and certain teachings.
Pregnancy could be a really challenging and scary journey but by empowering yourself of the things that you are capable of doing and with the help of the community, you’ll keep a healthy pregnancy then have an optimal birth and postpartum. And by acknowledging and reclaiming the power that you have, you’re able to make changes not only within the family but little by little, within the community and society as well.
To further help you through this journey, here are some of Emilia’s recommended reading resources.
- Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood by Erica Cohen
- Heart Centered Pregnancy Journal by Nikki Shaheed
- Birthing From Within
- What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions from Pregnancy to Motherhood by Alexandra Sacks
- Postpartum Support International: PSI https://www.postpartum.net/
To get more information about Emilia’s work and Corazon’s Counseling services on their website, corazoncounseling.com or email them at [email protected]. You can also follow them on Instagram @corazoncounseling and on Facebook under Corazon Counseling.
If you want to listen to this really interesting conversation with Emilia Ortega-Jara, LCSW, please visit https://www.thebeyondresiliencelife.com/blog/s2-e1-pregnancy-resilience
With love,
Lydiana