Spiritual Techniques for Coping with Postnatal Anxiety

If you’ve recently had a baby, it’s not unusual to feel anxious or stressed out. However, if these feelings are dominating your thoughts and becoming hard to deal with, you may be suffering from postnatal anxiety.

Our blog summarises some of the spiritual techniques that will help you to cope with the feelings you’re experiencing and ease the burden of worry, empowering you to live in the moment and enjoy your time with your new arrival.

If you feel your anxiety levels rising, focus on your breathing

If you’re suffering from postnatal anxiety, you may be having recurring thoughts that you’re not doing something ‘right’ or that something awful might happen. When you find these feelings welling up uncontrollably inside you, try to spend a few moments focusing on your breathing.

When you have a new baby, you’re constantly battling time and rushing from one thing to the next. This means you often don’t have the space to breathe. Simply taking 10 deep breaths with your eyes closed will bring you back into the moment and calm you down.

Remember to inhale deeply, taking the air to the bottom of your stomach. Then, as you exhale, feel it releasing all the tension in your body, leaving you lighter.

Spend a little time each day meditating

If you’ve never been into meditation, the thought of it can be off-putting or even intimidating. However, it’s an incredibly effective way to help you slow down and live in the moment.

Of course, finding the right moment can be tough. Pick a time when your little one is asleep, and not likely to wake.

Sit down and close your eyes. Then focus your attention on your third eye, the space between your eyebrows. Imagine that this space is full of light, and pour all your energy into it. Take some deep breaths. Do this once a day and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to the way you feel.

Write down the things that make you feel love and happiness

While it’s unlikely that you’ll have the time to keep a diary, simply jotting down something that you love and sticking it somewhere very visible – the fridge door or the bathroom mirror, for example – will make you recall those feelings. And memory can evoke very powerful emotions.

Write anything that makes you feel love and happiness. It could be something your baby’s done. It could be a song on the radio that made you dance around the kitchen!

Begin to acknowledge and accept the way you’re feeling

New mothers, especially ones who are suffering from postnatal anxiety, tend to judge themselves harshly. So you might be worrying endlessly that you’re not doing something the ‘right’ way. Or perhaps you’re constantly checking on your baby to make sure that they’re breathing.

Whatever the particular symptoms of your anxiety, one of the best ways to free yourself of your worries is through acceptance. By facing and accepting your anxiety, you’ll free up more space in your mind and won’t be so focused on it.

Yoga is an incredibly effective way to accept and let go. You don’t need to join a class to use it, but doing so will give you a wonderful opportunity to connect with other mothers going through similar experiences.

Share your feelings with others and look after yourself

The transition you go through when you become a mother is an incredibly personal one. But sharing your feelings will help you realise you’re not alone in being worried. It will empower you to understand why you’re anxious and to move forwards in dealing with your emotions.

You might find support in the network of family and friends around you. Perhaps you’ll heal through joining a class. Maybe you’ll want to consult your health visitor or GP. Or you could seek the emotional support of a psychic, spiritual healer or tarot reader.

Whichever path you choose, it’s vital that you take the time to care for yourself as well as your child. Even if it’s just 10 minutes grabbed at various points during your day, finding the space to breathe and live in the present moment will help you regain control and enjoy your new life.

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