Holiday Boundaries For New & Expecting Parents
With holidays around the corner, a lot of parents are starting to have discussions about what they feel comfortable doing, sharing, and allowing while celebrating with friends and family. While this might be the last thing on your to-do list, communicating your feelings to find your level of comfort is important. Setting boundaries before arriving at holiday events can help to reduce stress and help you feel in control.
Talking about your body
Talking about your body can be a topic commonly brought up by others at holiday events, especially if you are pregnant or just had a baby. While comments like, “you look great!” or, “look at that belly!” are usually well-intended, they can feel uncomfortable and are often unwanted.
If this is brought up, speak kindly about yourself.
If you're newly postpartum, don't feel the need to engage in toxic conversation about "bouncing back".
Remind yourself that you just made a beautiful baby.
If you're pregnant, don't feel like you have to talk about your belly. If someone tries to touch your belly and you’re not comfortable with that, reach out to hold their hand and say, “thank you so much for your support during this journey.”
Check in with your breath
Check in with your breath throughout your events. Most days we forget to breathe fully and when we’re in a room full of other people, this tends to happen even more. If you’re still working on building a relationship with your inner Self to find those cues of discomfort, your breath can be an indicator that your body is trying to share something with you.
If you feel yourself holding your breath, practice deep breathing.
If you feel anxious, practice deep breaths to help lower your heart rate and keep you centered.
Remember you can always practice breathing patterns in groups of people without them knowing!
Step outside if you need a moment to yourself.
Practice gratitude
Practice gratitude before settling into sleep. Reflect by yourself or with your partner about what made you feel comfortable or uncomfortable during the day. Use this as an opportunity to adjust your boundaries or set new ones. Remind yourself of all you did that day for yourself and for your baby whether they’re still growing or whether they’re earthside. You provided them with love, safety, and support. That is the ultimate gift you can give your child.
Even 5 minutes can make a difference in how you feel.
At the end of each day, take time to decompress when returning home.
Talk with your baby (pregnant or postpartum) about your day and how thankful you are to have them in your life.
End with an affirming mantra of how wonderful you are.
Yoga Can Help
In our classes, I always aim to meet you where you are on your journey. This means offering you different options for poses to take, reminding you that staying in a child’s pose is enough and that whatever feels best in your body is the best pose you can take at that time. This helps you connect with your self-intuition and will help you build boundaries that you resonate with.
We work on breathwork during our prenatal and postpartum yoga classes that will not only support you through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum but can also be helpful when you notice your breathing is shortened or quickened by stress or anxiety.
If you haven’t tried it yet, join in for postpartum & maternity yoga classes in Hartford, Connecticut and see how this can make a difference in how you show up in your world. Leave class feeling comfortable, confident, and in control. That’s the best gift you can give to yourself this holiday season!
