Positive thoughts... positive birth

Have you ever wonder why some people seem to only have negative experiences or why when something bad happens to you, a ripple effect of bad things follow? When I was pregnant with my son, I decided to practice hypnobirthing (by Marie F. Mongan) as a way to deal with the pain. After hearing so many horror stories and seeing women agonize during labor and birth, I wanted to figure out a way to cope. Because I wanted to be "Knocked out" without using drugs, I first thought that hypnobirthing would be the way to go. I always thought hypnobirthing would be a method that allows women to go into oblivion, where your awareness would step aside and you would not be present to deal with the birth process. To my surprise, hypnobirthing turned out to be a way to change my thinking and attract a positive outcome through the practice of relaxation and positive thinking. I remember our instructor emphasising on not letting other birth stories or other people's experience affect our ways of thinking about our own births. This is not something easily done, especially if you are influenced by people you trust and love. And if you believe that what they tell you is good for you. For me, the concept of "Every birth is different" helped me through this journey. I am not the kind to dismiss someone's experience because I believe that when someone shares something personal with you, they are looking for acceptance and validation. To dismiss another's woman's birth is to crush one of the most important memory she has gone through. But with that said, it's important to realize that even if we do listen to or validate other's stories, that their experience will NOT be ours. We do not have to personalize other's experiences. When thinking about birth and labor, it is important to remain positive. The law of attraction teaches us that what we think is what comes to us. If you think birth is horrible and full of negative outcomes (tearing, episiotomy, pain... etc), then most likely you will attract those things to you. However, if you start changing your way of thinking, good outcomes will come to you. With the practice of hypnobirthing, I had a wonderful water birth experience just as I had thought about. The birth of my son did become an out of body experience that I enjoyed and would love to experience again and again.