Mindfulness Helping with Mood Swings

*Mindfulness is: “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally “, Kabat-Zinn [1]*

Here, to be mindful means to accept things as they are and to approach situations with an open mind to reduce fear and tension and increase trust. Pregnancy can be a very stressful journey and can be enamoured with unpredictable mood swings. Using mindfulness can improve these mood swings whilst lowering levels of stress and anxiety [2].

## Mindfulness techniques

### Breathing

An important part of mindful breathing is breathing from the diaphragm. Often when we feel stressed or anxious, we take shallow breaths, which only exasperate these negative feelings.

One way to engage in mindful breathing is to place one hand over the chest, and another over the stomach. Take deep breaths and notice which hand is moving. If the hand resting over your stomach moves, you are taking deep diaphragm breaths. When you are breathing from your diaphragm focus on the feeling of your stomach moving as you bring air into your body. Focus on how your hand feels as it slowly lifts on top of your stomach.

This method can be useful when reducing anxious thoughts and emotions [3].

### Meditation

To engage in mindful meditation, find a quiet and comfortable area to sit or lie down or find a relaxing activity such as walking or gardening. Meditation doesn’t need to last a long time, around 5-10 minutes.

During this process focus on your breathing, using mindful breathing techniques, or focus on your environment. Use your senses to recognise the colours that surround you, how the environment smells, or what any textures feel like. During this, it is normal for your mind to wander slightly. Let it. Focus on the thoughts, understand whether they are positive or negative, and bring your attention back to your environment [3].

Over time, engaging in mindful meditation will increase your concentration and develop the mind-body connection, which helps us to promote positive emotional states [4].

## Mindfulness Tips

- Find somewhere relaxing to engage in mindfulness, such as a cozy chair or on a leisurely walk.

- Set aside time in the day to engage in mindfulness.

- Stay connected with your body, and understand whether it feels comfortable.

- Pay attention to your breathing or your environment.

- Recognise when your mind wanders and refocus.

- Don’t judge yourself over your thoughts just refocus them.

The more you build the capacity to stay with what you are feeling, the more you will enjoy having moments for yourself in which you are mindful of your body. Today few seconds, tomorrow a minute. Every day one more step closer to feeling your body... even in the most difficult times.