Effort and ease

Giving birth.

Hardest work EVER.

Such a blend of effort and ease. Ease. NOT easy.

As labor intensifies, the work increases. The surrender, easing into it, also builds.

Fighting it makes it harder.

Finding the snippets of release between the intense sensations makes it doable.

You don't have to be the picture of relaxation DURING the intensity. Move. Make sounds. Be held. Or find the quiet dark nest for inward holding. THEN: rest. Refresh with calories and fluids to keep your energy up. Find those minutes between. Let all the tension soften. Find the EASE in your body.

Exploring our relationship with alcohol can also be a birthing. Could it be possible that it too is a blend of effort and ease?

Could it be true that you can begin the labor of freedom from alcohol by releasing TO it???

What if you didn't start with stopping alcohol?

What if you started with releasing TO the idea that this is an addictive substance?

What if, instead of making up rules and then breaking them, you simply got curious: how DOES it feel when you're drinking? How DOES it feel after the first drink? The second? When DOES it turn from gentle buzz to room spins? When DO you find the automatic pour? What Do you hope to find from that substance? And then what do you ACTUALLY feel?

This part. This surrender to exploration is key. Like birth, it comes from exploring YOU.

AND THEN, and then: finding the release. Finding the snippets that bring ease. What DOES bring you back home to yourself? What DO you do that nurtures yourself? Can you, like the pause between the intensity of labor, find the glimmers of release? Restore with healthy food/fluids, release EVERY part of your body/mind and know its return to balance and renewal? Three deep breathes. How many times do we say that to the mammas in labor after a wave of intensity! How many times a day do you say the same thing to yourself?

And then pushing. Even that, when coming from deep within, instead of pressure from some outside persuasion, comes from deep inner power within. Movement, positions, encouragement. All this of course. But even more: allowing the power to be known from within- THAT is the point when the light in her eyes gets bright and the pushes are powerful. "I don't want to push". Ok. Don't push. Breathe through it if you want. Inevitably, being told "its ok: YOU choose" brings out that powerful blend of effort and ease that is wiser than any of us. Isn't that what you want in your journey with alcohol? Support to choose?

We KNOW that having a skilled birth attendant eases the way.

We KNOW that having a loving presence, to remind us to try different things, renew, refresh, explore what is needed makes labor unfold with less effort, more ease.

Finding your way from alcohol is like that.

It's easier and faster with support.

Book a discovery call and you will see a way. You will feel supported. You will know you are safe doing this.

-Martha