Harnessing Your RAS: The Secret to an Easier Birth
Being in Charge of Your Mind: Making RAS work for you.
RAS stands for Reticular Activating System and helps determine what information your brain pays attention to and what it filters out.
This network of neurons in the brainstem plays a crucial role in creating your experience during pregnancy, birth and the rest of your life.
The RAS is like a giant computer that provides your brain with 11 million pieces of information every moment. You can process 26 bits of that information at one time.
How does this affect your pregnancy and birth?
Whatever you think about RAS will find the information to validate that for you.
The RAS will filter out what interests you and what you're talking about or thinking about and feed that back to you.
If you're telling yourself you feel anxious, stressed and tired - RAS will prove you right!
What can you do? Problem to Possibility
One of the things that can help make your RAS work for you is to feed it with affirmations and constructive thoughts and ideas about pregnancy and birth; this will give it the job of supporting you.
Be mindful of your daily conversations and what you are thinking about, as your RAS will find everything it can about that and keep showing you all day long.
Be confident in letting others know when they tell you any negative birth stories you are not interested in. Tell them ' positive birth stories only' or 'my baby is listening'.
RAS is part of you and plays a fundamental role during pregnancy, as with any other time in life.
Effective Strategies
Let's take a look at some strategies you can use to make it work effectively for you during this special time:
1. Positive Visualisation: Engage in positive visualisation and affirmations about your pregnancy and childbirth. The RAS is influenced by what you focus on, so visualising a healthy and smooth pregnancy and childbirth can help direct your attention and energy toward positive outcomes.
2. Set Clear Preferences: Clearly define your pregnancy and childbirth preferences. Your RAS can help you stay focused on achieving these goals by filtering out distractions that don't align with your desired outcomes.
3. Practice Mindfulness: Techniques such as meditation, breathing and relaxation can help reduce the stress and anxiety that often occurs during pregnancy. A calmer mind can lead to more effective RAS functioning as it is less likely to be overwhelmed by stress-related information.
4. Create a Supportive Environment: Surround yourself with positive and supportive people during pregnancy. A nurturing environment can help reduce stress and improve overall well-being, allowing your mind to work optimally.
5. Educate Yourself: Take the time to educate yourself about pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. This can help you make informed decisions and reduce anxiety about the unknown.
6. Use Visual Aids: Consider creating visual aids supporting your pregnancy and childbirth preferences. Give your mind a daily reminder for you to focus on these objectives.
- Put up your favourite written affirmations around your home.
7. Stay Active: Regular physical activity during pregnancy can help with mood regulation, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being, which can positively influence RAS functioning.
8. Manage Your Expectations: While having preferences and aspirations for your pregnancy and childbirth is necessary, it's also crucial to be flexible and open to unexpected developments. Managing your expectations can help reduce stress and allow your RAS to adapt to changing circumstances.
9. Stop Stress & Anxiety: Consider an Access Bars session to clear the build-up of excessive thoughts, feelings and emotions. Each session can help you be more relaxed and give you a sense of peace, space, and relaxation.
Remember that the RAS is a part of your brain's natural functioning, and you can influence its operation by controlling your thoughts, emotions, and environment. By actively maintaining the right mindset, setting clear preferences, and managing stress, you can make the RAS work for you during pregnancy to support your overall well-being, birth, and baby's health.
"One who controls the mind is tranquil and steady in all situations." Bhagavad Gita
Jayne Micallef, CDYT & DipHb(KG)