Congratulations on deciding to nurture a new life within you. It is a blessing to let God create and sustain a soul that will soon become your lifeline. While we speak so much about sustainable living, farming, gardening, recycling plastic etc, why no one ever talks about Sustainable pregnancy that enables and empowers parents-to-be with right knowledge, guidance and support that is beyond supplements, blood tests, scans and injections? Isn’t this the most wonderful and cherished part of couple’s life? Sustainable pregnancy not only makes them tide through this phase healthily, but also ensures they bring into this world healthy, happy babies. The next generation with good immunity, mind and spiritual inclination is all that our world needs right now.
Pre pregnancy care: Before you decide to embark on pregnancy journey, consider body and mind detox, essential lifestyle changes and listening to body. While all creatures have ability to reproduce, humans have been blessed with knowledge and thus we must responsibly care, nurture and develop the young life inside the womb and safely bring them into our world. To enable this, our body and mind must be free from all kinds of toxins, wasteful and destructive things.
Body detox for healthy pregnancy: Ayurvedic panchakarma is one of the ancient, proven and effective way to dispel toxins (Ama) from the body. Invest time in searching for an experienced Ayurvedic Vaidya who does panchakarma, prepares his own medicine, oils and also provides specific diet based on your body type during this phase. Any panchakarma done without proper diet doesn’t dispel all toxins and thus is waste of efforts. Please be aware of some panchakarma centres that don’t do the process under doctor’s guidance and diet. It is best to get panchakarma done for both (mother to be and father to be) a minimum of 6 months before conception.
Another important point is if you have had a miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy, do wait for atleast a year for next conception. This time gap ensures body adequate rest and also remaining waste blood goes through menstrual cycle for a year.
Mind detox for healthy pregnancy: Just as Panchakarma frees body from toxins, meditation, gratitude and forgiveness frees mind from toxins. Everyday dedicating 20 mins of time to meditate, thanking the Universe, praying with devotion to beget a good baby and practicing forgiveness does relieve mind of all fearful thoughts we usually get in pregnancy. Let go of all the grudge, revengeful thoughts, various fears, too much of overconfidence and ego out of the mind by simple meditation, pranayama and chanting and listening to Vedic mantras like Garbha Sanskar, Vishnu Sahasranama. Sudoku, Mandala design colouring, knitting, drawing are some of stress busting activities during pregnancy.
Listen to body: If your body asks for a good exercise, practice yoga atleast for 30 mins daily, if it needs rest, food, water, simply do so. Don’t go overboard with mental and physical work in the name of being active and do not control the natural urges of the body, let it go out as it is a part of removing unwanted substances from the body. Striking the right balance between work and rest is the key that is achieved by listening to your body.
Essential lifestyle changes to be made daily for optimum health: In our various blogs, WhatsApp groups, we always stress upon lifestyle corrections and habits to be done in our daily lives to benefit long lasting good health.
Avoid/stop all 5 whites – White rice (replace with traditional, naturally grown rice, sometimes millets, no wheat), White flour/Maida (replace with Jowar flour, traditional rice flour, Millet flour), White sugar (replace with jaggery, honey, palm sugar), White milk (replace with Ragi milk, almond milk, desi cow humped milk that can be consumed as medicine if advised by Ayurvedic doctor), White table salt (replace with Himalayan pink rocksalt).
Let us throw out all plastic, aluminium, non-stick cookware that can lead to various diseases and replace with mud, iron, bronze, copper, glass or steel cookwares.
Oil bath twice a week with gingelly (sesame oil) is such an important and amazing way to ensure restful sleep and calm mind.
Replace any kind of refined oil to cold stone pressed or woodchurned oils.
It is also needless to say that naturally and locally grown food is best to health and environment.
Why is above process important before embarking on pregnancy journey? In our generation of bad health, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, digital addiction etc, we often forget to take care of ourselves, so how will we beget a healthy progeny? There is no gain without pain. Our efforts in the right direction will definitely yield good results. If the above process seems time consuming and expensive, then let’s wonder about how taking care of an unhealthy mother and baby seem? Isn’t it disheartening to see anyone suffer out of ignorance. It is time we spread the light of right knowledge.
Stay healthy and keep tuned to our next part that will cover pregnancy trimester wise nutrition through food, secret recipes, natural remedies and much more.
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