I've talked before about how my "one little words" for the past two years have stuck with me past the calendar end. "Brave," my 2013 word, will no doubt be the same. "Magic" & "Choose" have become almost mantras and feel like old friends. While they usually exist in the background, sometimes I'll read something or see something and they return, waving a banner, to the front.
This weekend was a quiet one. I spent a lot of time reading Mindful Birthing by Nancy Bardacke. It was recommended to me by my midwife and I am really enjoying it. I wish I had heard about it sooner, but at the same time, am thrilled to have found something new to read this late in the game. My focus, for this book at least, is clear and I think the immediacy of what's ahead is helping me take it in more fully.
This passage, among many others, jumped out at me :
"Through a phenomenon known as nueroplasticity, when you use awareness to interrupt unhelpful mental patterns you are actually creating new neural pathways in your brain. As the saying goes, "Neurons that fire together wire together." If your neurons are frequently firing together in unhelpful repetitive patterns, such as being angry or frustrated, you get really good at anger and frustration. However, you can actually create new and more positive neural pathways by choosing to pay attention to something else. As you practice you come to feel different – steadier, more resilient, and less reactive to life's inevitable ups and downs – because you are different. You have used your mind to change your brain." – Mindful Birthing
Super LOVE. Love that the italics on "choosing" was done by the author. Love that there is actual scientific evidence (cited in the book) to backup what I slowly came to realize in 2012. We make a million choices every day. We choose how we react to every event be it big or small, painful or exciting. Repeatedly choosing light can make a real difference.
I'm a month away from meeting my baby, no matter how she enters this world. Mother's Day marked the one month countdown.
I'm feeling relaxed and inspired.
p.s. unrelated, but awesome, Paul turned me on to the Explosions in the Sky Pandora station and it's a crazy winner.
enJOY it 
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