One year ago, I uprooted everything I’d ever known
and moved across the Pacific Ocean to take a chance
on a dream. A dream to fill my days with more play. A
dream that brought me to Hawaii, where I live in a
remote place, surrounded by natural things. A place
where you can walk out the doors and eat from the trees,
leave your doors unlocked, and walk just feet away to
the cleanest water imaginable. It’s a place that touches you
so deeply that it shifts your internal, cyclical nature. It’s
the image that comes to mind when you
hear the word refuge. An internal and
external oasis. Like many chiropractors, I witness this world
through a neurologic lens. One morning at sunrise, while sipping
local island coffee
and listening to the Myna birds chatter, I thought,
“Isn’t this what we’re seeking in our bodies, as well?”
Safety. Peace. An internal oasis. Naturally, the more
women I’ve served in practice, the more this
conversation has come up. How do we create an
internal environment that feels safe? How do we build
trust in our bodies’ abilities?
The most magical example of the inherently intelligent
design of humans surrounds birth. Everyone talks
about the importance in creating the perfect birth
space. Choosing the right provider, the right physical
place, the right stroller, the “right” everything. But
what if the inside is what created the truest sense of
safety? What about creating a safe womb space?
Physiologically normal births happen naturally when your body
perceives safety. This occurs under the direction of the
parasympathetic branch of the central nervous system.
Traditionally, it’s known as the resting, digesting,
adapting, healing functional state.
Surrounding birth, this neurologic directive provides
the proper hormone surges, softening of tissues, and feelings of love and
transformation.
The neurologic state of the mother drives the
hormonal release. If the mother feels safe, connected,
and socially engaged, an oxytocin-mediated response
occurs. If Mom’s neurology is in a state of defense or
fear, these hormonal responses are likely to be stalled
and replaced with high-stress neurochemical reactions.
Just like that, the intelligence of the body prepares for
a fight, to protect itself—quite the opposite of bringing
new life earthside.
Stephen Porges coined the term “polyvagal theory” and
gifted us with an outline for physiologic safety through
our neurology—specifically, the vagal nerve. This nerve
has branches running from the brain to the heart,
lungs, and gut, as well as to the face, where it controls
our ears, eyes, and the expression of jaw and voice
muscles.
There are three main branches of the vagal nerve:
The ventral vagal, or social vagus, allows us to move
our eyes, ears, and facial muscles, and controls our
voice. This section is also responsible for processing
speech (style and tone), listening, and eye contact. Both
eye contact and vocal toning play an incredibly
important role in the birth process.
The middle vagal branch coordinates the heart rate,
gut function, and lung capacity. We’ve all heard about
the response Walter Cannon dubbed “fight or flight.” It
ramps up our defenses, increasing our heart rate,
shuttling blood to the arms and legs, priming our lungs
with more air, and secreting hormones that signal high
alert. It’s a major player in the stalling of labor.
Third is the dorsal vagal, which elicits a dissociative
state when the hope of self-defense or relational repair
is lost. Porges gives examples of this, correlating it with
an animal’s death fanning or playing dead. It represents
resignation, or sort of a last-ditch effort to get needs
met.
Throughout the seasons of our lives, we’ll likely find
ourselves in and out of each of these places. A sign of a
healthy nervous system is the ability to oscillate among
each with grace. Surrounding birth, there will be waves:
waves of contractions, waves of hormonal surges,
waves of imaginable sensations. So, what can we do
about it? How do we use our neurology to change our
state, and create a feeling of safety?
Our body is our biggest tool. If we check in with
ourselves and recognize our emotional state, we can
utilize a practice to shift it. I provide this guide to all my
mamas to support an internal oasis:
These shifts are identifiable and practical. But mamas,
this requires you to make your intentions known. What
you want in birth will continue to change, but the
practice of tapping into yourself and asking this
question is a powerful piece of coming out on the other
side of birth with a graceful transformation.
My prayer is that more of us can live from this place—
especially in place of the ultimate uncertainty of the
motherhood transition. We can make the internal place
we inhabit safer for expression, for relaxation, and for
play.
We can raise the next generation with an
understanding of true embodiment. True internal
safety. It’s my prayer for the world to see our bodies as
our homes. To live in your body, safe and supported.
Your body as your vessel. As your own oasis. As your
friend.
—Molly Stiens, DC
