Chillax!

It's not very often that we mums get to take time out for oursleves, (and believe me this time becomes especially precious after giving birth so make the most of it now!) and we often forget how important it is to let go and give ourselves some time out with all the million and one other things that are going on in our lives.

The thing is, even though we know it is important to relax, we always manage to push that time to the lowest priority on our list of things to do. Suddenly a whole week has gone by and you still haven't managed to get that 10 minutes of complete time out to yourself.

Meditation and relaxation in pregnancy is particularly importnat to the welfare of your baby and also helps you with the transition of pre-conception to pregancy to motherhood and allows unique bonding time with your baby. Stress hormones and chemicals cross the placenta with ease so it is imperative that you counterbalance this by dedicating 10 minutes a few times a week to sending your baby feel-good hormones.

Unfortunately this is sometimes a lot easier said than done. Many women find meditation impossible or frustrating as they can't switch off. A simple way around this then is to concentrate on something in particular, like your breath.

Breathing Meditation

This simple meditation is also great for working your transverse abdominus, (the muscle you use to push your baby out and the muscle that will give you a flat somach afterwards!)

Sitting in a comfortable position place one hand above your belly button and the other below.

Take a long deep breath and iomagine you are drawing that breath into the pit of your belly. Your belly should rise and fill up with air as you inhale.

As you exhale focus on pushing out all the air from the bottom of your belly and as you do so, draw your bally button back and in and flatten in against your spine.

Inhale to relase and start again by filling your bellly with air.

Carry on with this diaphragmatic breathing for 10 minutes.