Ep 85: Visualization Techniques for Birth and Life

Rebroadcast of Episode 29:

Creating a vision board is fun, creative, and beneficial in helping you create your goals for your life, your work, and even your birth. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Dr. Shannon’s vision board events (past and present)
• What is a vision board?
• Why do people create vision boards?
• How to create a vision board? Hint, there is no right or wrong way!
• The benefits of implementing visualization and manifestation for the things you want
• How creating a vision board for your birth can be beneficial.

This podcast was created from a desire to share conversations and interviews about topics from pregnancy and birth to motherhood and the importance of a healthy body and mind through it all.  Our goal is to bring you fun, interesting, and helpful conversations that excite you and make you want to learn more.  We hope what we share will make an impact and help someone else along their journey.  We believe that when you are aligned in body, mind, and your intuition, you can conquer anything!  If you like what you are hearing and you don’t want to miss our newest episodes, be sure and tap subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated.

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• 21:02 (Cont.) Ep 85: Visualization Techniques for Birth and Life

Transcript

0:03

You are listening to the aligned birth podcast where we talk about all things birth, parenthood, motherhood, Mama hood. All the hoods. And today is I'm Dr. Shannon Angela. Rachel's on the episode with us too. And we host the show together and today we are talking about vision boards. So not sure if you have heard the word and you're also probably like, what does this have to do with birth? We'll get there just today. But yeah, vision boards. Um, it's something I've done for a while now we're going to get into that in a minute. But what is a vision board? Why create one what does it do? How do you do one side note there's no right or wrong. So that's a fun thing about this. And again, what does this have to do with birth and so fun story is that Rachel and I have done some vision boards together, and we'll get to talk about our experiences there with that. So welcome to the vision board episode.

1:03

This is so fun. I love this and this idea came up because you sent out an email recently kind of recapping the vision board from last year like checking in with everyone where where we're at and then planning the next vision board event which is in January for the next year. So I was just so excited to be able to kind of dive into this with you and and talk more about it because I think it is great for life. It's great for work. It's great for birth, and so why not learn more about it?

1:35

I know I thought that was so sweet because we were chatting earlier and you know, texting back and forth with ideas of what we wanted to do on the show. And then you even said, efficient Boardman and I was like, huh, and so I started thinking about and I was like, does anybody want to talk about vision board? I was like, I don't know. I'm just like, I just I know these things, you know. And so it's one of those. Oh, this is me kind of cool. And then relating it to birth. I was like, Oh, this is going to be awesome. I'm excited to talk about vision boards. Yay. No mentioned Yeah. I was gonna say So you mentioned the, the email that I had sent. So, um, let's Okay, let's define. We're very good at defining things on the show. That's right.

2:18

There Yeah, right there.

2:20

Um, so people know exactly. We're talking about a vision board. Again. No right or wrong with it. I have two I'm sitting in my closet right now. And I have the one that I did from last year and the one I did from the year before both in here, because the one I did last year doesn't fit and so I move it around a lot. And then I kept the second one that I've got lots of visions in here.

2:40

How about I'm in my son's closet and I'm staring at his vision boards that I did. After doing our vision board together. I put

2:49

mine in my kid's closet to yay. And then I just wrote down kid vision board events because I think that's a beautiful thing to add to it too. Yeah. So vision board. What is it? It's a poster board. Lots of different types you can get and I typically will cut out words pictures, things from magazines. That's just I love that. I've done it before where people have brought in real pictures. So they've either printed them or they have real ones and they wanted to put that on their board. Or you can print things off websites of if there's certain words you want. You can go into Word and write these words out so that you have the typist in hand writing them but the thought process is that you maybe come with like an intention and looking at what is your vision for whatever you want it to be what is that vision for next year? What is that vision for work? What is that vision for birth right? So and that's what you do and you just lay them out on the board however you want. You glue them wherever you want. I've done somewhere I've actually put little jewels on there somebody one of the events that I've done, they bought some fun little things to play with there and you could just kind of like make it sparkly. There's lots of different things you can do with it. So I like to have these events at my I hosted my office but I've been doing it for years. But that's kind of it in a nutshell. How would you define a vision board?

4:11

So I love all of that. And I have been to I guess to now coming up on three of your vision board events and they're so fun and so I wasn't a big vision board or if that's a verb. It is now before and I just loved it. I and I have just cherished having it to look at for the whole year. And so for me a vision board is it. It motivates me to sort of sit down and think about what I want for myself for my personal life, for my family for work for anything that I have is like a top priority in my life like what do I want? Um, is it traveling? Is it saving is it experiences quality time? For me, there's a lot of like pregnancy related things on my board because I have a dual, you know, I'm a doula and childbirth educator and it's we're so closely into my personal life where those lines are very blurred. So I just put it all on one board and for me, it's time to sit down and really think about what I want in the next year. So that I can kind of have something to work towards. So that you know life isn't just happening to me, but I am trying my best to work with what I have and to try and manifest a feature that I want that I can be proud of. And then I can leave a legacy of and that I can grow. You know, for me I really want to always be growing. And a vision board is an opportunity to sort of put some big goals out there. And it's I don't ever feel like I have to get them all or meet them all. I don't have any sort of like, let down feeling if there's something on there, that doesn't happen. But when something does happen that I've I've put out there as a goal and then I put it on my vision board and then I worked hard to get towards it and then it happens. It's sort of like wow, like that's what I can do. And so, and I think that it's I share that same sort of formula with my clients too when they're preparing for birth. And so it's very similar as far as like, thinking about what you really want putting it out there and working towards it and then you know relishing in it when it happens.

6:18

Yeah, because I love I mean some I'm looking at one of my right now. I mean they literally have a picture of it's just like an outdoor scene and there's a butterfly on a flower. I don't know. I just liked the picture. It makes you happy to look yeah, it makes me happy. Like I think that's one of the goals with the board too is you want to look at it and like I usually pause and I look at it and I saw it I'm like, oh, you know, it's just like it just brings me a little bit of joy and over the years so I started doing these when I was in chiropractic school. I think that was the first one I had done and again, it's just that fun process. I usually do it with friends or you know, back then it was doing it with friends and it was just kind of like oh, looking at this magazine. Oh, how did you do this? Or how did you lay that out? And like it was very uplifting. It was very encouraging and I loved the energy and the vibe from it. And so then looking at when I had opened my office I was like oh, this would be a fun event to do have people come together and you know, bring their own vibe and their own energy and then have them create that board and so that board it's it is kind of like it's it's that intention. It's bringing awareness to that vision that you have and what are those goals and dreams you know, because I feel like it helps it to where life isn't necessarily. You're an active participant in right it's not just happening to you, but it's it's happening with you. And again, there's no right or wrong with the pictures and so I've changed it throughout the years I've done different color poster boards, people have done different shapes. The one I did and turned around in my closet two years ago. I love that one too though. Um, I do have a theme I always have like some food on there. I always have some like outdoor pictures I always have like a running or yoga picture. And I always have some like fun cute house stuff. I don't know why because all that stuff makes me happy. It's like what makes you what makes you happy. And I love cutting out words on there. So I have some like change the world joy, mindfulness and parenting happy place and

8:22

it was the first time it's Yeah, reminders like if you see it, like I look at mine every day and it's not always about like the goal necessarily like some of its goal oriented, but the rest of it is just sort of like a reminder of how I want to feel and things that bring me joy and things that made me feel happy and things that remind me of what I'm doing every day because sometimes the monotony of motherhood and working and kids it can feel like what am I doing like this happening to you? Every day I see that and it's usually I'm it's like Groundhog Day around here. You know, a lot of the same things. But when I see that it reminds me that there's other things at play and then I have a bigger purpose in this world and then I'm in a participant in this process. And that just fills me with gratitude every time I see it. And I think that's that's worth it for sure.

9:10

Yes. I mean, that's one of my favorite statements is always that like have an attitude of gratitude. And so I think it is a beautiful way to do that. And on one of my boards I did one year I wrote all around the outside edge and I wrote I am statements and so I had I am aligned and powered worthy a healer giving like I did the whole thing of all words that I have. And I really really enjoyed that one because I would see certain words and be like, Okay, I am trustworthy, loyal, helpful, you know? That was, yeah, that was a really great way. I don't know to just kind of keep those things in the forefront of my mind again, Groundhog Day, the monotony of life the one I did last year. I had so much vision. It was double sided. I literally did and I couldn't figure out. I couldn't stop. I did I had one whole side and one side was like business stuff. Guess what was on there. This podcast, podcast. I totally had this on there but I had some beautiful things the universe is in the process of being bored with childlike love and on it looks upon mothers to lead the way just beautiful was like yeah, so that was on one side and the other side was all of my you know, family on there. I just random out like it just, you know, whatever brings me

10:34

that joy and motivations

10:37

and that column and I just it's a fun. It's a fun activity to do. And so one thing I did start doing is I feel like maybe it was a couple years ago. So after the events you have this like plethora of magazines, or whatever and I would always divvy it out and be like, Okay, who wants to take I mean, if you had one that you wanted to take home that you brought that's totally fine. I mean it's ripped to shreds but if there's other pictures in there, or I don't necessarily do kid vision board things in the office just because that's just crazy. So, um, I have I started doing them with my boys. That is hilarious. I know you did it with your kids. Yes. And it's hilarious to see what is on their vision boards and their little pieces. Of like personality to kind of make out not really

11:27

not really controlling it like you know, guidance. I give some Oh yeah,

11:31

you can glue it however you want. Like you

11:33

pick what you want. And I try and give some thought provoking like open ended questions for them to consider so they can learn to think about the bigger picture learn to think about the the intention of this, but really just let them have fun with it. And it's super fun to see they have a blast that they come up with. And again, it's a fun family activity. It's you're using up the rest of those magazines. You know, it's it's pretty simple and then I put it in They love having it. Like I moved a couple I moved. There's like one day when I was cleaning. And it's like they came home and I didn't think they were they cared about them that much. And they were like, where's my vision board? Like they liked looking at it and I was like, oh yeah, oh, I'll put that back where you can see it and now it's in their closet. So they see it like when they go in and out. Their closet, which is how mine is but I can see mine for my shower, which I love. And I see it when I walk in and out. It's directly over my husband's clothes. I don't know how he feels about my vision board. Well,

12:30

that Yeah, speaking of that, so I have the one that's hanging on the door but the one I did last year the poster board was too big we did like super fancy one and I didn't cut them and they won't cut with scissors. And so it's been floating around so I hadn't I haven't like on my nightstand like on as like a background behind this little lamp and I don't like all that. happy with it but I flip it over because like I said it was it was double sided. So like when we I have one side showing I'm like oh yeah, I like these things and I'm like so now it's just become part of part of the room. It's it does. It doesn't have to be the decor in your house but

13:07

no but it is. But I do encourage us having it somewhere where you can see it because it'll be easily forgotten if you don't see it every day. And I like that every time I look at mine, I see something different. And it's like, I feel like that's what I'm supposed to see that day. And it's like my reminder of like, it's like a little bit of a redirect or a focus for that day. And I'm like there's like a bunch of stuff on there and I'll see something different or like day after day. I'll say the same thing. Like where it's wherever my eyes land, you know, first I don't know that's cool. Like, that's my reminder I need I need that right now. I take it as a little nod from the universe as to like what I'm doing or where I'm going or if I'm feeling frustrated or or in a place of you know negativity, it just sort of helps me get out of it. And I also want to say that for people who are you know, a lot of work at home or stay at home moms, you know, if you feel like well I don't have goals or or a business or something like that. Or I don't know if you feel like this isn't for you. I'm just saying explore because it could be it doesn't have to be any sort of major big goals but it can be things that bring you joy things that you want to be reminded of. And you can have like I did some I created a separate folder of like, home vision board, because like that's not like a life goal. But I had looking through those magazines I kept seeing things that were I was like oh, I've been wanting to do that in my on my porch or in my boys rooms or and so I pulled out all these things. I put them in their own folder and throughout the year when I was ready to work on a home project I referenced it, and I like created almost everything I had put in that folder and it's taken me an entire year but I'm like that's those are goals. That's a vision.

14:47

That's so me. Yeah, it was like my little

14:50

little folders I guess. A real life Pinterest board.

14:54

Yeah, as you say it's just like the Pinterest board but it's like it's tangible

14:57

sign up to have something Yeah. You can have home goals. You can have personal health goals. You can have family goals you can have, I don't know it can be a plethora of different things and it sometimes just takes looking through a magazine and sit down with some scissors and letting the you know letting just being open to whatever you see that sparks interest. You know, and it's also tapping into that creative aspect that we all have. I feel like people think they don't they don't have

15:29

exactly that's exactly I was gonna say or that we don't tap into enough you know, like you don't have to be an artist or something you know, you don't have to be able to draw really well or anything like that. But to sit there and to create this is also the act of it is also very healing, you know and the process of it so it really can help tap into the that creativity that we all do have within us that sometimes gets squashed with like the mundane aspects of life. So

16:00

I think every time when you start you think I'm not creative. I don't have these visions, I don't know and then as soon as you sit down with those scissors and look glue and you're in your magazines, and you just start just starting helps get the ball rolling and then before you know it because I feel like that's me every year when I start because I always kept myself as like a non creative and they want to once I get into it I always feel so good. And I just got it takes them and you can always tell the energy to for the couple of months I've done when everyone's starting. They're a little nervous. They're like I don't know, I'm not good at this. I don't know what I want.

16:35

What is she cutting out? Why is they cutting that out?

16:38

Oh my god. Yeah, but

16:39

you're looking at things I know. And then by the end

16:41

of it everyone's like laser focused on their stuff and like cutting out

16:46

you like you look up and you're like, oh, wow, what's going on in this room like you do kind of get into that zone. And then you start finding, you know, if you have that group, you start finding pictures for people. Oh, this this reminds me of you. This is this. Great, you know that on your board. So that's always fun, but you even mentioned to putting it somewhere you can see it so even as long as I've been doing these at the office, I have only started hanging them up for the past couple years. I usually would just do them. And I don't know I would keep it but I wouldn't put it up somewhere and I would pull it out occasionally. And sometimes I've even written dreams goals visions on the back on a piece of paper or something and had that there so I've done that before too. But I've recently like I said the past couple years putting it up and I think that's made a huge difference and it doesn't it's not the difference in that like oh yes, it's gonna make this come true. No it's just again, it's that awareness and bringing you back to those intentions and the goals and the purpose and the reason that you're here and we're all here for a reason and

17:50

fitness. I think there are so many benefits to that and I think seeing it as key I think creating it as one part and keeping it where you can see it regularly is key and I do think some people I've even no no people that do this as a business. But they do virtual or digital vision boards. So I'm I like a hands on I like that tactile like sit with a group cut out stuff. But also you can go online and screenshot and take cut cut and paste out some words or some pictures and put it into a document and save it digitally. It could be in the back, you know your desktop screensaver or you can just save it to your phone or something like that. But some people you know want to do it digitally and that's an option to

18:32

definitely and so what does this have to do with birth? I know I think it relates perfectly because I think everything that we've said you can relate it and pertain it to birth and I mean it can go into birth affirmations this can talk about what your birth plan is what that vision is and how you go about making that aligned birth plan that you have.

19:02

Absolutely yeah I mean I talked about this with with my clients a lot my Doula clients with like, you know, starting simple with like how do you want to feel when you give birth, how do you want to be treated? What do you want to be surrounded by and it's just sort of some open ended thought provoking, get the juices flowing, you know, questions and for some people they don't have a lot of answers to begin with. Some people are very clear on what they want from the beginning. But for those that aren't, you know, even just hearing some of the questions I asked, prompts them to think oh, well, okay, I have a feeling about this. This is you know, and then they kind of start evolving towards that bigger picture and, and vision for their birth. And having a vision for your birth. Creating a birth plan is not about making it or guaranteeing it to go a certain way. It's not about like planning it in this direct line from A to B. It's just saying, you know, setting some intentions and then saying okay, that's how I want to feel when I get there and that's how I want to feel want to get to the other side of it. How do I set myself up to get there? What do I got to do between now and then to have that kind of birth to feel that way during my birth to be healthy and happy and satisfied on the other side of my birth? And so to do that you can start that birth planning process where you're creating that communication tool between you and your provider. And that is like the birth plan part of it. But then I tell my clients for their actual birth to create a vision board type of thing, and it's where it's where, because during birth, sometimes we we go into labor land and we might forget all the things we've learned. We might forget those birth affirmations we've read every day leading up to the birth we might forget the questions we want to ask or the positions we want to take or the mantras we want to tell ourselves. So I say create a basically a vision board for your birth and on it. You can have some phrases that you might want to hear your partner say or that you want to read that give you confidence and give you focus and help you feel grounded and centered. So you can have some phrases up there. I say write the acronym BLT, which is that be open lean forward and trust gravity acronym for movement during labor. And so you may not have a board full of all the different positions you can take but you're gonna have that one acronym that's a reminder of like, oh, okay, I can be up and lean forward and trust gravity and maybe have a picture of one position you might want to try that. Way. It's like a reminder. And once you see it, it might open up that like, Oh, I know all these things. I say have the brain acronym written up there to remind you the questions to ask your care provider if and when they are offering up procedures or interventions. And that's the benefits, risk alternatives, intuition and nothing. So put that on there as your reminder of what questions to ask. Then you could do pictures of your happy place. That's another great one I really like and that could be from magazines or from places you've actually been. For me, it's the ocean and there's so many like parallels with the ocean and giving birth that the oceans are great. You should have like pictures of the beach that you've been to and that you love and that takes you back to find memories or you can have one from a magazine but that could be like in the center. Any sort of image that helps you feel like you want to feel during giving birth. Put that on there. People you know, maybe it's your mom who can't be in the in the birthing room with you but you're super close and you want to be connected with her. You could have a picture of her on the board, or maybe it's your sister or your aunt or your dad or someone who you've lost who you really want to be connected to your birth. So you can put them on this board and then hang it in your birthing space. And it's a reminder it's helps you be centered. It helps you feel good, it brings you peace and calm. And then it's good for the partner to they're there they can see the reminder for the positions the questions to ask they can see those pictures. They can read the phrases like the positive phrases you've written on there and say them to you so it benefits both people and it's a fun pregnancy activity as well.

23:14

Ah, I love hearing all the things that you describe though and what you can put on there and how you can make it for that. That birth you know birth goals and I think you're even said something, you know, I I get up every morning and I like to do my devotionals and I like to sit in prayer and sit and reflection and kind of set those intentions. I mean, I try to do that every day but I like to do that every day. But then there's also the the action component to that. And I think this this vision board and those types of things. We have those goals that kind of helps us to take those steps towards action and take those steps forward into you know, achieving that birth that you want or feeling content with. how you've gone about informing yourself about the birth that you want, you know, and you know, even any other goal that you have, again, birth work life type of vision board, I think it's nice to be like, Okay, this is these lovely pictures and these words and these thoughts and they invoke this feeling in me. Where can you take that action? And where can you move forward with that?

24:33

Yes, yeah, I think having something to invoke a certain feeling is huge. And just to be a little trigger for either something you want to be reminded or something you want to be like, you know, that you learned previously, or that you would know a reminder how you want to feel that I like that word invoke, because I think that's what images and words that we can read do for us. And I think that's the goal with with the vision board for all these events life work and birth. And, and the steps like when in the process of creating that vision board, you're kind of addressing some different things and then it promotes a different kind of thought process of how you can prepare for your birth or life. Right if we're talking vision boards, globally or for birth, you know, kind of starts that ball rolling and that thought process rolling and like oh, this, this makes me think about this other thing and it kind of like we've always talked about like one little thing leads to the next thing.

25:31

Yeah, I know. It's that. That connectedness of everything, but yeah, you can invoke those good things in you. And you can do these at any point in time. You know, typically, that non pregnant population it typically is done, you know, at the beginning of the year, I think it's you know that good way to set intentions. It's what I do in the office, but there's really no again, the beauty of this is that there's no right or wrong. It's you know, it's whatever you want it to be so hopefully, you've learned something as far as a vision for work life or even your birth. Hopefully you've learned some new, some new things to do and new ways to look at things now.

26:10

Yes, and I just had an idea, Shannon, that anyone who listens to this episode, if you create a vision board or birth vision board, you gotta take a picture of it. posted on social and taga. So that we can see it and then we'll reshare it. And if you don't want to post it for the world to see you can always DM it to us just to like share and be like hey, look what I did. Look what I'm putting out into the world. You know a little bit of accountability. We want to see what you guys are creating for your for your life for your work for your birth for your families, doing it with your kids. If you decide to do that, then please share it with us. We'd love to see it.

26:47

Yes, that's always one of my favorites because a lot of times too if you're at these events or whatnot, it's hard to get the whole board done. So I like for I like to see them. You know those finished products too because that's a beautiful thing. So yes, we would love to see the vision that you have created. Oh, that's a good idea.

27:05

That's beautiful. What a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much. Dr. Shannon. You. Morning

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