My Connection with Meditation by Betsy Smith, CNM

Betsy Smith is a long-time Calm Birth instructor and Certified Nurse Midwife out of Vancouver, Washington. She has taught many people to meditate during pregnancy, and over the course of time, becomes, as she says, a “student” of her clients. Her deep connection to meditation traditions and the spirituality of birth bring deep meaning to her practice and her clients.

When she’s not attending births, Betsy spends time with her two grandsons and creates gorgeous glass art, much of it inspired by her time in meditation. Here, she shares her journey into meditation and Calm Birth with us.

I believe in a Divine Intelligence.  

Taking a deep breath is the first and last thing I will do on this earth. When I am still in meditation I can feel my breath go deep within my soul. It is a quiet place, void of perception, void of chatter. A place of purity; No judgment, no figuring stuff out, just knowing that I can connect with the center of my being. 

I can find the truth. 

As the layers of the onion peel away I get closer and closer to that center, that seed of pure knowledge, the beginning where my journey on this earth started. As I approach the river of hormonal waters one by one I remove the rocks of the dam built of confusion and negative forces made of ridicule and doubt. Slowly the waters begin to flow softly but with strength and determination. I am refreshed, I am free, and I am open to the miracles of this life. I have regained energy to navigate the tough terrain and surrender to the gentleness of the quiet pools. The journey is from my head to my mind through my heart to my vase, to the seat of my soul and then to the ground of my roots and my foundation. 

I believe nothing is by accident: it’s more like Divine intervention. I began my journey with meditation in 1975 with Dr. Herbert Benson’s book The Relaxation Response. I had chronic tension headaches since my teens and took medication. I relied heavily on that pill to relieve the extraordinary pounding in my head, the nausea and pain of light. Slowly over the next year the headaches became milder and less frequent. I was also at that time introduced to massage and body work. The combination proved to be life-changing for me. 

As I studied about meditation and visualization and became more vigilant in the pursuit of stillness and introspection the challenges of life’s journey provided more wisdom than suffering. My life was far from perfect, I gravitated away from the stillness from time to time to find that when the inner-calling summoned me I could recognize the voice a little sooner in the continuous chatter of my ego.  

Around the same time I started working with women in pregnancy, labor and birth. I focused on deep relaxation in childbirth; becoming aware of the breath. I found that the childbirth education of the day was not sufficient; it was lacking in centering and focusing on the tasks of what kind of breathing one should do during different stages of labor. The physiology of pregnancy, labor and birth were important for women and couples to understand, the need to avoid hyperventilation was there, but something fundamental was missing.  

As the years have passed I have become a student of my clients and their families, learning about what works and doesn’t work. I understand now that by meditating women/couples/families are able to reach the soul of their child within and have a spiritual connection that is forever bonding. Meditation is not just a transitional tool to use through just one of life’s events which comes along their journey; it is a tool to use which will absolutely open their journey to mindfulness and awareness. They will view their journey from a new perspective.  It is a place of inner Peace and a powerful connection to the Source of all life. 

Sounds like a tall order but it is changing me one meditation at a time. 

The reason, I believe, meditation is powerful during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum is that with the practice of meditation there is an inner connection and awakening to the experience, there is a concentration of life’s energy in the womb and a communication of that energy to the child and anyone in the room with each breath.  This is all done with mindful breathing; stimulating hormonal responses, connecting the mind-body. It doesn’t take you away from the experience, focusing on your breath brings you into the present time.  

When I found Robert and Calm Birth it was like coming full circle and gave my journey purpose. All my lessons up to now are culminating in Calm Birth.

Betsy