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richly felt relationships. Ultimately, meditation is about giving yourself the chance to reply to the cosmic question: Do you want to exist or do you want to live? To answer, all you need to do is breathe.

In a nutshell

Meditation, an ancient method of focusing the mind, helps people cultivate awareness and achieve a state of higher consciousness. It's also been known to lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health. It is nondenominational and nonsectarian. The best way to start meditation is to choose a quiet, comfortable spot, sit in a relaxed but alert position, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing, coming back to that whenever your mind wanders. You can also meditate while walking. Find a place where you can stroll without distractions, and train your awareness on the physical sensations of walking. Changes won't come at once; you need to stick with meditating regularly ultimately say people who meditate, you'll feel calmer and more mindful of who you are and where you're going.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

The words of Raquel, a young Puerto Rican woman who completed the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program at CHC/Meriden, eloquently express the potential of mindfulness practice to transform one's life. She is HIVinfected and the mother of three young children, and her husband is sick with AIDS. On the last day of class, she spoke of an analogy we had discussed earlier in the course. We had talked about how meditation must be practiced daily if it is to be useful, not only when things are going well but also during times of difficulty and crisis in one's life. We likened this to weaving a parachute. One does not begin making a parachute moments before jumping from a plane. Rather, one weaves the parachute day by day, during good days and bad, busy days and calm days, so that when one needs it, the parachute will be ready. Raquel told the group, "I still have my illness, but I feel much better. When I am at home with my family, I do everything with much love, and with patience. I'll always have my parachute with me."

A mother who uses self-hypnosis throughout pregnancy, labor and delivery provides a healthy environment for her baby. Hypnosis can help insure that her baby receives better oxygenation through enhanced utero-placental blood flow. It can prevent the use or reduce the amount of analgesics or anesthetics which have side effects. This allows the baby to be more available for breastfeeding and attachment because of better neurobehavioral organization in the first crucial hours of life. The mother can use self-hypnosis to induce relaxation and comfort not only during pregnancy, labor and delivery, but also throughout the postpartum period and weeks following birth. It can help improve sleep patterns which are frequently interrupted by a new baby. It can aid breastfeeding when mother and baby are both learning this process. It can further relieve the discomfort and pain related to episiotomy, tears and cesarean birth. Perhaps, most important of all, self-hypnosis is a tool not only for childbirth but one that can be used throughout a mother's lifetime to control stress and improve her health and quality of life.

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