Garbha Sanskara | Parenting in the womb | Dr. Mona Gujral

“Sub-conscious imprinting of the love, security, and bonding between the parents and the unborn child.”

What is Garbha Sanskara?

Garbha Sanskara is an ancient knowledge mentioned in the Indian Scriptures and is an essential part of the Ayurveda related to pregnancy and conception. Garbh means “the womb” and Sanskar means “the ethics” or values. So Garbha Sanskara means the process of imparting the values and ethics to your unborn child. Parenting is all about forming that unbreakable strong bond with your child, and what best to start it from the moment the child is conceived.

Parenting does not start from the day the child is born, in fact parenting starts even before the child is conceived. It starts from the day the couple decides to be parents. That is the reason they are advised by the doctor to have a healthy diet and limit the use of alcohol or cigarettes. Modern scientific studies have proved that the foetus responds to the external stimulus, and also the chemicals produced in the mother during various emotional phases.

The nurturing of your child and teaching the ethics inside mother’s womb is where the parenting should start from and it can be very blissful for the parent. 

There are ample evidences of this in our ancient Indian texts and Vedic literature. There are many stories in our scriptures on the positive effect of Garbha Sanskara on the characters like Abhimanyu, Prahlad, Ashtavakra. 

Not only in India but there are different cultures around the world where they encourage nurturing the bond between the Mother and the unborn child, similar to the Garbha Sanskara. 

Garbha Sanskara is a process which gives immense benefits to the baby, but it also has tremendous positive effects on the Mother. It is ensured that the mother is in her optimum health physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

What does it involve?

Healthy Diet

A healthy well balanced diet is essential for the optimum growth of the unborn baby and the well being of the mother. It has been proved scientifically, that what the mother eats during her pregnancy the same nutrients are passed to the unborn baby and also the taste of the foods can be transmitted to the child. The children at a later stage have an affinity for the same food. 

So ladies, if you want your child to grow up and eat that broccoli, start feeding your child the same in the womb.

Relaxing yourself

There are various activities which the Mother can use to relax herself. These activities cause the release of the hormones endorphins which leads to an increased state of calmness and this has an amazing effect on the overall growth of the baby. These children have a more calm and relaxed disposition as compared to their peer group. There are many activities which are advised for the same like reading good books (nothing that scares you or irritates you), listening to music, etc.

Meditation and Prayers

Meditation and prayers are an important part of the Garbha Sanskara. These help in instilling the spiritual values in your child. There are various shlokas and mantras in our ancient scriptures which help the unborn baby. The meditations should be where you visualize good things about your baby is a great way to bond from the womb itself.

Benefits of Garbha Sanskara

The closest sound that the baby hears during the 9 months is the mothers heartbeat and the voice of the mother. This is why when you hug the child and talk to the child the child becomes calm immediately no matter how agitated the child was. The communication that the Mother has with the unborn baby “garbha sanwaad” leads to the mental growth of the baby, along with increasing the bond.So, you not only form a strong bond with your child but as a mother you also shape the first impressions of the child.

Our Vedic texts suggest this as a way to prepare the child for this world. Now even the scientific studies have proven the benefits of this. The practices of Garbha Sanskara should be adopted by all those parents who wish to have a strong parental bond with their child and also impart certain values and ethics to their child in the womb itself, I call this “Parenting in the womb”

The Author

Dr. Mona Gujral is a Gurgaon based Mindful Parenting Coach, Speaker and Author. She helps parents who want to create enriching relationships with their children and raise incredibly confident, happy, fully expressed kids who are thriving emotionally.

Her mission is to transform parenting with a more aware and mindfulness based approach, so that both the parents and children have a joyful bond.

She believes in inspiring and supporting parents back to their intuition and healing whatever holds parents and children back from living their best selves.

Mona has been effectively trying to introduce mindfulness into the parent child relationship. She helps guide parents back to creating deeply loving communication and memorable experiences with their kids, so they want to listen and be guided by them. And in the process highlighting the subtle unmindful interactions that create distance, frustration, resistance and power-struggles between parents and children.

For the last few years, Mona has helped parents in tackling the most challenging of parenting issues and offers private coaching and courses for parents who wish to grow and transform alongside their children. She has offered talks to schools and companies who wish to guide and support staff, educators and parents in offering their best selves to this world.

In the COVID time she has helped numerous individuals to hone and develop their awareness about emotional well being and helped them make mindfulness a part of their life.

Image Credits: Pixabay

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