At the weekend I watched a group of women tap to a couple of songs on a stage in front of hundreds of families.

Now, I’ve got to say I’m not into tap dancing at all. Although I do love a good Irish dance in ‘heavy’ shoes after spending years Irish dancing. (Sometimes even now, at weddings!) But despite this, I absolutely loved watching these women. And I think my clapping and cheers at the end of their bit was as loud as the families who had come to support them. And do you know why? Because they looked like they were having the time of their life. I couldn’t help smile at their enthusiasm, it was infectious.

When people enjoy what they’re doing, when they’re having fun, dancing, singing, laughing, they create endorphins in their bodies which help them to feel good. I talk a lot about these hormones when preparing my clients for labour. They’re natural painkillers which can be useful for birth, but also who doesn’t want to feel good (at any time, not just when pregnant)?!

But not only does the person doing the fun thing benefit, others around do too. From the people watching – have you ever seen somebody thoroughly enjoying themselves and forgetting everything else but that feeling of joy inside them? Or laughing helplessly as they do something silly that completely tickles them? Or watching a child lose themselves in their favourite song as they sing along to it? I find those moments just beautiful to watch. I think that’s what the French call ‘joie de vivre’.

The ripples of those moments spread further than you might think. The smile on your face as you watch, passes to the people who see you, with the feeling that you’ve created then continuing into the next part of your day, and the ripple passing to everyone who senses your joy. The days after when you talk to people about how you spent your weekend, or when you reflect about what you’ve been up to recently. When you next hear that song, when you look at the photos or video, when you next hear somebody talking about tap dancing, you remember that feeling and the joy is renewed. Imagine those ripples for every single person who watched the dance show at the weekend. And then imagine those ripples every day from doing something that create endorphins in our bodies.

So this is your cue. Go out there, find something you enjoy and do it, and if you aren’t already, do something with your life that you are passionate about. Forget everything I said about it being a benefit for others, do it for YOU. Do it so your life is packed full of joy and when the next curveball comes, you can roll with it rather than have it completely lose your balance.

But do it for the people watching as well. Because if you can do something you enjoy, they give themselves permission to do what they’re passionate about too. And we need more of that in the world, don’t we?

When I think about this in relation to birth, I’m reminded that it’s really easy to think of giving birth as a completely separate event to the rest of your life. Because it’s something that is so different to anything else that we experience, it can be hard to find where it sits in our understanding of ourselves. But actually if we treat it as an extension of our lives, and focus on all those things that bring us joy, we invite joy into labour and birth too. And not just the joy of bringing life into the world, of meeting our beautiful baby or babies, it is possible to actually enjoy labour or ‘have fun’ as one of my clients said as she laboured in the birth pool minutes before her baby appeared earthside!

From music, scents and your literal comfort blanket, to the things that, and people who, make you feel safe to be yourself; all the things that matter to us in life become intensified and crucial in labour and birth. Enjoy watching a particular comedy series? Watch that during labour. Love dancing round the kitchen to 80s cheese? Do that while helping baby move into the best position. Feel loved when friends share messages of inspiration and encouragement? Have them placed around your birth space or read to you by your birth partner in labour and birth.

As I always recommend, start by writing about your dream birth experience, as if it’s already happened. It’s a quick way of seeing what’s important to you. And if that feels too much, write a list of everything that you love doing and consider how you could incorporate that into your labour and birth experience. If you’re artistic, you could create an image of your birth space, your birth nest, with all these things in it.

If you feel the pull to share, send it to me on social media or tag me in a post. And if you’d like a guiding light walking alongside you through pregnancy, helping you prepare for labour and birth, drop me a message now. I’d like to help you prepare for one of the most important days of your life.