Unlikely Passions

Emiliana Hall - 29 Mar 18

As a young adult of the 00’s, I spent most of my 20’s with dragons den syndrome- desperately trying to think of an idea that could propel me into wealth and fortune. I knew I’d be a stutterer though- I hate public speaking and so even if I had a worthy idea to present to the den of criticism, I’d wither into a nervous wreck and be blubbering into my balance sheet in the lift back down to reality.

So I constantly looked at other people, what did they have that I could learn to be? To have the confidence to ‘find and follow a passion’

It took me until my 30’s to realise that’s not how it’s done. Instagram is amazing for that- it shows women trying things out, doing things that aren’t the obvious and for the good of others.

I realised you don’t get a passion. In 2014 my husband convinced me we should have children. I was putting off even thinking about it as I was totally terrified of the ‘birth bit’. Having them and keeping them alive didn’t even enter my mind, it was pregnancy and ‘pushing something out’ that made me think maybe I didn’t need children anyway.

We pulled the goalie and the inevitable happened, and I panicked. There must be something out there that can make this all just happen really quickly- c-sections and epidurals became my source of comfort that it would all be ok.

Then I found hypnobirthing, and even though I didn’t realise it then, my passion was born. Learning the relaxation techniques and understanding what was happening to my body led me to have a home birth with my little girl in 2015 and my son on NYE 2017. Something that was totally unimaginable in my labour-phobic head.

The night before my son was born, I was writing my business plan for my online hypnobirthing business @themindfulbirthgroup . I started feeling mild surges as I was writing my reasons for starting the business- pretty crazy now I think about it! But it wasn’t pressurised work, it was all coming very naturally. I took a few weeks off from working on the material but I found myself wanting to write again rather than watching trashy TV, which just showed me again that this wasn’t work, this was a passion that I might be able to to make something of.

The Mindful Birth Group is now officially launching on the 26th May, and I still can’t quite believe it’s happening. It still doesn’t feel like work, which makes me think this might actually turn out to be a success. I’m very motivated to make hypnobirthing accessible to any mother to be- so the course is all online, making it super flexible in terms of time and access, and it’s low cost. I know that it’s not always easy to grasp hypnobirthing concepts and so I also include a 1:1 video call session, to make sure parents feel 100% confident to use everything they have learned. I’m also a huge believer in flexi-working, and how it can benefit our society so I intend on pursuing that area too and giving other qualified teachers an opportunity to do just that, with support from TMBG.

Looking back, I would never have imagined I would be starting a business focused on one of the very few things I was scared of in life. It just shows that listening to your gut and embracing life’s twists and turns rather than blocking them out can lead to very unlikely passions.

Emiliana Hall

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