Is this meditation safe during pregnancy?

Yes. This is gentle guided practice with no breath-holding or physical exertion. Listen in any comfortable position. If a practice increases distress rather than easing it, stop and speak with your midwife, GP, or a mental health professional.

Do I need the app to listen?

No. Press play on this page for the full guided audio and transcript. The My Maternal Mind app adds offline caching, ambient sound mixing, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

Holding On

Week 10

0:00−5:59

Background sound

Duration:: 6 min
Stage:: Pregnancy · Week 10
Best for:: A hard, anxious, or low day in the long first-trimester in-between

How to practise

In the first trimester, getting through one hard day; hope held lightly can show up quietly or all at once. This guided meditation makes room for the feeling without turning it into a lesson you are meant to pass.

The middle of the first trimester can feel like a long, uncertain in-between: still early, still waiting, still rough. On the hard days, the goal is not to feel wonderful. It is to get through, gently. This practice offers grounding, a small anchor, and permission to hold your hope lightly instead of gripping it.

Find a position that supports you (seated or lying down). Press play and let the guidance move at its own pace. There is no correct way to feel, and nothing to visualize on demand.

This episode is written for week 10. It fits best a hard, anxious, or low day in the long first-trimester in-between, though you can return whenever the week feels heavy or unfamiliar.

Each week in the series stands alone. Listeners often join at their current week and circle back later; the arc rewards continuity, but nothing here assumes you have been listening since week one.

Full transcript

Welcome to Week Ten.

If today is a hard one, anxious, or heavy, or just a lot, this practice is not going to ask you to feel wonderful. On days like this, the only goal is to get through, gently, one breath at a time.

So let's not aim for anything big. Let's just steady you, here, now. Let's begin.

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Let's begin by letting your body settle.

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Find a position that supports you. Let the surface beneath you take your weight, so you do not have to hold yourself up.

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Let your eyes close, if that feels okay.

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Take one slow breath in.

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And a long breath out.

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On a hard day, let's start by simply finding the ground. Notice three points where your body meets something solid. Maybe your feet on the floor. Your back against the chair or the bed. Your hands in your lap.

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Feel each of those points, one at a time. Held. Supported. You do not have to do anything but rest against what is holding you.

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Now let's steady with the breath. In… one… … two… … three… … four…

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And out, longer. Out… one… … two… … three… … four… … five… … six…

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Again, slowly.

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When a day is hard, the mind tends to spread it out, as if today is how it will always be. But this is one day. Not all of your days. You only have to be in this one, and right now, you only have to be in this one breath.

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You do not have to hold your hope tightly today either. On hard days, hope can be light, almost weightless, just a small warmth kept somewhere safe. You do not have to defend it or prove it. You can simply let it stay, quietly, while you rest.

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So let yourself be held. By the ground beneath you. By the breath. By this small, quiet moment that asks nothing more of you than to keep breathing.

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Now, three quiet truths. Let each one land in the body.

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The first. This is one hard day, not all my days.

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Notice where you feel that, if anywhere.

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The second. I only have to get through the next breath.

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Let it settle.

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And the last. I can hold a little hope, lightly.

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You do not have to grip it. Just let it rest, like warmth in your hands.

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Stay here, grounded, for as long as you need.

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And when you are ready, begin to come back. Feel those points of contact again. Feel your breath.

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Let your eyes open slowly, if they were closed.

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And go gently into the rest of this one day.

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That is the end of this week's practice.

Hard days happen, and getting through one is an achievement, not a failure. If the hard days start to become most days, though, if the heaviness will not lift, please reach out to your midwife or GP. You are not meant to white-knuckle this alone, and support is there for you.

We will meet again next week.

FAQ

When should I listen to Week 10?: This practice is designed for a hard, anxious, or low day in the long first-trimester in-between, though you can return any time during pregnancy.
Is this meditation safe during pregnancy?: Yes. This is gentle guided practice with no breath-holding or physical exertion. Listen in any comfortable position. If a practice increases distress rather than easing it, stop and speak with your midwife, GP, or a mental health professional.
Do I need the app to listen?: No. Press play on this page for the full guided audio and transcript. The My Maternal Mind app adds offline caching, ambient sound mixing, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

Related practice

Practise with the full toolkit in the app

This episode is one of fifty-one in the Pregnancy Weeks series, with ambient sound mixing, streak tracking, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

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My Maternal Mind supports your wellbeing during pregnancy and birth preparation. It does not replace medical advice, midwifery care, or mental health treatment. Discuss your birth plan and any concerns with your care team.

Last reviewed: 2026-06-30