My First HypnoBirthing Lesson

My husband and I went to our first HypnoBirthing class yesterday.  I was so happy to finally meet the instructor, Sarah, in person.  After having numerous and long phone conversations with her I had already built trust in her.  She was so patient and did a great job making everyone in the class feel at ease.
In addition to her HypnoBirthing knowledge, Sarah also brings medical knowledge to the class because as recently as this past June she was a labor and delivery nurse.  She decided she wanted to commit more time and effort into her HypnoBirthing teaching, showing women they can have a calm and painless birth experience.
Before the class I read HypnoBirthing, The Mongan Method and practiced some of the HynoBirthing techniques which include visualization, relaxed breathing and self-hypnosis.
I first heard about HypnoBirthing from a friend who after having having a cesarean had two successful, pain-free, drug-free vaginal births with the help of HypnoBirthing. 
The session included information about the birthing process, the instructor's personal story of using HypnoBirthing and video clips from actual HypnoBirthing births.
The most important lesson I learned from the first session was that you need to make up your mind and when you do that, do not send conflicting messages to your brain.  For example, you can not say you want to have a drug-free birth and then in the next breath say you might get an epidural.  Your brain will wonder which one is it, no intervention or intervention.  
Sarah illustrated this by having everyone in the class hold a pen in their hands.  She told us to relax and focus on holding the pen firmly between our fingers.  Then she said to visualize the pen dropping to our laps, but to hold the pen firmly.  I was first to let go of my pen.  I visualized seeing the pen drop and I let go.  I could have dropped it sooner but I was a little unsure about Sara's instructions.  Soon others followed by letting their pens drop to their laps while a few people continued holding their pens because they were so confused by the conflicting messages.
This was a great lesson for me.  When you set your mind to do something, do not introduce other thoughts that can deter you from your plan.  From here on out, I will not watch any of the television shows like A Baby Story or Maternity Ward that often depict women screaming, holding their breath and painfully pushing while doctors prepare for the worst.  Also, I will not subject myself to  anymore "nightmare" labor stories.  
Thanks to all my friends who have shared their positive birthing stories with me, keep them coming.