Yoga for Pregnancy

Hi all. This week as well as help my daughter recover from surgery, I'm preparing for a few upcoming workshops. The one I wanted to mention today is my Pre-Natal Yoga for Partners. I'll be teaching this specialty class on Saturday, June 11th  from 1:15 - 2:30 at www.shineyoga.com.

You'll hear me say time and again that a big reason I've stuck with yoga is that it is the best pain relief (on all levels) that I've experienced. Pregnancy is notorious for being both a time of wonder and beauty and a time of discomfort and pain. While there are many common discomforts, there is also a lot you can do to alleviate them. Having an involved partner can be very helpful for mom to enjoy her pregnancy even more and help strengthen family bonds. One of my favorite things about teaching this class is seeing the dads that arrive a little "shy" about yoga walk out of class with big smiles on their faces. The yoga is as good for the dads as it is for the moms-to-be. We work on techniques that are helpful in alleviating tension for everyone. We'll do some partner poses that are helpful for the moms-to-be to alleviate common pregnancy discomforts, we work on some things that will be helpful for both parents once the baby arrives, and we talk a little bit about how you can use movement  and positioning to help make delivery a little easier too.

While I feel "called to teach yoga," I feel privileged to teach pre-natal yoga. The process of labor and delivery really is miraculous and I love being able to help moms feel a little better as they carry their babies. I started teaching prenatal yoga when I was pregnant with my daughter 8 years ago. I was very active and kept up with many of my physical activities. Besides being uncomfortable because it was so hard to move with such a big belly, I felt really good. I continued much of my exercise and kept up with my advanced yoga classes. My prenatal yoga teaching reflected this go-get-em attitude. Even though my pregnancy was pretty easy, the delivery was very challenging. There was a lot that just didn't "feel right" during labor. After my daughter was born I learned about a philosophy called Optimal Foetal Positioning. My doula found a class for me to take and from here my teaching began to shift in a really positive way. I began to incorporate movements more specific to pregnancy rather than just modifying yoga to fit a pregnant body.

My second pregnancy came with quite a few little complications. I was forced to take it much easier being on modified rest for much of the pregnancy. During this time I kept teaching my prenatal classes but my style shifted into a much more gentle style. The response from students to my more gentle style was well received. I could feel a stronger connection between students and the class sizes increased. It was nice to slow down and enjoy this time in my life. When my due date approached I was a little worried though. I worried that I wasn't in good delivery shape and that it would be an even harder delivery. But the birth of my son really was just like the peaceful videos they show you in natural child birth classes. They say second deliveries are usually easier but after sharing so many birth stories with other women I know this isn't always the case. I credit the easier delivery to the Optimal Foetal Positioning exercises and being more relaxed with the process.

In both pregnancies and deliveries, I learned so much. It's been wonderful to be able to share the knowledge and wisdom I've gained through study, from my personal experience, and feedback from so many wonderful students and their families. Pain may be a "normal" sensation that comes with pregnancy but often it's not necessary to carry the pain with the baby. As it says in my daughter's hospital release papers, "Pain is an unpleasant feeling or emotion that signals the danger of injury or damage to someone's body... Most pain is a message that lets people know that something is wrong with their body and needs attention." Learning and using proper alignment and posture is essential to a healthy, harmonious body. Working with a teacher or a partner is a great way to optimize a yoga practice, especially when your body is shifting so much. Plus, it often makes it more fun to practice!

I currently teach on-going Pre-Natal Yoga classes at Shine Yoga Center on Wednesdays from 5:45 - 7 pm and alternate teaching class with Patsy on Saturdays from 12 -1. From my point of view, specifically designed Pre-Natal Yoga is one of the best things a mom-to-be can do for herself and her baby with numerous benefits for body, mind and soul. The Pre-Natal Partners Workshop happens this Saturday, June 11th from 1:15 - 2:30. I offer this workshop "once a trimester." You can join my email list if you'd like notices about the next one at my website www.flourishunlimited.com.