Prenatal yoga rant.

 

Yesterday was a momentous day for me here in Thoiry, in that I practiced Bikram yoga for the first time since I was 4 weeks pregnant.  

 

As you can imagine, as a Bikram yoga teacher, the thought of not practicing for 20 weeks while pregnant is something that has weighed heavily on my mind...and aching body.

 

{My home away from home: Bikram Yoga Philadelphia, 18 December 2012}

 

I received some good advice from friends and fellow teachers however, to take the ego out of my practice, and to do what was best for me and my baby. It is common for those who practice Bikram yoga while pregnant to take the first trimester off, (Rajashree actually recommends it), however I was so sick and light-headed until week 18.5 that I didn't much trust myself to walk a block or two by myself, for fear of fainting, let alone jumping into the hot room.

 

Maybe I should have gone back to my practice sooner, but it just didn't feel right yet, so I trusted my instincts. Now that I'm feeling a little more like myself, and have far less nausea and light-headedness, I've been feeling ready for a week or so to turn the heaters on and get back on my mat. So yesterday, with Rajashree's Pregnancy Bikram Yoga series loaded up on my laptop, I did just that.

 

{Backbending homework: Ten days before we found out I was pregnant}

 

And holy hell did I miss my practice! Or, whatever this thing is now that is my practice. I have a completely different body then I did back in February when we had just found out that I was pregnant, and it's going to take a bit of getting used to. I just keep telling myself that in non-pregnant practice our bodies are different every single day, and I just need to listen to what my body (or, er, bodies in my case I guess) is telling me...this is no different. The postures may be different in the pregnant series, but it's also exciting to try out new things, with a new body, all while knowing I'm doing the healthiest possible thing for me and Homekid.

 

 

The other awesome thing that I've learned about in my 5+ years of practicing Bikram yoga? In addition to the natural yoga high that I and so many countless others have after 90 minutes in the hot room, the practice also seems to re-wire me in the best possible way. After the unexpected death of my cousin last year I cried everyday in class for about 6 months, but felt new once class was over. I also crave healthy things after class, like watermelon and couscous and cooked veggies and water and shrimp and...it's just automatic. Even while pregnant it seems, because I got out of my home practice class yesterday and all I wanted was watermelon and green juice. (Sidenote - totally making some today. Pretty excited about it.) Aches and pains also slowly go away, with time. Now I'm just hoping that getting back to my daily practice will ease up the pregnancy back pain and tail bone pain I've been experiencing over the last week or so. I don't anticipate that it will go away completely, as this kid is only gonna get bigger as we get closer to October, but I'm hoping to at least get a little relief while we wait.  

 

End rant.

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey