Suzanne pregnant with Ethan

First before we get into pregnancy & yoga I would like to briefly outline what Yoga is in the context and format of our modern lifestyle and the method of practice. Ouch quite a mouthful!

Yoga is and has always been rooted in a tradition that is passed on from teacher to student; it is a living responsive physical and mental practice that encompasses every stage of life and every situation we may find ourselves in.  Ultimately it is the practice of awareness, which simply means the ability to identify our own habits or patterns of behaviour and change them if they are leading us towards pain.

Recently I read an article in the herald about women warriors, those amazing athletes that seem to match in physical prowess and grinding willpower the elite male athletes in similar disciplines. The article went on to say how the "pushing through pain" mentality that is encouraged by those in sport actually extracted a very high price on female bodies, not just the current injuries but the long term consequences of overriding those pain signals.

We are not here to analyze the psychology of why but there is an inkling of a mental attitude  within us that tends to downplay the dramatic life changing effect on the body that occurs during pregnancy. Moreover the time it takes to return to previous levels of fitness (if ever) are grossly underestimated. There is always a tendency to deny the reality and try to return to how things were, to our previous level of physical attractiveness, strength etc. But to hurry this process is to invite trouble. Our mothers did not have the exercise culture that we have today but somehow they got on with things, we too need to get on with things but with the light of knowledge that they simply did not have.

Pregnancy yoga is all about support, for you and your unborn child and also by extension your partner and support network. The more self reliant and responsible towards your health you are, the less weight you bear on your network.  So we can save our health system a lot of time and money as well, it's a political stance!

How we go about it is to provide a framework for you to work within, which is the class duration and structure,  respecting the stage of pregnancy that you may find yourself in either the  first, second or third trimester. We then identify your specific needs and begin the process of teaching you fundamental principles of yoga practice. Interestingly enough the very first and golden rule of yoga is very similar to that of medicine  "first do no harm" in yoga it’s a Sanskrit word "ahimsa" with means actively pursuing non-violence or not engaging in activities that bring short of long term pain to ourselves or others.

All our actions are performed with this principle of ahimsa in mind.  We apply it intrinsically to every step of the journey because the beginner has very little idea of what will be beneficial or harmful over a long period of time. Our job as Pregnancy teachers is to provide firm boundaries for you to work safely in, we can then explore specific activities that gently extend and challenge your natural inertia while providing the much needed toning and support in the right places.

“Suzi has shown me how to relax and I am a better mum for it, I take time out each day for my yoga practice and the difference it has made is amazing”  Justine

All the while you are building up a storehouse of practical knowledge of what, when and how, so you will be able to identify your boundaries and limitations. We all have limitations physically and as much as modern life may pay lip service to the idea anybody can do anything, we take the practical view that it's simply not true, but by being skilful you can achieve amazing results if you choose!

Its unfortunate that even when we are pregnant we may feel pressure to look or be a certain way. We hope to give you back your confidence and self esteem that comes from being truly ok with yourself, pregnant or not.

Yoga practice always exists in relation to something, your current life circumstances, your health or in this case your pregnancy and its that relationship that we seek strengthen and to develop lines of communication between your body, child and mind through regular systematic and practical yoga.

Our phone usually goes when someone finds themselves pregnant, Ideally we would like to see people for quite some time beforehand but modern life is always a bit last minute so we have designed our courses for women who have very little or no experience, as well as for those who are long term practitioners.

Interestingly enough, beginners are easier to teach and long termers are often the hardest!

Why? Because it's so hard to give up the "driver" that sometimes underlies a yoga practice. If you got into yoga primarily as a health and beauty thing then it’s going to be hard to change gear to a slower more constructive and thoughtful way of doing things. That’s exactly the reason why you need to be doing pregnancy yoga! This driver is present in a lot of students, the real reason they practice, we recognise this as simply part of the process and our experience allows us to guide those students towards the awareness of consequences or cause and effect in their yoga practice. Our aim is to empower, not to preach on a very shaky soapbox!

“We want you to engage fully in the process, we want to share in your joy and provide a source of strength in your challenging moments”

I wince when I hear about women who run marathons 3 months out from birth because I have seen the results of that kind of work on both mother and child in the long term.  We take a long term view which is why all our pregnancy classes are designed to take you over a 2 year period from conception to a full year or more after childbirth. We establish a deep understanding of you as an individual and we work to help you fulfil your potentials and well as help manage the day to day issues that occur physically over this amazing time in your life.

The classes are not run casually so please email or call to talk to us first. We are always free to talk about your needs, questions or concerns. If you are planning to have a child in the coming year, even better we would love to hear from you so we can put you on the right track now.