Cold

It sucks to have a cold. And it sucks more to have a cold while 35 weeks pregnant. Blergh.

What is the best remedy you know for a cold? My go to for a long time was Jalapeno Milk (yes, it is what it sounds like). You have to use whole milk or the Jalapenos kill, and you have to drink it really fast. It is NASTY but it clears up the sinuses.

My other, for coughs, is ginger tea. As in ginger chopped up in hot water with a little honey.

I’m getting ready to have both. Hopefully I’ll feel like my regular self tomorrow.

 

Practicing Practicing Yoga

It’s not a typo.

In yoga, we say we are practitioners. The Sanskrit word I like to use is Sadhaka, which is more like a dedicated-to-the-path-of-yoga-practitioner-and-devoted-student, but that obviously doesn’t translate simply into English.

My practice has changed so much in the past few months, which was to be expected. It was one thing I was really looking forward to about being pregnant (yoga practice, interesting. back pain, lack of sleep, excessive burping, less interesting).

At 7 months pregnant (29.5 weeks, but who’s counting), I feel like I have to learn how to practice yoga all over again. Which is humbling. And challenging.

We all have different labels we wear all day, and in yoga class, it isn’t always different. I was “flexible” and “a back-bender.” Those and many other identifying aspects of my practice are gone now. I’ve been a “pranayama-practitioner” and a “restorative pose lover” by my own labeling.

It turns out these are both things I needed in my practice. I have grown to love and depend on pranayama, as I’ve written about before. The art and skill of lying or sitting and just breathing is a huge challenge for me, as movement-y as I like to be. But I feel how much better my day goes if I spend the 30 minutes in the morning doing it.

And, for similar reasons, it was always difficult for me to practice restorative poses on my own. It feels so indulgent to lie around in yoga poses and rest. Isn’t that what sleeping is for?! But it turns out to be a very different kind of rest, one that I know I’ll need when Raspberry is born and as he (and the other kids) grow up.

In a few months, it will be time to move on to the post-natal practice, which means serious abdominal work and strength building to get myself back to “my practice.” My challenge to myself: Learn how to practice both of “my” practices and reap the benefits of both.

photo/photoshop credit: Emma Chong

Yoga + Family

I have been waking up early to practice pranayama in the mornings (pranayama is yogic breathing – controlling the inhalations and exhalations).

I’m never alone in the morning. Even if everyone is asleep, there is a symphony of snoring in the background (including the dog). If anyone is awake, I hear chatting, bouncing around, showering, and sometimes podcasts in the background. I take it all on, knowing that when Raspberry comes there will only be more chaos and I ought to learn to tune in and out as necessary now.

I struggled with a Pranayama practice at home before I was pregnant. But after I studied with Patricia Walden I decided to take it on. And I have (high five).

Pranayama is recommended for pregnant women, and it has become a necessity for me. It is a restorative practice, and somehow lying about on bolsters and blankets energizes me for the rest of the day. On the few days I don’t get to practice (when David was sick, when I forgot the alarm), I notice a different in my energy.

And I notice a difference in my mental/emotional state. Taking even 20 or 30 minutes to focus on myself and breathing keeps me calm and even-minded.

And some days, when I am very lucky, I get to continue practicing and do a regular asana (the poses) practice. Which has changed a lot since I’ve become pregnant. And always feels wonderful and keeps my body and my heart content.

I keep saying: I can’t imagine how other pregnant women survive without practicing yoga. I’m not saying this because I want you to come to my class (although I do!), but because I really feel like it saves me on a regular basis. My feet don’t swell, my back and hips don’t ache, my chest stays lifted and open, and I feel better about everything. Pregnancy and the rest of life.

If you are pregnant and you want to start yoga, I’d be happy to recommend somewhere to start. And if you aren’t pregnant, I’d be happy to recommend somewhere to start too!

Baby Likes Backbends

I finally had the time/took the time for a good, thoughtful yoga practice at home. It is very hot, so I practice some supine poses, seated poses and forward bends, and inversions.

I have had small feelings of the possibility of baby-movements, quickening. But today, which practicing two poses in particular, Supta Baddha Konasana and Viparita Karani, I could definitely feel the little Raspberry swimming around. Perhaps practicing some yoga on its own.

Restoration

I taught three lovely women a restorative yoga class tonight at Shri Yoga (Wednesday nights at 7:30pm – all are welcome!). It was a perfect night to begin teaching a restorative class – terrible heat spell making us all hot, tired, and more fire-y than usual. Who wants to sweat more?

One woman was pregnant. They were all so nice and interested in yoga for the same kind of reasons I am – they want to know themselves more deeply. I am looking forward to continuing to teach this class and meet more yogis and yoginis in the area. I need community here.

XO