Category Archives: YIOM

Pregnancy as Yoga

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In yoga teacher training last night, we talked about modifying a class for a pregnant student. Because of the topic, much time was devoted to talking about why it’s hard to do yoga when pregnant (belly in the way, balance issues, nausea, loose joints). Additional time about the benefits of yoga for pregnant women was also largely about the problems of pregnancy (stress, breathing issues, hormonal imbalance) and how yoga might help. All of that is perfectly appropriate given the focus of teacher training. But, as I thought about the class, and the look on the faces of some of the younger (non-mom) female yogis in the room when the trials and tribulations of pregnancy were being discussed, it occurred to me that what we did not examine is why pregnancy and yoga are such a natural fit.

I would argue that pregnancy, in it’s deepest sense, is yoga. Yoga is union, the connection with others, with Self, with the divine. Isn’t that a pretty good description for pregnancy? During pregnancy, the connection to others, or at least to another, is pretty intense. Of course we are always connected to others, but we manage to ignore it a lot. It’s hard to do that when pregnant, and everything about the social expectations of pregnancy and the physical status encourage the celebration and immersion in that focus on connection to the other. Yoga is connection to the Self – the Self that goes beyond the physical body and is part of something greater and more powerful. This too is something that most pregnant women likely think about often. Pregnancy is pretty amazing. The idea that our physical beings can bring forth a “new” life and the process that gets us there. Wow! It speaks of what part of us goes beyond just self to that Self. And then, there is the divine. I can’t even tell you how many women I’ve spoken to who have had an awakening or re-invigoration of whatever their faith is during pregnancy. Perhaps it’s easier to find that divine when we are in the intimate presence of an experience we feel is so miraculous.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to say that pregnancy is the most yogic thing one can do, or even an important yogic thing to do. As the saying goes: there are many paths to enlightenment. And most of us will tromp down a few of them on our way. But, I am saying we can find yoga in many places, in many forms, and maybe pregnancy is one of them. In any case, it’s a nicer image of pregnancy than the one about the morning sickness, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins 🙂

Namaste!
L

Curiasana

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Yep. I just made that up.  But, curious is a good descriptor for how I’ve been approaching my asana practice lately.  I’ve known, intellectually, that every practice was a unique experience, because the body and the mind are different from moment to moment and day to day.  But, even though I’ve “known” it, I’ve often not remembered it in practice.  Consequently, there was frustration when a pose that had been getting deeper stopped, or even retreated.  And I felt confused (and annoyed) when I suddenly found myself fearful of a pose that I had done with confidence the prior week.

Somehow (maybe all that Bhagavad Gita), I’ve recently taken much more of an attitude of curiosity and acceptance of where I am on a given day.  It’s actually quite interesting to see how things shake out, and it’s always a surprise.  Last night, for example, I found urdvha danurasana quite a challenge.  It’s been that way (a little unreachable) for the past few weeks.  I don’t know why, as it was accessible before.  Now, when I prep for the pose, I can feel some anxiety build in my  body, even when I don’t think it’s there in my head.  In this practice, I tried to just watch; I noticed that it seems to be related to something with my arms (specifically the wrists).  As soon as I put them into position, that feeling of discomfort begins there and radiates out.  If I go in very quickly, I can get into the pose before I fully feel it, but if I do the prep the way I should, then by the time it’s the moment to really push up, my body isn’t feeling happy.  So, last night, I watched it.  I went up once briefly and then just maintained the wheel arms with the setu bandhasana hips.

Also in this practice, we did L shaped handstand.  It’s been a while since this pose made me nervous.  In general, I like it.  Last night, it did make me nervous.  Curious.  What was different?  It could have been that my mat was long against the wall I was practicing against. It could have been my location in the room.  I don’t know, and I tried not to think about it much during the class, but it was interesting to watch that feeling unfold.  On the other hand (or foot), my joints were a rather loose today, and I saw that ardha padmasana was more available than usual.

All in all, I’m trying to approach my asana with more curiosity and less evaluation.  I think this applies to life as well as asana.  As Albert Einstein once said:

Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.

Finding Time for Your Home Practice

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A common reason for failure to engage in self-care behaviors is a lack of time. This is true for sleep, eating well, exercising, etc. It’s also the case for maintaining a yoga practice. Unfortunately, the very same people who are too busy and stressed to find the moments needed to care for themselves are also those who really need to care for themselves. One issue that yogis face is the difficulty of finding courses that meet the individual’s own scheduling needs. Local yoga classes may occur during business hours, when after-school activities are happening, at dinner time, etc. One option for yoga is a home practice. It would seem that yoga at home would be an easy thing to fit into the schedule, but it isn’t always that simple.

As I’ve said in a previous post, there are challenges to developing a regular home practice. Distraction and other obligations are big issues.  When you are home, where the dishes and the laundry also live, it’s easy to be distracted by other things that need to be done (or even things that don’t “need” to be done, but that are tempting me to focus on them).  Of course this also relates to the issue of time.  If you are too busy to attend a yoga class (or in the case of mothers of young children, even to take a shower), how do you find 60-90 minutes for a yoga practice?

I think the first key is the realization that yoga is not just asana.  There are eight limbs of yoga, and many of them don’t require you to get on the floor or take tree pose.  Living a life guided by the yamas and niyamas is yoga.  Engaging in pranayama is yoga.  Meditation is yoga.  Perhaps that there is not enough time to engage in an asana practice, but it’s certainly possible to engage in a little breathing control while rocking the baby to sleep.  Or, during that coffee break, perhaps rather than taking 15 minutes to review facebook during your lunch break, spend that time doing a brief meditation.  And, on a daily basis, we can make efforts to treat ourselves and each other well.  All of this is yoga and can be beneficial to self and others.

Even when asana is the focus, yoga doesn’t have to be done in one or two hour blocks in a Lululemon outfit.  Yoga poses can be engaged in an office chair, in a suit.  True, there are some limits to what can be done in a chair, but any yoga is better than no yoga.  Yoga also does not need to be done in long blocks.  Ten minutes of yoga at a time is fine.  If there is room in your residence, it’s a great idea to place a mat on the floor somewhere and leave it there.  When you walk by the mat, step on.  If you can do two Surya Namaskara As at one time, five times a day, that’s a good amount of yoga, but it hasn’t taken up long periods of time.  Yoga in little bites can be a wonderful give to give yourself.

It’s not always easy to find a way to fit your yoga practice into your life, but remember that yoga is about union.  The practice of yoga can beunified with the other parts of our life in such a way that we can find the time and space for the practice while also getting everything else done.