Photo Friday: Yoga at 6 Weeks Pregnant

Just in the nick of time, I present my asana practice at 6 weeks pregnant. Thanks again to Bob Weisenberg for providing fabulous tunes.

Daily Life at 6 Weeks: If I didn't have a midwife appointment today, I would almost forget I'm pregnant. I don't look any different. I don't feel a whole lot different. Those minor annoyances I referred to last week just seem like everyday life now.

Practice at 6 Weeks: I'm anxious to experience changes, but just practicing more of the same. I suppose I should be savoring my mobility in this s-l-o-w f-i-r-s-t t-r-i-m-e-s-t-e-r.

Photo Friday: Yoga at 5 Weeks Pregnant

This post is a continuation of my documentary project to slow down, enjoy pregnancy, and record how my asana practice changes over the coming months. Special thanks to Bob Weisenberg for providing the music this week!

Daily Life at 5 Weeks: There are, of course, little annoyances like fatigue, frequent trips to the bathroom, and occasional nausea. My good teacher tailbone pain has returned thanks to the cocktail of hormones loosening up my joints. But the positives still outweigh the negatives. I’m super happy all the time—okay, so I get a little grumpy sometimes. When I feel like resting, I rest. When I feel like eating, I eat. I should probably treat myself like this even when I’m not pregnant.

Practice at 5 Weeks: Many abducted, forward-bending poses are recommended during pregnancy, but contraindicated for tailbone (aka SI joint) pain. I made modifications to baddha konasana and upavistha konasana by sitting on a folded blanket in both poses. I also draped my arms over a chair in upavistha konasana and put blocks under my knees in baddha konasana. Both modifications help keep my SI joint snug and secure, and allow me to still reap the benefits of poses that increase blood flow to my little bean.

Spice Up Your Practice with a Dose of Distraction

My favorite practice sessions involve a 90-minute stretch of time and a closed door. But let’s face it—daily life isn’t always so kind. Sometimes we have to take what we can get, for example, 15 minutes before leaving for work, 30 minutes with a renegade car alarm just outside the window, or 60 minutes broken in half by an urgent call from your spouse.

Saturday, I had one of those kinds of practices—the not ideal kind—between my husband’s 3 trips back and forth to the DMV. He had to have his W2 now, and where was that form that came from Florida a year ago?

I was miffed. My ideal Saturday practice got chopped to pieces. Phooey on the DMV. As I lay in supta baddha konasana, refusing to answer my whistling teapot, I realized I better get used to this. I’m having a baby! Contrary to my coworkers’ predictions, that baby is not going to come out of the womb poised in a peaceful sukhasana.

Here’s to finding a peaceful practice amidst the chaos of everyday life, just like Arjuna on the battlefield in the Gita. May I respond with grace as my life gets turned upside-down.

How do you respond when your practice is interrupted?

Photo Friday: Yoga at 4 Weeks Pregnant

The world will have one more little yogi in April 2011—I'm pregnant! I know it's early to break the news, but the yoga of it all is just too much to keep secret. I could write at least a chapter, if not a book, on the yoga of the two week wait alone.

The biggest recognition I've had so far in my baby-making adventures is that I'm constantly leaning forward into what's next. In the preconception phase I was itching to actually start trying to have a baby. Once I got there, I had to conceive NOW. But a little zygote isn't enough. I long to slide into the second trimester when energy levels supposedly peak and the looming threat of miscarriage is a relic of the past.

In an effort to slow down and enjoy each moment of pregnancy, I decided to start a documentary project. I chose several poses that I think I'll be able to continue throughout pregnancy (most likely with modifications) and will be documenting them each week from now until birth. I'll also share how pregnancy is affecting my daily life and my practice each week.

Not much has changed about my practice since I'm only 4 weeks along, although I am avoiding closed twists like revolved triangle and revolved half moon. I'm starting research on yoga during pregnancy and not finding a whole lot of substantive information. The key seems to be paying attention to your body and doing what feels best for you on any given day. My abdomen looks the same, but feels tight and cramped as my uterus begins to expand. Poses that lengthen the spine—especially downdog—feel divine.

The New Voice of Yoga

Thanks to my 9 to 5 job, I wasn't over at it's all yoga, baby when the conversation was hoppin' on her post, judith hanson lasater to yoga journal: no more sexy yoga ads! I've since been able to peruse the threads and found a comment that rocked my yoga world from The Yoga Lunchbox:

"Maybe it's time for a new voice of yoga?"

I don't bring this up to fuel an anti Yoga Journal revolution. Instead, TYL's comment made me think, "What if the new voice of yoga is yoga blogs?"

Blogging is free, open, and highly accessible to people around the world. As yogis and writers, we no longer have to submit our insights to the publishing world, hope we rise to the top among the thousands of submissions, and, if we're lucky, stand by as we watch the depth of our piece get washed out by community editing on its way to the glossy page. In today's yoga blogosphere, we can say what we want when we want. We also have access to a growing bank of quality yoga reading for free—no subscription required. Yogis, I think we're onto something.