Stamp of approval: postpartum

Can you tell I am learning so much?

My baby was born via c-section at almost 39 weeks, and we were overjoyed to get him here safely. During the next six weeks I went through the biggest, most challenging and exhausting adjustment of life. I became a new parent.

I had heard the postpartum emotions can be rough, but that sentence doesn't really do justice to the crazed hormonal mess I dealt with every day. 

I had heard how tiring it is. Think of fatigue following the worst all-nighter you've ever pulled, and now multiply that by ten thousand, compounded with the fear that you will never get to sleep a full night again.

One thing I didn't expect was how exhausting it is physically to be a new mom. I had just undergone major abdominal surgery, yes, but the sore wrists and back from nursing, constantly rocking a colicky baby, and the poor posture from a disappearing belly contributed to my fatigue.

At about six weeks postpartum, I finally made it back to my mat. I should start by saying I actually returned to my running shoes first! That first run, I got spanked. I was hot, out of breath, awkward and feeble-legged. Had my posture changed? Had I really run a marathon just one year prior?? I felt mocked, as if the pavement was saying, "Is that all you've got?" and I finished thinking mostly of what I had lost and how hard I would have to work to get it back. 

My first time back onto the mat, I was welcomed with open arms. I nearly heard the words of comfort, "You are doing great. Let's work with what you have." And as I explained above, I didn't have much to offer. What I did have was aches and fears, but they were smoothed out as I slowly met pose after pose that I could finally do without a baby bump. I could do something about my sore wrists and back that would help me with my day-to-day well-being. I could move slowly and deliberately and build my strength back up with proper alignment. I still have a lot of work to do, but the forgiving nature of yoga on my post-baby body and mind was very meaningful to me and I hope to share that with students in the future! Moms on this journey deserve to be honored.

 www.gobodhiyoga.com

Stamp of approval: Growing a human

Looking back on my whole prenatal experience, it is very clear that yoga played a significant role in helping me feel my best. Almost everything about my body was changing at one point or another, but yoga helped me feel most like ME. A breath of fresh air in a time when you inherently feel the least like yourself.

In my experience, first trimester yoga was timid. I was so sick at first, it was nearly impossible to drag myself onto my mat at home, let alone to an actual yoga class!

When I did start back into yoga, I had a purely restorative practice. I had been so beaten down in body and spirit by 24/7 nausea that I really needed to be gentle. I had two couch cushions and a blanket as my props. My practice was pretty much an extension of sleeping, only better. It was wonderful.

By about 20 weeks, or halfway through my pregnancy, some switch was activated in me and I got my energy back. I needed a far more dynamic practice that would engage my muscles. I could feel my sweet boy inside of me and I knew I was breathing and moving for us both. I felt like a strong warrior mother who was no longer trodden down by the need to puke all the time. I carefully adjusted poses to accommodate my growing belly and changing body. Suddenly poses like uttkatasana and squat had more meaning and life than ever before. I felt my body and mind rejuvenated. I have such fond feelings when I think of this time. I felt so comfortable in my changing body just how it was right then.

Things got very busy for about the last eight weeks of my pregnancy when summer began, but I used yoga principles in ways I never thought I would. I painted my own toenails at 37 weeks and credit yoga with the flexibility to do that. I chose to use hypnobirthing during labor, which incorporates many poses, deep breathing, ujjayi, acupressure points, and affirmations, and I had a very positive experience with those.

Throughout this whole experience, I would look at my husband in amazement at how much he had NOT changed. That's all I had been doing for the last 9 months--watch myself pretty much evolve into something new. Isn't that shiva at her finest? I am so grateful to be a mother and to use my creative powers to bless my family members. Here's to this new time:)

www.gobodhiyoga.com

Stamp of Approval: Sciatic Pain Management

For the past four years I have enjoyed training for and running in races. It has brought me a lot of joy and I love the way a race motivates me to get out the door for a run. I'm not fast but I am always looking to improve my personal record, plus I love how running makes me look and feel. It's a good situation all around.

I always expected to continue running throughout my pregnancies, so aside from being exhausted and a little off balanced, I finally got out to try running again in January when my morning sickness began to subside. I ran for about a month and noticed something was wrong. I don't know if it was my form, my over-enthusiasm for starting again, or something my pregnancy hormones messed up, but I began having a pain in my lower back on one side that slowly crept into the joint where my left leg and hip meet. I tried to run through it; "I just finished a marathon last August!" I thought. One run on vacation in Arizona was quite painful and after trying to stretch it out, I found myself barely able to walk for the rest of the week. It was the most disheartening thing and when I started trying to find the source of this excruciating sensation, time and time again I was met with a phrase.

Sciatic nerve pain.

Why I am the lucky recipient of this intense, stinging nerve pain, I have no idea but I figuratively (and almost literally) felt like one of my legs had been chopped off! What was I going to do if I couldn't RUN. It was unthinkable. Thankfully I had yoga to get me through it. Here are some of the best ways I've found to manage sciatica during pregnancy:

• First and foremost, don't overdo it. This was my first and biggest mistake. Me trying to "stretch it out" as the pain was progressing made things a million times worse. I can decisively say it was running that aggravated my sciatica, so I stopped running and didn't go on any walks for awhile and this helped significantly. The goal here is to heal and strengthen.
• Gently work with these poses. Go slowly and pay attention to how it changes your sciatic pain. You should feel a difference, and at least for me I could tell it was improving the sensation instead of aggravating it. Stop if anything feels too intense. If you are past 20 weeks take care lying on your back so that you don't interfere with your body's or baby's circulation. (I found this site very helpful in getting me started).
• Cat and cow pose
• Hip circles, seated or kneeling
• Bridge pose, rolling up vertebrae and back down again slowly
• Lying on your back, hug your knees and extend them up to a 90 degree angle; make gentle circles with your knees
• Twist lying on your back. With the extended leg, lift and lower slowly about an inch.
• Supported pigeon, performed either on your back or seated over a round bolster.
• Be patient with yourself. I was so distraught over this new pain that it wasn't until I started my slow yoga sequence trying to heal that I was able to get back to giving myself credit for what I was still able to do. Within a month I was able to go on mile long walks without having it flare up, and now here we are in May and I don't have a single tinge of pain day-to-day. What a huge blessing.

I'm not back into running and I doubt I will be until after baby comes. I tried a few months ago and even though I hadn't thought about my sciatic pain much since it improved, wouldn't you know it started up again! I have learned to appreciate walking as a worthy alternative, and although it was a humbling experience to discover this I can honestly say I am grateful to be able to walk and feel those benefits in this stage of life! It has been a great opportunity for me to explore the healing benefits of yoga: this was the first time I came to yoga with a problem and had it solved perfectly. I'm not sure what similar experiences lay ahead in my life but I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn and share that wisdom with others to help improve their situation, too. I chose the photo for this post based on the word opportunity; in China and Thailand I watched people use bamboo in construction as a shovels, scaffolding, foundations, roofs, etc. because of its sturdy build. Most plants would not be able to act in these functions, but all it takes is some creativity to see how it can be used. There are many opportunities for it to become useful.

www.gobodhiyoga.com

yoga at home

Almost-spring blossoms at my parents' home last spring

I have really come to appreciate having a strong personal practice at home. Being pregnant, I am often too tired to get in my car and go to class, my pregnancy nausea often rearranges my priorities, and it seems like there is only so much I can do in one day. I have appreciated being able to roll out my mat in my basement apartment and still enjoy some yoga when otherwise I wouldn't. There are a lot of limitations to a home practice but here are some things I've learned that have greatly improved my experience:

• Probably the obvious one is to use a yoga mat! Although before I bought my husband a mat we would just do yoga on the carpet and it was absolutely great. The nice thing about having a mat is that it helps you stay within a defined area so you don't end up traveling around during your practice. Other than that, a carpeted surface is suitable. My mat sits rolled up near the kitchen table until I bring it out to practice. I like to think of my mat as a blank slate every time I begin :)
• I realize this may be impossible for some people, but I prefer yoga when I'm home alone! I'm free to Om, bend, pause, adjust, and meditate in my own space without distraction. This can't always be helped and I have definitely done yoga while watching my husband play video games, but I'm glad I have some alone time to practice, too.
• Set your mat up somewhere that is not visually distracting. When I first started practicing I was facing the kitchen area of my apartment where I could see the clock, a pile of dishes, a coat draped over a chair, a pile of mail to be sorted...it was not much of an escape! As the weather had gotten warmer I moved my mat over to a corner where I face the sun coming through the blinds and it has been so pleasant. I used to think that part of the room would not be suitable for yoga because I would feel like I was in time out, but maybe that's part of establishing a good home practice! I'm not saying you necessarily need to put yourself into a corner, but it might help. I would also recommend making sure you have enough room to raise arms, twist sideways and extend legs before starting your practice because it really stinks to have to re-situate yourself later.
• Find a balance between what needs to be done before yoga and what can be done after. I am notorious at trying to accomplish a certain number of tasks before doing yoga, and before I know it I've run out of time and need to move on with the day! There are things that need to be done before-- a light breakfast, make the bed and tidy up a bit-- but I can guarantee that load of clean laundry that has been waiting to be folded for two days can wait another hour. I'll be able to fold it with more grace and awareness after having done yoga, right?
• Your outfit just needs to do the job. I once heard someone say that running is all about the outfit. I don't believe that at all but regardless of how set you are on impressing people, you've still got to look semi-presentable when walking into a yoga class. At home I have learned the art of pajama yoga. Depending on what I'm doing I will maybe change into something that gives me a better range of motion, but I have had some pretty amazing restorative sessions in sweat pants! Don't get caught up in needing to change your clothes or you might find yourself folding laundry. It sucks you in!
• The majority of the yoga I practice at home is restorative, and I am a huge fan of props during this type of practice. Flat and round bolsters and blankies are my dear friends. I haven't invested in these props yet but I have found that a firm throw pillow from a nearby chair and a rolled up or folded fleece blanket do a pretty good job at helping me feel supported. My basement is also cold so I have found it extra nice to drape it over my legs when I begin or end in a seated pose. I am also guilty of falling asleep in savasana nestled underneath it. Namaste!
• Create a new environment with music. You may not have control over a lot of things in your living space when it comes to doing yoga there, but sound can instantly transport you away from the pile of dishes in the sink. I am still deciding what music I want to invest in and own, so I switch off from using the Yoga station on the Pandora radio app (you'll have to just ignore the ads, unfortunately) and searching 'yoga music' on YouTube and choosing songs for meditation or yoga practice that are calming and are set to beautiful photographs in case you look over at your phone. This will help you figure out what type of music you prefer before spending any money.
• This should go without saying, but turn your phone off or leave it in another room. You would never have it at your mat with you in a yoga studio! Even if I'm using it for music or video during my practice, I turn the ringer down and ignore anything that comes in. That might be hard at first but it's better to just not have to deal with the temptation. It's just going to distract you!
• Explore! Whether you are using your own creativity to practice or following a video, dive in and learn something new! Experiment with new sequences, hold something longer than you normally do, stray from your routine, and find inspiration from other sources to spice things up. The internet makes that really easy. Bodhi Yoga has some free trial videos as well as classes with a membership that are so helpful to use at home!

It may be slow starting but try some of these suggestions out and see where they take you. Good luck!

www.gobodhiyoga.com

Fourteen weeks of reality

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm expecting!! We are excited to have a little boy join our family of two in July, and are really settling in to what it means that we are going to be parents. PARENTS. I sort of still feel like I'm in fifth grade most the time so the idea of being a parent is crazy. That being said we are so happy for this precious gift and we are anxious for summer!

The first month of being pregnant I didn't see what the big deal was about the first trimester. I can exercise and eat just fine, I thought. Then it hit, and ever since then the first trimester has not been easy on me. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say I have spent a lot of time kneeling next to a toilet. I'm grateful for modern medicine that has helped me keep myself together most days and actually eat something. Because this nausea and food aversion thing is real and it's brutal. Some days I can think of two, maybe three, foods that sound good. I'm also exhausted all the time. I can honestly say that I had an ideal diet and was exercising everyday beforehand, and it has been a hard fall from grace. I am in survival mode and hope to gain back some ground in the coming weeks as I enter the second trimester

I finally felt well enough this past week to do yoga and go running. I know you want to tell me I should be doing these things to feel better, but when you barely have the energy and desire to eat three times a day whilst trying not to lose any of the precious meals you have earned, it doesn't work. That's just how it has been for me. Starting yoga again, I swear I could hear my body whispering "thank you, I have needed this." Even at 12 weeks I have developed aches in new places, but I haven't had the energy to discover them, let alone take care of them. More than ever, I need this restorative practice, and although I don't regret giving myself the first trimester to find my bearings again, I am so excited for this chance to take care of my body while it does the most amazing thing a body is made to do: grow life!! That is such a miracle! It is a different experience for everyone but I think any mom or mom to be would agree that our bodies take a certain toll, no matter how welcome it may be. I deserve to help my body feel good, but it benefits my baby too. I'm starting a brand new practice for two, and hope that I'll be able to use what I learn to help other moms.

www.gobodhiyoga.com