I was squatting in the hospital birthing tub, trying to find focus and a steady, deep breath while laboring with my first child. I was not progressing and I wanted to give up on the desire for a natural birth. My doula and my husband helped me out of the tub, put me on a yoga ball, and I felt some relief. I found some focus. Then it quickly lifted, feelings of defeat began running through my mind and my body. I knew I had to move. I knew had to get back to my breath. I got into the hospital bed, turned on my side, and my sweet baby girl was ready to enter this world. She needed me to change my position and my mindset. She came with a fervency and her soul is an empathetic light.
It was my prenatal yoga practice that gave me the tools to stick with it. To breathe with steadiness. To shift my mindset from panic to ease and confidence.
It took my husband and I a couple of years to get pregnant. We checked ovulation, I took hormone pills, we did 4 rounds of artificial insemination, which all failed. We were gearing up for IVF when lo and behold, a positive pregnancy test lay on my bathroom counter… and then another and another and another (because I had to be sure!). I have always wanted to be a mom. And when it didn’t happen easily, I was deeply hurt. During that time, one of the things that helped the most was my yoga practice. I took a seat on my mat and centered myself. I breathed through some vicious anxiety and I moved my body to heal my mind.
After I became pregnant, I found myself at Baby Moon in the Saturday morning class feeling completely at ease. I was meant to be there. Each class I went to, I left feeling utterly relaxed and less worried about the what if’s of pregnancy and birth. As I got further into my pregnancy, I left feeling like my body was opening and preparing for birth. I learned how to breath into my lungs to keep an even breath. I learned how to not push too hard because my body was different and needed me to slow down. I learned how to REST in Reclined Butterfly pose. I learned that other women had the same fears and concerns and body aches as me and I was not alone. And knowing that I wasn’t alone and knowing that I was a part of a community of women gave me confidence.
A true passion was formed in me. I have now been teaching for 4 years at Baby Moon. We are a community of women creating a space where we can be fully present in pregnancy, in preparation for any type of birth experience, and can be heard and seen and cared for. The purpose for every class is to focus on opening the hips, steadying the ever shifting pelvis, stretch out tight shoulders, build strength, bond with baby, and connect to the breath as a tool for being present. I want nothing more than for each mama who enters my room to leave with confidence for their journey and floating on a blissful cloud.
Prenatal yoga played a very significant role in how I approached my pregnancies and in the way I experienced the birth of my daughter and my son. It isn’t just for yogis and the fitness obsessed or women who want to have natural births. It is for ALL bodies, all walks of life, all mindsets, all women. What prenatal yoga does is provide a sense of well being for your pregnancy and prepare you for the birth that YOU are destined to have. For some women, it takes a lot of bravery to step into a prenatal yoga class. For some, they have been waiting for the chance to be there for years. Wherever you are in your pregnancy journey, there is a warm space for you in our prenatal yoga classes at Baby Moon. You deserve to be wholly engaged in your pregnancy and yourself and the precious baby growing inside of you.
Join us for Prenatal yoga in Lexington, KY:
Mondays @ 6:30pm with ME!
Saturdays @ 9am with Keisha
LOVE & EASE, mamas! Hope to see you soon!
Julie R.
P.S. Check back here soon for more blogs on yoga, pregnancy, birth, etc.!