Pregnancy Yoga with a Beautiful Feeling
Sunny Sunday with a feeling of fall in the air. Kids were out with their dad and I got to enjoy a few hours of precious yoga time in total peace and silence. It's a rare luxury these days to have some hours just for me. But you know what, I appreciate these moments a lot more than I used to when I had more time to work and practice just by myself. I've noticed that I'm a lot more efficient nowadays. When you have only a few hours in a day to do what you have to do, you become more creative and productive. When I have too much time on my hands, I tend to procrastinate a bit too much wasting time on useless things.
Today I used these two hours by combining work and yoga practice. I planned next week's prenatal yoga class by doing the practice myself as well. For me, it's important to feel in my own body all the asanas, meditation, and breathing practices that I teach. Only in that way, I can truly transmit the effect the yoga practice has on the student's body, mind, and soul. This is one of the reasons I also do a prenatal yoga practice even though I'm not pregnant myself. Another reason is that since I was introduced to prenatal yoga for the first time, I've simply loved the flowing, breath-driven, and delicate Prenatal Yoga. The third reason is my favorite one: It's the possibility to go back in time and reconnect with my pregnancies and with those little unborn souls. Going thru all the spectrums of feelings I experienced during those times is extremely healing and empowering. It's like reading and rewriting the story of my journey into motherhood. A story that has changed me more than anything else, and the one that will continue changing and enriching me for the rest of my life.
Even though I don't have a little baby growing inside me, I just need to use my imagination, and in a fraction of a second, I can recall those beautiful months when I was pregnant myself. It's like reliving those times all over again. The meditation at the beginning of the practice and the relaxation and breathing exercises done at the end of the practice is emotionally the most powerful ones. During those moments, while sitting or lying with my eyes closed, I can connect with the memories of both my pregnancies and the miracles of birth.
During a prenatal class, I ask my students to connect with the baby growing inside them, but in my personal practice, I ask myself to go back in time and really connect with the moments when:
The baby was kicking and punching so hard that it felt like he/she was going to break his/hers way out through the belly.
The baby was having so strong hiccups that my whole belly was dancing.
It felt like the baby was practicing somersaults in my womb.
I was sleeping together with a little soul resting together with me.
I was caressing my belly just to get a little signal from inside to know that my baby was ok.
Often, whether I'm teaching prenatal, postnatal, or "normal" yoga classes, I ask my students to connect with a beautiful feeling. That gives them a positive mindset for the practice. We all have different methods, memories, and preferences about what it is that gives us beautiful feelings. For me, the most beautiful feeling is the moment right after my babies have been born, and being able to hold them, skin on skin. Holding, hugging, smelling, caressing, and feeding that little and delicate beautiful soul that I have been given the privilege to take care of. It always brings tears to my eyes, tears of true happiness, joy, gratitude, and unconditional love. It opens my heart and flushes away any negative feelings or stress I might have had before that. A simple and small, but yet very effective way of shifting your mood. Focusing on the beautiful feeling is a powerful way of reminding yourself that no matter what the outer circumstances are, you can always find beauty from the inside. So, the next time you feel dark clouds swarming over you, close your eyes and dive deep into the archives of your memory, or use the power of your imagination, and allow beautiful feelings to blow the dark clouds away and give room to the inner beauty we all carry in our hearts.
"Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge." - Audre Lord
