Fall in Love with Yoga During Your Pregnancy

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new."   ~ Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Pregnancy is such a beautiful time in a woman's life. Not only does she have the miraculous privilege of creating a whole new life inside of herself, but she also has the opportunity and the inspiration to re-evaluate and re-invest in her own life. Pregnant women often find themselves creating new goals, tackling old fears, and giving their lifestyle a major overhaul.  

Whether it's taking vitamins, eating more kale, or trying a new exercise, an expectant mom is willing to do almost anything in order to create a safe, nurturing, and peaceful space for her growing child. 

Prenatal yoga can help to create the ideal physical and emotional space for an unborn child. Practicing yoga at anytime can help to relieve stress and alleviate depression, both of which many mothers-to-be are prone to. Practicing yoga during pregnancy can target special areas of concern, while also creating more space for the growing child and preparing the breath, abdomen, and hips for the actual birth. 

There are components of yoga that can be enjoyed during every phase of pregnancy. However, most women will want to discuss all physical activities with their specific care provider before partaking. A woman who has a regular yoga practice and is experiencing a typical pregnancy can continue her practice with minimal modifications, initially. As her body begins to change and the baby develops, a certified prenatal yoga instructor can guide the mother through the modifications necessary for each phase, ache, and ailment. 

One of the many fantastic attributes of yoga is that anyone can practice it at anytime. A mother-to-be can begin a yoga practice, even without any prior yoga experience, and still receive tremendous benefits, including increased flexibility, balance, strength, and pain management. 

Numerous studies support the purported benefits of prenatal yoga, from a decreased risk of prenatal depression to improved sleep to decreased backpain, and nausea, according to the Mayo Clinic. A 2012 study also found that prenatal yoga could decrease the likelihood of complications during pregnancy. The research showed that pregnant women who practiced yoga for one hour, three times per week, were less likely to have low birthweight babies, pregnancy-related diabetes and high blood pressure.

Breathe

Our breath is our life force. It's more important than food, water, and even love. It is the rare act that both happens automatically and is also controlled by us. Yoga helps us to focus on our breath and breathing in ways that we never have before. Virayoga founder and Art of Attention author Elena Brower says that the focus on breathing, in particular, can help moms-to-be decompress.

“When we practice when we’re pregnant, it makes a space in our bodies that we need ... for the baby and for ourselves," says Brower. "Breathing helps us create that opening inside of ourselves. Breathing helps us to see that we don’t have to react so quickly… Having that kind of space helps us be patient and helps us realize there’s time for everything.”

Stretch

Prenatal yoga includes specific postures that safely stretch the ligaments, tendons, and muscles that either become more taut during pregnancy, and/ or need to be released for an easier and safer labor and birth. Practicing yoga during pregnancy may help an expectant mom to better accept the beautiful and necessary changes (or challenges) that she and her body are experiencing. 

Strengthen 

Prenatal yoga can help to increase a mom's mental & physical strength and endurance in preparation for some of the toughest work that she will ever do- birth a child. Prenatal yoga classes may vary in intensity from very physically challenging to restorative. Additionally, moms within the same class may require varied modifications from each other, based on their previous level of physical fitness, current state of health, prescribed precautions, or daily energy level (women in their 2nd trimester typically have more energy than women in their first or late in their third). 

Love 

Whether a mom is having her first child or her fifth, her world is about to change dramatically with the birth of this miracle. Taking time out to practice yoga during her pregnancy may be the last selfish act that she will have the time for, and even it is not entirely selfish, since the yoga also helps with a developing fetus' brain and physical health. It is a time for the mother-to-be to connect with herself, as well as with her child. Each time she transitions to a more meditative state during yoga, she has the ability to experience her baby's flips and flutters more deeply. Finally, in a class or community setting, she has the opportunity to meet and gain support from other moms who are vibing with her pregnant self. These connections during pregnancy often blossom into lifelong friendships among the mothers and their children. 

Photo by Robyn Elicia

Prenatal yoga should be safe, enjoyable, invigorating, and empowering. There is no place for judgement or shaming, even within the mother's own head. It is a time to be wholly present with self, while falling  in love with her new self, her new body, and new baby. 

Tell us about how you fell in love with prenatal yoga experience. 

Photos: 1: Jada, 4 hours before going into labor at 40 weeks. 2: Jada, 29 weeks, still teaching and practicing yoga 

Attend a FREE Prenatal Yoga Class with Jada in Memphis during National Yoga Month!

When Breastfeeding Moms Receive Unexpected Support

My individual circle of breastfeeding support included my mother, two cousins, and a few friends who were advocates, but none of them lived near me. Early in my journey, I knew that I would have to reach out to breastfeeding moms in my local community. I joined our local La Leche League, as well as the Facebook group for breastfeeding moms in our area. These two groups, and several others along the way, have provided tremendous support for me, as well as, countless other moms throughout the world. 

Mother's rely on these (mostly private) breastfeeding groups for help with getting prepared, getting started, increasing milk supply, and alleviating nipple soreness. We vent about crazy in-laws, narrow-minded friends, and husbands who are anxious about putting the "fun bags" back to their proper use. We share success stories of husbands who finally get it, BOGO nursing bras, and employers who understand what it takes for a nursing mom to return to work. We intentionally go to these pages for support. We know that's it's available any time of the day or night... seriously, we NEVER sleep. It's so comforting and empowering to know that we can go to these virtual spaces to receive breastfeeding support. It's extra special when support comes from unexpected people, at unexpected times, and in unexpected ways. Last night, after putting my nursing tot back to sleep, I was making my nightly support group rounds to see who I could encourage, celebrate, or console, when I encountered a post that warmed my heart.

Not even 20 minutes later, I saw this one!

Two breastfeeding moms, in the same online support group, in the same town, whose paths may have crossed in posts before... or may not have. Either way, they are sure never to forget one another after this meeting. Without making even one verbal exchange about breastfeeding, without either one being topless, and without any big fuss about when or where to feed the baby, these two star-crossed nursing mamas supported each other with their generosity of word and deed. This is how we normalize breastfeeding. I hope that they become total BFFs now! Breastfeeding Friends Forever! 

In what unexpected ways have you been supported along your breastfeeding or parenting journey?

Blossom Mom

Blossom Health and Maternal Wellness

Blossom Dads: We Thank You!

We want to take this opportunity to wish all of the Blossom Dads out there a wonderful Father's Day! One day is simply not enough to show and tell you all of the ways that we love you and need you. We appreciate every ounce and fiber of you. If it were not for you, we could not be mothers at all, and if it were not for your love, support, and provision, we could not be the nurturing mothers that we are.

We thank you for sacrificing for us and for our children. We thank you for loving our changing bodies and changing moods. We thank you for trusting our intuition, whims, WebMD degrees. We thank you for investing in classes, books, projects, and supplies based on a single Pinterest post. We need you to be present in our lives and in our children's lives, every single day. Keep up the great work. We are grateful everyday.

With Eternal Appreciation,

Blossom Mom

What is your favorite to thank an amazing partner and dad?

Here We Grow Again

Three years ago, almost to the day, I left my job in corporate healthcare in order to work for myself, full time, in my own wellness company, One Touch Wellness, Inc. All year, I had prayed for the strength, finances, discipline, faith, and favor to abandon my comfy direct deposit, health insurance, and 401K, to pursue a desire that had been burning within me since I was in college, 10 years earlier. My fiance', at the time, encouraged me, almost daily, to take the leap. After a month long yoga retreat in Costa Rica, I finally did.

Over the next week, I went on an organizing, workout, cleansing, and cleaning spree. By the end of the week, I was exhausted... I was also nauseous, emotional, and "tender". So, before beginning another week in that condition, on Mother's Day 2012, I took a pregnancy test, and passed with flying colors- pink, to be exact. It turns out that the strength, stability, discipline, faith, and favor needed was not for my business, but for my child and my family.

I had just begun teaching sunrise yoga at a fitness bootcamp. I continued teaching through my 32nd week. I also continued to hike up Stone Mountain and practice Bikram yoga. In my second trimester, I started taking pregnancy yoga, pilates, and water aerobics. I also quickly found another job and moved our planned December wedding, to August. My entire life was spinning out of my control. My everything was revolving around my child's embryonic development, as well as her future.

My daughter was healthy and so was I, but I had an unmanageable and constant nausea throughout the entire pregnancy, known as hyperemesis gravidarum. I also had a new husband who was living 3 states away, who was not privy to much of my misery. At the beginning of my third trimester, I moved to be with my husband, left my home, left my mother, and ultimately, left my business. 

I loved being with my husband and I loved caring for and nursing my child. My adjustment to a new space, new routine, new financial status, little support, and little social outlet was a lot to handle at once. I declare that my success with breastfeeding, after a challenging pregnancy is the major reason that I did not fall into the throws of postpartum depression.

My overall experience with pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding is what has driven me to create Blossom Health and Maternal Wellness.

I believe that I am purposed to help women to create a greater life for themselves than they are currently living. However, 2 years into motherhood, I found myself living a fraction of the life that I had been called to live. My life is more than 3 minute showers, skipped lunches, workout excuses, and 3 pair of yoga pants to last all week... without any yoga. I was not meant to study women's anatomy, physiology, and mental health, only to keep the information between random Facebook posts and me. It was becoming painful to not be doing more... saying more, teaching and helping more.  

Women have children every day, but each life is truly a miracle, and each mother needs to and deserves to be supported in each pregnancy. That need for support should not be discounted by family, friends, physicians, or the mothers, themselves, simply because everyday is someone's BIRTH day. The fitness, nutrition, education, and rehabilitation that we provide helps to support new and expectant mothers, so that they can spend more positive energy caring for their child. 

While I was in the initial stages of creating Blossom, there was all kinds of confirmation that this was to be. From phone calls to friends sharing news of their pregnancy to pictures of me nursing my daughter being plastered all over the city, the time is definitely now. In church, on Mother's Day 2015, three years after discovering my "YES", my pastor talked about women living in and believing in their own destiny. I am doing that through Blossom Health and Maternal Wellness, starting now, with your help. 

Happy Mother's Day, today and every day!

and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to BLOSSOM. ~ anais nin