Baby Yoga

I went to my first prenatal yoga class Monday night. And I loved it! A room full of moms to be, all at varying stages of pregnancy. What could be better?

The teacher starts each class with birth stories, either read from emails or told (like Monday!) by a special guest new mom. It was so enlightening to hear what the mother went through. The mom on Monday had a fairly easy - and completely natural! - delivery. But even her experience taught me about things that happen that I had no idea happened. It was a little shocking, but I still left feeling ready to have a baby. It takes a lot more to scare me away!

And honestly, what can I do now? Even if labor and delivery are the scariest things ever, I'm a little stuck. And I love it.

The next part of class, we went around the room saying how far along we are and what we were feeling the past week. I was the definite baby, at only 12 weeks. One women was at 39 weeks, about to pop, and happy as could be. Another mom, at 37 weeks, definitely had a contraction during class... CRAZY.

Then we got to the actual yoga part. I have done yoga before, but never like this class. The poses (all well known) are used in ways to teach moms how to prepare for birth. Everything we did focused on increasing core abdominal strength, improving posture, and relieving panic. It was fanTAStic. Just enough of a work out to get my heart rate up a little, but I wasn't exhausted at the end. And yet, still just enough that I was feeling a little sore from the workout yesterday. Perfect!

And the best part? While we were in deep relaxation at the end of class, I think I might have felt the baby move.