Taking a few minutes each day, or regularly a few times a week, for yoga & meditation can make an enormous difference in our overall energy levels, how we feel in our bodies as our pregnancies progress, our moods & sense of inspiration to take on the day, as well as preparing the body for a more comfortable & enjoyable labor. As promised, here is the prenatal yoga series that we practiced our first class together this session. Click this link to download the pdf of this series,http://embedit.in/PydtCZEb8Y. This series is a wonderful quick tune-up. It can be done in a very short amount of time, or the times of each exercise can be extended as noted in the directions. This series covers a lot of ground in a very short amount of time helping to stretch out areas in the body that can become compressed uncomfortably as our pregnancies progress, as well as opening up & strengthening the pelvic floor.
Remember in the squatting position to use any props, such as sitting on a bolster against a wall, or rolling up a yoga mat in a tight cylinder to place solidly under the heels, that can help you relax into the posture & support you to keep the feet parallel & able to rest your weight primarily down through your heels (and distributing some of it across the foot to your toes) so that your lower spine & bottom, back side of the hips get the deepest amount of opening. This is a wonderful posture to practice every day to help prepare for an easier labor, as well as supporting your overall comfort, especially during the last months of pregnancy. If hemorrhoids are an issue for you, you may wish to practice the version seated against a wall on a bolster, or bolster-like thick pillow, or a few blankets folded to the height that you need for the best support.
For optimal results remember to tune with Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, 3X before you begin your practice. This will help you to tap into the deepest resources of wisdom already within you as you go through your practice. You can use this mantra anytime you wish to tap into that infinite wise flow that moves through you.
Keep up exercises are highly recommended to add to the end of the yoga set to help practice our mindfulness & observe how we react to increasing sensation in the body, which is a tremendous labor prep. This is not included in the Prenatal Series #1 pdf, nor is our breath (pranayama) meditation we practiced. Descriptions of these to follow below. These would be inserted at the completion of the physical portion of the yoga series, just before the final relaxation. Remember the relaxation at the end is just as important as the physical exercises to fully assimilate their benefits.
Keep up exercise to release fear from the body & mind: Sit in easy pose, or a comfortable posture with a straight spine. Stretch the arms straight out to the sides parallel to the floor, four fingers curled into their corresponding mounds, thumb stretching straight up. Slowly circle the thumbs forward, down & pointing back as far as you can, then let them circle back up & as far backwards in that direction as you can. Keep that going, moving with your breath. Eyes are focused at the brow. Following the sounds Sat on your inhale & Naam on your exhale (Sat Naam rhymes with "But Mom") will help to deepen the affect of the subconscious fear release. Continue for 3-11 minutes. To close inhale stretch the arms out to the sides & as far back as you can, hold for a few moments, then exhale & relax.
Sitali Pranayama to calm & soothe the mind: This breath meditation is a very effective tool for releasing the grip of irritability, peevish moods, anger. It assists the liver to detox, freeing up stagnant flow in the system which can lead to unhealthful deposits or blockages in the body. This pranayama has been called "a cure within you". It will help you to keep your cool. It is reputed to be a powerful cancer preventative when practiced regularly both morning & evening for 26 breaths each. It will take an edge off, relieve the nerves, foster tolerance, calm & soothe you. It is also reputed to cool fevers. It supports us to act from our authentic selves, as opposed to reacting to our partners, our children, our loved ones, co-workers, or whoever we're dealing with from an emotional place. It's wonderful to remember to practice when visiting with relatives. No matter how much love there may be between us, we all have differing opinions & views of the world which can sometimes lead to frayed nerves. You can actually practice the breath itself any time you need; washing the dishes, taking a shower, watching TV, reading a book, writing an email, driving the car, etc. Keep this one in your tool box!
To practice it as a meditation, sit in easy pose, or a comfortable posture with a straight spine. Eyes are closed. Make a tight circle of the mouth & poke the tongue out. If possible, curl the tongue into a "U" shape. Some people are not genetically disposed to make a "U" of their tongues. If this is the case for you, just peak the tongue out just past the lips of your tightly circled mouth & let the air pass over your tongue. Inhale deeply through the straw you've made with your tongue, exhale completely through the nose in long, deep breaths. Enjoy the cooling, calming inhale, consciously release tension with the heat of the exhale. Continue for 3 minutes or up to 26 long deep breaths, as long as that takes. To close, inhale, hold the breath a few moments, exhale & relax.
The Prenatal Series #1 is from The Khalsa Way(r) Pregnancy Yoga Training Manual, as developed by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, based on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Gurmukh is the founder and director of Golden Bridge Yoga in Los Angeles and NYC, and author of two wonderful books, Bountiful, Beautiful Blissful: Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalini Yoga and Meditation, and The Eight Human Talents. Both the pranayama & the keep up exercise can be found in Gurmukh's book Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful, as well as the manuals which contain the Kundalini Yoga kriyas as taught by Yogi Bhajan. If you feel inspired to take a prenatal yoga teacher training course with Gurmukh she offers a wonderfully thorough training in Los Angeles as well as NYC. http://www.goldenbridgeyoga.com/uploads/TT/PTT_2008.html
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