With quotes from Angela of http://www.spaceandtimeconsulting.com/

Maternity leave is NOT vacation – maybe it’s just the opposite!  However, it is a time out of ordinary life, and it’s made me think a lot about the ways in which we take (or don’t take) vacation breaks.

We have these set intervals in which we mark time – days, weeks, months, years, etc.  I’ve started thinking about creating little vacations in each one of these time periods as a healthy way to ensure I’m releasing stress on a regular basis.  I’ve asked yogini Angela from Spaceandtimeconsulting.com to chime in a bit about how to create “vacations” regularly for yourself.

DAILY – Studies show that when you work in short bursts, and have some non-work breaks throughout the day, that you’re actually more productive!   Sitting at your desk for hours at a time is bad for your back, your eyes, your heart, your bladder, AND your productivity! When you’re working or studying, you will be most focused on the first and last tasks in your burst.

So, having many mini study/work sessions in the day will help you retain more information and get more done.

Good 1-10 minute day breaks:

• Get up! Stretch and dance, and take some big sighs. Don’t surf the web.
• My favorite mid-day yoga that’s easy to do in an office: shoulder stretches! Examples include: eagle, cow, and yoga mudra.
• Close your eyes and smile at the stillness and silence!  Or listen to some soothing music.
• Do you need a bio-break?  It’s amazing how we can lose track of the fact that we need to use the bathroom, or that we need to drink water.

“I couldn’t agree more with this!  Often people think of time for themselves needing to be in large chunks of time, but throughout the day if you insert little spaces of time for yourself you will still benefit immensely!  I know sometimes guilt creeps in, but if you think of it as taking care of yourself it puts it into a new light.  The saying of putting your oxygen mask on first before helping others is really the key here!”  -Angela

WEEKLY – The weekend is something we shouldn’t take for granted – we worked hard and earned some rest!  The weekend is basically the ancient idea of the Sabbath – (at least) one holy day of rest each week, to honor the creative lifeforce.   You can’t keep creating if you don’t take some time to renew!

Good weekend ideas to renew:

• Get thee to a yoga class at *least* once a week.  Please give yourself the gift of a full yoga experience, from warm-ups right through to savasana.   For most of us, that means going to a class where we don’t have to think about what’s next – the teacher will guide you, and you enjoy the journey.
• Spend the day outside (on the beach or hiking for example).
• Spend a day with friends (seeing a movie and going out to dinner).
• Make an excursion to a place you haven’t gone before – a museum or park that you’ve always meant to go to.
• Spend a day on the couch or porch reading a book (avoid TV most of the time!).

“I love this because it speaks directly to how we choose to spend our leisure time.  I choose to do yoga during my breaks because it is one of those activities that is packed with all around benefits for your well-being.  It encompasses physical, social, emotional, cognitive and spiritual domains all at one time and as Barrett stated, taking the journey with a teacher is a real gift. I find yoga is perfect for getting myself into a state of flow.

In that same vein, not all activities are created equal.  I love that Barrett said avoid TV most of the time, because it really is low on the activity index for benefits to your well-being.  I challenge people who feel they have time constraints to do a time-diary study to see how much time is spent watching TV.  It’s often one of the biggest chunks of time in peoples’ diaries.  If you can cut that out of your schedule you’d be surprised at how much time opens up to do activities that are really meaningful to you.” -Angela

MONTHLY – Inevitably, you’ll have some days and weeks where you didn’t give yourself a little vacation from the grind.  Every month, I try to look at my calendar and see what’s coming up that I’m really looking forward to.   Almost every month, there is a holiday – for example, we’ve got Labor Day coming up.   I’m trying to use those holidays, or special visits from family and friends, as a way to more consciously build in relaxation.   If you are someone who likes weekend getaways, aim for one a month to recharge you.   Finally, if you’re really a yoga aficionado, there are weekend intensives every month in Boston with top teachers ready to help you dive in!   Try a few of these every year – they will take your yoga practice to the next level!

“This idea of looking toward the future is great.  Having positive things to focus on and plan for keeps you moving forward, and also helps you to put the current moment into perspective.” -Angela

YEARLY – Our last cycle of time is the year.   Take a real vacation every year, for at least a week!   Every winter, I make the commitment to go someplace warm to get the chill and the gray of the winter out of my system.  Also, my partner and I try to plan a vacation every few years that’s a big one – to a special place in the world (Israel, Europe, someday to India), and we try to go for a longer stretch of time.   These things help keep us feeling alive and connected to our sense of adventure.  I try to do a yoga training once a year to keep my skills sharp and my spirit renewed.

Carving out some restful time, in small and large increments throughout your days, weeks, months and years, is so important.  It relaxes you, and also helps you reset back into enjoying the moment.  Most of us don’t do this enough.  It’s counterintuitive to think that we’ll actually get *more* done with more time off.  But it’s true – and you’ll enjoy it all more as well.

“I would love to see Americans shift their values to create a culture where we are not only expected to, but encouraged to take time off from work. According to a 2010 Expedia.com survey, only 38% of Americans said they take all of their vacation days!  We can begin to change this one person at a time, one day at a time, and one moment at a time.  How do you begin to carve this time out.  What would it look like?  What choices would you make?  What activities would you choose to pursue?  I am happy to give you a free phone or email consultation to help you get started!” -Angela

See you on the yoga mat for your daily vacation!!

Barrett

Something about major life transitions always gets my creative juices flowing!  Last year when I got married, a student commented to me that marriage suited me.  She said, “Your classes have been really creative.”     And she was right – though I always strive for creative, unique classes, the major life change of committing to someone had opened up a wellspring inside of me.  A creative spark was more evident in my classes for my regular students.  I was deliriously happy too, which is always nice to be around

Now I’ve given birth.   Major.Life.Transition.   As in, nothing is the same as it was.   The rhythm of my days (and nights!) are different.  The way I eat, sleep, and even take a shower are different (I do them all frantically, as quickly as I can).   But the cool thing that always happens, is happening.   I feel ON FIRE with ideas about teaching.   And I’m not teaching yet (I’m going back this Sunday though!) so it’s like there’s a reserve of FANTASTIC ideas wanting to BURST out of me!!

I think one of the reasons for the creative spark this time is that my body is different, so yoga feels different.  You might expect someone to complain about this – after all, pregnancy is cumbersome.   You weigh more than you ever have, you cannot practice some basic moves, and there’s a fair number of aches and pains that come with the territory no matter how much you take care of yourself.   But I loved all of this about pregnancy, actually!   I didn’t like it for myself personally, but professionally I found it fascinating!  I was feeling ways that my students, both regular and pregnant, might feel sometimes in class.

This may sound morbid, but one of my teachers, Beryl Bender Birch, says, “One day, you will lose all the poses.”   As in, one day, you won’t be here on the Earth anymore.   But also as in, one day, you’ll be too old/injured/infirm/busy/pregnant to do this pose.   I loved my pregnancy when I *couldn’t* do something because it reminded me that everyone is different on the mat.  What I feel is different from my students.   I can watch a student carefully, I can listen to her description of what she’s feeling, and I can use my years of experience with other students to make an educated guess about what’s going on for her.   But I can’t feel exactly what she feels.   The more experiences I have in my own body, the better I can relate to discomforts my students have.

We can also remember that just as each person is different from their neighbor on the next mat over, we change ourselves day by day, month by month, and year by year.   So, what you *could* do previously is not what you’re doing today, and that’s amazing!!  You might be doing more today, you might be doing less.  We are our own best teachers for this reason.

I’ve learned a lot from having a different body in 2011.  Pregnancy has allowed me that window of insight into how we can experience the same posture *so* differently.   It’s opened up yet another wellspring of new and different movement patterns *because* of the restrictions of pregnancy, and the newfound freedom postpartum.

Have I mentioned how awesome it is to be getting all the poses back?  Beryl Bender Birch was right – someday I will lose all the poses.   But thankfully, it’s not today!

Letting it flow,

Barrett

Looked at images for creative yoga, and loved this twist (you can barely twist at all by the end of pregnancy!)  This is an awesome photo, but too bad it’s an advertisement:

I was at my new mom’s group today, and here’s the first thing to know – everyone has such different experiences in pregnancy, labor and birth, and postpartum!  We all had different experiences in each phase of this childbearing year. So, though I teach postnatal yoga, going through the experience and listening to others reaffirms that we each have to go at our own pace.

Here’s what I’ve learned from my yoga practice in the first two weeks postpartum.  Remember, this is me, and your experience after giving birth will be different:

1)      For some period of time, you will wonder if you’ll ever feel normal again.

When I first stood up after giving birth, I thought my hip was displaced, my hamstring was pulled and all my nerves from the waist down were on high voltage.  After a few minutes, things settled down, but it’s a crazy experience your body has, even if it’s designed to do this!

For the first week after giving birth, I felt like I was twice my age!   I was so creaky and cranky in my muscles and joints.   I stayed in bed a lot, walked a little, and didn’t do a lot of yoga asanas (see what I did in #2 below).   By the second week, I felt like myself, just extra stiff.   I added simple asanas to my yoga routine, like shoulder stretches.    Now entering the third week, I feel totally normal, and my yoga practice is coming back to normal.  Besides intensive core work, I can do the basics of most any pose – inversions, twists, back strengtheners, hip openings etc.

2)      It’s all about moola bandha and uddiyana bandha.

If you’re not an experienced yogini, these might be foreign terms to you.   The bandhas are a bit complex to explain in words (and they’re not easy to teach either), but these two techniques are essential to start practicing postpartum!   Moola bandha is essentially an engagement (or lift) of your  pelvic floor, and uddiyana bandha is essentially engaging you midsection abdominals.   My primary yoga in the first week was feeling these two “locks,” or bandhas.   They are the weak links after going through pregnancy and then giving birth (even if you don’t have a vaginal birth, both are still weakened).

3)      Many people experience a euphoric state for a few weeks, but watch out for the crash!

You may think you’re superwoman the first week or two!  Watch out – you have to rest or else you’ll crash.   We have hormones that get us through the first few weeks, but after that, you need to have some sleep and nutritional reserves built up.

There’s been a few days where I’ve planned too much, and it’s made me AND Yona (and my husband Gadi) cranky.   So I’m getting better at acknowledging limits – 1-2 guests per day visiting, and for a short period of time only.   And for now, as we’re starting to venture out of the house, I’ve realized only 1 outing per day.  It’s been hard to stick to this “rule,” but it pays off.   My midwife says that the number 1 thing we can do to heal after birth is to rest.  It’s so hard to give yourself, but in the long run, it pays off.

4)      Additional non-yoga care has been helpful.

I’ve used a belly band and done some uterine massage to help settle my organs (an extension of uddiyana bandha).   I didn’t use stairs for a whole week after birth to heal my pelvic floor (an extension of moola bandha).  I can go into more detail about these things in a later post if anyone’s interested.

A little splurge could be great too!  I cannot wait to get a pedicure – it’s not going to heal my body, but it will help me feel like my normal self again!   Massage, going out to eat, shopping, going to the beach.   Try to find something to do in the first 2 months that help *you* feel like *you* again!

——-

When I get back to teaching postpartum yoga, I will be so excited to have gone through this experience!   We’ve always focused a lot on the pelvic floor and the abdominals in class (along with sore backs and shoulders).   But having experienced it first-hand now, I can truly say that postnatal yoga makes a huge difference.

I can feel after two weeks that my abdominals are coming together – they’re looking good too!   My pelvic floor is strong and supporting me and my organs (I’m not ready to go jogging yet, but that will come in time).   Though I’m still stiff in the legs and shoulders, I know with regular practice, I’ll loosen up again.

What would I do without yoga?   It’s such a blessing, time after time!    I’ll keep you updated on my progress as I continue on this postpartum journey.

Namaste,

Barrett

Here is what we read at Yona Yitzchak’s bris  today:

Barrett:

Thank you all for being here today to witness us becoming a family and welcoming Yona Yitzchak Reinhorn into the Jewish community.  We would like to share with you the meaning and significance of the names Yona and Yitzchak.   We’d also like to say a few words about three treasured relatives in whose honor we named him.

About the name Yona:  In mystical Judaism every word and phrase has a numerical value.  The name Yona has the same value as the phrase Koach gadol, or “great power.”  Also, Yona is the Hebrew word for dove, and dove is the symbol of peace.  Yona, you were born big and strong (with koach gadol), and we wish for you to use your great strength, to wage peace in the world.

Gadi:

Yona’s middle name is Yitzchak, which means “he will laugh.” I’ve always loved the idea of this name – a wish for someone to laugh.  Barrett and I laugh a lot together, both with each other and at each other.  Also, Barrett has always loved the story of Sarah, Yitzchak’s mother in the Torah.  She was well past childbearing age but God told her that she would have a son.   She and Avraham both laughed in response, which is why he was named Yitzchak. Yona, we can’t wait to laugh with you!

Also, Yitzchak’s half brother in the Torah is Yishmael, who by Jewish and Muslim tradition, becomes a forefather of the Muslim people. Through Yona Yitzchak’s blessings of peace and laughter, we wish for him to bridge the gaps of understanding in the world.  Yona, we will help you reach out to others who are different from you, and to practice tikkun olam, which means “to repair the world.”

Barrett:

Yona Yitzchak is named in honor of 3 special relatives, of blessed memory. We love being an aunt and uncle, and we want to honor that special role by naming our son after one aunt and two uncles of ours.

Loy Wayne was my uncle and my mother Carolyn’s brother.  He was always the life of the party, and I can still hear his laugh and see his shining eyes. He was so helpful, and you could count on him. He would be the first to make the 3-hour trip to the airport to pick me up when I visited Kansas, and he would make sure I had a good time while I was there.  Yona, may you be as dependable and fun loving as Loy Wayne.

Gadi:

Yoli was my maternal great Aunt.  Barrett and I visited her on our trip to Israel in 2008.  Yoli was very outgoing and generous, and known for hosting parties.  She survived Auschwitz with my grandmother Ella, and moved to Israel after the war.  She passed away last year, just before our wedding.   Yona, may you have an outgoing and tenacious spirit like Yoli.

Yonel was my paternal great Uncle, and a favorite from my childhood.  He had a generous spirit. I think fondly of the unique and cutting edge presents Yonel gave me. For example, I still display in my office a 50 euro bill that he gave me, from the first year they were issued. Yona, may you be generous and forward thinking like Yonel.

Barrett:

In closing, Yona, we have wished upon you many traits:  generosity, dependability, tenacity, peacefulness, humor, and more.  We love you and can’t wait to see who you become in the world.  And for all of you who have joined us here today: thank you for already being a great influence in Yona’s life, helping him to embody these qualities.

More pictures!

For background, I should say that I think birth is important.  The way a birth happens and the way a mom and baby are treated often affects the way new parents feel about starting their parenting journey.  So, my husband Gadi and I wanted to carefully consider our choices, options and alternatives in order to have a safe, healthy and happy pregnancy and birth.

I could spend a whole post talking about why we chose a homebirth, but it will just have to suffice to say, that’s what we decided.   We chose a woman to be with us who has been a midwife for over 20 years and is a mother and grandmother.    We spent hours with her in the course of the pregnancy, getting to know her, and learning from her.  When the day came, I felt comfortable trusting her to guide us through a safe birth.   As an aside, we also developed a relationship with the midwives at a local hospital, who agreed to give us prenatal care on a reduced schedule along with the full care from the homebirth midwife.   It felt good to us that they had a record of our pregnancy in case we or the midwife opted at any point to transfer to the hospital.

So here goes:   I went into labor on my due date!  We never told anyone our due date because we didn’t want people to get fixated on a day, when due time is a whole month!  (See my blog post about due date vs. due time for more information).

On Sunday and Monday (June 26 and 27) I taught prenatal yoga classes.  I was feeling very achy and couldn’t imagine another 2 weeks of pregnancy (the end of the due time window).   I was really hoping that all the achiness I felt was a sign that labor was imminent, but I know how the mind can play tricks on you.   As a result, on Monday I tried to rest the whole day.   I read a book, I didn’t move much except to walk to my class and teach it, and I stayed hydrated.   In retrospect, I think this was my version of nesting!  I’m so glad I did this, because I needed a lot of strength for the coming day.

I woke up early Tuesday morning, wondering if my water was going to break.  I felt wet, and sure enough as I took the 10 steps to the bathroom, my water broke.   It was enough to be sure it was my water, but not a huge gush.   I broke a glass at the same time, so as Gadi and I cleaned up the water, we also had the task of making sure there were no shards of glass on our floor!   My water broke more in the process, and with the frequent gushes, out came every towel in the house to soak up the mess!   The work of cleaning up put me into labor right away, and we called the midwife to let her know.   The contractions were frequent enough and strong enough that she was at our house by 9am.

I found sitting on the birth ball helpful, and surprisingly, hands and knees position not as helpful.   I love to teach hands and knees pose in prenatal yoga, but it made the contractions more intense, which so early in labor, I didn’t need to do.  I progressed quickly and within a few hours I was in the birth pool to handle contractions better.  I threw up while in the tub, which is often a sign of transition, and the second midwife arrived so that we were ready in case things kept moving fast.

In this time, it’s interesting to reflect back on how I handled the labor.   I think it was all physical and mental yoga practice!!  Gadi bailed water on my chest or back every time I had a contraction to keep me warm and focused.  I used the rhythm of that like I use rhythmic movements and breath in yoga practice.  I also used spontaneous mantras.   When I would feel a contraction coming on, I’d say things like, “Yes!  Yes!  Feeling good.  No problem.  Breathing.  Letting go.  Calming down. “   Sometimes I would say all those things in one stream of consciousness, and sometimes just one thing.   I remember as things would get really intense, I’d swear, but I’d always reframe.   So, I’d say, “Oh, fuck! OW!  I mean   Yes!  Keep it coming.  I’m ok.   I’m ok.”  Talking my way through really helped.   In between contractions, I rested completely.  I don’t remember thinking about anything except how to relax and let go.

Though it seemed like labor was going fast, turns out there was a hitch.  By the late afternoon, I was getting to a stretchy 8cm dilated, with a lip of cervix.   The lip wouldn’t go away… for the next 12+ hours.  We’d make progress – the cervix would continue to change, but not enough to be completely dilated and ready to push.

This is where having 2 experienced midwives turned out to be critical.  Anywhere else, I’d be on the clock and being diagnosed with failure to progress.   At a hospital, that could have meant pitocin, narcotics, epidural, Csection, or all of the above.   At home, it meant lots of different positions, resting without pushing even though there was a strong urge, homeopathics, verbal support, constant reminders that the baby was ok.  The baby’s heart beat was checked frequently throughout labor and with every contraction once we got to pushing.  It was always strong and steady, which helped me stay positive – if the baby could do it, I could do it. I was a bit on the clock with these midwives too, because my water had broken, but they never scared me with that.   Instead, they worked hard to keep me moving forward.

By 5am Wednesday morning, the lip was cleared and we were ready to push.  I was tired, but had stayed pretty well hydrated and was trying to keep some calories in with honey, Gatorade and juice.  The pushing was unpleasant, but I knew it would be a strong sensation of stretch.   We took it slow, the midwives supported my perineum with compresses and finally, at 7:27am on Wednesday June 29, out came our baby!   All 9lbs. 2oz.  of him!   I didn’t have any tearing, and as soon as the baby was placed on my chest, I picked him up to see that he was a boy!

His name is Yona Yitzchak Reinhorn.   The meaning behind his name is again, a whole other story/blog post

What I learned from our labor:

-          Prepare for birth.   Prenatal yoga, good nutrition, regular appointments that lasted 1 hour and included discussion about everything, 8 weeks of childbirth education.  It all contributed to a good birth outcome.

-          Put yourself in hands you trust.  I don’t think I could have had an intervention-free birth with a practitioner I didn’t know.   One of the many benefits of homebirth.

-          Use every available tool you have.  I literally had a whole bag of tricks, and music for hours lined up.   I didn’t use any of them, but I’m so glad I had them.   Gadi would remind me of these options.   In the end, with his help, I just went inside.

-          Don’t let anyone “estimate” your baby’s size.   If the midwives had guessed I was going to have an over 9lb. baby, I would have been scared.    There was nothing to be scared of because I didn’t know, and nothing about him hurt me.

Last little bit:  Gadi was amazing!   You *need* amazing people surrounding you at birth.   It doesn’t have to be your romantic partner, but I was *so* glad for all the preparation he did too!   When I doubted I could go on, he said what I needed to hear.   When I needed help focusing on how to relax, he’d try one of many relaxation scripts we’d developed in the months of pregnancy.   When I knew exactly what I needed (hours of alternating cold washcloths on my face), he patiently sat next to me and did what needed to be done.   We really did birth together!  Love you, G!

That’s it for now.   On to loving up this baby!!

It’s the nature of my job – I spend a lot of time with women.   I specialize in prenatal and postnatal yoga, so I know women’s experience of the childbearing year expertly.

But I teach more regular yoga classes than prenatal/postnatal.  And about a quarter of my students in regular classes are men.    And I really like the men that tend to come to my classes – they’re open, funny, and bring a vibrant energy to their mat.   And, in general, men’s bodies do move differently than women’s bodies – a huge generalization, but nonetheless this has been helpful to me to remember.   I learn a lot from the men in my class and I’ve really enjoyed befriending them.

I interviewed a few of my regular students, who have been practicing consistently for at least 3 years, and found out some interesting things about them and their journey into yoga.

First, all three of the students I interviewed are physically active in other ways.   M cycles, C runs and swims, and B goes to the gym.  Their yoga practice complements the other physical activities, and balances them out so that they don’t feel like they overexert too much in one area of their body.   Interestingly, for two of the three, yoga is now their main form of physical movement – they feel like the  other exercise they do weekly is more to supplement their yoga practice.   And one said that when asked now what his main exercise is, he says, “Yoga.”

Also, the male yogis mentioned that a big part of their yoga practice is mental.   The primary reason B practices yoga is because it makes him “relaxed and calm.”   M wrote: “On longer [cycling] rides, the concentration I have developed in yoga has come in handy.   I focus on movement, breathing, relaxing, shoulders, neck, face…turning the pedals over, one after the other… and smiling.”

Lastly, all the yogis see sticking with yoga for the long run partially because it’s been so helpful with staying uninjured and even healing old injuries.   C says: “It’s pretty clear that yoga helps a lot to manage the injuries, stiffness and aches that gradually accrue over the years.”  Because of his yoga practice over the last 6 years, he’s avoided recurrent back spasms he used to have every few months, and also managed to be pain and medication-free from sciatica, which was a regular ailment of his.

B ended his interview saying that he really couldn’t imagine a time in his life where he won’t be practicing yoga.  In many ways, as I look at their answers, there’s nothing particularly “male” about their responses.   For me, it’s nice to think about the universal gift that yoga offers everyone.

A giant thank you to M, B, and C for taking time to reflect on their practice!

See you on the mat!

Barrett

My dear friend Emily and I are having some yoga “play” here – one of my favorite things to do with yummy friends

Partner yoga downward dog – this feels great on Emily’s sacrum when my toes press back and up.

Now I get to have a little fun!   Maybe someday my foot will touch my head

A little warm-up wheel before the grand finale…

Ta-da!  A double wheel pose!   Both yogis should be able to do wheel pose, and bottom yogi has to be strong to lift the top yogi!

Soak up the yoga and the love – do some partner yoga soon!

Namaste,

Barrett

“When the asana is correct, there is a lightness, a freedom.  Freedom comes when every part of the body is active.  Let us be free in whatever posture we are doing.  Let us be full in whatever we do. “  – BKS Iyengar

I have a love/hate relationship with backbends.   I love them because they are stimulating and energizing – who needs coffee when you’ve got some good backbends under your belt for the day?

But then I hate them because they’re hard – they require awhile to warm up before you can properly do them.  I have to practice at least 30 minutes before I can do more difficult backbends, and then I have to spend at least 15 minutes releasing them so I don’t have an achy back afterwards.   They also need to be repeated in a practice several times in order to really work in them, and after you’re done with the first, you rarely want to move on.   So, it’s a full hour practice for me, much of it pushing myself.

I also hate them because they show me the state of my practice – and when they’re stiff and stuck feeling, I know I haven’t been practicing with enough intensity.   And that’s how they’ve been feeling lately.   So….

It’s time to do a little backbend challenge!   I’m commiting to a month of backbends in October, my birthday month.  It’s a little Iyengar tradition to do dropbacks on your birthday – sometimes practitioners do as many as they are old (for me that would be 33 this year), and sometimes practitioners do 108, the sacred number of yoga.   Mr. Iyengar, now in his 90’s, still evidently does dropbacks!!

Here’s a beautiful video of a dropback. I’ll be using it as my inspiration – yes, I can do dropbacks, but no, I’ve never done any significant number in a row!  I don’t think that will be my goal in October, but who knows?  Stay tuned and check in with me on how my backbends are opening up as I commit to a more regular practice.

Anyone care to join me on my backbend quest?

Love to you all!

Barrett

First and foremost, I’m a yoga teacher.  I teach all adults, and I specialize in prenatal and postnatal yoga.  But in my previous life, I did a lot of activism, in public health and human/civil rights.  My passion for the last decade has been working with moms in the childbearing year, and of course, a huge focus of our work is on laboring and birth.  So, I like to share positive news and trends in the pregnancy/birth world!

One of the reasons I think yoga is so important during pregnancy is that it helps you *trust* how healthy you are.  When you know from deep within that you are healthy and that your baby is healthy, then you can advocate for yourself if needed.   As valuable as hospitals and their well-trained staff are, navigating a hospital birth is often a minefield of interventions and restrictive policies, many of which can be unnecessary.   Two recent articles highlight some positive changes happening, in large part because families are advocating for them!!

First, hospitals are finally starting to lift the ban on drinking and eating in labor!   Can you imagine working hard for 14 hours (average length of labor for first time mom) and not eating or drinking?   That’s crazy!  So for years, informed mamas have snuck in snacks to their labor rooms, because they know they need fuel to make it through labor.   Now, hopefully, families can feel free to openly nourish their laboring women in the hospital.

If you’re pregnant, advocate for yourself ahead of time by letting your care provider know that you reserve the right to eat or drink (if you want) during your time in the hospital.

Second, we have a long road ahead of us, but a recent article in a medical journal is finally recognizing that routine induction of moms in their due time leads to a huge increase in the incidence of Cesarean section.   It’s so important to avoid medical induction if there is not a medical reason, and yet, half the moms in my class struggle to push back against eager doctors (and midwives!) who want to induce.

If you are a mama seeking to avoid CSection, talk to your provider early in your pregnancy about their induction rates.   Ask your provider if they routinely induce, and when.   I recommend if they routinely induce at 41 weeks that you seek another provider, and let the original provider know the reason why!   As a consumer, you have a great deal of power to change the way medical providers practice, especially when the science backs you up.

And of course, through it all, practicing yoga regularly with give you the motivation, determination and COURAGE to grow your baby, birth your baby, and parent your baby the best way you can.

Namaste!!

Barrett

I just got home from a week long vacation, in which I did very little yoga.  I couldn’t wait to get into a routine at home again, including a regular yoga practice.   I rolled out my mat on Sunday afternoon, and just fell on it in happiness.  After about 30 minutes on the mat, I took my first Savasana (did you know you can do that??  Multiple rest and relaxations in your yoga practice??)

The feeling was exquisite.   Everything in my body was vibrating!  It felt so good to physically notice my toes, to feel the weight of my body sinking into the ground, to imagine my imprint on the earth as I let go.   Because I had just been on vacation, I wasn’t yet thinking about lists of to-dos.    So, even though I was on the clock, having to teach in an hour or so, I felt delicious.   I could just float through and on the sensations of deep relaxation.

My teacher Don has a phrase that he says during Savasana: “Notice any pulsing, tingling, streaming sensations.”   I’ll use this occasionally in class, and I also try to come up with other evocative language.   If you’re at all a “word” person, then it will be worth your while to notice the words and phrases that work for you in your yoga practice, whether you hear them from  a teacher or come up with them yourself.  The words that came up during this Savasana were “thrumming” and “vibrating.”

I had a sense of deep well-being.   At one point, I was saying Well-Being over and over, which is really nice if you think about it.  Smiling and sighing a lot (you know how much I encourage that if you go to my class).

Afterwards, it felt so clear to me *why* yoga makes such a difference.   When you have that experience as part of the back drop of your day, you can draw on it to help you with difficult situations.   Instead of reacting in anger or defensiveness, you might be able to take a deep breath, feel compassion, and try a different, more effective tack.   That’s what happened to me!  It was wonderful to know that my yoga practice was good for me, and for the others around me who benefitted from a more soothing response from me.

They say the effects of yoga practice last for about 48 hours.   I think that’s more or less true – of course we’re all different, and so are our yoga practices!   But if you can give yourself a little yoga (WITH Savasana of course) at least every other day, I think you’ll notice some changes, both on and off the mat.

Happy to be back!

Barrett

lululemon picture

But this was actually really great for me.   I needed a weekend of intensive yoga – no teaching, just doing my own thing.  It was wonderful to take care of my hamstring and shoulder, and go at my own pace.   There was a sense of less ego and performance for me in this conference than I probably had 10 years ago at my last conference.   Injury and experience both will humble you, I guess!

I saw some teachers I’d studied with before and to whom I wanted to make a little pilgrimage.  David Swenson, Shiva Rea, and Beryl Bender Birch were all great, and it was nice to be in their energy again. Each one is so different!  It’s good to study with lots of people.

New for me was Desiree Rumbaugh, an Anusara teacher.   I have always liked Anusara, but just haven’t pursued training because I like a lot of other styles too.  I’d never studied with Desiree and I’m so glad I did!   She’s got a lot of energy, and she teaches well.   She reminds me of my teacher Amba with her infectious laugh and joie de vivre.  I did a handstanding workshop, and though I’m very proficient in handstands, I learned a little of the Anusara approach, which is definitely different than any other approach I’ve learned or intuited on my own.   I’m considering another workshop with Desiree later in the summer, because this short intro was not enough!

I also had an introduction to Julie Gudmestad, who had written the Anatomy column in Yoga Journal for forever!   She’s a physical therapist and yoga teacher, and I did a course with her on the rotator cuff.   It was great because my rotator cuff has been getting aggravated easily in the last few months.   She had some really helpful information, and in general, the conference helped me zone in a bit more on some of the things I am doing in my teaching that are probably contributing to the problem.

So, do I recommend conferences?   Yes!  But sparingly.  A conference once every 5 years or so is plenty for me.  If you’re interested in studying yoga more intensively, a conference is a good way to shop around for potential teachers, and could even be a good way to explore one topic with many teachers.   For example, if you wanted to work on arm balances, you could do a conference and pick sessions that help you learn a bit more about arm balances (word to the wise though – these conferences are tiring, so make sure you don’t injure yourself overdoing it!).

Once you have teachers you love, seek them out and learn from them.   Most teachers who inspire you will be a deep well of information and transformation, good to learn from several times over many years.   I think there’s beauty in going deep with one teacher or tradition, and while a conference doesn’t give you that, it’s a valuable sampling.

Now get on the mat!

Barrett

A lot of people give advice when you’re getting married, and I found it breaks down into equal thirds.   1/3 of the advice is complete bollucks, 1/3 is good advice that you’re not going to take because it’s too late or doesn’t apply to you, and 1/3 of it is something you end up using.

The best advice we got?   Try to be in the moment!!   So many people told us the wedding would be a blur.   Several women told us that they were still so busy coordinating on the day of the wedding that they weren’t really present.  Lots of people said we NEEDED to have a videographer because that’s the only way we’d remember the wedding.

That was some bullocks for us – no video needed!  Instead, we planned a lot and worked hard.  For the actual weekend, Gadi and I were really *present* and the whole experience blew my mind.    Lots of others seemed to have a great time too, which was nice, but it ROCKED for us.  I remember everything so vividly!  Of course, we’re also trying to write everything down and collect pictures from everyone, because we know someday we will start to forget.

Interesting right?   That was what a lot of people missed about their own wedding experience – being in the moment – being present.   For me, even though there was very little yoga asana happening in the week leading up to our extravaganza, we tried every night to debrief with each other and really soak it all in.   It felt for me like a lot of my yoga training came into play each day in order to go with the flow of it all.

At 2am the night before our wedding, when I couldn’t sleep, I finally turned to the mat, and it felt SO good to breathe deeply.   In general, the times when I feel most present in my life are on the mat or in the studio teaching.   It’s a really familiar touchstone at this point.   I knew in that moment on the mat, in the middle of the night, in a hotel room, the day before my wedding, that everything would be fine. Even if I was only getting a few hours of sleep before the marathon day of getting married (I had a good makeup artist to hide the circles if need be!).

Thanks to everyone for your advice, even if I didn’t take it Hearing about other’s experiences was enough for us to really plan out our weekend so that we could be there with people who’d traveled hundreds (and thousands) of miles to be with us.   And so we could really be there with each other, in the moment, as we made a big commitment!   It was, for sure, a high moment in our lives!

Just married!!

There’s a community bulletin board as part of the program.   People share a bit about their yoga journey, their experiences during the practice, and questions (and answers) they might have.   It’s fun, and new and different each time!

I’ve been thinking about our demographics as I’ve read participants’ introductions on the bboard.  There have been some fun things I’ve noticed: 

 We have a mother-daughter combo!  In October we had two whole families participate which was also really fun.   I like watching them write each other on the bulletin board J We have at least two sibling pairs this time around, and of course, several friends practicing together “virtually” through the Odyssey.   It makes me happy that this is a project people can share together.

We also have a lot of new moms in our program, in large part because I teach prenatal and postnatal yoga.   I think the moms have started to bond over the joy and challenge of having young children, and finding the balance in order to be able to take some time out for themselves.   

Finally, we have several people from out of the United States.   One participant commented on the interesting sensation of being a little out of phase with the majority of the US-based participants.   She was finding it an interesting challenge to wake up to practice “while everyone else is resting sublime in sleep.”   I’ve thought of that too, when I get an email at 3am in the morning from someone.   Of course, that doesn’t always mean they’re in a different time zone from me, but definitely we are not in phase    That’s the beauty of this – you can do it at any time.  Because I won’t be teaching a class at 3am any time soon, but you may want to practice at that time! 

Anyway, thank you all for the first week – it’s been wonderful for me so far!

Love and light,

Barrett  

1)      We were featured in the Top 50 Yoga Blogs!!  Check it out, and find some other blogs worth reading!

2)      The weather – I’m still able to exercise outside!  Last night, several of us were waiting for the studio to open and someone commented that it was getting a little chilly, but still we were all so grateful that we could be outside without gloves and hats and be comfortable!

3)      Vitamin D!  In my recent checkup, I was on the borderline of being deficient.  I did some research, and did you know that taking adequate amounts of Vitamin D might help you avoid or get over the flu more quickly?  Talk to your doctor about how much Vitamin D3 you should take to prevent or treat the flu.

4)      Facebook.   We can waste time on Facebook, I know, but it’s a great place for me to learn what friends and family are up to.   Plus, they post awesome things.   Just today, a yoga student of mine posted this from the Positivity Blog: 5 Things You Can Do Today to Change your Life.

5)      Weddings – we went to 7 in the last 6 months!  It was really fun (and only a little tiring).  I laughed, danced and cried a lot!  It’s been great to spend quality time with all my friends and family.   In fact, we had such a good time, we decided to get married ourselves

6)      Backbends!   Loving wheel pose!   If you’re struggling with this pose, try using blocks, pictured below.

7)      Finally, I want to give thanks to you, my dear yogis!!  Thank you for practicing, thank you for attending class and taking my online programs, and thank you for reading!

I got up this morning and the first thing I thought was, “I love what I’m doing in the world.”

Yay,

Barrett

She went down to Costa Rica awhile back at my suggestion to study with our teachers, Don and Amba Stapleton, and she came back a fabulous yoga teacher!

She’s offering classes in Brookline, and also Pranassage, which is yummy yoga massage. Check out her website for details.

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Ever find yourself in pigeon pose, jaw clenched, shoulders tense, unable to relax?
What about lying in savasana, trying to focus but instead mulling over your last conversation with your boss or your significant other?

My teacher has always said, ‘Where the mind goes, Prana flows’, but what happens when we get stuck?  Sometimes we find ourselves unable to release physically and/or mentally.    Even as a yoga teacher, I can be as guilty of this as the next person….so when I get stuck, I like to remind myself of Prana at work:

Prana is our life force, the energy that flows through our bodies.  It is broken down into five forces, called the Prana Vayus:

1)  Apana is the downward moving energy in our bodies, grounding us.  Gravity is a simple example of apana.

2)  The next force of Prana is prana (lower-case ‘p’), which is the upward moving energy, or buoyancy, that counter-acts apana.  For me, I can really feel apana and prana at work in Tree Pose…being grounded in the feet, roots growing through the earth…but the buoyancy and lift of the body skywards.

3)  Samana is the third force of Prana, spiraling at our belly center.  It represents the energy of absorption, the fire of digestion, either physical and emotional.  This could be undigested lunch, or a difficult conversation you can’t get out of your head!

4)  Udana is the next force of Prana, representing the energy of sound and communication, giving us the ability to express our experience.

5)  Last but not least is vyana.  Vyana corresponds to the energy pathways in our body, connecting us to ourselves and to others.

I’ve been fortunate enough to fully experience Prana through the giving and receiving of Pranassage, an amazing blend of assisted yoga and massage.  The whole idea is that through touch, pressure, and postures, Prana is made easier to feel, allowing us to truly let go into deep relaxation with awareness of our experience.

So the next time you find yourself clenching in a pose or being distracted, try to remind yourself that it’s okay to let go and focus on the present moment…..allowing Prana to flow.

Namaste,

Erica

The 5 Prana Vayus