Today marks the return of my worn down beaten pregnant body, to yoga. Oh how i love love love yoga!
It is a strange thing for me to say that because it wasn't always this way... Highschool and a few years of college was spent on anaerobic exercises and trying to become "as strong as possible" and then killing myself on a treadmill or elliptical for, what seemed to me, absolutely no reason(i hate cardio). It was one semester after a particularly intense tennis class that i decided to take "a cheat" PE class. What would be easier than YOGA, it's just breathing and silly names, the hardest thing i could think of about this class was that it was at 8 in the morning(ludicrous). The first class was spent talking about our feeling, and the all importance of breath and oxygen, the negative aspects of judging ourselves and others, and inner peace... and i am pretty sure the teacher, though born and raised in SoCal was buddhist. I almost quit the class, were it not for the need for another PE credit, i guess i had negative energy ;)
Then the real classes started, we were being taught Hatha yoga. Slow and easy and super duper relaxing, it quickly became what i looked forward to every week!! Of course i was much skinnier and more flexible, than i am now after 2 children and lots of sunday dinners, so it came so very easy to me.
Now 5 years later i am a full on Vinyasa fan. I love that i sweat without really doing anything. Then there is feeling soar the next day without ever exerting any energy(i hate cardio did i mention that). Really though the best part is my posture... its amazing, everything looks and feels different after yoga. Unless you dont drink enough water then, well, you feel like poop. I know that my first yoga teacher was a little out there, but now i can honestly say i understand what she was so excited for.
Allow me to expound on my yoga deficiencies...For my first two pregnancies i have been so out of it i couldn't do ANYTHING. For Baby A i was sick THE WHOLE TIME, i think there was one month(around month 7) that i wasnt throwing up daily, so obviously no time for downward dog. For baby B i was sick for only the first 3-4 months and then i used the ever so enduring excuse of chasing around my 15 month old daughter. There was something new in the mix too, my pelvic bone was just way to lose, i would be in ridiculous pain while walking, laying on my side or on my back or even sitting for any amount of time. But i blamed this on my pregnancies being almost on top of each other. So once again sliding into a sedentary life style (luckily my eating habbits were moving towards healthy by this point.
Baby #C... this is where the dilemma comes in. I am no longer "tossing my cookies" so to speak and i am feeling pretty energetic, so i went to my usual Yoga class this morning. It is Vinyasa, but is even leaning a little to the ashtanga side of things. I really felt so awkward doing it being pregnant, even though there were other pregers present. It may have had something to do with me being in terrible shape after a 4 month absence, or it could have been the honey dew sized belly i am now dealing with finding a spot for in some of the poses. Either way it was tough, and my pelvic bone is no better this pregnancy that it was last(in fact it has been painful since the 6 weeks mark). I thought that if i just go and tough it out, feeling more aligned and having a bit of a core workout would help, but i have been walking funny ever since. So now i have to decide to stick with it and hope it doesnt get worse, move to hatha yoga(where the geriatrics go) and just stay flexible but not really get a work out, or just go swimming to keep the pregnancy weight down (i am determined not to let myself go to far this time) and i HATE swimming, in the worse way possible!
At any rate i did enjoy myself greatly this morning and i will probably go with the husband a few times, cause he finally sees the light in yoga (i couldnt resist), but i shall see if i can actually stick with it!
thats about as enlightened as i get so deal with it ;)
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