Local South Hill Mom Attempts 3rd Series

About two months before this baby was concieved my teacher David and I decided I should start working on vasisthasana. Upon adding the first advanced pose to my practice David said: "the deeper you get into the practice the more closely you need to follow what Guruji says." I took that to mean such things as six days a week, no practice on moon days, eating a sattvic diet, etc... but more than that I contemplated the possibility of deepening awareness of the pranic effects of the breathing, of bandhas, of drishti and also dhyana. Living all of this off of my mat...

(insert record scratch sound here)

And then I got pregnant. Another interesting thing happened at the same time, I started to notice a clicking sound in my knee for a few days during practice that ended up being a torn meniscus. (insert second record scratch sound) That being a whole other topic we can leave it for another blog - but what ended up happening is that at first when it was acute it was nearly impossible to practice, and then after several weeks I was able to modify gently, all of this happending during the first trimester. In my previous pregnancies I was able to practice throughout the full pregnancies - this one was not starting off the same.

To compound the knee, the truth was that with the demands of my other two daughters. and the profound exhaustion from this new baby growing I could barely function by the end of the day, and practice for the first time did not help energize me but just made me more tired. So I found myself following the current recommendation in Yoga Mala and for all intents and purposes taking my first trimester off from asana practice.

I think a lot of people find this recommendation confusing, and worry about taking this time off. But one of the best articles I've read (Ashtanga Yoga Practice During Pregnancy by Betty Lai) explains this very well: "The decision to practice yoga during the first trimester is an individual matter. Since this is an article about Ashtanga Yoga practice, it must be emphasized that Sri K. Pattabhi Jois advises women not to practice Ashtanga Yoga at all during the first trimester. This advice makes particular sense if one has experienced a miscarriage or when high-risk pregnancy factors are present. Since one generally does not know whether a pregnancy is high-risk until second trimester or later, it is advisable to take a conservative approach to one's practice, beginning with the first trimester."

So what it boils down to is following your own instincts and honoring this time where this new life is beginning inside of you. If this is your first pregnancy you may or may not be all that connected to what that means. And if you've been practicing Ashtanga for many years, you may be more connected to what that means. Betty's recommendation is that if you have no reason to suspect that there are complications with the pregnancy you may choose to practice during the first trimester. But I would add that you also proceed with an openess to this new experience and consider the pranic needs of the baby as well as your needs. I think in my case, this baby wanted me to back off of the physical part of my practice and delve into my spiritual connection with him/her, with my other children, my husband and with myself. Recieve your pregnancy just like you recieve the gifts of each asana, the practice has always been there and will be there when you are ready for it.