Welcome to all of our new Prenatal Yoga students who joined us in June, and congratulations and welcome to all the new yoga babies born!

Maya's Birth Story by Sveta
Born December 8th, 2007

It was 2:30 am on the 5th day of the 36th week of my first pregnancy, and I woke up in a puddle. And a muddle. Somehow it did not even occur to me that my water had broken. It was much too soon, I had not even packed my hospital bag! Also, it was not the kind of water breaking you see on TV. Not even my sheets were wet, and just the discomfort had woken me. Just to be on the safe side I called the doctor. She told me to come in to the hospital via the emergency room entrance. I asked her "And what should I tell them, that I feel liquidy?"

For some reason, as my husband Johann and I left the house, I felt I should grab my hypno-birthing CDs. He grabbed a couple of his things also. So it was, at 3 am we arrived at Seton Southwest Hospital with a laptop, a camera and hypno-birthing CDs!

Click here to read the rest of the story!

Yoga for Birth & Delivery: A Special Event for Partners with Alice
Saturday, August 9, 1-4 pm at Yoga Yoga Westgate

As you prepare for the birth of your baby, find the support of our prenatal community. Join Alice Duffy, Registered Yoga Teacher and well-known local doula, for an invaluable afternoon with your birthing partner.

In this fun three-hour class you will practice yoga postures, labor and birth positions, and other yogic techniques you can use during the stages of labor. Each stage of labor will be discussed (Early Labor, Active Labor, Transition, Pushing and Post-birth) and each couple will leave with invaluable handouts

Partners will learn specific breathing and sound techniques, as well as guided relaxation methods. There will be time for questions, sharing, and the opportunity to interact with other expectant parents. This special event draws many couples, so mark your calendar and tell your expecting friends! It will be a perfect addition to your other birthing classes.

Click here to register.

Professional development training for yoga teachers and pregnancy health care professionals.

This training is open to yoga teachers and pregnancy health professionals with a committed yoga practice. Pregnancy offers women many physical, spiritual, and social challenges as they embark on the journey into motherhood. Yoga is rapidly becoming one of the most popular ways of preparing for childbirth in the United States. Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help them prepare for these challenges with awareness, strength, and grace. After childbirth, yoga can be a powerful tool to help women connect with their bodies, their babies, and each other.

"I did this training last year with Leslie Lytle while pregnant! It was phenomenal. It probably gave me the best preparation for labor, birth, and postnatal than anything else I read or did." - Liz Belile

Click here for more information.

by Jessica G.

There is no such thing as the Perfect Day Police.

I remember when Nate (now three) was a baby, it sometimes felt like I just wasn't cutting the mustard. The house was a mess, Nate wouldn't nap, and I certainly could have used some highlights and a haircut. I would make grand plans to go out and get things done, only to lose my car keys and get covered in a blown-out diaper mess. What was my problem? I'm a well-educated and organized woman. My mom certainly seemed able to handle everything with tidiness and grace. Why can't I manage one little person and the house we lived in?

I taught a morning yoga class at the time. It was filled with mothers of elementary and high-school-aged kids, so I brought my problems to them. They remembered the feelings of inadequacy all too well, and had a few bits of advice I'd like to share with you:

1. Do one thing everyday that will stay done. Make the bed, hang up your towel, or put away your makeup, any one thing. When the rest of the house begins its daily explosion, just look at what you did that stays done, and feel better.

2. Do it now. Don't leave that toy in the hallway for later--just pick it up as you move into the room. (Hint: Have a toy basket in each room to keep them together. That way every room has a basket of goodies for baby to play with while you get 30 seconds of something done.) Clean off the highchair tray as soon as baby is finished, and it will be ready for the next meal. Do it now.

3. Pampering yourself is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Make it a priority to leave baby with Daddy, a neighbor, or a sitter, and go get your hair cut and highlighted (or get a manicure, pedicure, massage, whatever it is YOU need)! You will be a better mother and wife when you let someone take care of YOU for a little while.

As a yoga teacher I would also say, do some yoga everyday. You will feel better. When that sense of disappointment sets in, grab your baby and do 3 Sun Salutations. I guarantee you, it is 5 minutes better spent then 5 minutes trying to figure out how to make this day more successful. Your endorphins kick in and help put things back in perspective.

Yoga fulfills all three bits of advice: Yoga stays done, you can do it any time, and it comes with thousands of years of teachings and teachers to pamper your mind, body, and spirit.

Inevitably, however, when you look back on the day it will not look perfect. So, to quote my friends mother, Marge, I am here to tell you, "there will be no 'perfect-day police' knocking on your door asking if everything is exactly right." It's kind of a "get-real" quote. You do what you can, and you leave the rest. I hear so many of you in class exasperated with yourselves. I understand, and I hope you will feel better knowing that the rest of us are also drowning from time to time. So call someone and get out of the house, or go for a walk. If the Perfect Day Police do show up, send them back to the closet with the ghosts and the boogey man, because as Nate will tell you, they're not real!

Click here to see when Jess teaches.

Bridge Pose - Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

• To begin, lie down on your back with your knees bent

• Bring the soles of your feet close to the buttocks, with your heels directly below your knees.

• Lift your hips up towards the ceiling using the strength of your abdominal muscles. and extend/lengthen your tailbone away

• Interlace your fingers and straighten your arms, pressing them down into the mat underneath your raised back, or allow your arms to rest alongside of the body.

• Roll your shoulders under one at a time, opening the chest.

• If you are comfortable here, allow your hips to rise a bit higher.

• Draw the chest up toward the chin, being careful not to tuck the chin down toward the chest.• With your feet staying parallel, allow your breath to be full and slow. Hold the posture for 5 full breaths.

• To come out of bridge posture, release your hands, and slowly lower the upper back, then the middle, and then lower back onto your mat.

• Allow the knees to come together, and rest.

Benefits: Strengthens the spine, opens the chest, improves spinal flexibility, stimulates the thyroid.

Variations: For a restorative variation, slide your yoga block directly under your back beneath the sacrum. Let your sacrum rest on the block. Let the arms rest alongside the body.

Warrior II - Virabhadrasana II

Warrior II builds stamina and strength. The pose is named after the fierce warrior Virabhadra. Embrace your power and try this out with or without baby!

• Stand with your legs about four feet apart. Turn the right foot in and the left foot out 90 degrees.

• Bring your arms out to the sides, parallel to the floor, as you bend the left knee straight out over the left ankle.

• Reach out with your arms and hold for five breaths.

• Repeat on the other side.

Prenatal Resources

Click here to view our online resource list of birthing professionals, vendors, and other services that might be of use to you.

We invite you to share your birthing resources with us. If you are a Birthing Professional who would like to appear on our list, please contact lisat@yogayoga.com

Postnatal Class Schedule - Summer '08

Postnatal Yoga classes are a great way to support the body's recovery after birth. Mothers may bring their babies for an experience that incorporates yoga and bonding with the baby. These classes are a wonderful way to connect with other new mothers in a supportive and healthy environment.

YYNorthwest
Wednesday 10:30am with Sarah E
Thursday 10:30am with Summer

YY North
Friday 10:30am with DeLora - for Crawlers and Toddlers!

YYSouth
Monday 1:00pm with with DeLora - for Crawlers and Toddlers! (NEW TIME!)
Wednesday 12:00pm with DeLora

YY Westgate
Tuesday 10:30am with Jess G
Thursday 10:30am with Jess G - for Crawlers and Toddlers!
Sunday 1:30pm with Jess G

Yoga Yoga Westgate, 4477 South Lamar, 512-358-1200
Yoga Yoga North, 2167 Anderson Lane, 512-380-9800
Yoga Yoga South, 1700 South Lamar, 512-326-3900
Yoga Yoga Northwest, 12001 Burnet Rd, 512-490-1200
Yoga Yoga Teacher Training, 1700 South Lamar, 512-326-2273