Yoga! Yoga!

I asked my perinatoligist if she thought it was okay to do some yoga with the doula-pre-natal yoga teacher-bodywork guru (is there anything this woman doesn’t do?) who has been visiting me now and again for massage and good pregnancy vibes. I told her how the doula assured me that the poses would be very gentle, and actually take some pressure off my cervix. My doc totally freaked, and tried not too. She sputtered, "I just don't know. I don't do yoga!" Finally, she agreed, but I could tell it was a hard sell for her. I assured her that I had practiced yoga for years before pregnancy, so I felt comfortable knowing how to listen very well.

In comes Guru, with her blankets and bolsters and ability to be mellow about the dog since she has her own hyper canine at home. What can I say? It. Was. Awesome. I want to write a proposal to my doctor. I mean really, I sit or lie on this couch all day. I lie slumping, crumbling, leaning on pillows to stay comfortable and stay down. Now imagine someone helping you to get totally aligned on your yoga matt, with a bolster under your hips (baby away from cervix!) and your shoulders and heart open and your body stretched fully, arms overhead. Simply stretching this way apparently works wonders. During this eyes closed moment, Gura softly spouts inspirational words, "remember, what feels good for you feels good for your baby". I was so relaxed after, and I felt like my body was probably in far healthier better positions than I (especially considering my tendency to jostle up and down with the peeing at least 2 times an hour) often manage on my own, and I never had to stop lying down. Plus, the mental health got a big boost.

This week, she comes back for massage. It's funny, as much as truly believe everything I just wrote, the worry wart in me says for my 19th week, stay down. All I want is relaxation. I just want to know that if something awful happened, I didn’t do anything that the peri doesn’t like. And she is very okay with pre-natal massage. We can start the yoga again after week 20.