Thursday 31 October 2013

Pregnancy yoga

I'll start this post by saying that everyone is different. Some people are more open minded than others... I always thought I was a pretty open minded person and someone not easily shocked, it turns out that I am in fact the exact opposite.

A new pregnant friend of mine (I love making new friends as an adult, I genuinely think it gets harder to make new friends as the years go by) told me about her new yoga class, and invited me to go along with her. 

I quite like yoga, although the yoga I was used to (pre-wedding I got pretty into hot 'bikram' yoga) was quite different to this. She described the class as relaxing... not very active but good fun. She also said that at the end of the class the instructor talks through various aspects of birthing which is quite informative.


I was pretty excited about the class, having started to suffer quite a sore back and being an obsessive who likes to know everything about everything (so looking forward to the learning part of the class)

On the day of the class, I picked up my new friend and we headed to the class. I asked her to tell me the format of the class (weirdly I felt a bit nervous) She said that you do yoga for around 45 minutes, then there is a relaxation segment (where you lay down with a blanket and listen to music) and then a discussion where everyone sits around and talks about a particular aspect of pregnancy/labour whilst sipping herbal tea and munching homemade biscuits (I was particularly excited about the biscuits!)

As we arrived, I noticed that I was by far the least pregnant person in the class. After telling me off for not removing my shoes at the door (strike one) the instructor told me that I'd joined at a slightly odd time (no fault of my own) as most of the class were nearing the end of pregnancy, she assured me that more women around the same stage as me would be joining the class over the next few weeks.

The lights were dimmed and the class began.  I genuinely enjoyed the yoga segment of the class, I would have liked a slightly more stimulating class but given how pregnant most of the women were in the class I fully appreciated why it was so gentle!

The bit that came next was where I started to feel a 'little' uncomfortable... the instructor asked us to sit with our legs apart, rock back and forth with the aid of a scarf and 'open and close our back passages'... now I know this is a very important, and will help with ones bladder in the future... but being new to all of this... I felt like a naughty school girl trying to hold in my giggles! There I was sat in a darkened room unable to concentrate on the task at hand as I was so distracted by the look on everyones faces... everyone looked so serious!! My thoughts made me feel guilty but I just couldn't help it. It was just so out of my comfort zone!!

Next we were told to wrap ourselves in a blanket and relax whilst calming music played, the instructor read a passage about a women who had a very spiritual birth (she actually pulled the baby from the womb herself...) A lot of the group started to drift off at this stage and they all looked utterly relaxed.. Not me. I felt rather the opposite. My mind was consumed with a million thoughts... Was my positioning right? Was my blanket was wrapped right? Why was no one else seemingly holding back the giggles? When would the biscuits come out? What flavour would they be? No exaggeration, it felt like the longest ten minutes of my life! 

When the music finally stopped everyone rose from their slumber... these women looked so peaceful and rested... I did not. The instructor came round with tea and biscuits (raisin, very nice) and the (anticipated) discussion began... 

Whilst it was informative... I am not gonna lie, it was a bit scary! A lot of the ladies had been through pregnancy before and it made me realise how little (despite being such a book worm) I knew... 

They used words, phrases, medical terms that I had never heard of and it scared me half to death... they also told quite graphic stories which are very different when heard from the horses mouth, than when read in a book!!!

By the end of the class I was a bit of wreck... physically agitated, mentally panicked and by no means relaxed!!! 

I think going forward I might go to non pregnancy classes, or stick to my DVDs... needless to say I haven't gone back to the class and going forward will meet my new friend for coffee & cake instead!!!! 

No comments:

Post a Comment