It's not like I have lots of possibilities to let myself go, being the mother of a 2-year-old. There is no stopping with Pixie. Even when I would like to have a rest, now she is able to give me a few directions, like mum sit and she points to the place I should move or she just grabs my hand and takes me somewhere.
I need her to learn to walk by my side so we go out a lot, but usually, I end up carrying her on my back because she gets tired and she likes when mummy picks her up. Generally, I walk a lot and I’m carrying a toddler, so I consider myself already very active.”
I still wanted something additional as well, that keeps me active, regular and helps me to relax at the same time.
I decided yoga is the best activity for me. I just started it right before finding out I was pregnant so I talked to my instructor and he was familiar with pregnancy yoga and told me that I could continue the classes just take it slow and he always instructs me how to modify a pose to be adapted to my big bump. It’s perfect for me, it’s very dynamic, but I know that my teacher takes good care of me, so I don’t have to think about what poses should I avoid.
When my bump wasn’t showing yet, the yoga teacher already started me on a new routine, we modified some of the poses and he always told me to take it slow. I didn’t get it at that time, I felt fit, and I was able to do all the poses but followed his instructions. Now it is funny sometimes when he points out that I should only bend halfway, not like my bump would letting me anyhow. Surprisingly there are only a few yoga poses I’m not allowed to do, the others I can do with a slight modification, mostly the twists and turns are the hardest since my bump is in the way.
My biggest challenge is the candle pose, I would be allowed to do it, and a couple of weeks ago I was still able to, but now, I cannot crunch my abdomen enough to get my legs in the air, I know once I would be in the pose I could keep the position without an issue, but cannot get past the first step. I tried the last few times but wasn’t able to, so now I have to admit that my bump is a bigger obstacle than I thought.
After each session, I feel very relaxed and usually the day after I can feel how much work I put into it, and my legs and but hurts every time, but it worth it! It keeps me fit, and, not like during the pregnancy with Pixie, I still can bend down, reach the ground and I’m much more flexible.
I’m currently 33 weeks pregnant, I hope I can keep practising yoga just until the end. I’m sure I will jump back in after the first month when I should take it slow and rest as much as possible.
Even if you haven’t done yoga before getting pregnant, it is something anyone could do. You just need a very good yoga teacher who guides you through the poses, it doesn’t matter if you are not able to do the most difficult yoga poses. What matters is to get out, move, stay active and with yoga, you can stay flexible and improve your breathing as well.