4 Ways Yoga Prepares You for Birth

So many people have asked me:  "Does yoga really make birth easier?"

My answer is always yes, Yes, YES!  The practice of yoga makes much of life easier, and the more we practice, the more we can rely on the tools of yoga to back us up in challenging situations.  When you look at Yoga as a way of engaging with life, as a lifestyle, then the gifts are much greater than physical benefits.  However, when it comes to the intense physical changes of pregnancy and childbirth, physical benefits cannot be understated.

1.  The Power of the Breath:  A large component of my prenatal yoga classes is the breath.  Noticing how the breath is naturally moving inside the body is a huge clue to how we are feeling internally.  If we are stressed or rushed, the breath will be fast and short.  If we are frightened we may hold our breath completely.  But, when we are calm the breath moves slowly, deeply, fully.

We can use these simple clues of the breath to change our state of mind and physical sensations in the body.  For example, when a contraction is painful a woman may try to hold back.  They may feel frightened and literally hold their breath.  A woman with a foundation of yoga will observe her body doing this and then through reminders of their own or of a labor companion she'll remember to deepen the breath.  These deep breaths will relax her body, helping her feel calm through the contractions, and physically soften her muscles to open up for baby.

In my Prenatal Yoga Classes we really get to know our breath.  I emphasize feeling how the breath moves in different positions so that Mamas notice the difference in their breathing from sitting down meditating to moving through very dynamic poses.  The idea is to create an equanimity in the breath no matter what is happening externally.  At all the births I've attended the word most commonly said by midwives and doulas in labour is "Breathe".  It is much easier to tap into a deep, calming breath when it has been practiced regularly prior to Birth.

2.  Moving for Comfort:  Prenatal Yoga can really teach a Mama how to create comfort in her body.  Many Mamas that come to my classes complain of back pain, sluggish digestion or uncomfortable sleep prior to class.  These same Mamas report major relief from back pain, smoother digestion and improved sleep the night after class.  This is a HUGE testament to how simple yoga asanas create ease and comfort in the body.

This idea of moving for comfort easily transfers to birth itself.  Gently swaying the hips or rocking on hands and knees in labor can dramatically reduce pressure on the hips and low back.  With almost every contraction of my labour I got into an all fours position and swayed my hips back and forth.  This was just as vital in easing pain as was my labour companion's hands on my back.  I've held many Mamas as they lean forward during contractions.  Moving in early labour helps encourage contractions to pick up.  Moving right up until birth helps baby find an ideal position, and good positioning of baby also can reduce pain in birth.

When a Mama can find a comfortable (or at least a MORE comfortable position) for birth they are able to relax and open easily.  In prenatal yoga classes we learn a variety of positions that can be used in birth to create ease.

3.  Setting Intention:  Intention is a cornerstone of yoga that differentiates it from other forms of exercise.  I have found intention to be vital for creating a positive attitude.  As one of my mentors, Stephanie Dawn says, Intention creates a pathway for consciousness to flow.  Setting an intention is as simple as asking yourself "What do I really want from this experience?".  I encourage Mamas to practice this through out pregnancy, or even prior to conception if you are preparing to conceive.  This is an incredible way to tune in with your womb or spirit baby and ASK THEM what they want.  Daily intentions provide a solid place for pregnant Mamas to turn back to when they feel confused or stressed.    In my life I have found that when things don't work out as I wanted, many times I did not have a clear intention for the experience.

One Mama I worked shared this with me: "My intention was to open, and I visualized baby moving down and out throughout the last weeks of my pregnancy.  I had a fast and relatively short labor for a first time mom and I know it was because of my clear intentions".

When birth is an intentional experience, with clear desires and visions laid out before labor begins, a family is most likely going to have the birth experience that they want.

4.  Opening the Pathway:  Regular prenatal yoga practice literally prepares the body for birth. With carefully selected asanas the pelvic floor is widened, strengthened, and an awareness of how to open the birth canal is gained.  There is a delicate balance in prenatal yoga of muscle strength, and organically opening.  We expand the space in the body.  With these fine-tuned asanas the birth canal and whole body is made ready for birth.  My prenatal yoga classes also emphasize opening the heart, because no matter how a Mama births, her heart will be opened in ways unimaginable before.

Do you want to engage in this potent practice with me?  

A 6-week series of Heart-Centered Prenatal Yoga classes begins the end of the month.  Click Here for more info on Facebook, or email me and I'll send you the details.  

Space is limited and a special price is available if you register by 11/10/12.

Placenta Power

Let's talk about Placentas, one of my very favorite topics.  The placenta is an incredible organ designed to sustain our womb-babies life, growing with the baby from the very first cell division.  The role of the placenta doesn't stop at birth.  As baby is born, the placenta holds on to the mother still, ensuring baby gets all the oxygen, blood and life-force until baby is ready to manage on his own (with Mama's support, of course).   In most cultures throughout history the placenta has been honored and revered, and most mammals eat their placenta (placentophagy), including herbivores.  The placenta provides mothers with optimal nutrition after birth, yet in our modern-American culture many mothers do not take the placenta up on its nutritional, hormone balancing offer.

A healthy placenta with cord and sack still attached.  Photo from Dear Baby G

The benefits of placentophagy, or as I think of it, placenta medicine, are so vast.  Benefits have been sited to reduce "baby blues" that occur from the dramatic shift of hormones around 3-5 days after birth, restore vitality & encourage healing for mom, lessen postnatal bleeding by encouraging the uterus to shrink & tone, increase milk supply, restore iron, help with menopausal symptoms, increase libido and much, much more.  Seriously who doesn't want to experience this kind of goodness?!  It's powerful, holy medicine!

These last two benefits I cannot speak of personally because I didn't want to save any of my placenta that long, though I will preserve some for years to come in future births.  However, I experienced all the other benefits of eating my placenta, especially its effect on easing the transition from pregnancy to mother hood.  My world was rocked by this transition.  I felt emotional, primal, protective and weepy.  It is completely normal to feel this way after Birth for many reasons, both physical and spiritual.  A great physical contributor to the so-called "baby blues" is the incredible shift of hormones in a woman after birth.  The mother-baby's placenta is made just for them, unique to one's own needs.  By eating the placenta either immediately after birth or in the first few days & weeks postpartum a mom is able to regulate the shift of hormones.  I was so grateful to have my own personal Placenta Medicine, and by taking it daily starting on 1.5 days after birth I was able to find a more centered place.  The honor that I hold for mine & Sly's placenta is enormous, not just because it sustained Sly in utero, but also for the stability it offered me afterbirth.

Placenta with sack cut open.  Photo from A Midwife's Muse.

Before birth I knew only 1 other mama that had prepared and ingested her placenta.  I am so grateful she told me about it!  I read about placenta preparation in Aviva Jill Romm's book Natural Health after Birth, which is now my most recommended book for prenatal mamas.  Papa Bear prepared my placenta while I watched and held Sly.  It was a simple and deeply reverent experience.

I have had the honor of helping a few other women since I began working as a doula with the preparation of their placentas.  These women cited similar benefits of helping ease the transition to mother-hood.  I feel so blessed to have been a part of their experience through the simple, mindful preparation of their placenta's for them to enjoy the healing benefits.  It makes me deeply happy to see families wanting to honor the placenta.

Many women who aren't eager to ingest their placenta still  find great comfort in honoring their placenta in a sacred way.  Common tradition are to bury the placenta under a special plant, or make placenta prints with it, a form of art.  Cultures around the world engage in a variety of ceremonies to revere the placenta, and I see these ceremonies as alternative Placenta Medicines as well, as they are medicine for the soul.

Placenta print.  Photo from Babble

Unfortunately, the largest hospital near me no longer allows placentas to be sent home with patients.  Many hospitals still readily send placentas home with patients, and often there is an informed consent for the parents to fill out.  After all, the placenta is an organ.  Of course, if you birth at home you can do what ever you want with your placenta.  I hope to work towards change on this policy through education of the wondrous benefits the placenta has to offer. 

Some resources for more info are:
http://placentabenefits.info/
Another Moms Story of Placenta Medicine (and peaceful birth story too!)
Natural Health after Birth by Aviva Jill Romm
Placenta Book

If you are near my area and interested in my Placenta Encapsulation services, please email me!  All placentas are worked with in a healthy, clean environment at either my home or yours.  I maintain a clear mind & open heart while working with each placenta, and chant healing mantras through the work as well.

show your Self some love

It has struck me within the last year how infrequently we offer ourselves love.  I say "we" referring broadly to all humans, but really specifically, at least for today, I am speaking about mothers.  In my experience it is often easier to give love to those outside ourselves than to really spend time loving our Selves.  And then of course we hold others responsible for loving us, or even believe we aren't worthy. There is a whole slew of antics we can play with ourselves rather than acknowledging our own power to be who we want to be; our own responsibility for loving our Selves.

We are all served by cultivating our own Self-love, and a mother focused on this has all the more to give to her child. What does it mean to really Love one's Self?  It can look like a massage, a walk alone in the woods, or eating healthy food.  These are great ways to honor and treat yourself.  But, what I'm talking about runs deeper than that, to a belief that we are capable, that we are valuable, that we are beings powerful and beautiful beyond measure.  This kind of Love gives fruit to empowerment.  I even see Self-Love as the bedrock of empowerment.

Love and empowerment go hand in hand through pregnancy, being pivotal components of a satisfying birth experience.  An empowered woman trusts that her body and baby know how to birth, she is confident in her ability, honors her instincts, and takes responsibility for decision making.  An empowered woman focused on loving her Self is able to release judgment and fear.

One way to practice empowerment-building Self-love is through using affirmations.  An affirmation reinforces belief in one's Self.  I encourage Mamas to find the affirmation that really speaks to & feels natural for them, some examples being:  "I am made to do this",  "I am strong", "I am supported by all mothers that have birthed before me and that birth after me", "I am perfect as I am", "I have everything I need", "Love flows continuously through me".  Believe these affirmations!  (And if you don't believe it, try another one that feels better).  Through regular use, affirmations strengthen a woman's sense of center.  It is wise to use affirmation throughout pregnancy.  Then, your specific affirmation can serve as a reminder of your center during labor.

We can only truly love what we truly know, right?  Pregnancy is an invitation to get to know the depths of your Self.  I tell my yoga students all the time: "Listen to your baby; Listen to your inner wisdom".  It is amazing what we can learn about our strengths, our needs, and our babies just by sitting still and listening.  And the more a woman knows her Self, the more able she is to tap into the well of inner strength.  I have seen women using this in labor and birth when a decision needs to be made.  They pause, listen to their inner-knowing and then are able to make a change if necessary.

Sometimes, when we are still and listening, we see gaps in our knowledge.  For first time parents, pregnancy, birth and a newborn are all uncharted territory, with lots of questions and decisions to be made.  An empowered parent knows and values the responsibility of decision making, not wanting to simply hand over this power to a Doctor or Midwife who "knows more".  When listening to our intuition doesn't proved a clear answer, this is an opportunity to use research as a means of Self love.  The research about where you give birth, standard new born procedures, ways to encourage nursing or anything at all really is a form of Self-love because you are discovering what you really want, and feeling the strength of making your own choice.  When I was pregnant with Sly I was initially overwhelmed by all the decisions to make and wanted to be as informed as I could.  Even if my intuition felt strongly about something, like not getting him circumcised for example, I still did my research to be well informed on all sides of the issue.  It began to feel fun and assuring to uncover all the information, and of course it was empowering to know I was informed enough to decide what was best for our family.

Certainly our pregnancies, births, and children do not always fit our desires and expectations.  Part of the beauty in a deep-seated love for Self is the ability to release fear.  The longer I am a student of life, the more I see that Love and Fear cannot exist simultaneously.  When we are truly engaged in Love for ourselves, and Love for our babies as well, we can release fears completely, trusting that we have done our absolute best.  I know Mamas that have not had the birth outcomes they hoped for, yet they felt empowered and satisfied none the less.  I've witnessed these same Mamas pause to listen to their center, commit themselves to Self love, research what they didn't know, and make affirmations of their strength and ability.  An empowered, Self-loving, inquisitive Mama is a jewel, and a possibility for all Mamas out there.  Show your Self some love.  You deserve it.

World Wide Breastfeeding Week: One Year Later (and, Oh! Hello, again!)

For 14 months, 10 days, and 14 hours I've been a breastfeeder.  Much of how I feel about breastfeeding now is the same as it was one year ago:  I still believe in the optimal nutrition of breast milk, I believe in it's sheer convenience, I offer my child the chance to nurse whenever he wants it, I am thrilled when I see other Mamas nursing,  I nurse in public when necessary, and ultimately I truly love breastfeeding.  Some of these things I feel even more passionate about, and some of these notions are changing for Sly and I.  Before I highlight those thoughts though, I must really stress how much I just adore nursing my baby.  I see it as a life saving device, no exaggeration.  The flood of loving hormones I get from nursing, the loving, secure attachment between mother and babe ... it is a testament to evolution, that we women are truly made to breastfeed our babies, and our sanity benefits from doing it.  No matter how exhausting mothering can be at times, I am utterly grateful for the snuggles, the sweet looks, the arm stroking, the hand reaching up to be kissed that all come along with the gift of breastfeeding.  In our house these days, "Mama" means nursing as much as it means me, the Mama.

Nursing in public has a different look these days, meaning Sly is bouncing up and down, popping on and off, or just in general to distracted to focus on nursing.  He's becoming a toddler, and I am getting to know the nursing-acrobatics that toddler moms have told me about.  Tonight he was nursing a bit, then standing up, hugging me and kissing me, then sitting down to nurse again.  This was in our bedroom, but you can imagine how non-descreet it is to try and nurse this guy in public these days.  Thankfully he now can breastfeed really well inside of the Ergo, and that helps if I am out and just have to nurse and can't sit down in a quiet spot that exact moment.  He eats plenty of food and loves the social interaction more than breastfeeding at times, so it isn't like I have to nurse in public anytime I leave the house, like I did one year ago.

This may come as a bold statement, but I feel we (breastfeeding mothers) are doing a community service when we nurse our babies in public.  I think it should go with out saying here that I'm not talking about just hanging out topless, I'm talking about comfortably and politely feeding a baby.  A community service, people.  Yes!  We are reminding our community that breasts are for FOOD first and foremost.  Our society as a whole has mostly forgotten this fact.  I, the breastfeeding mom at the Farmer's Market, am just another part of the Local Foods movement.  Tis true!

What will soon be looking different in the realm of breastfeeding for us is that right now Sly gets to nurse when ever he wants to.  By "whenever he wants to" I mean, all night long if that's what he chooses, and it usually is.  Not today, and probably not tomorrow either, but very, very soon we will be changing this pattern by beginning the night-weaning process.  I wanted to wait until I felt he was ready, mature enough, healthy & securely attached to his parents, before I embarked on this journey.  And I wanted to wait until he was at least 1 year old.  He is well ready now, that is for sure.   We are going to maintain the comfort of our family bed, or at least that is the intention.  The plan as of now is to make a plan, most likely influenced by Dr. Jay Gordan from "Changing Patterns in the Family Bed".  A plan that defines limits, yet is within the scope of our parenting comfort levels.  A loving, consistent plan that allows Mama to get more sleep.  In the day time, nothing will change of our nursing habits, but at night time there will be a 5-7 hour window of No Nursing.  This will be big for all of us.  It will be hard.  It will require more nighttime involvement form Papa.  We are contemplating the right time to begin so as to be completely consistent.  Like I said, I love nursing my baby, and night nursing is by far the easiest way to put him back to sleep.  But I am also so, so ready to sleep my self.  To sleep for uninterrupted hours on end.  More sleep for Mama means more fun times for baby!  And a less-grouchy partner for Papa.

May the breastfeeding journey continue on!  And on, and on, for we have no plans to stop in the near future.  Right now I am quite comfortable letting Sly hold the reigns in that arena.  He seems content with that.  I know one day I will miss the sweet joy of a nursling, and that thought allows me to enjoy it all the more right now.

(Hello!  I do believe I'm back to blogging.  Join me here once a week if you please :) )

thanks giving: for the food we eat

Giving thanks for food was one of the first rituals I learned as a child.  Then, I didn't quite get the blessing, but that act of pausing before eating to give acknowledgement to the source of our food and ask for nourishment is something that has stayed with me over the years.

My thanks today is three-fold:  for the knowledge of healthy eating, for the access to truly nourishing foods, and for the food I am preparing as our Thanksgiving feast!  (and really, the food I prepare each day!)  And how those first two weigh in so heavily to depict the way our feast will look!

I often thank my mom for introducing me to a wide-array of foods growing up.  I ate lots of vegetables and rarely, if ever, did the kids have separate meals from the adults.  As I grow, my interests in healthy eating become further refined.  I learned about how animals were treated in factory farms, the hormones and antibiotics given to them more often than not, and quit meat all together for 4 years.  I learned how soil was depleted through massive conventional growing and became dedicated to buying produce that is organic and/or from small scale farms, (and hopefully local!).  I've learned how healthy, happy livestock play an integral role in a healthy environment, as well as a healthy mountain mama body, and I'm back on meat as long as I know where it comes from.  I learned about the intense sketchiness of Genetically Engineered crops that are suspected to be in 80% of all processed foods in most groceries stores of North America.  The query of "what to eat?" has become down-right mind boggling!

(I think that before I go on I should say that No, I am not a doctor, or a dietician, or a scientist for that matter.  I am just a human being trying to live in harmony with the Earth and eat food that is REAL, and healthy, FOR REAL.)


This level of healthy eating is more than just 5 servings of fruit or vegetables a day.  It demands diligence, label reading, and sometimes saying "no thanks".  But, boy, am I thankful for being in a community of learners and food-growers.  The knowledge of health, as in where does my food come from and how did it find it's way to the table, has deepened my connection to the Earth, my respect for farmers, and increases the sense of responsibility for my own health.

For me, knowing about healthy food does not afford the chance to turn my head and look the other way.  I just can't go through a fast-food joint and not be concerned.  In full disclosure, I have a hard time eating out at most restaurants these days.  When you think too hard about this stuff, it feels like you can't eat anything!  Thankfully though, we have access to local and organic produce, dairy and meats here in this town.  While what is doled out locally is largely dependent on the season, we do have a good health food store where I can buy organic and GMO free food.  And, I give thanks again for the Boone community.  In this town and within my circle I am not considered outrageous for the way our family eats.

So lastly, but surely not least, I am thankful for the food we will be eating on Thanksgiving day.  This is the first year I am preparing a whole Thanksgiving meal and I am so excited!  I'm mixing some typically traditional dishes with the creation of new traditions.  Our meal is primarily organic food, 100% fresh and homemade, as well as gluten-free, since Sly can't handle wheat in his Mama's milk.  If I pull it off, this will be my greatest cooking feat to date.  Wanna know what's cookin'?

::sweet & smoky spareribs (meat from the AppState Sustainable Development farm)

::a simple cornbread dressing

::mashed 'taters with mushroom gravy (arrowroot for the flour in the gravy)

::cider-spiked cranberry sauce

::brussel sprouts with red grapes and walnuts

::sweet potato & chard gratin

::punkin' cheesecake with gf graham cracker crust

::chocolate pecan torte with almond crust

On top of all these goodies, friends and family will be bringing more eats to share.  Oh yes, we will be feasting!  I hope to infuse the spirit of thanks in our food as I cook!

first sniffles, and more

Sly's first cold has settled in this weekend.  We had a solid five-and-a-half months of health before the sniffles and coughs came on, so I consider us lucky.  I made up a little cold medicine for him out of tinctures I had on hand: lemon balm, echinacea, and elder mixed with vegetable glycerine.  He's been taking it for about 24 hours now and seems better in spirits, if not in body.  Sly actually has a pretty good attitude considering his clogged nose and my frequent probing of it with a bulb syringe, (do any babies like the bulb syringe?).   But there's still lots of extra crying, holding and nursing going on, leaving me one tired mama.  Today we all felt groggy and sniffily.  Lots of tea, a eucalyptus bath and a pot of vegetable soup are my remedies of choice.

One of the few moments Sly's had floor play this weekend.  Mostly, he's been an in-arms baby.

In the last two weeks there were some serious immune suppressants happening for Sly that set the stage for the cold to get us.  We had a tough week of teething, the hardest yet, though no pearly whites have broken through yet.  And before that, we started dealing with a funky skin rash.  It started small and dry, slightly pink, and I was hopeful that it was teething rash.  Over the last two weeks it grew and grew, all over his cheeks , behind one thigh and spotchy in his diaper area.  It became obvious that this was a case of eczema.  It even changes in redness, dryness and just general intensity at different hours of the day.  Eczema, or any rash on the skin, can be seen as a big red flag for something off balance internally.  The imbalance can come from any toxin from the environment, food, emotions, and on and on. With a solely breastfed infant in a mostly controlled environment, the imbalance is often from digestion. 

What does this mean for us?  It means I'm altering my diet again.  I had almost three months off of dairy and cruciferous vegetables in the beginning due to a gassy baby.  I try to stay far away from peanuts and soy still, because the fussiness they caused in Sly is worthy never being repeated.  Otherwise though, I've really, really enjoyed eating what ever I want (and lots of it!  Thank you nursing!).  But food sensitivities have been a reality for us since the beginning, and Papa Bear also experienced them as a baby, making our children more likely to have them.  So for about one week now, I've been on the elimination diet, attempting to keep a food diary and seeing how it effects Sly's skin.  One week off of gluten and the eczema is way better.  I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but I didn't.  It's now pink, not red, and much less scaly.  I'm still on the look out for other possible allergens, because it is not totally gone, but the improvement is so much that it makes me feel positive about missing out on fresh bread and all the baked holiday goods I was getting excited for.  

Nothing like your kid to hold the mirror for you and point out what you really don't need.  When I was pregnant, Sly curbed my sweet tooth in a way I'd been hoping to do through sheer will power for years.  Those first few months off dairy put into check how much dairy I really need, and if I can only have a little, what will it be?  (For me that answer is butter, hands down.).  Now out goes the wheat, and with it, those nightly beers I've been savoring with Papa Bear.  Really, it's for the best.  And really, and truly, I'll do about anything for this boy.

Sick, scaly, or well, this little man's on the move!  He pushes up to hands and knees and rocks now!

Now, we rest, because that is the best medicine of all, I believe.  

{thanks for hanging on as i took that little hiatus!  i had big plans to change things on the blog format, but really didn't end up doing much here besides changing the photo.  life happened instead.  i plan to be here lots through out the week.}