Good bye hot yoga, Hello prenatal.

Yes the time has come to let go of teaching hot yoga. I gave myself till the end of March but had to end two weeks earlier. My baby defintiely started to complain and so did my body. While teaching the baby just kept moving and kicking more than any other time. Afterwards, I didn't feel my usual sense of lightness and increased energy but instead I felt drained. I didn't have to think about this long and hard. It was a natural shift. My body and my baby are not liking the heat anymore it is very clear so its time to let go. I got Shanine to sub my favourite Saturday morning hot class and I know that she will do a great job. I left my students in very good hands. I let go of two more hot classes and I am sure other subs will do great too. So what does this mean? Teaching more prenatal classes. I already have one regular and I am starting two more in April. They will serve my baby much more than any other classes at this point. You get very humbled with your yoga practice when you are pregnant. You have to listen to the body and have to adjust your practice so that it can serve you and the baby in the best possible way. Yet I am loving yoga and feel so great after taking a class. In addition to teaching I am now taking Shannon's prental class once a week. It gives me a chance to be a student and enjoy the practice fully. Shannon is also pregnant so its great to be in a presence of another pregnant prenatal teacher.

So my baby is growing, my tummy is growing and I am changing in some new ways. Like for instance my center of gravity is totally shifted into my belly. I walk differently. I usually have a quick, brisk walk but now I walk more slowly, really being connected to the Earth energy. My baby is higher up now and I feel more pressure or heaviness in the lower abdomen. I can feel it kick and every time I do I smile and send loving energy to the baby.

I feel hungry more often. When I have a smoothie in the morning a bit later I want another one. It's good that I am use to eating more frequently and smaller portions because its easier to adjust to wanting to eat even more often. It's also great that I am a celiac because I have to always stop and think what I can have before I grab something unconsciously. So I am snacking on Lara Bars (raw and organic energy bars), nuts, fruits, veggies and have an occasional bowl of soup and some toasted corn bread. I have no desire for junk food (except occasional popcorn) and no desire for anything cooked. For my entire pregnancy I have been craving papaya and now I am craving fresh fruit from the farmer's market. That I will have to wait for.

I have re-decorated my yoga room and it feels amazing. I just added a beautiful window covering in shimmering purple, glass shelf, meditation pillows, candles, etc. I feel very creative these days and have plans to re-decorate the living room as well. I already know how the baby's room will look. I find it easy as I just feel and listen to what the baby wants. I have been to Ikea twice in one week. In the kid's section I looked at things and then tuned into the baby to see if he or she is guiding me towards something. Well, it doesn't seem to like Ikea. I do, not everything but most stuff I like but the baby doesn't. Sometimes when I am in a random store the baby just guides me to something and I know it resonates with whatever it may be there. This is how I picked up framed art work of Peter Rabbit and one art work of Anne Geddens. I have had these intense attraction to Peter Rabbit and I never even known of it before I got pregnant. I grew up in Europe so as a child I never knew the story. It will be interesting to see if my baby shows a lot of interest in Peter Rabbit.

Day 3 of 100% raw

I had a week of eating 85% raw meaning I ate all raw for the entire day except for one meal. This one meal would be something like rice pasta with tomato sauce, baked potato, baked veggies, beans, and on one occasion I ordered rice with tofu and vegetables. Let me tell you, even though I somewhat enjoyed eating these I didn't feel as great as I wanted to or hoped to. My stomach felt 3 times heavier than how it feels on raw foods, it looked bloated and my energy was way down. I had a feeling of being numb to some of the feelings that I am used to feeling while eating raw. I had a sense of my intuition not being as sharp and my perception not being as clear. So why did I decide to throw in all these cooked meals? Well, I was going through a major cleanse. Some raw foodists call it a detox, others a healing crises. Its when your body releases deeply stored emotions, thoughts and other stuff and this is usually accompanied with physical symptoms. In my case severe headaches and migraines. In others it may be flu like symptoms. The nice thing is when its over you feel so cleansed and almost uplifted to a whole new level of being. You have a clearer understanding on some important issues and you end up making pretty significant life changes. What gets me through a healing crises is writing in my private journal, lots of meditation, contemplation, crying, talking to my best friend, talking to my husband, talking to my dog, and of course getting either a massage, acupuncture or in my case massage combined with Reiki. Why? Because I need to understand things on a spiritual level. Stuff like what's going on with my energy body, chakras, meridians, etc. Only then my cleanse is complete. It is my hope that in the future I can go through it and stay completely raw. Maybe even do a healing fast. I always wanted to do a fast.
Anyway, my cleanse is done and I am back to eating 100% raw. In fact this is my third day and my energy is soaring. I am very connected to every thought and emotion that comes up, I see and think with so much clarity and I have a great sense of confidence in life and in what I do. I connect with my students, with my baby and with my yoga practice on a deeper level. Sometimes I think its good to eat cooked stuff so that you can be reminded of what it is that you are missing. In my case I keep it very vegan and very simple but it still works the same. So happy I am back to 100% raw. Here is my weight in:

Week 1-8: 124 pounds
Week 8-12: 124 pounds
Week 12-16: 125 pounds

My baby at 16 weeks

This is my baby at 16 weeks. Yes its only one. No twins but I am further along than we thought I was. Good news. Means baby will be here sooner than later. I thought I was 3 and 1/2 months but I am 4 months. My new due date is August 23rd. I keep on having a feeling the baby will come before that. My guess is August 20th or 21st.
The ultrasound was a lot of fun. Just seeing the baby move around was cool. It looks so squished in there but so cute and perfect. It was another special moment for me and my husband. We were both smiling and feeling so proud. Its amazing to be pregnant with this little soul. I absolutely love being pregnant. My second trimester is great. I have so much more energy and feel happy all the time. I am on cloud 9 just feeling very feminine and sexy. This is what feminine really feels like. I could do this another two or three times but I haven't been thorough it all yet so perhaps I should wait another year to say that! My husband and I both agreed that hearing the baby's heart beat was more real, special and moving to us. Seeing the baby on the monitor is weird because you are looking outside of you on the screen. When you hear the heart beat you look at the belly and you know that the baby is right there inside.

Prenatal Yoga

Started to teach one prenatal class per week. I have 20 beautiful pregnant ladies in my class. It is my favourite class by far right now. It is so much fun to connect with other mothers and share the love of yoga with them and their babies. Its time totally devoted to feeling your body, emotions, breath, any inner sensations and of course the baby. I place a lot of emphasis on feeling the baby and using visualization to send it love, healing light, peace, and any special messages. I always feel uplifted and connected to my baby. I really feel my baby being happy after prenatal yoga.