KonaYoga.com

Review: "Mama Knows Breast"

In the early 80's when I was pregnant, my role models were the women I saw in Ina May Gaskin's book about midwifery at The Farm, a now world famous commune in Summertown, Tennessee. In those days, home births and breastfeeding were considered to be the radical options chosen by hippies living in tents and buses, so breast pumps and cover-ups weren't even a consideration during the two and half years I spent breastfeeding my son.

That could be the reason why many of the tips and insights mentioned in Andi Silverman's beginner's guide to breastfeeding, "Mama Knows Breast", were an education for me. Especially, Chapter 5: Breast feeding Etiquette. Silverman offers suggestions on "how to handle the need to feed" in airplanes, bookstores, buses, cars, movies, museums, the doctor's office and more, even the bathtub! When did breastfeeding in public fall from social grace?

These days, many of the women who come through my Prenatal Yoga classes, opt for home births and nearly all of them expect to breastfeed their babies so breast pumps and cover-ups have become the norm. I'm going to recommend  this book because it's comprehensive and up-to-date:

• Chapter 1: The Pros & Cons of Breastfeeding
• Chapter 2: Operating Instructions
• Chapter 3: Answering Your Questions
• Chapter 4: Tricks of the Trade
• Chapter 5: Breastfeeding Etiquette
• Chapter 6: How Your Spouse Can Help
• Chapter 7: Sex and Relaxation
• Chapter 8: Weaning Your Baby...and Yourself

Lists of reference books and websites are also provided along with comments by lots of other new mothers. The book is small enough to hold in one hand, as the cover picture shows, and the pages sturdy enough to withstand the clutching reflex of any hungry baby.

What I particularly like is her optimistic and easy-going attitude: try it and see what works best for you. It goes along with my major emphasis in Prenatal Yoga,"Relax and accept all advice graciously. Then do what feels right for you. We've been doing all of this for thousands of years!"

What I would have liked better is for the type to have been a little darker. But if it came down to light hearted versus dark ink, I'd choose the former.

"Mama Knows Breast" is illustrated by Cindy Luu and published by Quirk Books.

Note: This is not a paid review.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Breastfeeding Lowers Breast Cancer Risk for Some (health.usnews.com)
• CBB Talks to Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein About Your Best Birth, Part 2 (celebrity-babies.com)

...and Baby Makes Three

Danielle won't be in class today, now we're certain. She gave birth to Ayden Danger Deshotel this past Tuesday, March 18, at 4:24pm. Ayden weighed 8.2 pounds and stretched out to a full 21 inches!

Congratulations, Dani and Ben. This will put a smile on the faces of those still doing their wall squats! :D

An Infinite Expectation of the Dawn

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn. -Henry David Thoreau

Danielle Ramsey's baby is due and as I was adding a photo of her to my blog, I thought about the power of expectation. Aside from a burgeoning belly, every woman in my Prenatal Yoga classes keeps a constant focus on her due date and the birth of her child. It even serves as a name tag and conversation starter: "I'm due in October", "When are you due?", "I'm not due until August", etc.

They may have some physical complaints, it's true, but they don't identify with them. Low back pain, nausea and sleep deprivation are just part of the trip. These women come to class expecting a happy ending within a matter of months and that's what they get.

What are the implications here for us non-gestating human beings? What if we chose to create something within the next nine months, could we hold on to our excitement and anticipation during all that time? What would we have to do in order for our creation/project to rapidly grow and evolve on a daily basis? We would have to expect it to happen, and therein lies the challenge.

The reproduction of another human being is something so miraculous yet we don't doubt that it will happen. But move an adult human being from point A to point B? Learn to speak another language? Change jobs? Lose 20 pounds? Clean out the garage? Do a headstand? Oh, that might not ever happen.

I feel so privileged to witness this march of strong women with joyous expectations file past me, month in and month out. There's something from that magical parade that needs to be extracted, bottled and injected into the rest of the human race. Expect it.

Photo: Waimanu Sunrise by konaboy

Another Birth is Due

Danielle Ramsey is next in line to give birth. Yesterday she did a gentle Purvottanasana to stretch out her shoulders and chest and bring some relief to her low back.

I'm going to miss her bright and optimistic energy in class. She sat by Kater's side when Kater was due and along with Dana, welcomed Amy to class yesterday. There's a constant progression of women in the Prenatal classes and I have learned to embrace and release with a little more grace.

In Dani's words:

Well my baby boy is due tomorrow! Yesterday was my last day of prenatal yoga..hopefully. Not because I don't love it, but because I want to have given birth by next Friday at the latest!

Sometimes I think that pregnancy gets miserable at the end so that we actually WISH for the pain of labor, just because it means we get to finally meet our little creation face to face! Yoga has been very beneficial to me during pregnancy. I was about 6 months along when I started going to class. I believe it has helped my body place the weight gain more evenly on my body. I feel the benefit of stretching and making more room for my baby.

I love learning new poses that stretch out new areas I never think to stretch. I love the "women's circle" we create in class, just being around other pregnant women and Barbara who is so open to learn from us, about the new things that have come about since she had a baby. I will miss this class! Good thing there is baby yoga to look forward to!

Happy Birth Day, Dani!

Baby Boys Abound

We had a surprise after the Prenatal Yoga class today. Kater stopped by with her little boy, born last Saturday and weighing in over 9 pounds! She stopped by to share her joy with us and to give the mothers-in-waiting a boost of confidence.

Dana (to Kater's right) is due in May and Danielle, in blue, is due in nine days. They're both expecting boys. Shannon, who was in class last Friday, is reported to have given birth to her son later that day.

There's a queue of little boys, just waiting to be born and rows of happy mothers, in waiting.

Waiting Your Turn

I love all of my classes for reasons that differ. For example, most of the people who attend my Gentle/Stretch classes have been in attendance since Day One at Kona Yoga (my mom has been a student since I first began to teach!) and their progress is enormous but they continue to view themselves as just  "gently stretching". 

The women in the PreNatal classes are there for less than nine months and their goals are more focused and realized rather quickly.All of my classes make it such a joy to be a teacher!

The three women in the photo above (left to right:Dani, Kater and Dana) all sit comfortably in Baddha Konasana with the most relaxed and open hips. There is a beautiful flow of respect between the women in this class; the exalted, being the one "most expectant" so the focus is on Kater, who is due in a few weeks.  As soon as a woman "graduates" and stops coming to class, she is happily released and the new are welcomed with open hearts. As their bellies grow, so do their confidence and calm.

When class ends at 10:30am on Friday, we open the door to find the Parent(s) and Babies class waiting to enter and there is a magical blending of expectant moms, newborn moms/dads and happy yoga babes...all waiting for their turn.

Inhale, Exhale.

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
~Chinese Proverb                                                               

Can something as simple as the act of breathing change your demeanor? Try taking a series of quick and shallow breaths through your mouth. How does that make you feel? Now take a full exhalation, let your shoulders drop and take a few deep but gentle breaths, through your nose. How does that make you feel?

An increase in carbon dioxide may induce negative emotions (1) by triggering an inborn stress response. If we were suffocating then yes, it would be important for our bodies to respond with the fight or flight reflex. How bizarre to think that we could induce that same response just by the quality of our breath!

We discussed the importance of relaxation during childbirth in Friday's Prenatal Yoga class and the role of pranayama in learning to relax. The expectant mothers are learning to control their breathing and relaxing during exertion. It's a practice that's beneficial for all human bodies.

In times of pain and mental stress, slow deep breaths can bring instant relief, lower your heart rate and blood pressure. We come into this life with an inhalation and leave with an exhalation. Paying attention to the quality of those breaths in between the first and the last, makes all the difference.

(1) Griez EJ, Colasanti A, van Diest R, Salamon E, Schruers K (2007) Carbon Dioxide Inhalation Induces Dose- Dependent and Age-Related Negative Affectivity. PLoS ONE 2(10): e987. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000987

Photo: AK Travelers

Submitted to The Kathleen Show, Prevention Not Prescription

The Beginner's Mind

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few."
-Suzuki Roshi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Krista led the first Moms and Babes yoga class on Friday. Each of the moms pictured above, attended our Prenatal Yoga classes until the birth of their children. The mothers and babies (left to right) are: Alissa and Tessa, Joy and Bruein, Megan and Ruby, Krista and James, Misty and Jonathan.

Bruein is the only walker (more like runner) for now. They are all healthy, eager and curious little babes. The physical world is so new to them that everything is worth grabbing and inspecting, with all of their senses. They possess the true beginner's mind.

Somewhere along life's time-line, we lose that innocent, questioning mind as we strive to become "the one who knows", the expert of life. Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman cautions us:

We all want to be the one who knows. But if we decide we "know" something, we are not open to other possibilities anymore. And that's a shame. We lose something very vital in our life when it's more important to us to be "one who knows" than it is to be awake to what's happening. We get disappointed because we expect one thing, and it doesn't happen quite like that. Or we think something ought to be like this, and it turns out different. Instead of saying, "Oh, isn't that interesting," we say, "Yuck, not what I thought it would be." Pity. The very nature of beginner's mind is not knowing in a certain way, not being an expert.

Growth and changes are visibly apparent in newborns and so the world readily accepts their daily advances. Adults are expected to be 'full grown' and mature so perhaps that's why we conform to a static image.

Congratulations to Krista for beginning this new class and for not being an expert yoga teacher or mother. Hurray also, to the new moms who maintain a beginner's mind and revel in the possibilities of yoga, their children and themselves.

 

 

Beginner's Mind, a lecture by Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman.

A Beginner's Mind, a business version found in an article by Richard Watson for Fast Co. Magazine.

Recyling for Yoga

As a follow-up to my Monday newsletter article, I've signed up with GRC Wireless Recycling and expect to receive a mailing kit and posters from them by the end of the week. Cell phone use is growing exponentially (6 million new users a month in India alone) and the thought of another mountain formation on this island, made entirely out of cast-off phones is... ghastly.

GRC will accept all phones and batteries only, no chargers or accessories. The "memory" in these phones will be erased during the reactivation process that utilizes approximately 60% of those collected. The remaining 40% is considered non-viable and they're shredded, smelted and refined.

The goal:  Offer free and/or discounted Prenatal Yoga classes funded through a cell phone recycling program, ASAP.

Photo:Private Sector Development Blog

Double Jointed

The question came up in today's Prenatal Yoga Class, "Does double-jointed mean you have double joints?" My answer: "No, it just means that a  particular joint is very flexible."

In case I didn't explain myself sufficiently and for others who may have the same question, the term double-jointed refers to hypermobility (able to bend beyond the normal range) within a joint.

Some recent studies suggest that being hypermobile protects you from the ravages of arthritis. Although they are not clear if it is due to exercise induced stretching, or if hypermobile people tend to exercise and stretch more.

In the interest of body balance, it makes sense to strengthen the muscles that surround a hypermobile joint as much as we seek flexibility in our strong and/or shortened muscles. These factors become even more of a focus for the pregnant woman whose hormones cause her joints to become more flexible. Yoga during pregancy addresses the strengthening of these areas as well as stretching and relaxation issues.

Read more:

What It Means To Be Double Jointed

Are You Double Jointed?

Illustration: CommuniGate