Saturday, August 8, 2009

The jury's still out

On prenatal yoga, that is. I went to my first class today, after two false starts where the instructor didn't show up. (You want to see angry? Try hanging out with a group of preggos who all peeled themselves out of bed at 8 on a Saturday morning only to get stood up. But anyway.)

So, the class. First of all, I've never gone to an actual yoga class, unless you count my electronic Wii Fit instructor. I was prepared to be totally humiliated, and actually wasn't, really. The instructor only had to "adjust" me twice, although maybe she just gave up.

It was surprisingly difficult, and I found myself sweating by the end, which was good. But some of the poses -- there was this one squatty thing (sorry, can't remember the name -- I sort of stopped paying attention after "cat and cow," "pigeon," and "camel" -- I'm sure it was an animal, though) that made me feel like the chicklette was going to shoot out of my hoo-hoo and splat on the yoga mat. Also, the pigeon pose? The only time I've ever seen a pigeon look like that was after an encounter with the front wheel of a car. And don't get me started on the music -- one more "hare krishna" and I was going to find a way to "accidentally" knock the instructor's iPod over with one of my sun salutations.

But. I felt pretty darn great afterwards. And it was nice to hang out and chat with a bunch of other women, especially since I don't have any IRL friends who are pregnant right now. So I'll keep going.

Just don't laugh at my downward facing dog.

9 comments:

Michele said...

Is your instructor certified in prenatal yoga? As a former instructor (and a participant in prenatal classes), there are quite a number of things you shouldnt do. A class should be more relaxation and focusing on your baby more than hardcore asana. Find out the name of that pose... I'd be interested in hearing it and seeing if it is on the do or dont do lists.

Michele said...

Oh, and I've never done a sun salutation after the 1st trimester. We were told that inversions like that could cause lack of balance among other things that could cause a pregnant yogi to fall.

Barefoot said...

Yes, she was certified. I'm not sure how hardcore the class actually was -- I'm notoriously inflexible, so it just seemed hard, I think. But I'll ask more questions next time -- thanks for the heads up!!

babyinterrupted said...

I am still giggling about this post after reading it, like, 3 hours ago. :) Because - even sans pregnancy - I completely had the same experience at my first yoga class. Where the instructor demonstrated how flexible we would EVENTUALLY be and I was in the back thinking, "Are you f&*#ing kidding me?!?"

BOWquet said...

I read your posts before this, and when I was pregnant w/ my daughter, she also opened up her legs to show us that she in fact was a she! :)
Congrats on the baby!!! You will love all the pink and girly things! :)

Kristen's Raw said...

Very cool.

One thing I suck at is yoga... oh and meditation. Although, I'm signing up for hypnobirthing classes so I can learn some relaxation and meditation techniques ahead of time. It can only help my situation. Tomorrow is first class.

Maybe I'll feel brave enough to look at yoga once I'm pregnant.

Anonymous said...

bwahaha you just completely cracked me up! I'm pretty sure "squatty" is not one of the approved yoga poses. :)

SS said...

Prenatal yoga is totally worth it. I went religiously in the alst pregnancy and felt so good up until the sciatica at about 38 weeks- and I even did a lot of the poses at home to help with that.

Jem said...

How can we laugh (or not) at your downard facing dog if you don't post a picture!! We need visuals!

Jem