From Anna: Baby Bumps and Broken Butts

In response to your prenatal inquiry - yes, it's been rather fascinating as someone who has never been with child. I am constantly surprised by what feels wonderful and not-so-wonderful in their bodies. Adding to the equation are these factors:

1) None of these women ever tried yoga before their pregnancy. They are absolute beginners with everything ranging from hesitancy to full out skepticism.

2) Our room has zero props, minimal wall space, and is not a yoga studio but rather - a hospital conference room in which I am not even able to dim the painfully florescent lights.

3) Class is super short - only 55 minutes, several of which are spent going around the room talking about how they feel that week.

Teaching prenatal (or beginners for that matter) with the availability of props, walls, and more time, would be an entirely different situation. I know that when you were pregnant with Terrible Toddler, your practice was quite similar to pre-pregnancy, but these women didn't have a practice that came before. It's all brand new, complete with low back pain, upper rib cage compression, and a big belly that gets in the way. This class has forced me to put on my make-believe baby bump, as well as my thinking cap, and just get creative. It's also helped me remember that I must stay open-minded and not overplan.

As for the rug burn on your booty-bone, oh my! I'm sorry this happened but it's kind of hysterical. Maybe the knowledge of it being painful as it grazes the mat, will help you scoop up through your mid-section even more as you jump! This could be the momentum you need to clear the floor each time!

I am unfortunately all too familiar with tailbone injuries. I'm sure you remember when I took a fall on the concrete last year and cracked mine. That thing took ages to heal and still flares up on occasion. My injury brought an almost problematically intense awareness to the base of my spine. Ultimately, that awareness was rather illuminating in my understanding of the body. For instance, long after I was able to rock back into Navasana, I was still in pain in Vira 2 or other externally rotated standing poses, particularly when I really drew the buttocks flesh of my front leg underneath me. Go figure.

Has your rug-burned-booty injury led to any revealing anatomical investigations other than an avoidance of couch-asana?....

From Liz: Early Mornings and Butt Burns.

It's been two weeks since I started this morning practice gig. Last night, Humble Husband asked how long this fugue is going to last, and I told him: forever. Every day the alarm goes off, and every day I think, "ugg, this again." But by the time I've gotten through the suryas, I'm recommitted.

It is reorganizing me. Thoroughly. I'm more positive throughout the day, more hopeful as I glide into the evening hours. The practice itself is different, more work-a-day, in a sense. I just chug along, not aspiring to too much. Maybe even holding back a little, as I let my body wake up. I'm not slamming into the forward bends. I guess just getting to the mat at this hour (6 am, not epic, but early enough) is a start, and the asana will work themselves out as long as I keep showing up.

Btw, the Dahn yoga trip was funny. It is a very umm, "energetic" practice. Is that how we refer to woo-woo practices with low impact/low alignment asana components? Sort of kundalini-esque, but with a heavy dose of love-bombing. When I called in to see about the class schedule, the teacher (who was very sweet, let me be clear) convinced me to come in for a consultation before-hand. She just wanted to know a little bit about me, chat about the practice, give me a taste of what was to come. She also kept trying to get me to buy a class card for the week that I was going to be home. I think she honestly thought it was going to work. When the class ended and she was all, "so, will we see you tomorrow?" I just said, "I loved it, but no thanks, gotta Christmas shop!"

She seemed disappointed. I thought she just needed the business, but now I find out that it must be that her overlords were going to be angry. Check out Yoga Dork on the subject.
Haha. Anyhoo. That koolaid just ain't for me.

Btw, I have my first real ashtanga-injury. And it's a funny one: A rug burn on my butt from jumping through and landing with a skid. You'd think this wouldn't be a big deal, but it makes a lot of the seated poses and navasana kind of sensitive/touchy. It doesn't help that I have a long tailbone, so I guess it's prone to, shall we say, "snags."

Oh, I've meant to ask: How's the pre-natal teaching going for you? Anything that you are learning that you think could help you along the line when you get pregnant?