Prenatal Yoga

(also posted on Adventures with Baby Bear)

I while back I participated in a yoga video, see blog entry here. Well, I have loved yoga. Yoga practice was a big part of who I was and what I did before I got pregnant. I have been practicing yoga for over 5 years and I continued to practice yoga throughout my pregnancy. Yoga has been wonderful for me. I never took any formal prenatal yoga class, rather I continued to take my yoga class with my favorite yoga instructor, Monica Matthews. I modified my poses to accommodate my growing baby bump.

Yoga is amazing and helped me to feel amazing throughout my pregnancy. It helped with all the aches and pains that accompany pregnancy. It was especially wonderful for back pains and tight hips. The yoga poses helped to keep me strong and flexible; yoga helps you to build awareness of your body and to relax. It has just been absolutely great for me.

Monica asked to take come pictures on me in poses to put on her website. I was absolutely flattered. I was also honored to be in her yoga video which is an awesome yoga video, Yoga - Wherever You Are, for all levels (of course I am a little biased). Here are some of the photos that she took:

Who will I become?

This blog has not been receiving the love it deserves from me. I have been all consumed by pregnancy and upcoming motherhood, that I have been neglectful of this blog. I guess that it is true that motherhood begins to alter you when you become pregnant. But I always hoped that I would continue to define myself by my many roles; psychologist, wife, friend, woman, and mother. Lately, it has all been about being mother-to-be.

I guess this all makes sense since this new journey is uncharted territory for me. I have the excitement and anxiety that comes when you take on a new role. Yet, this role is different from any other role I have taken. With this role comes the responsibility of a new life and guiding this at first helpless being into a productive individual. I am looking forward to figuring this all out and the challenge of it all, but a part of me worries that I will lose a part of myself along the way. Right now when people look at me all they see is an obviously pregnant woman. I am constantly asked how I am feeling and how far along I am. While the attention is nice and I should enjoy it while it lasts (I only have about 10 weeks left to go), I wonder if a part of me is lost or if a part of me is altered. I know I am forever changed and this is a great change that I have been looking forward to for a long time. But as with every change you experience there is some apprehension and anxiety about where it will take you.

I like who I am and who I was, will I like who I become? Can I continue to be the person I was after this life changing event? So many questions run through me head.

The news is out!

I haven't been blogging too much lately and I have several excuses. Well, the usual is that I have been swamped at work. But I have also had some great news that I have been keeping silent about on this blog. I have been dying to share the news and now the news is out!

I'm gonna be a mama bear! Mr. Bear and I are excited as can be. I am nearing the end of my first trimester and it is now out in the open. I am doing well. If you want to hear about my adventures so far, check out my pregnancy blog, Adventures with Baby Bear.