Advanced Restorative - AKA Intermediate for Preggos

When I initially found out I was pregnant (yep, you read that right), my plan was to write a week by week practice update that I would publish once I hit the 12 week milestone and went "public."

Well, things didn't really happen that way.  First, I had some early complications (some spotting) which resolved themselves quickly, but which had me a little down and out of my practice for three weeks.  Second, my home computer kicked the bucket.  I could always use the husband's, but his is an Apple and I'm Apple-challenged.

So here's the condensed version, which you'll probably enjoy more than what I had planned anyway :)

Yes, I'm 15 weeks pregnant with a little girl (thanks to science and my status as "AMA", I got to do a new-fangled blood test which also tells the gender with 99.9% accuracy). 

My initial intention was to practice as usual, until I couldn't.  In retrospect, I'm not sure what that would even mean. But I'm learning quickly, that my intentions mean very little in this matter.  It's all up to sweet V (baby girl's nickname) to determine where my practice is on any given day.

Here are the major changes thus far:

• As soon as I found out, I dropped mayurasana and also eliminated jump-backs.
• Karandavasana dropped out at about the 6 week mark, pretty much when the spotting happened (it was minor, but it freaked me out)
• Weeks 6-9 I took a hiatus from practice.  I wish I could say that I worked on my seated practice.  Instead I worked on my sleeping practice.
• When I returned, I practiced primary for a couple of weeks.  Marichasana D has been eliminated; I twist open in C rather than toward the leg; wider legs in all forward folds and in samastithi; not crossing the body in trikonasana or parsvokonasana B; I also eliminated the finishing inversions.  I may experiment with adding them back in now that I'm over the "hump."  We'll see.
• When I went back to Intermediate, I made major changes.  I'll have to take a picture for full effect, but I call it "Advanced Restorative."  Pasasana is done with wide legs; krunchasana I don't pull the leg all the way in, all of the belly backbends I do with two bolsters set so that my belly hangs in space; I twist open in the twists; a bolster is used for support in eka pada sirsasana B
• In addition to all of this, weeks 12-15, I'm not doing any twisting at all. Angelique advised me to drop it during this period because the placenta is developing.  I'll add gentle twists back in next Wednesday.  

 There's a lot of great resources for pregnant ashtangis.  I'll try to compile some and share in my next post. 

Here's the beginnings of the bump at about 14 weeks 5 days. 

Sunday Inspiration 12/2/12

Today was a great day for birds.  You'd be surprised a the number of birds that live in a city like Philadelphia.  At the yoga studio, I spied a woodpecker on a tree directly in front of the shala windows.  And in the courtyard of our apartment, a little bluebird was flitting from tree to tree.  I'm inspired by the beauty of nature in unexpected places.   What inspired you today?

Courbet - a sad post

During my first year in Boston (1999), I adopted a kitten from friends of my neighbors.  I named him Courbet after the French painter.  He was a fluffy black and white cat who always remained just a little bit feral.  For example, one night he was startled by a noise outside.  He cornered my other cat (Baudelaire) on the top of the refrigerator for 3 days after.  When I moved in with S, Courbet would literally climb the walls.

In 2001, I moved to France to accept a year-long graduate assistantship.  S agreed to watch Baudelaire.  My grandmother took in Courbet.

My grandmother fell in love with Courbet.  I didn't ask to bring him back home when I returned to France. She lived alone and Courbet seemed important to her.  But then, my grandmother got cancer and died shortly after.  While she was sick, my aunt watched Courbet.  She became quite attached to him, I think in part, because of his connection to my grandmother.

I once joked that it was time for me to take him back to Boston.  She said there was no way in hell.  And so, Courbet lived for the past 10 years in Nazareth, Pa with my aunt. He probably lived a much richer life than Baudelaire who has always been confined to our tiny apartments.  To the contrary, Courbet accompanied my aunt every morning when she left the house to go on her morning walks.  He would wait for her in her beautiful garden, sometimes watching butterflies.

My mom just informed me that Courbet passed away this week.  He had a quick cancer and was dying quickly even at the moment they just discovered he was sick.  I'm so grateful to my aunt for caring for Courbet all of these years and for the wonderful little cat-life she provided to him.  It's amazing how we were all touched by that fluffy semi-feral cat.