"I was totally inside myself."

I'm in the hospital and have just heard from a woman who gave birth two days prior. She exclaimed about her birth experience, "I was totally inside myself. I did not have an awareness of anyone outside of me except my husband's voice."

Yoga too is about going inside your self, listening, not for a husband's voice but rather your own inner calling.

Come to yoga and practice hearing from within.

Together forever in our hearts,

Maurene, RN, Yoga Teacher

Partnered Yoga To Prepare For Birth

Birth Blessings Partnered Yoga is a dynamic, innovative childbirth preparation program that takes the marriage of childbirth and yoga to a new level. My intention with its creation is to prepare you well for the energy of childbirth to heighten your awareness to the awe of the experience.

As a couple you will be guided through a yoga session that is designed to simulate the birthing process. Specifically, we begin our session with savasana as the pose reflects the needs of early labor, a time for rest and reflection. We move slowly into active labor, becoming more vigorous with standing poses, hip openers, and intense concentration on breathing. Transition is vocal, and a time to work on creating a stable, resilient foundation. You’ll simulate having your baby and enjoy the extension and opening offered by backbends. We then pause to assimilate, rounding back inside with supportive soothing, cooling forward bends.

You'll be guided in and out of poses in a wave like fashion. Together, you'll ascend slowly into the pose, hold at its apex as the peak of a contraction, and then gradually descend back into a place of pause for more repose.

Approaching labor in this way provides an opportunity to experience childbirth as whole, a rhythmic fluid stream of energy that commands attention, strength and surrender. The program is best suited for couples desiring growth, joy, and expansion through their childbirth experience.

Together forever in our hearts,


Maurene

Do you remember?

To my favorite yoginis;

Last week we learned yield, the rebound force from the earth moving through the bones in our feet to help create a stable, strong, resilient foundation. Remember? Do you remember too that Sarah shared of her desire to have that kind of stability and grounding in her pelvis? I got the sense from her description of how she felt in her body that her pelvis at times behaved like an unruly, unmanageable child! This makes sense because the hormone relaxin secreted early on in pregnancy actually inhibits the production of connective tissue, the rope like structures that actually hold your bones together. (I am not sure whose idea it was to secrete this hormone so early on in the pregnancy. It seems more reasonable to wait until the last trimester!)

So this week in yoga we will work again with yield as it relates to the pelvis to help support a more stable, cooperative core container.

Lastly but certainly not least, can you remember how strong and beautiful and endearing you are, and that you need every ounce of it to embrace with grace and ease the drastic changes happening in your life?

Please come to yoga and celebrate yourself.


Together forever in our hearts,


Maurene, RN, Yoga Teacher

Loose hips sink ships

To my favorite yoginis;

Last week we learned yield, the rebound force from the earth moving through the bones in our feet to help create a stable, strong, resilient foundation. Remember? Do you remember too that Sarah shared of her desire to have that kind of stability and grounding in her pelvis? I got the sense from her description of how she felt in her body that her pelvis at times behaved like an unruly, unmanageable child! This makes sense because the hormone relaxin secreted early on in pregnancy actually inhibits the production of connective tissue, the rope like structures that actually hold your bones together. (I am not sure whose idea it was to secrete this hormone so early on in the pregnancy. It seems more reasonable to wait until the last trimester!)

So this week in yoga we will work again with yield as it relates to the pelvis to help support a more stable, cooperative core container.

Lastly, can you remember how strong and beautiful and endearing you are, and that you need every ounce of it to embrace with grace and ease the drastic changes happening in your life?

Please come to yoga and celebrate yourself.


Together forever in our hearts,


Maurene, RN, Yoga Teacher

It's All About You

To my favorite Yoginis;

Mother's day is a wonderful tribute to mothers, and certainly deserving given all of what is demanded of us from our little ones. Unfortunately, one day a year of honor is clearly not enough to insure our own growth and development. Why, If a woman's not careful, by the time her little one leaves for college, they'll be little left to her!

Yoga is a perfect practice to insure your own health and well being.

To help establish a solid commitment to your self, today in class we'll weave our attention into that part of the physical body that provides stability, grounding and flexibility. The bones and their ancient wisdom is our earthly anchor. Their hard outer shell and spongy, fluid core provide a strong, resilient foundation in which to reach sky bound, moving beyond our human tendencies to remain too safe and all too often way too comfortable.

Come celebrate more of your self today in yoga at Harmony in Mashpee 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Together forever in our hearts,


Maurene, RN, Yoga Teacher

Happy Mother's Day

Threads of all of you weave through my thoughts today, this special day of honoring mothers. May we give thanks to the woman who gave birth to us and rejoice in that which we have given birth to.

Together Forever In Our Hearts,

Maurene Merritt, RN, Yoga Teacher

Deepening our Connection

Birthblessingsyoga was created over two decades ago out of my own need to recognize and honor all of what I had gained through childbirth. I reasoned if childbirth could empower me, it could do the same for all women. I reasoned too if only one in a million received what I was given, all of my efforts would not go in vain but rather the world would be richly rewarded.

With more time, I believe that my intentions with birthblessingsyoga may be greater realized. My intentions are

*To recognize and honor birth as a powerful, creative state.

*To prepare you for the physical demands of childbirth.

*To heighten your awareness to birth as a spiritual experience.

Effective Thursday May 5th classes will begin at 3:00 pm and be two hours long. The new cost per class within a series is $16. Also, effective May 5th, a series will go for 8 weeks rather than for 6 weeks. Many of you are in the middle of a series. I ask that we adjust payment to reflect this new schedule. So for example, if you have paid $72. for 6 weeks and you have taken 3 classes, you would owe $56. (128-72) and have 7 classes to attend. The drop-in fee will be increased to $20. per class.

I hope that you are eager to move deeper into what is at the very heart of your childbirth experience.

Together forever in our hearts,

Maurene Merritt, RN, Yoga Teacher