Lamaze Breathing or Pranayama?

From very early on in my pregnancy, I had reservations about a hospital based program's ability to support my strong intention for natural childbirth.  Looking back on it now, I was right, the class was mostly an informative session about what to expect at the hospital and not a class that empowered.  I made sure that when I started teaching classes at a major medical center that the curriculum was balanced, thorough, informative and joyful. Fortunately, I had a wonderful nurse manager that supported my efforts. To this day, she is one of my gems that I will treasure always.

Despite my trepidation, with my big belly, two stuffed pillows, and my heart full of glee, I attended weekly classes for 6 consecutive weeks, along with 10 other couples.  My husband would be able to participate in several of the classes but needed to travel abroad for business and so was absent for others.  But I was able to teach him what I learned in our practice sessions that we did religiously before bedtime.  It took us real effort to stay disciplined, after a long day, we were both tired, him from the grind of corporate life and me carrying around an extra 25 pounds in the swell of August in New England.  

Finally the day arrived when I would be able to put my knowledge and practice of lamaze breathing to the test.  I made one of my last entries into my journal while being pregnant at 2:45 p.m. August 15th,  "Dear baby, this will probably be the last time I write to you while you are part of me.  I share tidbits of early labor activities and then express my sadness over how much I will miss having her a part of me.

Throughout my labor, I never once used lamaze breathing.  Instead I did what came naturally, straddling my breathe like one holds fast to the front bar of a fast moving, swirling, gliding roller coaster car.  In that way, the breathe became my god, an instrument of calm, soothing and protecting me like a deep streaming inner sanction as the turbulent forces of nature raged on.

Here in lies the difference between lamaze breathing and yoga, for both marry the breathe and have an ultimate goal in mind.  Lamaze uses the breathe as a distraction away from the pain of labor until such time a baby is born.  On the other hand, yoga worships the breathe as the goal and not a means to an end.

In yoga the breathe carries prana or life force, which is the very essence of our existence.  The intensity of childbirth demands that we give our full selves to our breathing and in doing so provides for a heightened experience.

This higly focused attention on our breathing is called Drishti and is highy praised on the yoga path.

Pranayama is the control of breathing to direct prana throughout the body.  In my next several postings, we'll practice Pranayama specifically for childbirth, helping you to work with your breathing in the context of enlivening your vital energy for the richly gratifying work of transformation.

Together,

When it gets too heavy, lighten up with chanting!

There's few bigger transitions in life then the ones required of us in childbirth.  And whether your enduring the title wave contractions of  active labor or the slower, more choppy waters of the first year at home with your newborn, feeling grounded can give you the confidence you need to ride it out and get to the other side, ready to take on the challenge of a new way of being.

In the circle on our yoga mats we learn to feel the experience of being more grounded  by actively pushing the bones of our feet or hands into the earth, and being receptive to the rebound force that helps to stabilize our foundation. We can use the same principle to feel more grounded in light by expressing ourselves vocally wih chanting, humming or even singing.  Called chakras, our body houses subtle, concentrated areas of energy, and it's our third chakra, in the throat area that when activited can hold our awareness evenly through the core of our being, vertically, acting like a tunnel of lightness for us to ride.

It is our bones that have a strong affinity for gravity, and they help to keep us down, earth bound.  In contrast, our expression of sound has a strong affinity for our awareness, and helps move us up, to lighter fare.  Together, the two opposing forces help keep us balanced, at center ground.

Too, we can deepen our experience of  "core lightness" by using the corresponding cobalt blue color of the throat chakra and its related influence on our skeletal system. So as we chant the sound a-u-m, we imagine our bones the color of the caribbean waters or that of  a clear blue sky.

Enduring the most difficult challenges in our lives like those of childbirth can open up new pathways in our being. So when the opportunity arises for us to take our next step, we can reach for it, and knowing all of you the way I do, we simply can't miss!

Together,

Maurene

Childcare available January 2013

To my favorite yoginis,

 I am very excited to offer childcare services in both pre and postnatal classes. What follows are guidelines for using our childcare services.

1.   Availability:  11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.

2. Cost: $15. per hour to be paid equally by those women using the service.

3. Confirmation:  of attendance the Friday prior to attending the Saturday class.

4. Children must be able to walk.  Crawlers and stationary babies are welcome to join us in class.

I hope this provides a new opportunity for you to continue and expand your practice.  Consider a commitment to  your yoga mat a gift to yourself for the New Year.

Together,

Maurene C. Merritt, RN, Yoga Teacher

Grunt like a tennis pro!

It is of great interest to me, that a female tennis champion like Maria Sharapova feels free to do whatever it takes on a court to achieve her goal, including making this earthy, primitive sound coined "grunting" in front of a global audience, and when I encourage a woman to make sound on her birthing bed in the privacy of her family, more often than not, there is resistance.

 Time and again, I witness women that allow themselves the freedom to express birth vocally will have shorter, easier more satisfying experiences. One of my teachers, internationally recognized  Bonnie Bridge Cohen of BodyMind Centering elaborates.  She believes that sounding supports the vitality and function of a tissue through toning.  Toning vibrates tissue and when we direct our attention to the area of sensation, the tissue becomes more alive.  In the case of labor, sounding can allow a woman to move easier through a contraction because it will gently awaken her to her capacity to move at a vibrational level.

Consider that our hesitation to sound is one of self esteem.  Women like Maria Sharapova our coached intensely, daily, monumentally to believe in themselves.  Such coaching may seem out of reach for many women who are struggling with the day to day demands of caring for their young children, careers, and running a household.  However, consider without a coach, realizing one's full potential  is extremely difficult, maybe even impossible. 

You have available to you a committed, passionate experienced teacher who wants nothing more than for you to realize how gifted and strong you really are.  In the circle, we practice making sound which not only helps us move through resistance, but it also supports the goal of yoga; to remember our vibrational origins.  So when you allow yourself the freedom to sound on your birthing bed, consider that you chime in tune with all of creation.  Then you'll have the support of an audience that far exceeds Wimbleton's!

Together,

7 yoga practices to help us move beyond...

We get stuck.  On our mats, it is called "inflexible", on our birthing beds, "failure to progress", and on paper, a "writer's block".  And whether it's our bodies not opening or our paint brush or words not flowing, our desires can lead to unimaginable frustration. In such moments, we are tempted to force the outcome, or in the case of our creative expression where sheer force would only hinder progression, we either give up after reaching a multitude of dead ends or worse yet fail to begin the exploration.

However, when we look to our ancient, sister yoginis who journeyed the long, narrow road to enlightenment,  consider that it would be beneficial for us to breathe, listen, and wait.  More often than not, when we begin something new, change is slow, even barely perceptible. It is when we persist with confidence, at some point, soon after we have allowed ourselves to move beyond our feelings of hopeless and despair, it happens. What is a ordinary perception of our selves wanes and we become privy to our granduer. In such precious, unbound moments, our bodies fold into our creation and we give birth to our babies, books, and elation!

 We  look back on the fruits of our labor and like our lovely Heather Benway of the circle declared of her birth story, want to hear the words over and over again. We feel awe, how could something so amazing, so brilliant, so original come out of us!   Consider that our effort in waiting is well worth our creation.

Below are 7 yoga practices to help  us move beyond.

1. Close the door. Surrender requires feeling safe.

2. Breathe. Keep your breathe fluid and even. There is a synergistic relationship between the mind and the breathe. When the breathe is balanced, your mind will follow.

3. Focus. Give your attention to something that you love that is still like a plant, coat, or perfume bottle.

4. Listen. You know more than what you think you know.

5. Change. Do something different if you don't feel movement frequently.

6. Feel. Allow your desire to drive your effort.

7. Persevere. Never give up, keep the course until the very end.

Stand up for yourself!

It's brave, to take action when you are feeling at your most vulnerable, surrounded by people that are perceived to have more power than you. That's exactly what our seasoned yogini Sara Varvaro did, when at 10 centimeters dilated, getting ready to push declared to her care providers that she needed to get out of her bed, and did! Sara had walked through most of her labor, singing to her baby as each contraction climbed (the way we did in class), being still at the peak, and then eager to receive her husband Chad's gentle touch as the contraction subsided. She found being in bed unworkable, unacceptable. Trust me, if Sara's move to get out of bed was dangerous to either her or her baby there would have been strong opposition to her movement. Consider that if Sara had not found the courage to assert herself her labor may have taken a very different course, one that may not have aligned with her intention for natural childbirth (which she was able to realize).

Can we be so inspired by Sara's act of bravery to want to learn the skills necessary to take immediate, appropriate action when the situation calls for it? Unfortunately so often in challenging, stressful situations we either freeze or flee, the only two established responses from our automatic nervous system. We look back on the situation and wished we would have had more clarity to respond in a different, more powerful, appropriate way.

Birth Blessings Yoga is steeped in the study and practice of our origins which includes knowledge that our nervous system stores unlimited possibility. Consider that every time we come to our yoga mat there is opportunity to step out of our comfort zone. For example, inversions (going up side down) and balancing poses require pushing through fear while standing poses demand more strength for stability and a solid grounding to the earth. Over time with continued practice, these movements enliven our nervous system to provide for alternative pathways that quite naturally will respond on or off of our mat. Then when the moment arises that we need to stand up for our self, we have the capacity, strength and ability to rise to the occasion. And just like Sara's action may very well have altered the course of her labor, we too may change the course of our lives when we take right action in life's most challenging situations.

Avoiding the pitfalls of emotionally charged events

Giving birth can be like the mother of the bride, there both highly charged emotional events. If we are not mindful, we can end up limping down the aisle from all of the knee jerk reactions rather than walking at a pace that allows for walking with our best foot forward.

When we were infants, we had primitive reflexes that caused us to move towards or away from something for our survival. At some point in our development, when we could act with greater choice, the reflexes became integrated into our automatic nervous system and no longer guided our movements. Recent research suggests that enlivening these reflexes provides for a more resilient, stable foundation for greater ease in our movement.

It takes a tremendous amount of strength and integrity to refrain from acting when we feel overwhelmed with feelings. However consider that if we have the strength to birth our babies that we have the capacity to maintain our composer until we feel clarity before acting. Then, when we do our emotional life can be more like our primitive reflexes, feelings are allowed to surface and be acknowledged but no long have the power to guide our movement. We then can walk the earth as intended, with grace, ease, strength and receptivity.

In pre and postnatal yoga tomorrow September 21st we will explore to enliven the 5 primitive reflexes that supported our initial spinal movement,and practice maintaining our composure despite what may seem overwhelming inside or outside of us.

Prayers of freedom for Galina

“Freedom” was the word of reflection, and Galina Feeley who sits very pregnant in the center of our circle said she just wants more of it! I’m sure it was her adopted American mother, Barbara who joined us for a private partnered yoga session to help support her daughter in labor, who first gave Galina a taste of freedom. But it makes perfect sense to me that a Russian born young woman who spent much of her formative years in an orphanage cared for by what sounds to me like broken down, misguided women rallies at the idea of more!

We can help free Galina through the power of what we have experienced for ourselves, that when we give birth to our babies, the heart opens wide and we are completely free. Consider that in this unbound state that our thoughts are pure and all powerful. So I graciously request each of us to remember those precious moments during childbirth, the time when we felt completely renewed and able to be and do anything and from that space, send your care to Galina.

Let us pray as a collective that Galina experience her own wholeness and that it carries her, like the mother that she longed for years ago.

My teacher says that such an act is called compassion and it relieves the one who inspired it from their suffering. Please send your heart felt prayer to Galina and help her be the loving mother that is in her heart to know.

Olivia's encounter with her newborn family

Dear Lovelies,

I've heard from our Heather who just had her baby June 8, 2011 at 3:24 p.m. She shared how she loves hearing from her husband, Matt about how she gave birth. She said that the experience was so intense for her that she was unable to open her eyes and see outside of herself. Heather went on to describe herself like a young child, wanting to hear the story over and over again, needing to comb through every nuance, absorbed in awe and disbelief, that such power and enchantment really does exist.

Heather's need to hear her story over and over again reminds me of the image of the physical heart, with its repetitive grooves and how if we want to know something by heart, we need to revisit the encounter often.

Let yourself hear your birth experience over and over again. Ask your partner to repeat his/her account frequently. Verbally repeat your birth experience again and again and again.

Together forever in our hearts,

Maurene

Pregnancy, A Sobering Experience

To my favorite yoginis,

Our conclusion at the end of class, when we diary about a word or phrase that helps to deepen, refine and support pregnancy and childbirth, it truly rings out our very finest selves.

Leeanne, last week referred to her pregnancy experience as “sobering”. I loved her description, it conjured up images of my spiritual journey and the movement away from numbing sedation to eventually reaching into conscious elation.

It is clear for me that my spiritual walk begin with pregnancy. What is also clear is that I may not have been able to be so faithful to my own heart's calling if not for my mother. Isn't it the starting place, in pregnancy, your mother? For the first time for many of us, your relationship with your mother looms so big and mighty. What elements of how she mothered do we want to weave through own own parenting, what needs to be undone and how can we do it better? Eventually, you may, if you're fortunate like me, get to gratitude for the simple fact that this woman opened herself up and gave you life.

Through all of this enmeshment of transient, thoughtful demeanor is the heart and its ability to nurture, understand and guide. We can help to anchor ourselves in its wisdom with the breath and its endless pulsating inside.

This week we help to create more stability and integration by bringing our focus to the ancient physical part of ourselves, the bones as we practice releasing into the ageless energetic part of us, the breath.

Together forever in our hearts,

Maurene, RN, Yoga Teacher

"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

Elsa's Ecstatic Heart

I am just leaving the hospital after witnessing our very own Elsa Parsan give birth to her baby girl Kate, April 17, 2011 at exactly 7:00 pm. My eyes are immediately drawn to a brilliant, glowing full moon on the horizon. I can't help but think of a Holiday that yoginis celebrate that honors the full moon as the brilliancy of our truest nature. Elsa exemplified this Holiday for me tonight. It was in the moments immediately following her birth that I could celebrate, recognizing my own heart's need for expansion, freedom, and exaltation. Elsa was intoxicated in joy. She laughed continuously, for what seemed like an eternity and then she wept in disbelief and gratitude stating "I didn't think I could do it." All the while, her wet, warm newborn remained securely snuggled deep into the bosom of her throbbing, rocking fully alive chest.

Elsa Partan did in fact do it. Elsa gave birth the way she wanted, the way she envisioned, courageously, freely and joyfully. May we all in our hearts and minds send Elsa our congratulations and highest honoring. We all look forward to hearing her story in the weeks to follow.

Forever together in our hearts,


Maurene Merritt, RN, Yoga Teacher

Sara Chants Gavin Out of Her Body

To My favorite Yoginis,

I've just returned from the hospital were Sara sits on the edge of the hospital bed, her hair pinned up and back in a scruffy ponytail, wearing a mismatched flannel pajama set, all casual backdrops for her brilliant, beaming smile. She has just given birth two days ago to Gavin, a handsome, expansively alert young fellow who was comforted by Dad strolling him while Sara and I talked of her experience. Sara had a remarkable birth experience, with a quick ride to the hospital through transition and only 15 minutes of what Sara coined "chanting" her baby out. I asked Sara what helped her through her labor. Sara was quick to respond that is was the sound that she made with every contraction. She said "I could hear you in my mind say to me, Sara you need to let your voice be known, let yourself make sound". Just the week prior, in prenatal yoga we were practicing creating sound through contractions, giving ourselves permission to be heard.

I ask Sara too who was faithful to yoga and wanted her pregnancy/birth to be a spiritual experience, how was her experience spiritual. Sara described two separate occasions. The first one she said was in early labor. She described being alone in her room, huddled over her labor ball, simply humming and rocking. Chad piped in exclaiming that Sara often just disappears like she did, finding moments of enjoyment in her solitude. She said that she was "in another realm". The other event in her labor that she described as surreal is when she was pushing Gavin out of her body.

It is these places of feeling surreal and "in another realm" that many women describe having during their labors. Unfortunately what happens is that life goes on and the demands of a newborn at times are all consuming and we lose these precious, extraordinary moments to the mundane and ordinary. Yoga is a wonderful vehicle to fine-tune the body/psyche to naturally pay attention to subtly where these extremely, delightful states of being exist. Then when we do encounter big events like childbirth, we will be more available to flow with and hold longer what many have searched endlessly to have as their very own throughout time.

In love and light,

Maurene

Lunges For Ease In Pregnancy

Dear favorite yoginis,

Lunges are essential in pregnancy. A lunge is when one of your legs is fully extended behind you. They are important in pregnancy because they release a very large muscle called the psoas. The psoas attaches the top part of your body to your lower half. It is the muscle that brings your body into a fetal position (flexion of the spine), and is also the muscle that supports extension. Unfortunately cultural habits of driving long distances and sitting in chairs for long periods of time produce a chronic state of flexion when the psoas is contracted. In pregnancy, the condition is exaggerated because the growing weight of your baby tilts the pelvis forward creating more contraction of the psoas. The situation is still further influenced by an inhibited diaphragm that is unable to fully expand into the abdominal cavity because of your growing baby. The diaphragm overlaps the psoas at a tendon at your lower back and thus they have a synergistic relationship.

Such a condition causes tension and pain in your lower back which is one of the major discomforts of pregnancy. A tight psoas can also deter giving birth because when you have your baby your spine needs to extend which will require the support of a healthy, toned psoas. Simply walking with run way model hips can help to lengthen the psoas. Lunges in yoga too help to synchronize full body breathing and a release of the psoas.

Unfortunately lunges are contradicted in pregnancy because they are believed to put too much weight on a unstable pelvis do to the influence of relaxin. I've created a safe, stable lunge by resting the pelvis on a chair while the back leg reaches fully into extension.

Come to yoga for ease in your pregnancy and prepare for birth.

In love and light,


Maurene