Now Certified to Teach Prenatal Yoga!

Finally getting around to writing about my week in Joshua Tree getting certified to be a prenatal yoga instructor!

Why I chose to sign up in the first place.
I’ve been teaching yoga for about 2 years now, and I’ve always been a firm believer in continuing education. I knew that I wanted to expand my offering to the community through three additional certifications: (1) prenatal yoga, (2) yoga for children (coming soon in March 2019! Ping me if you are interested) and (3) life coaching. When I found out I was pregnant, of course prenatal yoga rose to the top of the list!

This pregnancy has been full of wonder, but also full of fear. I knew that going through the training would not only help me navigate through this new and exciting experience, but also give me the tool kit to share my experience with other expecting moms!

What I got out of the training.
I came in knowing that I would receive education on prenatal yoga, thinking it would be a training primarily rooted in safe modifications and beneficial poses. While that was indeed part of my experience, I was not expecting the incredible breadth and depth of training I received.

I won’t even get into all of it, but wow - there was so much information! This was an 85 hr training in one intensive week, and we utilized every single moment of it. We dove deep into pelvic anatomy, child birth education, birth options, asanas, nutrition, fertility, roles of support (partner, midwife, doula, etc), and so much more.

While I admit there were many times that I felt my particular situation (high risk pregnancy necessitating hospital birth and medical oversight) was not well-represented, it was still so invaluable to educate myself. I told one of the other students that it was like I was given a treasure map, and now it was up to me to continue my research and follow the trails to this treasure of information.

We built a community, a support system, and an intersection of souls.
As a pregnant woman, this experience gave me so much more than just education. It was the wealth of knowledge, the spiritual evoking, the self-discovery, and most importantly, the supportive community. I am so blessed to have met and forged such close bonds with so many amazing yoga instructors from around the country. We all met in Joshua Tree for a reason - to grow not only as individuals, but also as a community.

We started the retreat with the mantra, “You got this!”, and that mantra will forever lift me up in moments of doubt. I broke down several times during the week (yes, I was a hot mess dealing with a lot of fears), but every single time, a sister would lend her comfort and strength and reassure me “you got this.”

One of my favorite moments was on the penultimate day when we taught a full prenatal yoga class together. We joined hands and screamed our battle cry, “I am fierce! I am powerful! I am a woman warrior!” For the community and sisterhood that we built in one short week, I am forever grateful.

I conquered my fears and reconnected with my faith.
I won’t go into this too much, since I wrote an entire blog post about this already (see here). In the middle of the week, I had a breakdown in front of everyone. I had been hearing horror stories about hospital births all week, which had a compounding effect on the fear I was already bringing into this training.

But that night, I sat an meditated in my room and decided that only I could decide what was bests for me and my baby. I needed to trust my gut, my instinct, my body, and my strength.

I felt strong and empowered the next morning. Then just as I sat down for our morning meditation, a sign from baby and from God came. I felt my baby move for the first time, and especially after confronting my fears, it was like baby was reassuring me that I was strong enough.

I will ALWAYS remember Joshua Tree as the place where amazing wonders happened — I became a part of a community; I found my voice as a mother; I felt my baby move for the first time; I gained a wealth of knowledge to go forth and share with the world.

Thank you to Jennica and Krissy for hosting / teaching this life-changing experience!