Always do your best. Pre Natal Yoga @ Moksha Donald

It took me 4 months to do it but I finally made time for myself to check out the prenatal yoga classes offered through Moksha Yoga at the Donald location. You would often associate the Moksha series with hot yoga and at first I thought to myself, "hot yoga? for pregnant people? Is that safe?". Well, that's another subject altogether that I would recommend talking to your doctor about however many Winnipeggers don't realize that Moksha Donald offers a couple non-hot classes in their upstairs studio such as Flow II and Prenatal Yoga.

I arrived at the studio nearly an hour early so I sat down on one of the couches to read my Girlfriends Guide to Prengancy and soon after all the other ladies with baby bumps started filtering in. This is my first pregnancy and it didn't take me long to realize that there is a special bond between women who are pregnant at the same time as you. Within 5 minutes you know eachothers due date, potential gender of the baby, how bad you had morning sickeness, how much it sucks to pee every twenty minutes and your entire birthing plan. Already I was happy I went to the class and hadn't even made it up to the studio yet.

Once the Flow II class ended and all the floor banging from falling out of handstands stopped, nine women laid out their mats, grabbed their bolsters and blocks and waited for the lovely Nena to start class. Before I knew Nena was our instructor I thought the class would be very relaxing and full of non-weight bearing stretches much like a hatha class but with Nena I always expect a good workout and lots of hip openers which is exactly what we got.

The class started with a set intention (as usual) of "always do your best, no matter what situation you are in or how you are feeling. Your best may differ from day to day however if you always strive for your best then there is no room in your day for regret or discontent" (I am positive Nena said that way more beautfully and clearly but I think that was the point!) After starting out with some cat and cow, we moved right into a series of warrior poses, some hip openers that I had never done before and finishing with some light core work and seated stretching. We even did half moon pose which I fell out of several times, but that's nothing unusual. It didn't feel like a "specialty" class other than the fact you have to modify poses to make room for baby belly and Nena demonstrated and corrected when required.

After class I felt great despite realizing how extremely tight my hamstrings and hip flexors are but that just means I will be back next week to do it all again. The next morning I woke up with slight tenderness in my shoulders and hamstrings but nothing too uncomfortable and this morning I actually rolled out my mat outside on my balcony and committed to 20 sun salutations and a warrior flow series (after my coffee and apple turnover of course) and I can't wait until Wednesday to see my new friends and work through another challenging yet peaceful class.

Moksha Donald offers Prenatal Yoga Monday and Wednesday nights 630-730 upstairs in a room-temperature studio with a bathroom directly beside it. There is no need to call ahead or pre-register however I would recommend coming 15 minutes early to meet and chat with the other mothers-to-be as I believe connecting with others who are going through the same thing as you are is just as valueable as the yoga practice itself!

Written for Prairie Yogi Magazine by Kristen Locke.