Birthing Class IV: A Shout Out to Yoga

In our fourth Birthing class we talked about coping mechanisms during labor. We covered relaxation techniques and started talking about body positions that we will finish next week. I just want to give a shout out to Yoga. I felt I could relate almost every coping mechanism to my yoga practice. Whole body relaxation = savasana which is also called corpse pose.

This is what savasana looks like. (Image from here.)

It is when you lay down on your back at the end of your yoga practice to completely relax your body. Some yoga instructors lead you from head to toe in a softly spoken relaxation visualization. Others just let you lie there in complete silence. It can be the most relaxing 3-8 minutes you can experience. It's nice to know that Mike does yoga too so if he needed to he could lead me through a head to toe whole body relaxation. There are positions like cat/cow(marjariasana) or pelvic tilt that can help move the baby into a more optimal position for delivery.

This is what cow(on the left) and cat(on the right) pose looks like. (Image from here.) I love her ankle/leg warmers.

 There is another one that I think the instructor called knee/chest position which looks like yoga's dolphin pose. That is also good for getting baby in a different/better position.

  

DOLPHIN POSE:

just kidding.

This is really what yoga's dolphin pose looks like. (Image from here.) Although the knee/chest position puts you on your knees rather than feet like you see in this example.

So, that's why the shout out. I've done these poses before so they are second nature to me now. All Mike or the midwife has to say is "DOLPHIN!" and I'll be on it like a bonnet.