A pose for all Mothers:)

Every child would know this..." Mum knows best!"
Every mum would say this... " Of course, you've been in my belly for nine months. How would i not know?"

Of course! Having to carry a child growing with you for 9 months.... eat, sleep, work, talk, bathroom breaks whatever you are doing, you are not alone. Isn't that amazing? And you know what? The child inside, will eventually behave like you!

The effort of a mother of bearing a child is always being embrace by the nature, it is part of the nature. There's a pose being practice (by people who are not pregnant)--- a child  giving tribute to mothers for living in the womb for nine months before birth. 

Its call Garbha Pindasana ( Womb Embryo Pose). And it looks like this!

* a child in the womb

So dearest mums- to be, days may be getting harder when your tummy is growing by days like madness, with the frequent pains and aches, wrapping up with water retention and bloating... the duty and effort are recognize.

Any pose that tributes the father...? Let me dig on....

3 Easy ways for a happier Working mum-to-be!

Work still goes on, even if you're pregnant!

You probably spend the first 6 months smoothly at work... as when you feel like carrying a DHL balloon daily to work; its time to do some adjustments.

The idea is to keep yourself moving, for a better blood circulation and releasing stiffness in the joints. Here's some pointers to take note of:

GET YOUR BUTT OF THE CHAIR AND WALK AROUND THE OFFICE

Sitting any longer than an hour, is just not good! 

I do understand the thought of moving away from your comfort chair, walking about carrying a weight can be a dread.
Keeping yourself active helps to improve blood circulation and releasing the stiffness of the joints ( hips, knees, spine)

- Take chance to visit the toilet

- Have a little "chit chat" breaks with your colleagues face-to-face

- Walk out for lunches

LOOSE IT ALL!

Wear comfortable clothes, especially at around the chest and rib-cage area. We need to breathe! So keep the belts loosely decorated around you.

Time to put your sexy high-heels aside, and embrace comfy flats-soles or even orthopedic shoes/ sandals.

Most pregnant mums do experience some form of water-retention.
Don't worry! You're not getting fat, you're just bloating... at least for a few months. 

As your body gets heavier by days, investing in a good footwear is very essential to protect your ankles, knees, hips and the whole alignment of your spine.

PUT A STOP TO YOUR WORK

Yup! I know...you take utmost pride and priority in your work. But do manage your stress level during this period. As the hormones in the body is fluctuating, you may experience mood-swings and tiredness almost like tossing a coin.

Piling up too much work and stress will affect the healthy growth of both yourself and the little one. 

Leave your work on your work desk when its time to take rest at home. 

Honestly, there's no end to work... have a break! 

Are you having " Mommy Brains"?

Have you been forgetful lately, especially even more during the later part of your pregnancy?

Going back and forth to look for your keys, not remembering the names of the people around you, can't make out your left and right, co-ordination confusion, could not recall what you were talking about in the mid of conversation... maybe even forgetting your home address!
That's because your brain is shrinking!

When coming into the later part of pregnancy, your brain will shrink for 3-5% in size--- or medically "Placenta Brain". OH NO!

So, don't be too panic or hard on yourself if you find yourself in such clumsy situation of forgetfulness. You can manage them with some tips:

- Write down major events or things on a paper
- Play simple games on physical co-ordination
- Slow down your pace
- Repeat the names of the people you meet
- Be easy on yourself and laugh it off!

The question is: Will the brain go back to the original size?
After birth, the brain will grow back... but may not to the original size!

Sun Salutation for Prenatal Yoga

Hi pretty mums!
I've decided to make this video on my own, as i could not get something suitable elsewhere. This is a simple sun salutation you can practice at home. Get into each pose for a good slow 5 breaths, and move on to the next. You can do for about 3-5 rounds. Yes, you probably will get sweaty... that's a good sign!



Sun salutation is one of the best workout to loosen up the stiffed joints, warm up and strengthen the muscles, cardiovascular and lungs. Take your time to go through them.... and remember: Please do not practice after meal. Enjoy!

Sweat it out, to cool it down!

Most pregnant mum-to-be by now are experiencing episodes of "hot flushes" or/ and " rising body heat". You probably sweat easily, or may even feel tired easily due to the internal body heat.

If you're thinking of surrounding yourself with air-conditioners, think again.

Putting your body under air-conditioner environment for prolong hours, you may increase the chances of:

- sinus 

- catch a flu or virus

- chest tightness

- all other muscles and joints aches

Staying in cool room doesn't mean the heat has gone off.

Alternatively, a good way to release your body heat is through sweating.

Some good activities during pregnancy are highly recommended:

- walk

- swimming

- yoga ( sun salutation) * i will touch in this in the next post.

Basically, any low-impact exercises are suitable. Keeping your body active is essential to stay healthy. Through sweating, you will not only reduce body heat, internal toxin will also be expelled out from the body.

Do remember to drink lots of water to replenish!

Breaths, a connection for mums and babies

As the weeks go by, and your little protruding tummy has becoming like a basketball---
while busying struggling each of your movements, you still want to keep the connection between you and the little one strong. What do you do?

Now, your yoga practice needs to flow with you. Shift your practice from varieties of poses to breath works.
Pick a few pose for relaxation that can help you to focus your practice on breathing instead.

If you think doing long breath works is going to bore you to tears, think again.

Our breath is the reason of our existence, the very basic of life. And now, you're on a duty of creating a new life, and that's when breath sets in. Take breathing as a teacher to guide you to the connection with you baby.
Every breath you take, the baby does feel it, and he/she takes on the pattern of your breathing.

Short shallow breaths create anxieties, long deep breaths invites harmony.
Breathe slowly, and smile...

   

Grow Healthy with Folic Acid

How much has your diet change since the little one has started growing inside you?
Sudden increasing of appetites, what's more... cravings for random food--- eating doubly more in the name of    " i've got two mouths to feed!"

Weight gain is part of pregnancy, but accelerated weight gain ( due to eating habit) is going to give you a lot more discomfort.
There're few things i would like to highlight to your daily meals...

Charge up with Folic Acid ( Vitamin B9)
Pack your every meal with Folic Acid!

This nutrient promotes a healthy growth of spinal cord, columns, production of red blood cells, cell growth & development of the baby--- reduces the risk of defective growth of new born.

Where to find it?
- Dark Leafy Vegetables : Kale, Spinach , broccoli, corn, bok choy, romaine lettuce, beetroot
- Beans and peas
- Fruits: berries, banana, grapefruit, orange, honeydew
- Grains: cereals and bread
- Sunflower seeds
- Egg yolk
- Liver and kidney

Remember: Eat in Quality, not Quantity. 

Your body will thank you, and your baby will love you too!

Buzz your tension away!

Insomnia, fear, discomforts, anxieties... aren't these all throwing at you all at a time?

Release them all with... " Humming Bees"!

Yes, Humming Bees is a breathing technique, targeting to release the deep and long hidden negative tension built up in your head. And its very very easy to practice..:)

Here you go...

Either lying down ( on bed too!) or siting, be in a comfortable position.

Inhale through the nostrils.

Exhales with a closed lips, and making a "hmmm...." ( like a bee) sound till the next inhale.

Take some time to rest after the practice. 

This can be done early in the morning or just before going to sleep. 

Starts with a duration of 5 minutes and building up to 10, 15, 20.... minutes.

* Don't worry about the number of counts, just flow with the breaths.

Surrender to the calmness, and release the tight knots of tension with the buzz!

Warmer air for deeper breaths--- Ujjayi Breathing ( Part 2)

From the previous post: Warmer air for deeper breaths

Once you are comfortable with " fogging the mirror"; next, we're going to keep the Ujjayi going with closed lips.

Yes, only through the nostrils.

We'll focus on the exhalation first ( its easier). So natural inhale, Ujjayi exhale.

A short practice to direct the air from the mouth to the nostrils:

Taking 6 counts to start...

Take one full natural inhale through the nostrils for 6 counts;

Exhale through the mouth: Haaa~ for 1, 2, 3... keep exhaling 

with closing lips: Hmmm~ for 4, 5, 6

* don't worry if you don't get it immediately, always go back to the practice of " fogging the mirror".

Once you're confident with the exhalation, draw the inhalations through the same air pipe.

The meaning of Ujjayi is Victorious. But, i like to describe it as the Ocean Breath. 

Because when doing correctly, try blocking your ears while in this breathing... there's a nice sounds of waves created by our own breaths.

Breathe in the ocean inside us, enjoy the vastness, and relax in the calmness...

Warmer air for deeper breaths--- Ujjayi Breathing ( Part 1)

How to create a warmer and deeper breath for better expansion of the lungs capacity?
I will recommend Ujjayi Breathing.

There are many instruction on sites and books of how to do it for beginner practice.
Unless there's a teacher by your side, its really challenging to able to differentiate its Ujjayi breaths or just sniffing around.

I'm going to make it really really simple for starters to practice at home. Instead of breathing through the nostrils, lets start off by the mouth:

1) Stand in front of a mirror
2) Drop your jaw and fog the mirror ( inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth)
3) Check: you should be making a low " Haaa....~" to blur the mirror surface

Once this is ready, Take inhale 4 counts through nose;
                              Exhale 4 counts through mouth ( fog the mirror!)

Ujjayi Breathing helps to warm the air ( leading to) slower pace of breathing ( leading to) deeper breaths
( leading to) greater expansion of the internal muscles.

Until you're comfortable with the practice.... check out for the second part of the Ujjayi Practice soon!

Love your H2O!

If you are now transiting from late second trimester to third trimester.... congratulation!
Welcome to the world of " Water Retention"!
But then again, some mums are lucky to keep off the bloated-ness, aw!

No matter how bad is the retention, even if you can't fit into your usual shoes size... keep drinking water.
Because, not drinking water will not make the condition any better. Dehydration will worsen the case.
But, know what you're gulping down your throat...

Not all liquids that go into you can hydrate your body. Some drinks cause dehydration instead.

Fluids that dehydrate:
- tea
- coffee
- beer ( hope you're not taking this right now..)
- carbonated drinks

Fluids that hydrate:
- pure drinking water
- natural fruit juices
- de-caffeinated tea leaves

Hydration helps to flush out impurities out from the system,
regeneration of  new body cells,
reduces the heat in the body,
prevent giddiness,
helps to relaxes any tension and anxieties..... so many more.

Take frequent sips instead of few big gulps.

Cheers!

Staying Grounded: How to sit on the floor?

In such modernized society we're breeding in, we're developing a " Chair Culture" without realizing it.
At home, we sit on the couches. When travel, we sit on the transport seats. At work, we sit on chairs. Even in the toilet, we still sit on the bowls!

And eventually, our body resemble a chair ( knees can hardly bend much to a squat). This habitually sitting makes our hip joints really stiff and tight.

Mums! Time to practice the " Floor Culture". Take more time to sit on the floor, overtime, you may notice that your knee and hips are more relax and open.
Put cushions for more comfort too!

Some basic way of sitting:

Cross -legged. Like how children sit on the floor in pre-school.

The Butterfly

Our intention is to be able to sit as long as how we used to be siting on a chair.
Don't worry about how much stretch you can get from these poses. Just keep comfortable, and keep the legs loosely crossed.

For mums who find it really hard to get balance when sitting on the floor--- very much due to super tight hip/knee joints and rounded back. Lean against the wall for support.
Don't forget, you can always stuff cushion to give the posture a soft- touch.

Sitting on the floor, brings us very close in touch to the earth. There comes a nice feeling of rooted-ness. As we feel a good sense of grounded-ness, both you and the little one  growing inside will also feel a good deal of security.

Get comfy!

Haaa~ Its the Cooling Breath!

So, you notice that the sweat glands has becoming very active these days; you tend to sweat more frequent and easily than usual. Maybe sometimes a couple of heat gushing up as the heart thumping loudly, you're having a slight heart- burn.
Has the rise of your body temperature becomes reasons for: moodiness, easily irritated, short- tempered...

Learn how to regulate your body temperature through your breaths. Do you know that we can warm -up our breaths and cool them down too? By manipulation.
This post, i will introduce a cooling breathing technique.

There are two ways to practice this:

                                                                   Roll your tongue                                                                           

If you can't roll your tongue...

                                                                       Show your teeth
    

How to do it:

Inhaling ( one full breath) through the mouth ( imagine you've just ate some spicy food/ chili padi);

and Exhaling through the nostrils. 

You can practice this for 10 -20 rounds.

* Practice Cooling Breaths only in a clean place--- Indoors ( as breathing through the mouth does not go through filtration)

* If you're asthmatic, this practice is not for you:) 

Enjoy the cool breeze!

Something for All: Legs Up The Wall

Most modern mums still prefers to be out to work, comparing to staying at home. This enables mums to interact with people around them, which makes them happier. This also means that you can get physically worn out at a higher rate.

You once used to be able to brisk walk, fleeting from street to street.... but now you feel like you're carrying a giant body, stomping like an elephant. 

When you finally reach home, you check out a whole list of discomforts in your body:

Backaches, Shoulder/ Neck tight, Uncomfortable tightness in the hip joints ( where you can never point out the exact spot), sudden muscles cramps in the middle of the night, water retention in the legs, veins in the calves popping out ( green, purple, blue and red)....

No worries, it just time for some restorative practice. A passive inversion pose:

Legs Up The Wall ( Viparita Karani)

This is one of my favorite pose i like to bring it into the class, a simple pose that offers so many benefits.

Get a comfortable spot in your house, invert both of our legs up against the wall ( L shape in line with the wall). Stay there for about 5-15minutes--- in the morning after when you wake up, or/and in the evening before you snooze!

* Grab some soft pillows and slot them anywhere under your back for support. 

* Make sure that your head should be in the same level or higher then the rest of the hip---- otherwise you may experience giddiness.

Alternatively...

If you are suffering from slipped/ herniated disc, any spine injury that prevents you from keeping a straight knees, or with super tight hamstrings. No worries!

Consider this alternative pose, resting your legs on a chair to soften the spine. You'll still reap the same benefits:)

Enjoy the pose fully by closing your eyes, and freeing your breaths!

What pose to be avoided?

What type of poses should be avoided during prenatal? This is a common question asked.
Prone poses ( anything that makes you to lie flat in the tummy and chest) are a big NO NO. Why do you even want to flatten the tummy huh?

All others such as twist, side stretch, standing, back-bend and forward bend--- can be done with gentleness.

Full Inversion, friend or foe? There are many debates about it. No doubt that I've seen pregnant warriors inverting themselves. BUT, only if you have been practicing yoga for a long time, even in the advanced level, experienced with inversion. 
Stay away, or modify the pose.

Prenatal yoga offers a great opportunity to practice with compassion and surrendering any ego-ness. All mums knows that, the last thing they want is to hurt the little one. Like i say, a pregnant body is incomparable to the body you once knew.

Some mums can be really hyper and active. Its good to be move--- also accept the fact that as the tummy grows, limitation sets in--- as much as not able to see your own feet and cut your own toe nails.
Be patient, slow down and enjoy the moments!

Breath in a Yogic Way!

The Yogic Breath, is a very basic principle of how our body will react when we inhale or exhale. This sounds so logically, but why do we still have to learn them--- if it happens naturally?

The issue is, not many people allow their breaths to flow freely--- maybe due to the fast pace of the lifestyle and piling up stress level. The common ones are: really shallow upper chest breathing and reverse breathing.

Yogic Breath is a good head start when you are in the First Trimester. Because when your tummy starts growing, this exercise may be a little too challenging.

Let set your breathing pattern right!
Easier option: Lie down on your back ( knees bend or straight, whichever one is comfortable for your lower back)

Divide your body into 3 parts: The Abdomen, The Rib-cage, The Chest
Inhaling: 
Breathe down into the Abdomen so that it bloats, then continue to fill up the rib-cage area so that it expands, and one last inhale to fill up the chest.

Exhaling:
Release the air slowly from the chest, then the rib-cage and one last bit of exhale to release the abdomen, so that they soften down towards the spine.

This is one round. Do about 10 rounds daily.
When you're confident with the practice, try the same method sitting up ( a chair or on the floor cross legged).

When to start Prenatal practice?

The preferred period for a physical prenatal practice, i would say---  when you enter into the Second Trimester ( 4th month or after 12 weeks).

During the First Trimester ( first 3 months or the first 12 weeks), the hormones changes drastically, and most mums do experience morning sickness, which can even last for the whole day. Every pregnancy is unique. Some mums do get morning sickness and vomiting right till giving birth, some lucky ones do not even get it from the start. 

Once you pass the First Trimester, you can check out for the Prenatal Classes in your area--- don't be shy, you'll get to meet all other mums from everywhere. So, you're not alone:)

What to do during the First Trimester?

While the body is stabilizing in the initial stage, try to take rest as much as possible. Learn some simple deep breathing practice: The Yogic Breath ( look out  the next post)

The objective is to relax and calm the fluctuation of the body. 

A " pregnant body" is not your "usual body". Every cells sort of re-group and coming into a total new formation. Embrace the changes, and say hello to your new body!

A blog for all Mums-To-Be.... Its Prenatal Time!

This blog is specially created for all first time or repeated mums-to-be, welcome!

Couples months back, there's a sudden rise of mums stepping on the mats for prenatal practice. I reckoned it's due to the arrival "dragon year" in 2012. 

Anxious about being a mum for the first time? Don't worry, you are not alone.

In a spur, i would like to share some simple workout and tips for a breezy nine months:)

Nope. I've never been pregnant before, not given birth before and don't have a child... not yet. But i do understand what you are and will be going through, and do check out the posts for remedies!

I started teaching prenatal yoga since 2009. In this blog, will share my experiences with mums coming from all walks of life; be it expatriate living in Singapore or authentic locals; of various shapes and sizes.

Happy reading!