I wasn’t planning on writing a post this week. Cramming three-plus months of necessities into TWO suitcases, amongst other things I need to do before we leave at zero-dark-thirty, literally, Friday morning has me busy and anxious. And then I started feeling how tight my body was becoming.
I’m 31 weeks tomorrow and I’ve been doing really well at keeping up with yoga and my workouts, but my body is just SO achy. Baby girl does not like me laying on my back though and side sleeping is pulling everything out of whack. Neck, shoulders, chest, hips, glutes; you should hear my deep breathing exercises as I settle into bed each evening! J is always asking, "Are you OK?"
This last week I noticed some particular new muscle tightness in my chest, to the point it’s actually sore to the touch. My sternum often cracks when I stretch my chest. I haven’t been doing any out of the ordinary exercises so I did a quick search to find out this is pretty common among pregnant women when their rib cage starts expanding. I didn’t have this sensation with The Gents though. I’m guessing because C&R took up more space so my rib cage was probably slowly expanding during the pregnancy, versus baby girl who has been sitting low on my abdomen and now I’m feeling the movement of my ribs as she’s growing bigger. At least that’s my logic. Bottom line, it hurts!
So I started augmenting my core power and prenatal workouts with hatha sessions. And they’re wonderful, so wonderful that I felt compelled to share. As amazing as a good HIIT or core power workout is itself, we often push ourselves to the point that we don’t recover as quickly and make our subsequent workouts even harder than necessary. Or the general stresses and strains from everyday life create a lot of tension in our bodies, creating a vicious cycle of constant soreness. Hatha has been a great addition to my practice given the recent strains on my body.
There are a lot of different apps, YouTube channels and sites where you can find yoga workouts. I’ve been collecting my favorites on Pinterest, here and here. My favorite site for video classes is Do Yoga With Me. Most of the classes are free!
If you’re a complete novice I do recommend taking a few classes, with a good instructor, to ensure you’re doing the poses correctly. Some online instructors are so good though that they’ll talk you through the poses so that you’re mindful of how you’re positioning your body. I also place a mirror on the floor along the long side of my mat so I can check myself. Once you start getting in the habit it’s so easy to maintain your practice at home.
Here's to my keeping up with it for the rest of this pregnancy! Namaste. :) xo