Finding Women's Strength with Yoga by Michelle Goitia

     Last night I watched, "Birth Story: Ina May Gaskins &The Farm Midwives" with my "birth" friends. What I came away with is a confirmation of why I do the work that I do. As many of you know, I LOVE teaching pregnant women, women and their partners and women with babies and/or toddlers. The movie shared some births that simply took my breath away. I HAD to take the cleansing breath that I ask my students and birth clients to take many times during class and/or their birth.

     Tapping into the women's strength is what I try to cultivate in the yoga practice. Asking my students to let labor happen and be strong for the birth of their baby as we hold our 1 minute chair pose! In class,  we celebrate the woman who has endured pregnancy the longest by allowing her to pick the poses that feel the best in her ever changing body. In Yoga for Labor & Delivery, we find comfort measures and peace to take with them into their labor. Labor is hard but we do not have to fear it. We need to find our inner strength and peace to cultivate the birth we envision.

     The movie closed with a woman in labor. Surrounded by someone playing a Cello(REALLY), her husband, her children, Ina May and her midwives as she labored in her living room in a tub. We watched as everyone around her was present but not intrusive. Calmly, the baby was born and her "support" group was there to welcome him to this world. AMAZING and yes I had to take another cleansing breath!

Here is a trailer of the movie:

http://vimeo.com/birthstorymovie/birthstorymovie

- Michelle Goitia teaches Prenatal Yoga at the Urban Sanctuary on Monday's at 11am.  She also leads our Itsy Bitsy Series on Tuesdays at the Urban Sanctuary and Thursdays at the Uptown location.