Why I Teach Prenatal Yoga?

This is an exciting day for me. Today I am launching my prenatal yoga and childbirth education series. I have been training, planning and preparing for this for some time. This is a big dream of mine and I am delighted to share it with you!

Sixteen years ago, with the birth of my first son, a seed was planted. My journey to new motherhood didn’t start off easily. I faced a struggle with postpartum mood disorder PPMD that saw me experiencing wild highs and crushing lows. During middle of the night feeds with my son, I would cry my eyes out thinking of all the injustice in the world. Then during the daytime, I had more energy then I’ve ever felt in my life. I was flying high and nothing could bring me down.

I wasn’t alone in my struggle as a new mom. My sister was also experiencing her own journey with PPMD and several of our friends were kindly sharing with me their past experiences with the disease. I think even back then, amidst the struggle, I knew someday I would go on to help other expecting parents on their own journeys.

Throughout my life I have strived to share my story of mental illness and in so doing others have blessed me by sharing their stories with me. Because of their courage to share, I felt less alone living with this disease. I know that postpartum mood disorders affect many new parents and I knew that I wanted to help.

My hope is that young expecting parents starting out on their journey to parenthood would not have to encounter any moments of struggle. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if those ideal images of new parenthood we see in the media could be the reality for everyone starting out on this journey? However, struggle in life is a powerful phenomenon that brings forth incredible opportunities for growth and self discovery. As new parents there are often many different causes for struggle, mine just happened to be with PPMD but for others the cause of struggle may be completely different. If and when young families encounter struggle, I hope to provide a rich community of support and encouragement to help see them through.

This is why as a yoga teacher it was important for me to specialize and receive additional training in prenatal and postnatal yoga. I also went on to complete training as a birth doula, as well as, a Lamaze certified training. I want to extend a big thank you to Julia Forest, Stef Antunes and all the facilitators at Awakened Spirit Yoga for supporting me on this journey of learning and self discovery. I am feeling ready now thanks to you

If you or someone you know is expecting a little one you can find more information about my prenatal offerings by clicking here.