Yoga and Pregnancy

This free training is ready for you - 26 minutes of the basics all yoga teachers can use today to support pregnant students.

🌷Tell the others?

Linktr.ee/yogaandpregnancy

My next in person 3 hour training is in two weeks!

Come learn a few things you can do to support all pregnant students in every class you teach.

Linktr.ee/yogaandpregnancy

Hi friends -

It’s helpful for me to know about the values my teachers hold, so I’m sharing mine here with you.

What would you add?

HOW DO YOU SHOW UP WHEN A PREGNANT STUDENT COMES TO YOUR CLASS?

🌸Room for improvement?
🌸Curious about confidence?
🌸Eager for a toolbox of “just the right things” to say?

I got you.

Next Yoga & Pregnancy
live and in person

Friday, June 2nd
12-3

Or

Monday, June 5th
5-8

🔗 —> Linktr.ee/yogaandpregnancy

$100

💻 virtual option? DM me to get on the list.

[Mantra is available in every language]

Each of us has within us a pattern of thought we put to words

and

the power to change the words we think.

Mantra does not have to be in Sanskrit, or Gurmukhi, or Tibetan in order to be effective.

🎵 Mantra exists in every language.

The sacred role of a yoga teacher can be the introduction of new mantra

and

the flexibility to hear what works for the student

and

the grace to let it be what it is.

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🎵 Intrigued? I've got more! Download my free guide to better support your pregnant students, starting now. Link in bio.

[infertility & sub fertility are common]

🌱 We don't do a great job at educating our youth about pregnancy. The range of potential educational strategies received by anyone raised in the United States is so vast, that it ranges from abstinence to comprehensive, fear-based to evidence-based.

One thing most methods have in common? They don't teach people how to become pregnant. By offering us only the story of avoidance, we accidentally receive the implication that pregnancy is easy to achieve. It's 2 + 2 = 4. Pull the goalie, or initiate a particular sort of sexual activity, and ⚽.

However, as people start to move in the direction of attempting a pregnancy, they learn that it can be more complicated than reversing their avoidance strategy.

Skillful yoga teachers are aware of this possibility, and able to resource their students with referrals to comprehensive, compassionate professionals who can support them in achieving pregnancy.

h/t to and - two professionals who have wonderful content you can reference and add to your toolbox. Give them a follow?
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Want to get a jump-start on supporting your pregnant students? I've got a guide for you - it's free, and it will both provide you tangible tools and areas for inquiry to shift your mindset to one that best leverages the tools of yoga to support pregnancy.

[Surrogates often prefer ‘regular’ yoga to ‘prenatal’ yoga]

Why is it so important that 'regular' yoga teachers understand pregnancy?

Because prenatal yoga - a yoga designed for ONLY pregnant students isn't always comfortable for ALL pregnant students.

Those choosing adoption, those carrying a surrogacy, and those who prefer not to chat about their pregnancy or birth plans often prefer a class that is designed for everyone.

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Howdy! My name is Kari Kwinn, and I believe pregnancy is a normal condition of the adult human, and yoga is more than the poses. You with me? Please like, share, and help me spread the word and make yoga a better practice for everyone.

[Pregnant students choosing adoption often come to ‘regular’ yoga]

"Just send them to prenatal!,"

I've heard studio owners and managers say.

"We have a special yoga for pregnant students - why even bother training my entire staff to support them?"

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT FROM US!?!"

Well.

There is a distinct difference between offering a curated class for a particular cohort that skillfully supports them through a life phase and transition

AND

Shipping them off for another teacher to worry about.

PS: Prenatal yoga isn't always appropriate for all pregnant students. Those choosing adoption, those carrying a surrogacy, and those who simply choose general yoga classes for any reason. Let's be prepared to welcome them appropriately and skillfully.

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Not sure which classes are useful or safe for pregnant students? We talk all about it in my 12 module, signature course Yoga and Pregnancy. Link in bio for more.

[no matter how long your cycle is, if your last menstrual period was January 1st, your "due" date is October 8th]

Let's talk about how BANANAS due dates are on an individual level?

Due dates are really useful on an aggregate level - meaning, if you are a midwife, a doula, or a doctor who tries (desperately) to plan your life around being available to your clients and patients for their birth, they are important. You cannot plan to attend 12 specific births with the same due date, even though you know for sure most of them will not birth on that date.

However, due dates can be toxic to the mental and emotional health of a pregnant student on an individual level, because we have stories about being late.

Let's shift the stories?

🍌 Let's swap 'due dates' --> 'ESTIMATED due dates'

🍌 Let's remind our pregnant students that EDDs *Estimated Due Dates* are based on the first day of their last period. Unless they are a period clock, and their clock is set to 28 days without fail, the EDD is going to be heavy on the ESTIMATED

🍌 Instead of due dates, let's stretch our window of what is 'normal' to include the weeks before & after the EDD

🍌 BONUS: even students who used Assistive Reproductive Technology (like IUI or IVF) to become pregnant cannot stick a pin in the precise date their birth will occur

Bananas, right?
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💎 If you are a yoga teacher or wellness professional who works with pregnant students and clients, download my free 12 tips about how to do this with more skill, compassion, and ease. Link in bio.

[When the teacher sets the tone, there is nothing a group of people cannot support]

Where did we find this unhelpful idea that certain life events are taboo? That a person's lived experience ought not be shared?
That something might be too much?

The most fundamental role of a modern, western yoga teacher is to hold space. To join together individuals for the shared purpose of coexisting. While it isn't often a space for many words to emerge, it doesn't need to be in order to provide powerful engagement.

When you have a student who is experiencing a challenge, it is not necessary that you ask about it or that they share about it.

We welcome them into the shared space - the air space or the zoom room and say, "I'm glad you're here," and know that our shared presence can benefit each of us.

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Intrigued? I've got more! Get invited to my next 90 minute [live & virtual] intro class. Live and interactive, from wherever on earth you happen to be. Link in bio.

[Safety is a feeling, not a fact]

Dear Yoga Teachers:
It is not possible to make a student 'feel' safe.

🦺 Safety is a feeling, not a fact.🦺

Instead of telling your pregnant students
❌ you are 'safe' in my class

consider telling them facts that can support them in facilitating trust in you as a teacher and space holder:

✅ I have specialized, advanced training in adapting this style of yoga for pregnant students.

Report back?

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Download my free ebook with tips and tools about better practices and better questions.

[full-term gestation is 37-42 weeks]

Where in your life is a five-week window normal?

Imagine your best friend is coming to visit you, and they tell you they'll arrive sometime between October 1st and November 8th.

Any day in there, really.

In many parts of the world, this is normal, but in Western culture, it's preposterous. Not only are we accustomed to knowing the precise date our friend will arrive, but what time their plane is expected to land, and how long it will take them to get to us from the airport.

We can feel disappointed or even embarrassed if circumstances outside of our control force us to be later than expected. We apologize for weather-delays, tell stories of the heroics it took us to find lodging for an unexpected night in Chicago, and look for loopholes around the logistics.

The way we address birth is no different.

Normal, healthy babies are born between 37-42 weeks of gestation. There is nothing inherently wrong with a baby born within this window who is earlier than or later than their 'due' date.

Our cultural story of birth is broken.

Let's fix it?

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🌱 Download my free ebook with tips and tools about better practices and better questions.