Guest Post – Pregnancy Yoga by Pip Jackson founder of Pip Yoga
GUEST POST – PREGNANCY YOGA BY PIP JACKSON FOUNDER OF PIP YOGA
I have been teaching Yoga for over 6 years, whilst picking up beautiful qualifications along the way such as Pregnancy Yoga, Mum & Baby Yoga, Teen Yoga and Reiki.
All of these teachings have been fabulous strings to my bow, but I actually wanted to share an interesting truth I’ve been struggling with since falling pregnant for the 2nd time.
It’s true that these practices have been ESSENTIAL to my well-being; from supporting a peaceful outlook on life right the way up to helping me breathe through personal trauma, and all of those ebbs and flows in-between! I would praise these teachings until the cows come home, but something in my body has forced me into a grinding place of STOP!
It started with 1st trimester nausea, which can feel like a daily wipe out, stripping me of all possible motivation and normal daily ability, not to mention raising a toddler on the side. It really is so crucial to not start anything new in this early stage of pregnancy, but I genuinely couldn’t even if I wanted to! Once my hormones calmed down and the 2nd Trimester gifted me a bit more breathing space and normality, this was the moment of opportunity to head
to one of those beautiful Pregnancy Yoga Classes.
Building strength and relief in the body for birth, learning calming breathing practices, socialising with other mums for support, enjoying some ‘me time’ makes the experience priceless in my opinion. However, if your body says no, then the answer is no.
Oddly, I was right at the peak of my fitness before falling pregnant again; regularly practicing Yoga, Meditation, Mindfulness, running with empowering audio books, I was on top of the world with fitness, working and being a mum! So what was going on? Every action made me feel like I wanted to sit down.
Walking from one end of the house to the other made me incredibly out of breath and a brief catch up with a friend on the phone sent me into a recovering nap to regain energy. I was absolutely drained, lethargic, slow and completely uninspired. The idea of any form of exercise or even trying a relaxation technique just made me want to go to bed. I felt like a fraud, for knowing what I could do to help myself, but not actually doing it. A strange reality.
The other spectrum of difficulty is hearing such wonderful praise and celebration about the news of being pregnant, but feeling so terrible inside my body. So not only was the fraudulent feeling building inside of me, I also felt guilty and ashamed for struggling.
So what did I do? I actually forced myself to join the local pregnancy yoga class as I knew these feelings would be welcomed, appreciated and understood. I was fed up of the guilty feeling of ‘I’m a trained Pregnancy Yoga Teacher, I know the practices, why aren’t I doing them?!’ I was ashamed of the assumptions friends kept making with ‘Pip will be fine, she’s a Yoga Teacher, she knows what to do.’ The desperation to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING to help pull me out of my funk became too strong to ignore, and what a great decision that was.
The biggest takeaway for me personally with attending these classes was being around other women – it was the community feeling of a female tribe that would listen, another teacher nodding with no judgement, and the escapism from the four walls of my home that was driving me crazy. Strangely, the physical benefits I’ve always enjoyed within Yoga were obviously not what my body needed, I was craving to be heard, held and given permission
to express how I felt; warts ’n’ all!
The other thing I did, which I really want you to read, is I forgave myself. I accepted my body didn’t want to do what my mind thought it could do. I surrendered to the understanding that there’s time to pull my body back to what I might like her to be later, but for now, she is doing exactly what she can, and that’s ok. For the time being, I shall enjoy sitting on my bottom as much as possible, and release my inner critic of expectations and exercise. And that’s thing about Yoga, it’s always there for you, when you’re ready.
The word ‘healing’ covers such a broad spectrum of understanding inside all of our minds, and each of us discover this word in a very individual way. Through Pregnancy I’ve discovered that Meditation, the art of forgiveness, and the practice of surrender have been the most healing, helpful and important learnings for me.
All of these teachings are also part of Yoga; to change one’s perspective on Life and absorb the bigger picture is what truly adds to our desire for peace.
So as my belly expands and this wonderful being inside my body gets ready to surface, I too shall marinate in these more softening teachings whilst expanding my wisdom and preparing for motherhood phase two.
Pip Jackson is a Yoga teacher living in Surrey with her husband and young son, she spends her time with her family, whilst also teaching yoga and wellness.
A friendly, confident and creative individual, and a former model to boot, she has the ability to constantly learn and adapt to change, Pip completed her yoga training in 2014 within the practice of Classical Indian Hatha Yoga.
Through her determination, organisation and self-motivation she has built up her business to teach and connect with students within the practice of yoga, which she compliments with meditation and healing.
Pip’s style of teaching is steady paced whilst working alongside energies and breath, she likes to feel into the practice with a light heart, keeping an open mind and a dash of humour.
GUEST POST – PREGNANCY YOGA BY PIP JACKSON FOUNDER OF PIP YOGA