The Start

I'm five weeks pregnant. Very exciting. And I am writing this blog to document what it's like to be an Ashtangi and go through a pregnancy. I've read practically everything about pregnancy and ashtanga and the advice all seems very loose. More like, "do what feels right." But for goal oriented-people like me, that can be hard to decipher. "Am I wimping out or do I really feel more tired than usual today," that kind of thing. So I thought this blog of my experience might end up being helpful to someone out there.

I've heard: You shouldn't practice while you are trying to conceive or during the first trimester, to only do what feels right.

Advice from M (one of my teachers): Start practicing like you have a big belly already (and I'm a paranoid or is he already NOT helping me in Dwi Pada?).

Advice from J and N (two of my teachers): We practiced through a few pregnancies--you'll be fine.

This is my second pregnancy. The first time I was only doing led ashtanga classes and had not yet started doing daily mysore practice. I ended up not practicing very much, gained a lot of weight, and generally felt exhausted the whole time. I'm hoping this time, if I keep my practice up, I will actually gain energy. That's my theory so far--remains to be seen!

So this will not be definitive either, but maybe what I experience can be helpful to others in the future.