Keepin' up the pace

With our dance performances out of the way, I needed to pick up something to keep on some sort of exercise schedule.

One of the sisters in our ward is a part-time yoga instructor, so for one of the "Enrichment Groups" we've started up a yoga class. We're going to meet once a week for about an hour and a half.

Now, I know that you're not supposed to start anything "new" sports-wise when you're pregnant, but I figured, "Hey, I'm a weathered dancer/gymnast/swimmer...how hard can it be?" It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, actually. I'm even kind of sore today from our workout last night.

I think it will be really beneficial though. Kim, our instructor, modified all the movements for me so that I don't strain myself or the baby... The class was pretty basic to begin with, but there are just some poses pregnant ladies aren't supposed to do "properly" so I did them differently. She also said that she has some information specifically about prenatal yoga that she'll get for me and help me learn. Apparently the breathing exercises really help during labor. I'll let you know how if that's true in a few months.

At the very end of our routine we did what is known as the "corpse" pose (the real name is Savasana). During this pose you're supposed to lie flat on your back and slowly relax all the muscles in your body while focusing on your breathing. While I'm trying to relax, Rachel was having a hay-day! She was bouncing off the walls (quite literally) making it rather difficult to focus entirely on my breathing. I don't know if I was feeling her more because I was completely relaxed or if she was moving more because of my workout...either way, it was quite comical. I'm only glad the lights were off while we were doing this because I'm sure she was making my tummy move radically.