Preggasana!

And so a new chapter begins.  Hell, a whole new book!  And the book is called: "Wicked Awesome!" because after almost two years of hoping to get pregnant, I am humbly ecstatic to announce I am finally knocked up!  It wasn't the easiest journey, one that many days of yoga got me through, but it was truly worth the wait.

I conceived right around the time of the Yoga Trance Dance workshop I led.  In fact, if my calculations are correct, I'm pretty sure that on that night, brand new cells were dividing and that makes me thrilled to know that this new magic ball of energy was being formed and created amidst the sacred juiciness of such intense energy, dance, and spirit!   Ah, the power of Trance Dance! :)

Since finding out I was pregnant, yoga has continued to take on a deeper meaning for me.  Every pose, every breath, every chant now has taken on this new layer, sinking deeper beyond my own peace of mind and well being, but as a contribution to the growth and development of this new life.   During the first trimester, I was severely sick and my body revolted, quite literally all day every day ("morning" sickness is a laughably insulting underestimation of a misery that lasts all day, all night and even in your dreams). But, I forced myself, even at my sickest to roll out my mat and breathe, chant and do a little gentle stretching, even if just for 10 minutes. These 10 minutes each day were sometimes the only thing that gave me some sense of stability and strength.

Very gratefully, around 11 weeks or so, the severe nausea and sickness subsided (now replaced with all day long headaches :) and I started feeling more energy and more strength and was able to increase my yoga practice back to 30 - 45 minutes and sometimes an hour (on those rare overachiever days).

In my overzealousness, I ordered a billion prenatal DVDs, and only three of them I actually really enjoy and am doing on a regular basis - Summer Sanders' Prenatal Workout, Yoga Journal's Yoga for Pregnancy, and the very best - the one that I can't get enough of - Gurmukh's Prenatal Kundalini Yoga.  The latter is another one of Gurmukh's masterpieces - an hour long session that instantly makes you feel like you've transported to a peaceful, exotic retreat.  The session is full of challenging physical kundalini moves, but interwoven with spiritual lightness and soulful dialogue.  When you finish, you feel rejuvenated, alive, full of inner strength and completely connected to this little life inside of you.  I would love to meet her someday and do a retreat or training with her.  She's my Sikh version of Shiva Rea I think. :)

On some days, like today, I put on some Shiva Rea music, put my hands on my Buddha belly and just get my groove on.  The headaches make it hard to really get a full out Trance Dance in, but I usually manage to at least get my body moving and connect with this growing belly and all the changes that are happening within.

At 15 1/2 weeks, so much has happened already both outside and in and I still have a long way to go, but I'm taking each day as a gift, as a lesson and on top of it all, as a way to go even deeper into my yoga practice, in a way I never even thought possible. So far, it is an exciting, terrifying and exhilerating journey and I can't wait to see where it takes us!

Namaste (and Jai to the universe!)
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!