Finding the Feminine

I practiced yoga off and on since my 20s, but it wasn’t until I became pregnant that I fully understood how yoga benefits my body and mind. I began treating my pregnancy yoga sessions as this sweet, cozy time to connect with my body and my growing baby.

It motivated me to keep practicing because I craved that feeling of calm, of movement and space in my body, of connection. Postpartum I was plagued by hip and lower back pain that only consistent yoga practice kept at bay. That’s when I knew that for me, yoga was going to be a core part of my lifestyle.

A year later, I made a massive career pivot and became a certified postpartum doula and I knew from the start I would want to incorporate teaching yoga to that. I quit my decade-long career and started out, beginning my 200-hour training and a solo doula practice, as I raised a toddler.

There was a lot of sacrifice and a lot of support from my village, but the further I went, the more I knew in my heart I had made the right choice. It was in that teacher training where the physical aspects of asana connected to the philosophical and spiritual, and I felt like something that was missing for me fell into place.

At the beginning of the Ma Yoga training, I was taken another step further in the concept of “finding the feminine.” It put words to a transformation that had begun in me in the last couple of years, of connecting to the feminine, of softening, evolving gently, and of tuning in to my intuition. This framework gave me a greater understanding of myself, of who I have been and who I want to be, and how I want to show up for my child, my family and friends, my clients, and the world.

I found these beautiful parallels in the connection to each element being taught in the course through the Five Sacred Steps to other aspects of life. It felt like a new conceptual understanding of my interaction with the world and especially with challenges.

Taking the next step to become a prenatal yoga teacher has been magical. In supporting new mothers in the early postpartum days, I see over and over again what a magical thing it is to bring new life into the world. I’m constantly in awe of the strength that comes from what feels like depletion, the wisdom innate in us, and the infinite love in a newborn’s innocence.

Now, getting to support pregnant people in finding that magic within themselves through yoga feels like an honor. To guide them in connecting with their bodies, spirits, and baby, to help them strengthen their bodies and minds in preparation for labor, and to provide a safe space to feel all the feelings that come up when we move and stretch our bodies.

In looking for a prenatal program, I was instantly drawn to the focus of Ma Yoga; it seemed to resonate that spiritual, “larger than us” component.