For the entire duration of her pregnancy so far Deirdre Mooney and her partner Steve have been coming to my weekly Yin class on Tuesday nights at Grass Roots Yoga. The three of us have become increasingly conscious of the way the practice has facilitated awareness of this beautiful growing creation in their lives. It's been a wonderful inspiring example of the power Yin yoga has to allow us to be however we need to be.
"From the time we discovered we were pregnant, right up to 33 weeks this week, we've been with you all the way Alex!
I've been reflecting on how important Yin has become in our week on so many levels. I loved Hot Yoga and loved Yin Yoga and coming to the studio in general, but Hot was out as soon as I knew I was pregnant, which then gave me space to really immerse myself in yin. The class then just took on a whole other level because both Steve and myself had made a commitment to come along every Tuesday. "
How was your Yin practice helping you in the early stages?
In the early stages it was very new and scary, even though it was something we really wanted and was such a blessing. Going through that first trimester it was so nice to come together to class and share the space together while we were going through that transition in our lives. So it was really special space, but we didn't really realise it at the time.
Early on it was helping me emotionally, mentally and physically and really set me up each week to reflect on the changes that were happening on all of those levels. Whether I was aware at the time or not it, looking back I can see it helped me balance mind, body and soul, if you will. The first trimester is quite a scary time because for obvious reasons you hope you'll get to the twelve weeks. I was so sick and nauseous. There was many a night I just wanted to lie on the couch but I always came to Yin no matter how nauseous I was because I noticed the nausea always eased by the end of the sessions. I wasn't aware in the beginning of what the restrictions might be in the practice for my pregnancy and I learnt to trust you as a teacher with what I could and couldn't do and then I learnt to trust myself more in turn. I began to instinctively know what I can and can't do, and how much I can push my body and not make it uncomfortable or dangerous for the baby in any way.
So it sounds like just the regular time week on week was really helpful in itself
The allocated time really helped me grow with those changes and I wonder if I would have been as accepting of them if I hadn't had the practice. I was cutting back on running which has been a huge part of my life so Yin became another space for me to slow down, reflect and have time out for myself to think and to not think, to switch off.
Running like Yin always taught me the life lesson of learning to sit with the uncomfortable. You come to know you can do this, your body can do things you didn't expect. So Yin has provided an alternative space for me, instead of a fast five km run or a half marathon, where you breathe through the challenge and your body reveals all these layers you didn't realise you had.
Speaking my language! How has it been on the later stages?
Yin helped me sit with the uncomfortable nausea in the first trimester, and my changing body in the second trimester, my bump getting bigger and bigger up to now where even though I can't do as much as I could in the beginning I'm probably getting even more out of it now because now mentally and emotionally I'm preparing for labour. Even though I can't move as much as everyone else it the class I'm taking so much from your cues and even just being in the shared energy of the space.
The multi layers of the practice...
Yes there's so much to Yin that I guess I didn't really think about until you asked me to discuss it! It's the same benefit I feel I get from seeing my kinesiologist.
The other week when you spoke about how sensation can be like a vacuum for your awareness and draw it into that space, it was a lightbulb moment for me. Things just kind of fell into place in my mind when I heard those words.
A big part of the preparation for the labour has been connecting with the baby. I remember in practice in the first trimester being in dragonfly pose (sitting up with legs wide and folding forward) and that was the first time I could feel the fetus, I could feel it's heat inside. I didn't realise you feel something like that, and I struggle to explain it, it was like an intense heat that was never there before in that pose. I used to look forward to that pose because I knew I was going to feel it, and be reminded it's real. For me it was like the first snapshot of reality away from the abstract concept of pregnancy. It made me conscious of movements from an early point of around 15 weeks, which they normally say comes later. Yin makes you in tune with the changes early when they are hidden before they become much bigger. It's mad! Obviously now (at 33 weeks) it's huge, and moving and dancing and always there. (Deidre and Steve have chosen not to know the sex of their baby).
And how about the challenging times in the practice?
One night I was crying. I think a massive release was necessary that particular week. There was a big energy build up and I guess Yin is a place, whether you want it to or not, where that release can happen. The body does what it needs to do and provides that channel for whatever release is needed. Steve is amazing and totally understands how I function as a person and as we drove home that night I cried for a good ten minutes and it was brilliant! I felt so light afterwards. I coudn't even put words to what it was exactly, until later, so clearly it had been sitting with me for a while and thankfully was released.
How has it been both you and your partner practicing together?
It's been a thing for us to share and connect through but we're still on our individual journeys. We come together and prepare for class together and Steve sets up everything for me and then we snap into our own journeys, but we still share the space. It's something you as a teacher mention a lot. When we come out of practice we just sit in the jeep and sigh "That was amazing!" Some nights we don't need to talk about it, other nights we'll discuss how it helps us to slow down. It's been a lovely journey that has allowed us to share so much, until baby comes, and then we'll take turns!
Postscript: A week after this interview Deirdre gave birth a few weeks early to a son Paidí (pronounced in Gaelic paw dee). Mother and baby are doing well!
