Fake what?

About a week or so ago my partner had said to me, "Nick your should teach prenatal yoga." Mind you this came out of nowhere, and I had a good laugh at first, then I had one of those "wait a second.." moments; I realized being a male prenatal yoga teacher may not be such a ridiculous notion after all. However once he made the suggestion of wearing one of those fake bellies so I could be make-believe-pregnant. I drew the line at the fake belly (I say that now).

This leads us to the fun part of the story:

Yesterday afternoon I found myself in the calm nurturing bosom (tee hee) of Mama Yoga at OmFactory Yoga Studio (omfactorynyc.com). OmFactory is tranquil "urban oasis" is midtown Manhattan where classes are offered in: Vinyasa, Acroyoga, Restorative, Forrest Yoga, Prenatal, and soon coming to OmFactory Antigravity Yoga. The prenatal class was actually taught by a sub that day not its usual teacher who I hear is pretty awesome (I'll be, hopefully, observing her next week).

As I observed I noticed that a huge part of the class is really about establishing a safe environment and community so these women can see and share with one another about there experiences throughout their pregnancies. Before class even began the women were talking about the pains in there body, where they were, is this and that normal; really sharing about what they were going though and how they were going through it. The meditation began and the focus of the meditation was how you, your body, and the baby were all feeling. This really helps establish a bond between mother and child during meditation.

Class consisted of lots of sitting poses beginning with what I would call " Pinwheel legs", one leg bent and laterally rotated to the floor, the other leg bent and medially rotated to the floor (that may or may not have made sense I apologize). Then some cat/cows, a little sprinkling of Warrior I and II. Squats that I would like to call Kaliasana, because you squat, bend the elbows to 90, stick your tongue out and "AHHHHHHHH". Then a very supported resting pose with bolsters galore: back, head, legs, arms. Let me tell you, good thing there were only two people in this class cause I don't think there would have been enough bolsters to go around. This all leading to final meditation once again feeling you, your body and your child.

To say the least it was quite fascinating and beautiful, the mamas-to-be seemed so light and airy afterwards. This would be quite an interesting niche to find myself in as a male prenatal yoga instructor with a fake belly (honestly, I can see it happening).

Until next time beautiful people, Om Shanti

The Yoga Monster