Prenatal Yoga

I went to a prenatal yoga class at Yoga Yoga. I haven't practiced yoga for a couple of years and I could really tell in the first downward dog! We did a great breathing meditation exercise where you extend the length of your inhales and exhales gradually. It was very calming. A balance exercise where you stretch one leg out behind you (was it Warrior III?) as you're stretching your torso and arms forward was challenging but we all did it, including the woman about to give birth. It felt like flying. The teacher, Alice, talked about support of different types and how each individual knows what supports her best. She asked us to think about what we need as support during our pregnancies. (I thought, it's good for me to go to movies!) Going to a good movie is like some kind of psychological shift. It reminds me of what riding did for me in college. Gets me out of my head and into another world, which is incredibly refreshing. During the breathing exercise I felt less aware of any discomfort in my body as I concentrated on the breath. I pretty much forgot about my body. That could come in useful during labor! Yoga Yoga really has a nice setup. Friendly people, nice yoga rooms, a cup of tea ready for you when you get out of class: a serene atmosphere.

I could feel some of the limitation in my shoulder but it wasn't too bad. I could join my hands behind my back (one elbow up and one down) in one direction but not in the other. I wonder if yoga could help me get back more range on that side.

Then I stopped by William's work which is right near by and we went to lunch. It's always good to see him in the middle of the day. I told him how I read over one of my journals last night and I had forgotten in 2004 (before we got together) I contemplated quitting Barnes and Noble and moving back to Los Angeles. I'm glad I didn't. It's funny because I also talked about a strange longing to move to Vermont. Little did I know I'd get to go to the Vermont Studio Center a few years later. Of course, my affection for Vermont probably played into my applying there. What is that line of poetry? "I begin to see/New Englandly." Something like that.

Last writing group I showed the group a poem I wrote while I was in Vermont, one of the ones I wrote for William to mark our first anniversary. The first person who commented wrote it made her tear up and the other two agreed. It made me teary when I wrote it so I'm glad the feeling communicated. I haven't written any poems for the baby yet. I wrote one for my cousin Laura's daughter when she was a baby and I'm not sure if I could top that.

For Kathryn Whitney Paul at Her First Xmas

To be a few months old is a lovely thing
To laugh and cry and smile and swing.
Your cares are few, but Mummy hears them
in a wink.
It wouldn’t do to keep it in, all the
other babies think.
Your grannies and your aunties and
your Daddy love you so:
We see the sparkle in you now
they’ll talk about when
you are grown.