Over the course of the last month or so I have been making it back to the hot room about twice week and practicing a hilariously modified pre-natal version of the 26&2. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, or better yet studying yoga with me for a stretch, then you know well enough how much I love this particular practice. I love love love how the beginning practice is accessible to really most folks and I also love how the practice develops past the beginning series with such a powerful emphasis on spine strength, mobility, and overall health. It just really works for me. I also really enjoy most of the teachers that I have met that share that practice. They are authentic and honest and by the grace of some sophisticated paradox are able to separate the man from the method- even though I will support anyone that advocates for a complete system overhaul and re-naming in which we no longer use the name of a sex offender to communicate said method…. but I digress.
Anyhow, it’s hot in that room and I am a big fan of less is more in terms of apparel for that particular practice so you will generally find me in some iteration of a sports bra and short shorts, essentially as free of garments as possible. This has been interesting with a physique that is ballooning on the front side and pretty much yields a locker room environment in which the only topic of conversation is my pregnancy. It’s fine. Really. I can handle it and I am polite. But really, wth with pregnant ladies bodies being fair game and open to conversation? In general I take the stance that we never comment on someone’s body. Even if we think those comments are well meaning or “positive” because we simply have no way of knowing what is happening inside the person and more often than not what is happening with the body is not an accurate reflection of what is happening with the mind or the emotions of any individual. It is simply not a fair gauge.
But all bets are off with a pregnant bodied person. And I get it. We want to connect, to relate, to support. And often I will lead a little just to break the tension of the potential awkwardness of the moment, because a naked pregnant body can be intense and I generally like to cultivate ease in my surroundings. So there is that. But I do think we need to check our behaviors, especially as women, in the ways in which we treat a pregnant person as though their body is public domain and I think that the way we talk is a very basic way to become conscious of that. We have to fight for agency over these bodies at every turn and our reproductive autonomy is on the line in far reaching and dangerous ways. This is my 5th pregnancy. This will be my 3rd child. There was one I lost and one I chose not to have and the truth of every last bit of this is my right because this is my body and it is me that governs it. And generally, I do not want to talk about any of this in the locker room with my clothes off and my big belly and swollen breasts on the loose.
Ok, ok, ok. So serious. And here is my own hypocrisy… I actually love it more when my sister or my close gals pals will say something along the lines of: “Sweet jesus Meg, your boobs are freakin’ enormous.” In that simple statement of fact, I feel seen in my humanity and in the temporal and the very conditional nature of this human skin suit. I saw my bestie Sam 3 or 4 times over the course of this winter, each time a little further along, and each time she saw me she did just that. I felt seen and known and it was intimate. BUT SHE IS ONE OF MY CLOSEST PEOPLE. There is a difference. I could feel her loving me. Same as when my sister says anything, or my kids, or my husband.
Anyhoo… my two sense. For what it’s worth. Or not.
I will be back in this space soon with some updates on future programming. I am so excited as to how things are taking shape. More soon.
xxx