I started my 200hr Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) when I was 32 weeks pregnant. I had always wanted to do YTT since my sister Sheila did hers years ago in the Philippines and after I had stopped working I realized it would be a good way to keep busy and fit while waiting for my due date. I had gone to ashtanga yoga classes in the past and enjoy the practice but never really found a teacher or studio that stuck.
In February 2017, at the beginning of my second trimester, I went to a prenatal version of The Class by Taryn Toomey. It was unlike any movement class I had taken before. I loved how it was training me for labor by being okay with discomfort. I had never taken any prenatal classes before so it was helpful to hear how contractions are like waves that peak. I enjoyed The Class so much that I geeked out over their whole site and found out that my teacher had done her yoga teacher training at Yoga Vida.
After checking out the Yoga Vida site, I saw that they were offering a 200 hr summer YTT, so after thinking about it and canvassing other studios’ training schedules, I arrived at the conclusion that I should apply and make yoga my prenatal exercise. I knew that signing up for this would give me a reason to keep exercising since I’ve always been better motivated with teammates. I attended an info session in early May then I attended a couple of classes which were taught by the instructors leading the teacher training just so I could meet them ahead of time. Later on I found out that the teachers and/or studio management had raised concerns about me being in my third trimester during the training but allowed me in the group anyway. I got the go signal from my doctor beforehand and had an uneventful pregnancy so I’m really glad that they let me attend the YTT.
Yoga Vida’s four-week summer training runs from Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:30 pm with a 15-20 minute break after asana practice, then a lunch break after the morning lecture. Luckily, I was used to waking up super early for work so the 8 am start was easy and the location of our classes was also off my subway line. I knew I was getting further along my pregnancy when I had to give myself more time to arrive in the morning because I had to walk slower and couldn’t climb stairs as quickly.
My practice looked a little different from my classmates’ since I had to modify some poses and didn’t do certain pranayama that isn’t recommended for pregnant women but I was happy to have kept up with an entire month of daily weekday yoga and hours of lectures. It was the most physical activity I had done since I stopped working as a pastry cook. I also ate mostly plant based food during that month since I was surrounded by such lovely vegetarians and vegans practicing ahimsa that way.
Aside from the asana practice, I really appreciated the yoga philosophy lectures which helped me get my mind absorbed into stuff that wasn’t pregnancy related. I realized my purpose for becoming a yoga teacher was for me to deepen my own personal practice so I can teach my daughter and then hopefully find our way out of samsara.
I loved posture clinics where we spent more time on the individual poses. I liked anatomy class because our teacher was super in awe of how the human body works, so I became extra appreciative of my current state of growing another human. I liked learning how to adjust students, and wished that we had more time to practice those.
I liked being in a room of the same 20+ people, practicing the same yoga sequence everyday. The routine was comforting towards the end, plus I had my favorite spot in the room.
It wasn’t too bad sitting down for lectures, since my classmates always made sure I had all the blankets, bolsters, cork blocks and wall space to feel comfortable. I got up to pee a lot, especially after one of my classmates mentioned that she didn’t see me drinking enough water and leaving to pee frequently.
Doing YTT while pregnant was the best decision I made for myself during that time and if I could do it again, I wish there was a full prenatal/postnatal TT module that I could have done before I gave birth.
Photos from the last day of TT.
