Regular class prices apply, or $55 for all four sessions.

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PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED.  Singles: $45, Couples (or bring a friend) $75

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In this Intro to Restorative Parenting, the founders of Open Path will help you:

- gain a new sense of confidence and deepened connection with your purpose as a parent

- learn effective mindfulness, empathy, and conflict resolution tools for daily living

John Ehrhart, MA, Scott Brown, and Leslie May-Charles, MSW have rich backgrounds in social justice, peacemaking, Transpersonal Psych, Ecopsychology, Hakomi Psychotherapy and mediation.  This 2 day series is a must for anyone who wants to parent consciously and with depth.  Learn more at www.openpathtrainings.com.

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By: Erin Weed

On August 18, 2009 I gave birth to our first baby – an 8 pound, 4 ounce, 22

inch long little boy named Miles.  We planned a natural birth at the

Mountain Midwifery Center in Englewood, CO. (Which was the best decision my

husband and I ever made – the midwives are amazing!)  But this post isn’t so

much about my birth story.  It’s about 3 fundamental principles of yoga got

me through 8 hours of active labor and a successful delivery without any

pain medication.  (To read my birth story, click here:

http://www.erinweed.com/2009/09/02/birth-story/)

Yoga has a place in birth, regardless how baby comes into the world -

whether it’s natural, using pain medication or via scheduled or emergency

c-section. The basic fundamentals roll into any stressful, painful or scary

situation (which most women feel at some point during the birth process),

and help keep us in the moment as the miracle of life unfolds.  Below are

the 3 yogic lessons that I actively relied upon during my 8 hours of active

labor…I hope they help you too!

1.  Choosing to be present.

I think all pregnant women should take pre-natal yoga classes at Spiral…and

they should also read a book called “Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle.  When

feeling fear or pain, we naturally want to escape to some other time or

place.  But during labor, there is no escape from the sensations that take

over (without medication), and this can cause great anxiety and fear.  In my

case I had severe back labor, and I found no position gave me relief or

comfort. I found myself using breaks between surges to think about the pain

of the last contraction and to fear the next one on deck.  This was a total

waste of energy, because I was using my rest period to get more stressed

out!  Yoga helped me consciously identify this early on.  As hard as it was,

I chose to ride the wave of a contraction as it happened, to bask in the

break when I had one, and to accept the new contraction as it arrived.  (And

I emphasize that it’s a choice.  A natural response to pain is to fight it,

but through yoga we can rise above our physical circumstances.)

2.  Learning to surrender.

Because there was no escape from the pain, I learned to surrender to the

wisdom of my body.  I found great hope and strength in my 6 year yoga

practice, recalling times when my teachers have assured us we could hold a

pose just 3 breaths longer – even when every muscle is shaking and you think

it’s impossible!  I have yoga to thank for not only appreciating my body for

what it is, but knowing I can rely on it to get me through difficult

situations.  Laura’s pre-natal classes specifically helped me surrender to

the greatness of the female body and what we are capable of.

3.  Breathing.

I saved the most important yogic lesson for last.  Without breath, there is

no life.  And since birth is the act of bringing new life into this world,

there is no higher lesson. Pain can often lead to fear, which leads to

tension, which leads to one holding their breath.  Ironically, this leads to

more pain, more fear and more tension…and complete and utter exhaustion as

your body fights itself. The midwives told me the #1 reason mamas transfer

from the birth center to the hospital is exhaustion, and I believe it.

Birth is like an endurance race…can you imagine finishing a marathon without

breathing? B.K.S. Iyengar once said, “When you inhale, you are taking the

strength from God.  When you exhale, it represents the service you are

giving to the world.”

And what greater service can we provide as women, than to perpetuate life?

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SUNDAYS! 11:00-12:15 LISA SCHLELEIN Vinyasa Flow STARTS AUGUST 30th

THURSDAYS! 7:00-8:15pm REBECCA CHENOWETH Gentle Flow STARTS AUGUST 27th

THURSDAYS! 7:00-8:00am ALEX MOLDOVEANU Rise and Shine Yoga STARTS AUGUST 27th

TUESDAYS! 5:00-6:00pm SARAH GUENTHER Prenatal Yoga STARTS SEPTEMBER 1st

What else you can expect: The return of BETH SANCHEZ, amazing yogini, more classes with Laura Wade Jaster, and super-fun events including a fall open house…

Blissful Blessings!

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TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — Don’t automatically blame mom: A crying, colicky baby can be just as much the result of dad’s state of mind, Dutch researchers report.

Other studies have found that depression among mothers can be related to excessive crying or colic, a common problem with newborns, but the researchers said that little was known about whether fathers’ emotions and behavior also have an effect.

“Up to now, almost all attention went to the prenatal effects of maternal depression on child development, leading to the development of detection and treatment programs that focused on mental well-being of mothers,” said lead researcher Dr. Mijke P. van den Berg, a psychiatrist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam.

“This study showed the importance of taking paternal factors and well-being during pregnancy into account, next to maternal,” she said.

The report is published in the July issue of Pediatrics.

To see how parental depression was related to excessive crying, van den Berg‘s team gathered data on symptoms of depression among parents of 4,426 infants who were 2 months old. Excessive crying was defined as crying for more than three hours a day on more than three days in the past week.

Overall, just 2.5 percent of the infants in the study fit the excessive crying criteria. But, the researchers found a 30 percent higher risk for depression among parents whose infant cried excessively.

“This finding could not be attributed to co-existing depressive symptoms of the mother, which is already known to be a risk factor for excessive infant crying,” van den Berg said. It could be related to genetics, a depressed father or, indirectly, through factors such as marital, family or economic stress, she said.

In fact, a dad with symptoms of depression was twice as likely to have an infant who cried excessively as was a dad who was not depressed, the study found.

“Fathers do matter, so take care for the mental well-being of fathers during pregnancy,” van den Berg said.

Dr. Jon Shaw, a professor and director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller of School of Medicine, said that the study shows how depression can lead to infant’s excessive crying.

“This study demonstrates in a paradoxical way the importance of fathers, in that fathers’ measurable depression during pregnancy is a risk factor for excessive infant crying at 2 months of age,” Shaw said.

“This seems to be related perhaps to the enduring effects of fathers’ depression on the family ambience, the parental relationship, child parenting and, perhaps as the authors suggest, there may be a genetic factor involved,” he said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on depression.

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Bless the journey of labor, delivery, and postpartum

with the supportive teachings of yoga

PARTNER YOGA

For Labor and Delivery

With Laura and Brent Jaster

Sunday, July 12th 2:00-4:30 pm

Pre-registration is $40 per couple. $50 per couple at the door.

• Designed for pregnant women and their birth partners, the afternoon will introduce techniques that will improve your preparations for childbirth.
• Includes new partner yoga poses for fun and enhanced connection.
• Includes specific instructions in asanas, breathing, and mental focus, as well as guidance for the partners of laboring women.
• We will also address the special attention to the needs of the new family once the baby is born.
• Taught by Certified yoga instructor, Laura Wade Jaster, who lends the wisdom of the Om² Prenatal Method, accompanied by her husband, and family physician, Brent Jaster.

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