Shiva Nata: the Dance of ShivaAsk a Shivanaut: Dance of Shiva + pregnancy.
Got a question from a woman who wants to know if it’s okay to do Shiva Nata while pregnant.
Excellent.
Oh, why don’t we just start this off with a bunch of disclaimers?
Okay, the usual stuff:
I’m trained as a yoga teacher, not as a doctor. So you should see my extremely boring official disclaimer-ey thing and always consult your physician, etc.
And then I will also have to add what Marissa (my First Mate on the pirate ship and a fellow Shivanaut) said, because it was so funny and sweet and her-ish:
“I couldn’t think of any reason that it wouldn’t be okay, but I figured I should check with you, just in case it does anything to the energy channels in the body such that questionable things might occur, or something.
(And now that I think about it, ‘Questionable things might occur!’ is now the warning label I think I will attach to… everything. I rather like it.)”
Good. Now that we’re all disclaimerized, let’s talk about contraindications and General Stuff To Consider if you’re pregnant.
Or if you’re thinking about maybe eventually getting around to that at some point).
General stuff to take into consideration with Shiva Nata and pregnancy.
- You might want to avoid doing the leg movements as they place pressure on the belly.
- Of course, very gentle leg movements can be used to strengthen core muscles, so they might even be good for you over the first few months, but after that you might want to ease up.
- Short sessions. Don’t tax yourself. Five minutes at a time is great.
- Make sure you take time to rest and process after your session. Shavasana: highly recommended. For everyone, not just pregnant chicks.
- You want to take time to ground yourself (spread your toes, anchor your feet, bend knees slightly) so that you’re steady and comfortable.
- If at any point the spiral movements of the arms are putting undue pressure on your back, stop. It’s probably a sign that you’re not standing correctly, but, you know, erring on the side of caution isn’t the worst idea in the world.
Those are pretty much the only things that are coming up for me at this point.
Reasons why Shiva Nata would be an awesome thing to do during pregnancy.
- It gives you information about your patterns.
- Since becoming a mother is a big, crazy, wonderful, scary, intense thing, your stuff is probably coming up all over the place. Having useful information about what that’s all about and why seems like a good idea.
- It brings you into a state of calm and peacefulness (okay, not always while you’re doing it, but once you’ve stopped flailing and are transitioning into stillness).
- It’s amazing exercise for the brain. Keeps you quick.
- It’s fun, it’s quick and it doesn’t require props, space or stuff.
- It doesn’t involve any of the yoga things that are generally not recommended during later stages of pregnancy (inversions, forward bends, back bends, pressure on the abdomen).
- Epiphanies and moments of bing are always useful. But while you’re going through a big transitional identify shift, this might be especially useful.
- It’s a great way to practice breathing exercises.
- You’ll have gorgeous triceps.
- Mental agility and physical coordination will come in handy after you’ve given birth. And really also during the next few years while you’re running after your schweet little rugrats.
So … opinions?
In general, I’m for it. Yay, Shiva Nata! I think it could be a wonderful experience.
But, as always, it’s your body and you know best.
So exercising caution is definitely not a bad thing. This is all about you developing a healthy relationship with yourself, which is basically the most yoga thing you could be doing.
Hope that helps! Thank you for the question — it’s a good one. :)
Anyone else? Thoughts on this? Experience with this? Ideas one way or the other? I’m off to start a doo-wop quartet called Questionable Things May Occur.
Twitter: amyseybrown
Oh man, I wish I had been able to do this while I was pregnant either time! I’ve gone through such a huge identity shift (duh) and pattern-shifting all by my lonesome (well, and a lot of help from you).
Okay, darn it, enough waffling, I’m buying the kit now!
Questionable Things May Occur
It’s just one guy.
(Also, would this would be an awesome name for roller-derby team?)
Also also, I am just starting to try to learn Shiva Nata (off the DVD) and my favorite thing so far is that I every time I attempt it, I end up laughing because it breaks my brain!
“a doo-wop quartet called Questionable Things May Occur”
Hey, come on, Havi. You know it’s just one guy.
This really is a good question, and I wasn’t doing Shiva Nata while I was pregnant, but I can weigh in with something sort of related.
At the time, I was going to a massage therapist who also practiced energy healing. And while I was pregnant, she was completely baffled by the way that the energy patterns in my body completely changed and were doing all kinds of unexpected things. Often exactly the opposite of what they were doing before. I guess I would just say, be alert for weirdness if you’re working with energy while pregnant. Expect weirdness.
Also, another wonderfully great thing to do for grounding when pregnant (though you probably already know this since you’re here): deep squatting. Hold onto something, and get yourself down low, knees spread wide apart. Be sure what you’re holding onto is strong enough to help pull yourself back up (heavy table, kitchen counter). This was a lifesaver for me in the later stages when there’s all that pressure in the uterus and pelvis. Really nice for spreading it out and releasing the tension.
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Twitter: havi
@Sarah + Nina – you crack me up. Happy brain-breaking. :)
@Emily – oh good. I’m so glad you weighed in on this. Super helpful. Thank you so much!
Be alert for weirdness is always good advice.
I remember in Andrey’s yoga teacher training, we spent all this time on the pregnancy thing. And someone asked if you should even do yoga while pregnant, since yoga works on a hormonal level, and your hormones are all wacky.
And yes. Yoga does work on a hormonal level. And at the same time, it’s still going to be more balancing to do it than to not do it. Which is kind of my sense with Shiva Nata. It will move stuff in a different way, because your body/brain is in a different place, but it’s probably still better to use it than to not use it.
Also, one more thing, while I’m thinking about it:
You can get results from Shiva Nata just from the mathematical patterns, without even doing it. So you can put on the dvd and just *listen* to the number sequences, and it will be good for your brain.
Or you can recite them in your head while at the supermarket (or do the math in your head if you haven’t learned them yet).
That works too!
I know nothing about energy, but a couple things I remember from my pregnancy came to mind when reading this discussion. I’m not a medical professional and know next to nothing about woo woo energy stuff, so grains of salt may be liberally applied to this.
The first is that pregnancy can loosen joints and make balance go all wonky, so there might be concern about standing on one leg. I had an exercise DVD that recommended holding the back of a chair while doing standing leg exercises – could Shiva Nata work with one arm and a leg?
Also, while resting is always a good thing, shavasana in corpse pose might be a problem, because some sources recommend that pregnant women not lie flat on their backs after about the fourth month (other people pooh-pooh this advice, as often happens). Perhaps one could use a modified pose? I’d rest with my back propped up a bit, but I’m not yoga-knowledgeable, so maybe there’s a better position.
Overall, I think you could be great (go Shiva Nata!). The advice I got from my midwives was mostly to listen to my body, and that if you’re doing something before you get pregnant you can probably continue (maybe with modifications) during pregnancy.
To lay on your right side is recommended for pregnant women doing savasana, with pillows, if that is how you are most comfortable.
Totally tangential.
And now that I think about it, ‘Questionable things might occur!’ is now the warning label I think I will attach to… everything. I rather like it.
reminds me of the end of the description of Gourdfest:
The idea of something going wrong with Dance of Shiva resulting in raining cheese is just another reason to try it.
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Twitter: havi
@Herb – I like you so much.
“The idea of something going wrong with Dance of Shiva resulting in raining cheese is just another reason to try it.”