SPHINX POSEDuring labor with Pedro, I was able to use my
yoga training to drop into my body and let it
guide what I was doing. I had my eyes closed a
lot of the time and was so focused on this inter-
nal experience. There was something incredible
about it.
I found it strange and unexpected that I
wanted to be upright. I was in active labor for
about seven hours and was moving around
pretty much the whole time. I walked the halls,
or I stood and leaned forward against my part-
ner. I wasn’t necessarily trying to ease the pain,
because there wasn’t any getting away from that.
I was just using movement to flow through it.
Some people call contractions “rushes” or
“quickenings,” which is a good way to reframe
them in your mind. Contractions are a tightening.
But labor is a loosening. You’re trying to open and
allow your body to birth. You have to relax, which
is an ability we don’t usually work on in our lives.
But it’s important to practice. If I’m on the
subway platform, waiting for the train, I’ll often
use those two minutes to consciously relax and
slow down. This is also yoga, and it was a useful
skill during labor. When I wasn’t having contrac-
tions, I could bring my awareness to, “Right now
I’m not in pain; I can relax. And at the end of all
of this, I will have a beautiful baby.”