On the 8th and 9th of April, 2017, there was a course on Yantra Yoga for pregnant women in Moscow. This was the first time a course like this took place in a Russian speaking area and it was open for everyone interested in learning this method. In collaboration with Rigpa Buddhist Center it was organized within the “Yantra Yoga in Moscow” project and aimed at developing an open level of this precious knowledge. The course was led by Mira Mironova, an authorized 2nd level Yantra Yoga instructor.
The method “Yantra Yoga for Pregnant Women” was created by international Yantra Yoga instructor Laura Evangelisti together with Nataly Nietzsche Gaetano. They presented the method to our precious Teacher, who corrected important points, made crucial recommendations, and finally gave permission to teach it. The method is based on the traditional Yantra Yoga of Vairochana and contains selected exercises adapted to the condition of pregnant women. It was created so that during different stages of pregnancy women could continue practicing Yantra Yoga without interruption, in a safe way both for themselves and for their unborn child. The main goal of Yantra Yoga is relaxation of body, energy and mind in its real condition while on the relative level it’s beneficial for physical and psychological health. In this way it can be perfect preparation for the childbirth process. That is why Yantra Yoga for pregnant women can be useful not only for advanced practitioners but also for beginners.
There were ten participants in the course, three of them were in different stages of pregnancy, the rest were interested in learning this particular method for various reasons. The lecture of a professional midwife Arina Zavada was a nice addition to the course. She spoke about physiological and psychological aspects of pregnancy, shared practical knowledge about preparation for delivery, and gave important keys to behaviour in the labor process.
An important criteria for a successful pregnancy and childbirth is the ability to relax. And since it is well known that Yantra Yoga is wonderful way to train in relaxation, during the course participants learned a specific prenatal warm-up, pranayama of 9 purification breathings and one of important sequences such as Lungsang – purification of prana. All the exercises of Yantra Yoga for pregnant women are modified so that the structure and principle of application remained unchanged, as well as the quality of unification of the movement and the breathing.
Certain moving capabilities of pregnant women are limited, especially when the pregnancy is advanced. Due to this reason exercises from the preliminaries and only a few from the main part are recommended in order that practice is safe and brings maximum benefits for mother and child.
