Fitness & Pregnancy

The first time being pregnant for any mother brings up a lot of worries and hesitations especially in today’s social media extravaganza! What you can and cannot eat, how you should feel, the baby apps, all the things that can cause birth defects or miscarriages, to say the least; but the best thing my OB could have ever told me in those earlier months was that "Pregnancy is not a disease, so live your life."  Now of course there are obvious things that do need to be given up, but I wasn't going to stop teaching yoga and I was not going to stop seeing my chiropractic and acupuncture patients.  Now that I have reached 35 weeks I can look back a talk about the ups and downs of living my life during pregnancy.

The first few weeks of pregnancy it seems like you are on top of the world.  You are reading everything about it on the internet and you analyze everything you feel or do.  I had no issues teaching my hot yoga class the first few weeks.  I had a lot of people questioning my teaching it, and even many telling me that it couldn't be good for me to do it.  I had been teaching it for 2 years and the room only got up to 86 degrees.  We do have intervals between our poses so my heart rate would go up but not for extended periods of time.  I still had a lot of energy while teaching and did not feel limited with the positions. It was not until week 8 or 9 weeks when I noticed decreased energy and also a shortness of breath during teaching. I listened to my body and would hold poses longer without as many intervals, and if I felt like I needed a break I would always go into Childs Pose.  During this time I also noticed I was extremely tired if I practiced yoga more than 2 or three times a week.  Luckily I had two other teachers that helped with classes, so once again I listened to my body.

Once I hit around 12 weeks, my energy level increased and I no longer was as short of breath during yoga. I could teach a higher intensity class with ease again, and was also able to practice at least 4 or 5 times a week.  The problem during this stage of pregnancy was planking for me.  Planking caused a sharp deep pain in my right round ligament area.  I didn't know if this was just something I was over analyzing or if it was too much internal pressure. Either way I again listened to my body and put my knees down when I planked. I continued to ease up on my planking the whole second trimester. 

Now into the third trimester and still having energy I decided to add some normal planking in.  I no longer had the round ligament pain but I was weaker from the weight gain.  I knew it was important to have strong pelvic floor muscles for delivery, so I continued doing the proper planking practices while listening to my body when I needed to put a knee down or go into Childs Pose. Teaching Yoga with a growing belly also gives its limitations physically.  I no longer can keep those feet just a few inches apart during Chair Pose or Forward Bend.  They are now wider so there is room for the belly.  I do not practice head stands or any twist poses, but still teach them in class.  Also I do not lay flat on my stomach but tell my yogis to.  I practice all the stomach poses with them just as much I can do on my hands and knees. 

As a teacher who still wants to grow with my personal yoga practice it is somewhat frustrating with the weight gain and positional limitations, especially when I practice along a Kino MacGregor video who puts me to shame when I am zero months pregnant.  During these times I feel frustrated and somewhat of a beached whale, I remind myself of the bigger picture.  I had many goals of only gaining 20 pounds throughout the pregnancy, and even with constant workouts and eating healthy that number is long gone.  My legs are thicker, my butt is bigger and my arms are Hulk Hogan-ish.  Yet I have never felt more amazing, have had very minimal back pain, sleep very well and I have been living a normal life. 

With the end just a short distance away I will practice more specific poses that help with hip opening, making the delivery processes smoother.  If the delivery doesn't go by my Yoga Birthing Method Notes, Acupuncture for quick delivery notes, or chiropractic techniques to open the hips notes, I know I am in great hands with my OB.

 I would love to hear feedback on all those that were able to push through their normal exercise routine during their pregnancy.  For all the runners, swimmers, cross fitters, and weight lifters, what were your ups or downs and what were your outcomes?  The best motivation for me is hearing from other people and learning of your experiences.

Benefits of Exercise while being Pregnant

·        reduce low back pain

·        improve blood circulation

·        reduce water retention

·        strengthen the pelvic muscles

There are also some specific poses or asanas that are believed to:

·        relieve digestion problems such as nausea, constipation and gas

·        help you manage blood pressure

·        help you overcome fatigue

·        help you cope with labour pain or experience less pain.

http://www.babycenter.in/a1028402/benefits-of-yoga-during-pregnancy#ixzz41C2VtBBG

The Treatments, The Differences & How They Affect You

I attended Logan college of chiropractic in St. Louis, MO, and not only do they do a great job of educating their students about practicing chiropractic, they really push natural techniques that help with tissue healing, and over all healing.  They offer many homeopathic techniques that will help with patient care.  I took interest in the Graston technique after I was treated in the student clinic and had great success in my own personal physical issues.  I took the classes and have been using the Graston technique ever since. 

Since 2008, I have added similar techniques that aid in tissue healing called Gua-sha and Cupping.  These two techniques along with Graston and Chiropratic have increased my over healing rate with patients and decreases the time needed to heal.  The only thing about these techniques is they do leave noticeable bruises during the first few treatments.  Therefore I just wanted to do a short description of the three so people understand why it looks the way it does and also the differences between the three. 

First off the Graston technique uses stainless-steel tools that were developed in the United States.  There are six official Graston tools that are all different shape and sizes to help specific areas.  These tools are designed to enhance the clinician's ability to detect adhesions, scar tissue or restrictions in the affected areas.  A combing technique is performed over the area to break up the collagen, link fibers and increase the amount of blood flow to the area to help with healing.  The longer the area has been injured the more red dots come up.  These dots are called petechiae, which will cause bruising.  There is a 24-48 hour soreness with the treatment.  The bruising heals, the pain gets better and range of motion increases.  It takes a few treatments to notice a change in the tissue.  There will be a noticeable difference in the amount of petechiae that appear as the tissues heals.  This is one of the reason I really like this technique because not only does the patient get results fast, I can see that the tissue has its normal circulation again. 

 

Gua-sha and Graston have very similar combing techniques but do have different philosophies on the practice.  Gua-sha is an Eastern Asian medicine technique that has been around much longer then Graston, and is used for more than just soft tissue problems.  Gua-sha is defined as an instrument-assisted unidirectional press-stoking of lubricated area to help create transitory therapeutic petechiae called "sha' representing extravasation of blood in the subcutis. That definition might sound a little strange but simplified, the combing technique is done to bring up petecahiae to get rid of adhesion and increase circulation.  Very similar to the Graston Technique.  In Eastern Asian medicine, raising sha removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic.  Modern research shows the petechiae produce an anti-inflammatory and immune-receptive effect that can last for days following a treatment. The Treatments can relieve pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, wheeze, nausea, vomiting etc.  The tools are usually smaller than the Graston tools, and are made from jade rock, whale bone or a hard plastic.  Some practitioners use lids off of baby jars.  There is really no right or wrong Gua-sha tool, as long as it has an edge that brings up the petechiae without harming the patient

Cupping therapy, is the method of using glass or plastic cups to create localized pressure by a vacuum.  Again that sounds a little edgy but this technique has been used in Eastern Asia since ancient times, with a recorded 3500 years of use.   The philosophy is again a little different in definition but overall it does produce similar results as Graston and Gua-sha.  Cupping follows the traditional acupuncture meridians.  These meridians are pathways in the body which the energy of life flows.  Cupping therapy is mainly performed on certain meridians to open up the flow and help with healing.  Another healing aspect of cupping is through the release of toxins in your body by bringing up circulation in the area of injury or pain.  Just like the Gua-sha and Graston, cupping leaves bruising after treatments.  But as the area heals the bruising is less noticeable, and the patient feels better.  I have used both the glass with fire, and the plastic cupping.  I prefer the plastic cups that come with a vacuum tool.  They are very easy and fast to use.  The majority of the time I will treat my patient with Graston or Gua-sha first and will then place the cups over the area of the most petechiae.  This really brings a lot of circualation to the surface and even though the patient is bruised and sore for a few days it, the results are fast and effective.

Hello Yoga

Introducing yoga to rural Nebraska is a challenge for even an expert yogi, and when you bring in a novice yogi such as myself, the questions began rolling in.  "Is yoga going to teach me how to stand on my head?" "Don't you have to be Buddhists do yoga?" "Will evil spirits come in my mind when I mediate?" "Isn't the Catholic religion against doing yoga?" "Is yoga like sex?" These are just a few of the questions that were asked when I first introduced the idea of starting yoga in Albion.  Even though these questions seemed to be a little off the wall, they did not frighten me to get the classes going.  I was and am determined to show how a yoga lifestyle can improve health, educating those to a healthier and happier life.

The first step was to find a room to have the classes in.  We asked a few churches, looked at buildings downtown and also thought of knocking out some rooms in the back of the clinic.  Unfortunately we could not formulate a solid plan with those options, so we asked the Fitness Center if they had any rooms.  Luckily, they just had gotten finished with constructing two rooms from the racquetball court, so they had a room for us!  The room was heated, so it was perfect for hot yoga. 

The Second step was the advertising.  How do I get people to just try to see if yoga is for them? I was given great advice from my Yoga Instructor to do a 21 day challenge for 21 dollars and the cost of a mat.  We started advertising about a month and half before classes started, and made people sign up and pay prior to the class so we could get the mats we needed and a good count on how many people signed up.  Forty people signed up! I was extremely excited and ready to get started. 
 
The third step was to actually teach the class.  I thought I was ready, and I had a great teacher that taught me but I was still scared #$%^less of teaching in front of that many people.  I had only taught in front of my training class, and that was 5 people.  On the first day, I got the room heated had my mat ready and people started pouring in.  The anxiety not only hit me for being in front of the class, but also the problem that there was not enough room for everyone.  I ended up moving the class into the cold basketball court, but we all fit.  Even though I was nervous I taught my first class, and it was a success!

The fourth step was to except the fact that yoga is not for everyone.  This is hard for all yoga instructors.  Yoga has so many benefits that instructors know everyone should be doing it but that is not the world we live in and we have to understand not everyone is a yogi.  After the 21 days there were about 20 people that wanted to keep going, and I was very happy with that.  For these people we charged an unlimited monthly fee or a 6 class punch card.  I determined my charges by a studio an hour away.  It seemed to work well.

The fifth step was to balance my full time job with my yoga part time job.  This got exhausting, even to the point that I dreaded teaching.  I knew I had to cut back on my classes teaching time.  Luckily, I had two very devoted yogis that took up the challenge to teach one class a week each.  That gave me the ability to participate in class but not have to teach, and if I wasn't able to be there, class would still go on! 

The sixth step was to keep it growing.  I had a great group of 15 to 20 devoted yogis that I became very comfortable with.  I enjoyed seeing their improvements and their stories on of how yoga has improved their physical and mental stability.  Then summer hit!  Summer is a very busy time and the Yoga numbers dropped.  I was only seeing 4 to 6 devoted yogis and I knew I had to continue to grow my classes to increase the growth of yoga in rural Nebraska.  This is still a challenge today.  We advertised in the paper, had a ladies night and also did specials on Facebook.  A few yogis came back. And each month I see my lovely devoted yogis and then a new face!  I love to encourage that new face to keep up with it for a full month.  Some do not expect it to be as challenging when they start, but anything new will be somewhat challenging for even the elite athlete. We always praise them and remind them that there is no judgment in yoga and the more you practice the better you become. 

After 2 years of practicing yoga in my small town, I am elated to see the number of yogis as well as instructors grow.  It is a passion to keep educating my community of the benefits of yoga. We have answered the questions easily. Yes, you can get to the point of doing head and hand stands in yoga, but it takes a lot of practice and time.  No, you do not have to be Buddhists to do yoga, yoga is an open hearted practice for all.  No, evil spirts will not got into your head during mediation. In fact during mediation we are trying to clear our mind of any negative thoughts.  There has been one priest in the Lincoln Diocese, that did have negative comments about the practice of yoga, but I believe he did not do any research on it. The whole practice of yoga is not only for physical health but also mental and spiritual health. It is trying to teach us to become less selfish and to serve others.  And last but not least, is yoga like sex?  Well not exactly but it can improve it! 

For all those passionate Yogis out there, don't give up on your hard work! Even my little Nebraska town can show off their head stands!

Peace and Joy to all,

Dr. Amy Flanagan

My introduction to Yoga!
    Almost 12 years ago was my first experience with yoga.  It probably like most, was a slightly humorous story.  My friend Erin and I took a fitness class together in college and it was requested to have a yoga week.  We were both really excited and completely over confident. I was still pulling out my old cheerleading kicks from high school and Erin showed off her legs behind her head trick on a regular basis. Again we walked into that room excited and thinking it would be a piece of cake.
 
   The class began with what they call a sun salutation which involves some arm reaches, forward bends and breaths. Erin and I looked at each other and both thought "is this for grandmas or what". That thought quickly changed when we did our first two rounds of sun salutation with a plank, upward dog and downward dog.  We stayed in downward dog for over a minute and Erin and I were both huffing and puffing and body inverted with pain in arms and legs.  We looked at each other and tried to hold in our discomfort but couldn't help laughing at each others awkwardness.  I was slipping from the mat from my sweaty hands and Erin's long arms and legs pushed her butt 3 feet higher then anyone else in the room.  As the class went on the awkwardness continued not only with Erin and I but the entire class.  You heard thuds, groans, pops and the occasional body air release.  When the instructor finally said lay on your back in relaxation pose, Erin and I both flopped down in total exhaustion and also relief.  We looked at each other and both said "Holy #%*^".
Say the least we didn't return that week for the rest of the class.

   I left that class with a complete different look on yoga and also a feeling of failure.  That feeling of failure followed me to the end of college, into chiropractic school and even 4 years of working as a chiropractor.  My whole life I heard how great yoga was for your health, spine and spirit and I couldn't even survive one 45 minute class.  I was so jealous of those that told me they did yoga everyday, and Pinterest made it worse with pictures of  back bends and headstands in the health section.  I became obsessed with this thought and I knew I had to give yoga another chance.  Not only for me but also for my career.  Chiropractic and Yoga go hand in hand, and I had mastered the Chiropractic part but was a little afraid of the yoga part.  I started to read books on yoga and ordered a videos.  As I read the books I began to understand the history and development of the art and realized there were many different types and ways to practice.  The videos I ordered were for beginners and I started to get really good at it and ordered more.  The more I ordered the more I felt I couldn't grow with just videos because they became slightly redundant and less challenging.  My aunt had known of my slight obsession and gave me the name and number of her yoga instructor.  Her instructor was interested in becoming a yoga teacher along with instructing.  I was excited to find out that she was not to far from my home town and decided to take part of her instructor class.

   Since that class my whole outlook on yoga is completely changed.  She not only had the most positive aura around her she had the best attitude towards life I have ever experienced and someone that I just met.  There was no judgment just encouragement and growth in our practice.  She opened my eyes to the many aspects of yoga and also the simplicity that it has.  I took what I had learned and practiced everyday at home so I could also teach what I had learned to my home town.  I had a great interest and now teach 4 times a week to 15 to 20 yogi inspires, and it keeps growing.  As I continue to practice yoga and teach,
I have not only noticed my body getting stronger but also my mind is clear, and my spiritual beliefs are growing.  You learn to live a more simple life and love yourself and your surroundings.  The more I practice the more I want to practice and the more I appreciate everything that is in my life.  I want to Nameste all day and try to inspire others as well.

   The point of this blog is to educate my passions in life.  Yoga didn't start off easy for me.  I was discouraged after one class and it took 12 years for me to have the confidence and love that I have for it today.  I want to keep inspiring people the way I was inspired with my most recent instructor and spread the benefits of yoga throughout my tiny little town.  I don't want people to get discouraged after one class, I wantt them to understand that there is not judgement but only growth.  If I had been told that after my first class 12 years ago, I would have stuck with it.  Have confidence in yourself, work for your health, and Nameste all Day.