Is it fair for yoga teachers to assume that if their pregnant student had a practice prior to pregnancy, they should know how and when to modify?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure the safety of the student and offer modifications?
What potential harm can really happen to the baby and the pregnant person from inappropriate yoga poses?
In this episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, I speak with my childbirth educator, Spinning Babies Parent Educator, founder of Om Births and my long time colleague, Bec Conant. In our lively and a bit geeky conversation, Bec and I answer all those questions and more. We both draw from our personal and professional experience about finding the balance between offering the student autonomy of their body and when to support the student with appropriate pose alternatives. We also both talk about the difficulty of not being ego driven in one’s practice.
In this episode:
- Learn about Bec and what brought her to her yoga and birth work.
- An in depth look at the statement “If you had a practice before, you will know how and when to modify your poses?”
- What is the responsibility of the teacher and the responsibility of the student?
- Where/when does the teacher step aside and let the student take responsibility
- When does the teacher step in and gently offer modifications.
- The difficulty of surrendering one’s yoga practice and acceptance of change.
- What can happen if a student is ego drive
- Can a yoga practice really hurt the baby?
- Potential issues of not modifying one’s practice.
- The reality of how much prenatal yoga training most yoga teachers receive in a basic 200 hr foundational training.
- One tip or piece of advice Bec has for new and expectant parents or teachers
- Where to find Bec’s work
About Bec Conant E-RYT 500, RPYT, HBCE:
Bec Conant has been teaching Pre and Postnatal yoga for over 20 years. She is Founder of Om Births, an online prenatal yoga program for all stages of motherhood, before, during and after pregnancy. Bec is also currently the director of Prenatal Yoga for Down Under School of Yoga in Boston where she implements the Om Births program and runs Om Births Prenatal teacher trainings. Originally trained in Om Yoga with Cyndi Lee, Bec has since gone on to study slow flow yoga with Barbara Benagh in Boston and has come to a dynamic understanding of how the yoga practice affects and can influence the body while pregnant. She is known throughout the greater Boston area for her expertise and understanding of how to work with the pregnant body. Bec worked as a birth doula for 12 years- retiring in 2013 to launch Om Births fully in Boston and online. She is also a Spinning Babies Parent Educator, a HypnoBirthing practitioner, and in March of 2020 will be a BACE certified Childbirth educator.
Bec also comes from a dance background and a love of movement, and has worked with numerous ex-dancers to help them find balance and stability within their yoga practice and pregnancies. Her own little boy, Sawyer, was born in November of 2017, and is currently the best yoga teacher and practice Bec has ever found.
Get in touch with Bec:
- Website: www.ombirths.com
- Twitter: @ombirths
- Instagram: @ombirths
Boston School of Prenatal and Children’s Yoga
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To connect with Deb and the PYC Community:
- Instagram & Facebook: @prenatalyogacenter
- Youtube: Prenatal Yoga Center
