Week 14: I Found My Love for Being in Water

I feel great being submerged in water since being pregnant, but I realized it this last Saturday. I was at my husband’s surprise pool birthday party, I was in the pool for at least 4 hours, and would have stayed in it if the wind wasn’t so cold outside. I love the way the water makes my body feel. I feel as if I can move gracefully and weightlessly again without prego soreness. We went camping in mid-July at Mark Twain State Park here in Missouri, and I felt great in the water then too. Now that I have come to this realization, I am trying to get in as much pool time as possible before the cold winter comes.

I am still teaching yoga during the week and it has gotten easier in the second trimester. I have much more energy for stronger poses and more vinyasa classes. I am getting more flexible in my hips and feel strong in my arm balances still. Now that nausea has passed I feel my body opening up more. The first trimester I felt like my body was stuck to a certain limit, without growing in my practice. I learned to breathe into that and let go trying to go deeper or be stronger than my body was asking. It was a great lesson in patience, compassion, kindness and gratitude for my body. I am very happy now that I feel up to do stronger classes and feel my flexibility grow.

This week I had a lot of cooking and baking to do. I had my private chef clients, my cooking demo and book signing at Clover’s Natural Market, my speaking and sampling at my networking group meeting for the Business Builders of Columbia, and Ryan’s birthday party. I made my bread, chocolate, spicy cilantro lime hummus, and vegan peanut butter cookies from Happy Food Cookbook. Ryan’s favorite pie is butterscotch, so my friend Sara and I made one for him even though it was not gluten or sugar-free. He loved it, and it was his day! I have been eating more kale salads and raw fruits again. My body is craving it actually. I think the detox was needed after all the cravings I was allowing myself to eat, even if they were the healthier versions. Eating more raw fruits and veggies has allowed my body to function better, sleep better, have less acne, feel lighter, I have more energy and less pregnancy forgetfulness.

Who knows, by next week I could be eating all pizza and ice cream. Until then, “Never look down on someone unless you are helping them up.”