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Dangers of hot yoga (Bikram)
Please help. I recently found out I'm 5 weeks pregnant. I have been practising Bikram yoga for 2 years and never dreamed that if I was to become pregnant, it would be dangerous for the baby. I went to my doc today and she explained to me the dangers of excessive heat and birth defects. I had NEVER heard of this until now. Believe me, I will not walk back into that room until the birth of this child, but could the damage already be done!?! I can not get a straight answer anywhere and now I'm very worried. I thought I was doing something good for my body. I love the yoga and most days it doesn't even seem hot. I'm very athletic with a low blood pressure of 114/60. I also have a low BPM that averages around 58-60. Prior to Bikram yoga, I had ran two full marathons and two half marathons. I switched to bikram yoga two years ago because of the back problems the excessive running was doing which the hot yoga has greatly helped allivate. I love to sweat and work out hard, but never wanted to do anything that could damage my child. I knew all the basics, no drinking, watch prescription medications, no smoking, watch fish, etc... Now I'm stressed and worried what could I have done in my efforts of trying to be fit at 38. I need some reassurance or information of what to expect.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Hi, I practiced Bikram yoga throughout my 1st pregnancy (until week 20) and now have a beautiful and very healthy 3-year old. He was an early walker (11months) and early talker. So, in my case, Bikram was ctua lily beneficial as I was very fit and relaxed during my pregnancy n labour. I took up pregnancy yoga at 20 weeks and that was great too. I'm now 6 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child and I intend to continue with Bikram for at least 10 more weeks. Good luck with your pregnancy!
Ellie
Ellie
Hi Moonflower, I hope you are feeling better. Maybe you are not. I'm so sad for you and just wanted to share the way I coped when something awful happened to me in my life:
You are in an emergency situation and you have only one priority: YOU. So that means doing anything that is good for your wellbeing, physically and mentally. If it were me, I would cut the cousin in law off completely. who cares what other people think? Remember now, YOU are the only priority here. (obviously you're husband is with you- he is ON YOUR SIDE.)
It doesnt matter if people talk, it doesn't matter what people say about 'being the bigger person.'
Now that you are focusing on 'you' - you can start to do any and all POSITIVE things to feel better. I agree with the lady who talked about the law of attraction (although i haven't read that book)... positive thoughts... surround yourself with light. You can do an online meditation course, read self help books, don't touch alcohol or drugs as they are both depressants that involve come-downs, which you desperately do not need right now. The book that helped me the most was called 'The Power of Now' its a very famous book and quite easy to read.. it's not very long but contains a very powerful message. Also eat only healthy unprocessed foods as processed foods and excessive chemicals and sugar are depressants aswell. Take regular exercise as this raises endorphins and helps you feel good about life.
Basically the plan is to do all these things that you CAN do, does that make sense? You may feel completely depressed but you have a choice to drink a bottle of whiskey or to not touch a drop. You can go to Mcdonalds or eat a fresh healthy dinner full of vibrant vegetables. If you drink the whiskey and eat the maccie-d's you will feel worse. And this is not about feeling worse, its about getting better.
Also, you can ignore the cell phone when your cousin calls. Dont even listen to the message she leaves. Tough for her, this is about YOU. Will it make you feel worse to see her? Then DONT. When you feel better you can see her. You will get better, you will see her again. If she is hurt, then boo-hoo for her.
I don't want to talk about what happened in my life but it was a sudden shock that changed everything - I lost everything, or at least what I perceived at the time to be 'everything.' I was devastated but in a way it freed me. The pain was so intense I was free to not care about anything, i mean anything but myself. If you can prioritize yourself (and your husband) in such a way, you can recover. The cousin in law has got to go. She can come back into your life when you are better. You do not need to explain yourself to anyone.
I urge you to keep a journal. Research ways to be happy. Another book I came across called ':59 seconds' had a chapter on how to increase happiness, I did all the things in it.. and it helped. Writing down in your journal 3 things for which you were grateful for that day. Stuff like that.
Also please go get as much counseling and therapy as you can... dont think of the cost. Or go to the doctor and find out where you can access free or means-tested therapy.
Finally, I was blessed by the universe in that I was given the chance to go to a foreign country for 2 months. I had to go to the little toilet on the outbound plane at midnight and bawl my eyes out. But oh my god, I came back to life out there. It wasnt just one thing.. it was all the things i had done.
I am a yogini with 15 years of practice under my belt, ...I do hot yoga, ashtanga, vinyasa, sivinanda and googled hot yoga and pregnancy because i am TTC, and came across this thread. Obviously you are in pain.. it's easy to be a wonderful person full of light and love when everything is okay within your life but when things hit rock bottom you dont have to feel bad for acting petty or selfish. Know that yoga and meditation can and do help immensely. Why not try vinyasa flow yoga, just regular temperature? Also online you can find guided meditation courses.
Good luck, hang on to your husband- weather the storm. Life is not what happens to you, it is how you REACT to what happens to you.
Om peace, Om shanti. xxxxxxx
You are in an emergency situation and you have only one priority: YOU. So that means doing anything that is good for your wellbeing, physically and mentally. If it were me, I would cut the cousin in law off completely. who cares what other people think? Remember now, YOU are the only priority here. (obviously you're husband is with you- he is ON YOUR SIDE.)
It doesnt matter if people talk, it doesn't matter what people say about 'being the bigger person.'
Now that you are focusing on 'you' - you can start to do any and all POSITIVE things to feel better. I agree with the lady who talked about the law of attraction (although i haven't read that book)... positive thoughts... surround yourself with light. You can do an online meditation course, read self help books, don't touch alcohol or drugs as they are both depressants that involve come-downs, which you desperately do not need right now. The book that helped me the most was called 'The Power of Now' its a very famous book and quite easy to read.. it's not very long but contains a very powerful message. Also eat only healthy unprocessed foods as processed foods and excessive chemicals and sugar are depressants aswell. Take regular exercise as this raises endorphins and helps you feel good about life.
Basically the plan is to do all these things that you CAN do, does that make sense? You may feel completely depressed but you have a choice to drink a bottle of whiskey or to not touch a drop. You can go to Mcdonalds or eat a fresh healthy dinner full of vibrant vegetables. If you drink the whiskey and eat the maccie-d's you will feel worse. And this is not about feeling worse, its about getting better.
Also, you can ignore the cell phone when your cousin calls. Dont even listen to the message she leaves. Tough for her, this is about YOU. Will it make you feel worse to see her? Then DONT. When you feel better you can see her. You will get better, you will see her again. If she is hurt, then boo-hoo for her.
I don't want to talk about what happened in my life but it was a sudden shock that changed everything - I lost everything, or at least what I perceived at the time to be 'everything.' I was devastated but in a way it freed me. The pain was so intense I was free to not care about anything, i mean anything but myself. If you can prioritize yourself (and your husband) in such a way, you can recover. The cousin in law has got to go. She can come back into your life when you are better. You do not need to explain yourself to anyone.
I urge you to keep a journal. Research ways to be happy. Another book I came across called ':59 seconds' had a chapter on how to increase happiness, I did all the things in it.. and it helped. Writing down in your journal 3 things for which you were grateful for that day. Stuff like that.
Also please go get as much counseling and therapy as you can... dont think of the cost. Or go to the doctor and find out where you can access free or means-tested therapy.
Finally, I was blessed by the universe in that I was given the chance to go to a foreign country for 2 months. I had to go to the little toilet on the outbound plane at midnight and bawl my eyes out. But oh my god, I came back to life out there. It wasnt just one thing.. it was all the things i had done.
I am a yogini with 15 years of practice under my belt, ...I do hot yoga, ashtanga, vinyasa, sivinanda and googled hot yoga and pregnancy because i am TTC, and came across this thread. Obviously you are in pain.. it's easy to be a wonderful person full of light and love when everything is okay within your life but when things hit rock bottom you dont have to feel bad for acting petty or selfish. Know that yoga and meditation can and do help immensely. Why not try vinyasa flow yoga, just regular temperature? Also online you can find guided meditation courses.
Good luck, hang on to your husband- weather the storm. Life is not what happens to you, it is how you REACT to what happens to you.
Om peace, Om shanti. xxxxxxx
Hi,
This is my first time posting on a stream. I miscarried Aug. 1, 2011. That day I was moving from my little 4.5 apartment to a grand place my partner and friends were renovating for us.
I have never been this upset, sad and weeping before for such an extended time in my life. We were not "trying" to get pregnant, but both wanted children together, several children and he'd joke about "well we'd better get started.." We don't have that much sex anymore.
Because of my re-occuring waves of sadness and loss, I decided to finally start some online reading today. It has been so helpful. (esp. bettybimble and moonflower - thank you moonflower).
I just turned 31 and my partner is 42. I lost the baby, well, let's rephrase..the miscarriage happened at 12 weeks and I had fortune of hearing the heartbeat at 7 weeks, during the first check up, before any ultrasounds. I sometimes wonder still if the fact I am under (the sometimes rushed and under-staffed) Canadian health care (I'm a Montrealer) had anything to do with the miscarriage...
However, reading the majority of these comments about focusing your positivity, listening to your body and remaining in the present moment strike truth in my spirit and makes me want to return to the bikram studio.
In my opinion and time through the loss, I am struggling to accept that there may not be any "right" or sensitive-enough" way to be approached especially by the people (family) around you. Someone above said to grieve actively: that is I feel "working" for me, I am even feeling more awake and balanced now than I was 1 hour prior to finding this site. I poured my heart out to my (who I feel is less interested in me) partner a few nights ago, weeping about the pain of the loss I still felt, the shame, the shift in our relationship and lack or change of affection and how I felt I was chasing him.
I used to practice and volunteer at the bikram studio and gave up my time there for a great promotion at work where I sold sports gear for running and was a running instructor. I have been running/track competitor since I was 10 years old. Brought up in an athletic house.
After the promotion, and 5 weeks pregnant, I was relocated to the suburbs, our busiest locale, and was bombarded with families, children, pregnant women and new mothers. At first I reassured a handful of new mums that I too am now pregnant and am researching all the right ways to exercise pre, during and post pregnancy.
I was only there a month and a half before the miscarriage and then 4 weeks at home on insurance of terrible "recovery": cramping, vomiting, infections, antibiotics, terribly insensitive family members (my younger, un-athletic sister asked, "well don't you just only work in a shoe-store?? My parents didn't speak to me for 3 days, disappointed I wasn't married, but then finally reassured me they will love us and the baby.. the miscarriage happened 5 days later) and tears. I hadn't told any friends because no one had or were even considering kids. I did finally tell a few friends about the loss afterward, which help me deal with my feeling of isolation and "tainted-ness".
Upon my return to work, I lasted 3 weeks in September before calling it quits one Sunday morning before I went in to lead practice. Everyone was happy to see me back at it, but I was crying every day, biking on my way to work, missing the baby or feeling I took my pregnancy for granted, I "lied"/withheld the truth of my absence from everyone but one mother/running trainees who emailed me her concerns asking if the baby was ok, I answered her no and had never heard back from her... She had just had her second child when she joined my training group...
Quite a tangent, but I needed it off my chest. Like icing on the cake, when I went, by bike, to return my key, I fell badly and bashed my knee, ending my personal, solo runs for another 4 weeks. I'd never been not exercising for so long, I felt I had slipped into insanity. Finally, late October, near my bday, I run again and just cried... so unsure of if my passion for running, my go-to for stress, "was that what", I hate to say but, "killed my baby ?"- I am realizing we have to feel this grief, let it rock us, but feel the grief together - breathe, and send softness and tenderness out to let it be known to those who feel alone, they are not alone. And not to blame.
The morning I quit the job I loved, I wept to my partner that I rather have died and not the baby..
the fact that we are all still here, together, for each other, now, Right now, each and everyone of us, is IMPORTANT, and must be coveted. I have tears in my eyes as I know I am still trying to respect and act on the truth of this fact...
All to say, I have been considering returning to the bikram studio, the practice I had let go of for my work's promotion. At the bikram studio, (on Walker street in Montreal, Canada) I have met the most kind, smart, loving and positive people. It was in this setting I learned the importance of one's energy, tenderness and the body's will to heal. We are always stronger than we think, and we are stronger together, please reach out, like your arm to the sky in triangle ;)
My prayers go out to you moonflower- namaste
This is my first time posting on a stream. I miscarried Aug. 1, 2011. That day I was moving from my little 4.5 apartment to a grand place my partner and friends were renovating for us.
I have never been this upset, sad and weeping before for such an extended time in my life. We were not "trying" to get pregnant, but both wanted children together, several children and he'd joke about "well we'd better get started.." We don't have that much sex anymore.
Because of my re-occuring waves of sadness and loss, I decided to finally start some online reading today. It has been so helpful. (esp. bettybimble and moonflower - thank you moonflower).
I just turned 31 and my partner is 42. I lost the baby, well, let's rephrase..the miscarriage happened at 12 weeks and I had fortune of hearing the heartbeat at 7 weeks, during the first check up, before any ultrasounds. I sometimes wonder still if the fact I am under (the sometimes rushed and under-staffed) Canadian health care (I'm a Montrealer) had anything to do with the miscarriage...
However, reading the majority of these comments about focusing your positivity, listening to your body and remaining in the present moment strike truth in my spirit and makes me want to return to the bikram studio.
In my opinion and time through the loss, I am struggling to accept that there may not be any "right" or sensitive-enough" way to be approached especially by the people (family) around you. Someone above said to grieve actively: that is I feel "working" for me, I am even feeling more awake and balanced now than I was 1 hour prior to finding this site. I poured my heart out to my (who I feel is less interested in me) partner a few nights ago, weeping about the pain of the loss I still felt, the shame, the shift in our relationship and lack or change of affection and how I felt I was chasing him.
I used to practice and volunteer at the bikram studio and gave up my time there for a great promotion at work where I sold sports gear for running and was a running instructor. I have been running/track competitor since I was 10 years old. Brought up in an athletic house.
After the promotion, and 5 weeks pregnant, I was relocated to the suburbs, our busiest locale, and was bombarded with families, children, pregnant women and new mothers. At first I reassured a handful of new mums that I too am now pregnant and am researching all the right ways to exercise pre, during and post pregnancy.
I was only there a month and a half before the miscarriage and then 4 weeks at home on insurance of terrible "recovery": cramping, vomiting, infections, antibiotics, terribly insensitive family members (my younger, un-athletic sister asked, "well don't you just only work in a shoe-store?? My parents didn't speak to me for 3 days, disappointed I wasn't married, but then finally reassured me they will love us and the baby.. the miscarriage happened 5 days later) and tears. I hadn't told any friends because no one had or were even considering kids. I did finally tell a few friends about the loss afterward, which help me deal with my feeling of isolation and "tainted-ness".
Upon my return to work, I lasted 3 weeks in September before calling it quits one Sunday morning before I went in to lead practice. Everyone was happy to see me back at it, but I was crying every day, biking on my way to work, missing the baby or feeling I took my pregnancy for granted, I "lied"/withheld the truth of my absence from everyone but one mother/running trainees who emailed me her concerns asking if the baby was ok, I answered her no and had never heard back from her... She had just had her second child when she joined my training group...
Quite a tangent, but I needed it off my chest. Like icing on the cake, when I went, by bike, to return my key, I fell badly and bashed my knee, ending my personal, solo runs for another 4 weeks. I'd never been not exercising for so long, I felt I had slipped into insanity. Finally, late October, near my bday, I run again and just cried... so unsure of if my passion for running, my go-to for stress, "was that what", I hate to say but, "killed my baby ?"- I am realizing we have to feel this grief, let it rock us, but feel the grief together - breathe, and send softness and tenderness out to let it be known to those who feel alone, they are not alone. And not to blame.
The morning I quit the job I loved, I wept to my partner that I rather have died and not the baby..
the fact that we are all still here, together, for each other, now, Right now, each and everyone of us, is IMPORTANT, and must be coveted. I have tears in my eyes as I know I am still trying to respect and act on the truth of this fact...
All to say, I have been considering returning to the bikram studio, the practice I had let go of for my work's promotion. At the bikram studio, (on Walker street in Montreal, Canada) I have met the most kind, smart, loving and positive people. It was in this setting I learned the importance of one's energy, tenderness and the body's will to heal. We are always stronger than we think, and we are stronger together, please reach out, like your arm to the sky in triangle ;)
My prayers go out to you moonflower- namaste
I think a woman can maintain her current exercise program as long as she feels good doing it. As your body gets larger you will have to opt out of certain poses or modify the pose to compensate. If you feel ok doing it and do not feel over exerted than great, but do pay attention to any signs of heat exhaustion. I started getting signs that I was doing to much and getting overheated after the 16th week mark. I would actually get welts on my thighs. So I had to modify my exercise routine to something with lower impact. Keep us posted on how everything is working for you :D
I was worried my girlfriend was spending too much time doing hot yoga when another friend told me there might be harms to doing it so often. She does it at least 5 times a week, for about 90 min to 2 hours each time. That's how I stumbled upon this thread.
Moonflower, I know I will not be able to say anything to ease your state of mind. I can only imagine what you have gone through and it is heartbreaking that you feel your friends aren't sympathetic to your distress. Stay strong, and take care of yourself right now.
Let me just say one thing though. Everyone has his or her own flaws and shortcomings; ask yourself honestly: do these people who are now pregnant love you? If they do, try to forgive them their flaws and accept their situation. Just be honest with them as much as you can. You can still be supportive without going to every baby-related function. Tell them you're happy for them, but that it's just very difficult for you, and that the last thing you want to do is take away from their special time by bringing others around with sadness.
I know this is an emotional time for you and I feel for you so... but I ask respectfully that you please give them the benefit of the doubt if you determine they really do care for you. In my opinion, it seems a little trivial (I'm not trying to downplay your sadness in any way, I understand this brought out a strong emotion and that's not your fault) to be so upset that they didn't "warn" you that a letter was coming on their baby shower. People, most of the time, try to be good and considerate. They try to be sensitive. Who knows -- maybe they decided to join their two baby showers together so that you wouldn't have to go through two separate ones... It's tough to always know what is the right thing to do when a loved one hurts. I have seen this and I have failed many times in this regard, despite trying as hard as I possibly could to do everything in my power to make my hurting loved ones feel better.
I feel for you, and I will say a prayer for you.
Moonflower, I know I will not be able to say anything to ease your state of mind. I can only imagine what you have gone through and it is heartbreaking that you feel your friends aren't sympathetic to your distress. Stay strong, and take care of yourself right now.
Let me just say one thing though. Everyone has his or her own flaws and shortcomings; ask yourself honestly: do these people who are now pregnant love you? If they do, try to forgive them their flaws and accept their situation. Just be honest with them as much as you can. You can still be supportive without going to every baby-related function. Tell them you're happy for them, but that it's just very difficult for you, and that the last thing you want to do is take away from their special time by bringing others around with sadness.
I know this is an emotional time for you and I feel for you so... but I ask respectfully that you please give them the benefit of the doubt if you determine they really do care for you. In my opinion, it seems a little trivial (I'm not trying to downplay your sadness in any way, I understand this brought out a strong emotion and that's not your fault) to be so upset that they didn't "warn" you that a letter was coming on their baby shower. People, most of the time, try to be good and considerate. They try to be sensitive. Who knows -- maybe they decided to join their two baby showers together so that you wouldn't have to go through two separate ones... It's tough to always know what is the right thing to do when a loved one hurts. I have seen this and I have failed many times in this regard, despite trying as hard as I possibly could to do everything in my power to make my hurting loved ones feel better.
I feel for you, and I will say a prayer for you.
Well, I went. Bought baby gifts. And it has just about killed me. My grief has now hit an all time low. I don't know how much more I can take.
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