By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Is squatting OK to do during pregnancy? Yes! This is one of the most beneficial poses to do during pregnancy. Do some version of this every day! When you were a toddler, you could squat. Easily. When we use Western-style toilets to eliminate, we have fewer daily opportunities to squat. In many parts of the world, squatting is a position of rest. With
The MamaSpace Yoga Method
February 16, 2021
This week’s post is a video. We hope you enjoy it. It’s all about the MamaSpace Yoga Method. Yes, it’s a method. It promotes optimal fetal positioning. Carol has dedicated her professional life to supporting expectant and new families by promoting gentle aware birth. She has attended births for over 35 years – at first as a doula and from 2000 to 2012 as a midwife. She has since retired
Why Fertility Yoga?
November 10, 2020
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 I Was Hooked Several years ago when I was a student in a San Francisco prenatal yoga teacher training, my teacher mentioned a fertility yoga sequence that she had practiced when she wanted to start her family. Instantly intrigued, I asked her if she was going to teach it to us. She said she didn’t have time to add it to the current
I Miss Teaching In-Person Prenatal Yoga Classes
September 29, 2020
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 As I stand in our old yoga studio, I prepare to begin again. I’ve rearranged this room – several times. In some ways it’s almost unrecognizable. I’ve moved shelving and props. I’ve hung blankets from the ceiling and walls to produce better sound quality for our yoga videos. I’ve hauled lighting and camera equipment up and down flights of stairs. I’ve spent hours
Responsibility
September 1, 2020
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Many yoga studios around the world have reopened or are planning to reopen for in-person yoga classes. We aren’t (yet). At MamaSpace Yoga we serve a particular population – pregnant and postpartum people. It’s obvious to me that we can’t yet know what any long-term (or short term) effects of COVID-19 infection in the first trimester of pregnancy would be. People who have
Caleb’s Birth
October 19, 2019
It all started with a bowl of spicy Baby A’s copycat Tortilla soup… There is an old wives’ tale that spicy food induces labor. Well, in this case it proved to be true. Your Daddy and Mommy had indulged in some spicy tortilla soup for dinner on the evening of September 17th. After dinner and a few of their favorite TV shows, it was bedtime. Your Daddy easily fell asleep
Nugget’s Birth
April 18, 2019
Dearest Carol, Thank you for your blessings and teachings! Our nugget arrived 2 weeks early. 2 days before labor baby was positioned transverse! :/ Dr wanted to manually reposition baby but baby had other plans. Everyone told me not to worry because we still have time. However, we learned later we really don’t. Thanks to you I applied the cat/cow pose during my contractions. Baby’s head dropped to the correct
Sarah’s Birth
November 5, 2018
Throughout pregnancy, I often thought that my baby would be born early. During one appointment with my midwives, I told them that I had a feeling that my baby would come early, and they responded that many of their clients “had a feeling” that their baby would come early. Some babies do, most don’t. Statistically, first babies are born after their due date. On the evening of August 27, 2018,
Thalia’s Birth Story
November 4, 2018
Oliver Milo Read born Oct 14th, 2.47. 6lbs 10 oz I was hoping for a natural childbirth and I wanted to carry my baby at least to term, hoping he’d come out on his own, despite my OB advising me to induce at 39 weeks. (due to my age, I’m 43!) However at a routine check up on Oct 10th (39 weeks and 3 days,) it was discovered that the
