We hope you enjoy this video. Carol Gray is passionate about this subject! About Carol Gray Carol is the founder and owner of MamaSpace Yoga. She has been a therapeutic bodyworker in private practice for over 32 years. She specializes in Craniosacral Therapy for pregnant and postpartum people and infants. Carol has spent years developing hands-on techniques to enhance the mobility in pregnant bodies including the bony pelvis, the abdominal
Fetal Constraint: How Culture Immobilizes Babies
July 20, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 This is the fourth installment of the stuck baby series. Last week I described the fetal factors (ways babies get themselves stuck). The week before I discussed maternal factors. Three weeks ago I covered engagement and explained why it’s pathology. Next week I’ll go over how fetal constraint affects labor and birth. Stay tuned! Today I’m going to discuss cultural factors that reduce
Why Did My Baby Get Stuck?
July 6, 2021
It’s not because your pelvis is too small… By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 When I consider how babies fit into — and through — a maternal pelvis I view it from three perspectives: midwifery, bodywork and yoga. As a midwife I generally know more about birth than many bodyworkers. As a bodyworker I know more about how, anatomically and bio-mechanically, a baby fits into and ultimately through a
My Baby Dropped!
June 29, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 “My baby dropped!!” People usually say this with great enthusiasm when it happens. I’ve never really understood why people rejoice about their babies dropping. Why Do They Think This Is So Cool? Do they think that this is proof they won’t be pregnant until the end of time after all? Do they think that their labors will be shorter because the baby is
All About Posterior Pelvic Pain in Pregnancy
April 20, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 How it All Starts Pain in the posterior pelvis is common during pregnancy. It typically begins in mid pregnancy. Although, it can start at any time. Sometimes it goes away during pregnancy. If it does, that usually happens in the third trimester. Other times it persists long after the birth. Your mileage may vary. Your SI Joints This pain often comes from the
The Best Props For Prenatal Yoga — Part 2
April 13, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 As promised, I’m continuing my recommendations for the best prenatal yoga props. Well-chosen yoga props will improve your practice. They will help you discover things that you might not otherwise encounter on your mat. What a perfect time to introduce this intimate self-exploration! The path of fertility, pregnancy, labor, birth and parenting are guaranteed to take you beyond what you already know. All
The Best Props for Prenatal Yoga — Part 1
April 6, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 I couldn’t fit everything I wanted to say about props for prenatal yoga into one post. You’ll have to wait for part 2 next week! In the mean time, I gotta say, we love our props at MamaSpace Yoga. When my students come in the door, I tell them, “Grab one mat, three blankets, three bolsters, one strap and two blocks. If you
Prenatal Yoga Safety
March 30, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 It’s amazing what turns up when you do a Google search for “Prenatal Yoga Safety”. Just for laughs (and some seriousness), here are 10 gems that fail the Truth-O-Meter test: 1. “Any challenging yoga poses could lead to nausea and dizziness” Any? Could lead to? Do they really expect us to believe that any “challenging” yoga pose could really cause nausea and dizziness?
Yoga Inversions for Pregnancy
March 23, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Once again, people ask if it’s safe. This time, it’s about inversions during pregnancy. Once again, the short answer is yes. The Lineage Yoga practices (including the physical practices) were originally developed by men for men. At first, the “rules” and precautions surrounding yoga practice for women were developed by men for women to follow. While pregnancy can be a time of great
Go Ahead. Do It!
March 16, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Is It Safe? It’s super common for people to ask me if it’s safe to practice twisting poses during prenatal yoga. The short answer is yes. Block-Bellies I remember my own 200-hour yoga teacher training years ago. We had a memorable lesson about pregnant people in our classes. Our teacher had us stuff blocks into our tank tops over our bellies and then
