Yoga Mamas
22 AUGUST 2 0 1 8
MIND + BODY
Prenatal yoga classes at The Yoga
Room have become increasingly
popular since Astoria resident Juliana
Mitchell began teaching them
in 2006, and it’s not simply that there
seem to be more young families in
western Queens these days. Some
students come back to her class for their second
or third pregnancies, while others find
their way there through referrals.
Mitchell said she can even predict when
class sizes are about to grow: “Every time
there’s a big snowstorm or blackout, in
eight to 16 weeks my classes are going to
expand in size because people are making
babies,” she said.
Mitchell doesn’t have children herself,
which is “surprising to some,” she said,
but she feels that she has a different role:
“offering the gift of self-awareness, connection
to breath, safe, loving movement,
and self-honoring to expectant mamas —
and these things are life-changing.”
Whether a woman has been studying
yoga for years or wants to start the practice
after becoming pregnant, prenatal
yoga is right for them, Mitchell explained:
If a student already had tools like selfawareness
and connection to breath from
a previous yoga practice, prenatal yoga is a
“new and beautiful environment to learn it
when they’re breathing for two, learning for
two, in their daily changing pregnant bodies.
If they had these tools prior to pregnancy, it’s
a great time to deepen them; if not, pregnancy
is a great time to craft this toolbox of
balance, self-care and self-honoring.”
Mitchell remembers that as one of three
kids from a single mom who “tended
toward stress,” yoga was a positive influence
on her mother’s life — and, by extension,
her own.
BY KATRINA MEDOFF
KATRINA@BOROMAG.COM
@KATRINAMEDOFF
@KATYA_M22
Photos by Carey MacArthur (careymacarthur.com)
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