I finished my 200-hour yoga teacher training in May 2016, just a day before being admitted to the hospital with preeclampsia, or pregnancy-induced high blood pressure. Nearly three weeks later, on June 1, I delivered my son.
32 weeks pregnant at my teacher-training graduation.
Suffice it to say my yoga-teaching plans changed a bit.
I told myself my parenting journey was my yoga, that pausing to breathe and center myself before resuming the rocking of a screaming baby was my spiritual practice. That was true, and parenting is still absolutely the spiritual journey of my life.
But when my son was close to a year old, my yoga teacher introduced me to someone she said I simply had to meet, who had a plan I’d want to be a part of.
As our rainbow babies (a name for babies born after a loss) gummed bananas on a soft blanket in my living room one spring day in 2017, Sarah Denio laid out her plan to open a pregnancy resource center that would include services for women healing after pregnancy loss: ceremonies, coaching, and yoga + meditation classes. She wanted to know: Would I like to teach at her studio when it opened?
The beautiful yoga studio at KindNest Pregnancy Empowerment in Ballston Lake, NY, where I teach Yoga + Meditation for Healing After Pregnancy Loss.
Sarah realized her dream—which became mine as well—in March when KindNest Pregnancy Empowerment opened in Ballston Lake, NY, about 15 minutes from my front door in Saratoga Springs. Though I was excited about the opportunity to teach, I was also nervous: Would I be too rusty after nearly three years away from teacher-training? Would this once-nightly commitment be too much to squeeze into my already-packed life, the proverbial straw that broke the overworked camel’s back? And: Would anyone come?
The beautiful yoga studio at KindNest Pregnancy Empowerment in Ballston Lake, NY, where I teach Yoga + Meditation for Healing After Pregnancy Loss.
Our first five-week series of Yoga + Meditation for Healing After Pregnancy Loss has answered all of those questions: A yoga teacher is never too rusty to help students connect to their bodies, their breaths and their hearts. A mission this full of love will create room for itself in my life. And the students will come—are already coming.
The second series is about to begin. I’m excited to offer space, love and acceptance to another group of people willing to take a step toward self-care and self-compassion.
For more information about KindNest and founder Sarah Denio’s story, visit the website. For more information about or to register for Yoga + Meditation for Healing After Pregnancy Loss, check out KindNest’s Healing services.
Amy Reinink 