Inspiring Yoga Mama is a regular feature that I’m running on this blog and I’m overwhelmed by all the positive feedback, support and encouragement that I have received since starting it! I’m so glad that you are enjoying it and and I love learning about all these inspirational women and their yoga journeys.
Do watch out for our Father’s Day special in a couple of week’s time when we will have our first ever Inspiring Yoga Dad on the blog!!
Today’s Inspiring Yoga Mama is the gorgeous Nadia Raafat, a childbirth educator and yogini who runs birth preparation and mindfulness courses in Battersea, South West London.
I personally loved practising yoga during my two pregnancies and strongly believe that it was due to my practice that I had two wonderful birth experiences. I didn’t know Nadia back then but if I had I would have definitely come to one of her courses! I do have her Yoga & Mindfulness for Pregnancy & Birth DVD and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to experience a more relaxed and comfortable pregnancy and birth.
Nadia (45) is a mother to four children (2, 6, 11 and 13) which alone deserves all the respect in the world! She has home birthed three of her four kids after an emergency c-section and truly embodies what this blog feature is all about… This is all about her yoga practice.
What style of yoga do you practice?
Hatha mainly. I love its depth and stillness. Recently I have become interested in Kundalini Yoga.
What is your favourite yoga pose and why?
Apanasana. In bed at the end of a very long day – which is most days. I love feeling my lower back and belly release backwards slowly into the mattress.
What yoga pose would you like to perfect?
I love being upside down so all the inversions: handstand, forearm balance, scorpion.
Tell us about your first ever yoga class?
It was like coming home. Having been a national squad rhythmic gymnast until aged 16, I had practised many similar body postures and movements as part of my training. But from 16-30 Iâd done pretty much nothing. So in that first yoga class aged 30 my body went into rapture. But it was the depth and wisdom of the practice that really got me. It stabilised and calmed me – when I really needed stabilising.
What do you enjoy most about yoga?
Moving in meditation. Expansion. Deep release. The quality of awareness that follows.
When/where/how often do you do yoga?
I practice pockets of yoga throughout the day most days Utanasana and spinal rolls whilst the kettleâs boiling, hamstring stretches on the kitchen counter, breastfeeding body scans at lunchtime, a yin practice in the evening to release the days tensions.
What are your top tips for making time for yoga?
Incorporate it into your daily living. With small children and a part time profession, for me it is the only way. Be flexible about how you experience your practice. Yoga does not need space, silence and incense to be yoga. Its about getting into the body and out of the head. We can do that in small focused bursts or in long deep luxurious sessions.
What does yoga mean to you?
I am so grateful to have found this incredible practice which continues to fascinate and enthral me. All of my learning and growing and healing on an emotional and spiritual level stems from this root. Its legacy is so rich and fertile and accessible.
What do you do when you donât do yoga?
I run pregnancy and birth preparation courses. I am as fascinated by pregnancy and childbirth as I am by Yoga – they can both be such intensely spiritual journeys. They take you out of the mundane. They shape and transform you. I loved being pregnant and found giving birth to be an incredible (on all levels and in all ways) experience. Now I teach pregnancy yoga and mindful birthing to pregnant women. I also support couples as a birth doula. Last year I made a DVD bringing Mindfulness to Pregnancy Yoga.
Who inspires you and why?
Janine Parvati Baker. She was a dedicated yogini and birth keeper who sought to reveal the spiritual aspect of pregnancy and childbirth. She was also a passionate birth activist.
What do you feel passionate about?
Women liberating themselves from the clinical manacles of childbirth. Inspiring women to take back responsibility for their birth experience and campaigning for women to fight for the right to individualised care for them and their unique baby moving through the health system. We have come far but there is still a long way to go.
As a teacher I feel passionate about holding the space for pregnant women to catch the fire of yoga and use it to access the yogic state during childbirth. But the clinical setting is not conducive to the yogic state so we have to work hard to create ways for them to access it – or even believe that they can. Thatâs why I developed my Mindful Birthing course – to really bring the teachings of yoga and mindfulness together in the birth setting.
Your advice for intimidated yoga beginners?
Close your eyes. Forget about everyone else:)
You can find Nadia on Facebook and Twitter and for more information on her Becoming Motherâs 8 Week Mindful Birthing Courses in London please visit her website!
Nadia’s Yoga & Mindfulness for Pregnancy & Birth DVD is available on her website, Amazon and Yogamatters.
If you want to be our next Inspiring Yoga Mama (or Daddy) or know of anyone who could inspire us then get in touch with Christine on info@yogaberry.net.Â
A great inspiration to us all x