Aa
Dangers of hot yoga (Bikram)
Please help. I recently found out I'm 5 weeks pregnant. I have been practising Bikram yoga for 2 years and never dreamed that if I was to become pregnant, it would be dangerous for the baby. I went to my doc today and she explained to me the dangers of excessive heat and birth defects. I had NEVER heard of this until now. Believe me, I will not walk back into that room until the birth of this child, but could the damage already be done!?! I can not get a straight answer anywhere and now I'm very worried. I thought I was doing something good for my body. I love the yoga and most days it doesn't even seem hot. I'm very athletic with a low blood pressure of 114/60. I also have a low BPM that averages around 58-60. Prior to Bikram yoga, I had ran two full marathons and two half marathons. I switched to bikram yoga two years ago because of the back problems the excessive running was doing which the hot yoga has greatly helped allivate. I love to sweat and work out hard, but never wanted to do anything that could damage my child. I knew all the basics, no drinking, watch prescription medications, no smoking, watch fish, etc... Now I'm stressed and worried what could I have done in my efforts of trying to be fit at 38. I need some reassurance or information of what to expect.
Thanks.
Thanks.
I, too, was researching whether or not it is safe for me to continue practicing Bikram yoga while TTC & during pregnancy. I know it has been years since this thread was started, but I do hope that things have turned out well for you. I have experienced two miscarriages myself in the past year and do not have any children. They were devastating to say the least. I have made some big changes in my life, including taking up Bikram yoga, in hopes of getting my mind and body to a healthier place. I honestly haven't felt this good in a long time (possibly ever!) and feel that the benefits of my workout outweigh the risks. That being said, I plan on practicing yoga until my husband and I find out we are pregnant again. I will "listen" very closely to what my body is telling me and continue to practice until (and if) my body needs a break. Wishing all of you the very best in your own personal journeys.
Namaste,
Lauren
Namaste,
Lauren
Moonflower, I know it's been a while since this happened to you. But I am just now reading about your struggles, and I wanted to tell you my heart is breaking for you. I badly want to give you a big hug right now. I hope things are better. I wish you love and happiness and success with children and your marriage.
Xoxo,
Melissa
Xoxo,
Melissa
wow. i came to this this thread trying to figure out if i should practice bikram yoga while trying to conceive, but i got something that i would argue is more valuable. thank you ALL for sharing your most personal and painful stories. this thread is old, but i hope all is well with each of you and that peace and joy continue to be present in all your lives.
Wow. Where to begin...I never imagined clicking this link would lead me to someone [many people] sharing such personal and heartfelt stories; I feel compelled to add my own, in case someone can take comfort in it.
I came across this post just now as I purchased a hot yoga package recently and it expires within 60days, but I am also planning a trip in order to meet my intended 'baby-daddy' in Florida in about 3 weeks. I had to Google the acronym "TTC" - no one on this thread explained it stood for 'trying to conceive"...
Some history: I am almost 44years old (in 2 weeks), and for the last 5-6+ yrs or so, my ever-present thought on a daily basis has been about becoming a mother. I was in a rocky relationship for most of this time with a much younger man who wasn't sure he ever wanted children. A trying time at best, if you can imagine. My unhappiness peaked a little over 3yrs ago before I was diagnosed by my naturopath with depression brought on by my nutritional imbalances...I had recently lost 20 lbs and looked great, but my cholesterol was too LOW [governing autonomic brain functioning and mood elevation], and (presumably due to living in Seattle) my Vitamin D, which governs happiness/mood in general, was through the floor - 18 on a scale of 30 [dangerously low]-100 [optimal]. I couldn't attend baby showers in the conference room at work; to excuse myself with a gift and my apologies, I made up project deadlines that didn't exist so I didn't have to hear that "Awwww" sound women make in unison when looking at baby clothes. I constantly would spontaneously burst into tears, for instance on the bus, sometimes for no reason, but ALWAYS from seeing something like a little girl on her mother's lap. It was brutal. I grieved every moment for the thing that I didn't have and wanted most. You have nothing to apologize for; your step-cousin-in-law-whatever-the-hell-she-is IS A *****. Self-absorbed doesn't begin to describe it, and by the sounds of it, she has the emotional intelligence of a golf ball.
My naturopath helped me manage my depression (which is now at bay), with 5-htp (an amino acid derived from tryptophan, acting as a naturally occurring seratonin reuptake inhibitor), by upping my omegas and vitamin D dramatically, and by getting a broad spectrum sweep of my diet and nutritional needs. I suggest something similar for you. She was very in tune, step by step, about which of these pathways was all-natural and safe for me during the process of [intended] conception and through any pregnancy I might achieve. Your depression, when last you wrote, sounded uncontrolled. I hope you have gotten help, and if by chance you are in the same boat still, or worse, please see someone NOW.
You and your husband need to address your issues in counseling; they are totally normal. After several break-ups/reconciliations, my partner and I conceded that we did not belong together but he had matured enough to the point where he agreed to help me do the one thing I wanted more than anything else, have a baby. We tried many times; it was strained, sometimes clinical and unromantic, sometimes we tried during conception trips we arranged as he had moved 2 states away...we tried everything. We even fought bitterly through the emotional strain, occasionally. The brilliance of the woman on this thread talking about the laws of attraction cannot be overstated; it seemed like he would always pick a fight with me out of nowhere EXACTLY when I was about to ovulate - LIKE CLOCKWORK. Every fiber in his being was keyed to whatever pheromones I released at that moment to remind him of how conflicted he was about the whole thing and he reacted to it; I am sure of it because it never failed -EVERY SINGLE TIME...and we manifested just that. After almost 2 years, he finally agreed to a sperm analysis. My naturopath had given me the '5 by 5', all systems go, as my depression was resolved and I no longer need anything but pre-natal vitamins on a daily basis. HIS tests, however, showed a condition called 'Leukocytospermia' which meant that white blood cells were found in his sperm and attacking/killing them. Even after a panel of treatment for it, still no conception. Heaven knows, we TRIED. All told, it was a nightmare of sorrow and disappointment, over and over. I feel you; TRUST ME, I do.
We've been apart for over 7 months now, and he is happy in a relationship with someone who has 2 children of her own; he describes that as 'intense'. But just days ago, he described something to me which I found brilliant and dead-on, more about the 'laws of attraction'. Summarized, he told me he believed that on a moment-to-moment basis, you create what you align yourself with, completely. Every atom is in a state of flux every millisecond, and what that becomes is resulting from your CHOICE. In other words, if you choose sorrow, grief, disappointment, THAT IS what you will create. If you choose fertility, happiness, nurturing, motherhood, THAT IS what you will create. Trying to figure out just HOW that will happen is what derails us, and DOUBT is what kills it from its core. Very Buddhistic; I already knew that, but needed to be reminded.
Next month, I board a plane to see my best friend in the world, someone I have known almost 30 years, who has 3 grown children of his own, is divorced, and now living a gay lifestyle - no drama or messy emotional issues. He introduced me to Buddhism 26 years ago [I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo], and it has been the single most driving and impactful undertaking of my life. He recently left me a voice msg saying, "I'm really excited for you to come out and for us to do what we're trying to do. It's going to happen the way it's just going to happen; all we need to do is 'show up'..." In my 26years of Buddhism, the 2 things I know from the depths of my life are that 1) No matter how confusing/devastating/inconceivable, whatever, EVERYTHING is unfolding precisely as it is meant to, and 2) there IS NO right/wrong. There is only WHAT IS, and the opportunity for you to create value from what you learn from it. This journey has taken me to places in myself I never thought I'd have occasion to visit. I'm grateful for every painstaking moment of it.
I, too, have the nagging daily fear that 'my time is running/has run out', but that is a myth, as long as you are still having a normal period and presumably releasing eggs. One of my best friends is 45 and her 'female' problems are off the charts; she's had 21-day cycles and periods that sometimes last for weeks, pre-cancerous pap smears, breast cysts, fibroids & uterine tumors, a whole HOST of other serious medical issues, etc. Another dear friend has a daughter who this week graduates high school. BOTH have, in the past few weeks, gotten pregnant BY ACCIDENT. [Everyone but me, huh?] The very first love of my life and still dear, dear friend is a brilliant surgeon and head of the research dept. at a hospital in NYC where he must travel around the world at times, lecturing. He has reassured me many times that the trend of women who wait longer to have children is growing and does not affect the health or viability of pregnancies significantly at all. Sure, conception might take a bit more directed 'effort', but where you got the nonsensical impression that you had "9 more tries" frightens and astounds me. I hope that a medical professional didn't say something so ridiculous or irresponsible to you; btwn that and the "hot yoga = fetal damage" advice you got from that one crackpot, I am afraid you are receiving very poor medical intervention/counsel. =/
I hope that you, or others, take something from what I've said that can elevate you in a time of need or doubt. If you never visit this forum again, please know that you have touched many people, and I, for one, will always wonder how you are doing and how your story turned out.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
-Dores
I came across this post just now as I purchased a hot yoga package recently and it expires within 60days, but I am also planning a trip in order to meet my intended 'baby-daddy' in Florida in about 3 weeks. I had to Google the acronym "TTC" - no one on this thread explained it stood for 'trying to conceive"...
Some history: I am almost 44years old (in 2 weeks), and for the last 5-6+ yrs or so, my ever-present thought on a daily basis has been about becoming a mother. I was in a rocky relationship for most of this time with a much younger man who wasn't sure he ever wanted children. A trying time at best, if you can imagine. My unhappiness peaked a little over 3yrs ago before I was diagnosed by my naturopath with depression brought on by my nutritional imbalances...I had recently lost 20 lbs and looked great, but my cholesterol was too LOW [governing autonomic brain functioning and mood elevation], and (presumably due to living in Seattle) my Vitamin D, which governs happiness/mood in general, was through the floor - 18 on a scale of 30 [dangerously low]-100 [optimal]. I couldn't attend baby showers in the conference room at work; to excuse myself with a gift and my apologies, I made up project deadlines that didn't exist so I didn't have to hear that "Awwww" sound women make in unison when looking at baby clothes. I constantly would spontaneously burst into tears, for instance on the bus, sometimes for no reason, but ALWAYS from seeing something like a little girl on her mother's lap. It was brutal. I grieved every moment for the thing that I didn't have and wanted most. You have nothing to apologize for; your step-cousin-in-law-whatever-the-hell-she-is IS A *****. Self-absorbed doesn't begin to describe it, and by the sounds of it, she has the emotional intelligence of a golf ball.
My naturopath helped me manage my depression (which is now at bay), with 5-htp (an amino acid derived from tryptophan, acting as a naturally occurring seratonin reuptake inhibitor), by upping my omegas and vitamin D dramatically, and by getting a broad spectrum sweep of my diet and nutritional needs. I suggest something similar for you. She was very in tune, step by step, about which of these pathways was all-natural and safe for me during the process of [intended] conception and through any pregnancy I might achieve. Your depression, when last you wrote, sounded uncontrolled. I hope you have gotten help, and if by chance you are in the same boat still, or worse, please see someone NOW.
You and your husband need to address your issues in counseling; they are totally normal. After several break-ups/reconciliations, my partner and I conceded that we did not belong together but he had matured enough to the point where he agreed to help me do the one thing I wanted more than anything else, have a baby. We tried many times; it was strained, sometimes clinical and unromantic, sometimes we tried during conception trips we arranged as he had moved 2 states away...we tried everything. We even fought bitterly through the emotional strain, occasionally. The brilliance of the woman on this thread talking about the laws of attraction cannot be overstated; it seemed like he would always pick a fight with me out of nowhere EXACTLY when I was about to ovulate - LIKE CLOCKWORK. Every fiber in his being was keyed to whatever pheromones I released at that moment to remind him of how conflicted he was about the whole thing and he reacted to it; I am sure of it because it never failed -EVERY SINGLE TIME...and we manifested just that. After almost 2 years, he finally agreed to a sperm analysis. My naturopath had given me the '5 by 5', all systems go, as my depression was resolved and I no longer need anything but pre-natal vitamins on a daily basis. HIS tests, however, showed a condition called 'Leukocytospermia' which meant that white blood cells were found in his sperm and attacking/killing them. Even after a panel of treatment for it, still no conception. Heaven knows, we TRIED. All told, it was a nightmare of sorrow and disappointment, over and over. I feel you; TRUST ME, I do.
We've been apart for over 7 months now, and he is happy in a relationship with someone who has 2 children of her own; he describes that as 'intense'. But just days ago, he described something to me which I found brilliant and dead-on, more about the 'laws of attraction'. Summarized, he told me he believed that on a moment-to-moment basis, you create what you align yourself with, completely. Every atom is in a state of flux every millisecond, and what that becomes is resulting from your CHOICE. In other words, if you choose sorrow, grief, disappointment, THAT IS what you will create. If you choose fertility, happiness, nurturing, motherhood, THAT IS what you will create. Trying to figure out just HOW that will happen is what derails us, and DOUBT is what kills it from its core. Very Buddhistic; I already knew that, but needed to be reminded.
Next month, I board a plane to see my best friend in the world, someone I have known almost 30 years, who has 3 grown children of his own, is divorced, and now living a gay lifestyle - no drama or messy emotional issues. He introduced me to Buddhism 26 years ago [I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo], and it has been the single most driving and impactful undertaking of my life. He recently left me a voice msg saying, "I'm really excited for you to come out and for us to do what we're trying to do. It's going to happen the way it's just going to happen; all we need to do is 'show up'..." In my 26years of Buddhism, the 2 things I know from the depths of my life are that 1) No matter how confusing/devastating/inconceivable, whatever, EVERYTHING is unfolding precisely as it is meant to, and 2) there IS NO right/wrong. There is only WHAT IS, and the opportunity for you to create value from what you learn from it. This journey has taken me to places in myself I never thought I'd have occasion to visit. I'm grateful for every painstaking moment of it.
I, too, have the nagging daily fear that 'my time is running/has run out', but that is a myth, as long as you are still having a normal period and presumably releasing eggs. One of my best friends is 45 and her 'female' problems are off the charts; she's had 21-day cycles and periods that sometimes last for weeks, pre-cancerous pap smears, breast cysts, fibroids & uterine tumors, a whole HOST of other serious medical issues, etc. Another dear friend has a daughter who this week graduates high school. BOTH have, in the past few weeks, gotten pregnant BY ACCIDENT. [Everyone but me, huh?] The very first love of my life and still dear, dear friend is a brilliant surgeon and head of the research dept. at a hospital in NYC where he must travel around the world at times, lecturing. He has reassured me many times that the trend of women who wait longer to have children is growing and does not affect the health or viability of pregnancies significantly at all. Sure, conception might take a bit more directed 'effort', but where you got the nonsensical impression that you had "9 more tries" frightens and astounds me. I hope that a medical professional didn't say something so ridiculous or irresponsible to you; btwn that and the "hot yoga = fetal damage" advice you got from that one crackpot, I am afraid you are receiving very poor medical intervention/counsel. =/
I hope that you, or others, take something from what I've said that can elevate you in a time of need or doubt. If you never visit this forum again, please know that you have touched many people, and I, for one, will always wonder how you are doing and how your story turned out.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
-Dores
HiMoonflower,
I have just read the whole of the thread and I must apologize for my previous post - I wasn't aware about your loss when I wrote my quick reply. I hope you are in a better place now.
With warmest wishes, Ellie
I have just read the whole of the thread and I must apologize for my previous post - I wasn't aware about your loss when I wrote my quick reply. I hope you are in a better place now.
With warmest wishes, Ellie
Hi Tara, I loved your post. I agree with you and wish you all the best. Thank you for sharing. Ellie
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