A couple of months ago, a student approached me after class with some constructive feedback. She said that while the prenatal yoga class was helpful in reducing her lower back pain, she found it hard to relax and enjoy it because of the distraction of so many other students and the noise of the street traffic. Admittedly, that day we had a bustling class, and I had decided to keep the windows open to enjoy the natural breeze from outside instead of the manipulated, albeit cool, draft from the air conditioner. I apologized for these issues and suggested she try a night class that would not be as crowded and where there is less noise from the delivery trucks on 72nd Street. As a teacher and business owner, I always want my students to have a good experience.
But a recent experience led me to believe that I missed an important teaching opportunity that day. Two weeks ago, I came out of my doula retirement to support a former client through her second labor. Sandi, her husband and I arrived at NYU hospital around 1am. The labor and delivery floor was quiet and subdued. Upon checking in at the nurse’s station, it was very obvious that Sandi was in the transitional stage of labor and so was promptly brought to a room. Within minutes, the quiet environment we had walked into was gone as Sandi was gowned up with a monitor strapped to her and and a hep-lock IV inserted into her arm. Quickly, we learned that she was fully dilated. Her own doctor was not there yet, so we were paired up with an OB resident, the attending physician and two nurses. One of the nurses quickly rolled the table of delivery instruments into the room. Meanwhile, a bright overhead spotlight was shining down on Sandi and, because she wanted to push on her side, the doctor was also holding some sort of flashlight to get a better view of Sandi’s bottom.
Sandi was not shy about expressing how the chaos in the room was distracting her, especially when she felt the urge to push with a spotlight shining in her eyes and interrupting her concentration. I brought my hand over her eyes to shield her from the light and then talked her through focusing inward. At that moment, we were completely unable to change any part of the surrounding environment, so Sandi’s work was to direct all her focus inwards. She kept her eyes closed, focused on my voice and her breath, and became in tune with the job at hand: pushing her baby out. Sandi was amazing. With a tornado of activity around her, she found an inner calmness that allowed her to concentrate on the difficult task of child birthing. About 15 minutes later, Sandi gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, baby girl and the noisy background gave way to the adoring love of a mother for her newborn.
Watching Sandi find focus within the chaos reminded me that we rarely have control over our external environment, but we do have a say in how we choose to react to it. (Personally, I am still working on mastering this skill!) In yoga, this practice is referred to as pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses. I interpret this not as literally covering your ears, closing your eyes and retreating, but as more of a softening of the senses achieved by focusing inward. When this happens, the external world is not disruptive or jarring to one’s inner stability.
I do not fault the student who expressed her discontent in the yoga class’s hectic environment That was her experience, and at the time I had not thought to use the disruptions in class as a teaching tool. It turned out to be a learning experience for me as a teacher. Right after Sandi’s birth, I was inspired by what I saw and taught a prenatal yoga class where I invited the students to embrace the practice of pratyahara and to notice themselves, their bodies, their breath, their babies and the structure and alignment of the asana (yoga pose) they were practicing. Afterwards, many students said they felt refreshed and excited. Should they encounter a less then ideal labor and delivery environment, they now had the tools for focusing inward, which can provide a sense of calmness.
Next time you are on a crowded subway or bombarded by loud sirens or even in a crowded yoga class, can you try turning your focus inside yourself in order to create an inner space separate from the outside world? What a rewarding skill to have–both in labor and in everyday life!
