Well, duh. That’s because they’re pregnant.
Thompson’s Happy Mama yoga classes, starting Dec. 10, are for pregnant women and those who’ve just had babies.
“I found a niche that was looking for a yoga teacher.”
Thompson said her interest in pre- and post-natal yoga was piqued when a number of her friends were pregnant, and several of them asked her for advice about yoga.
“I was bombarded with questions, and I didn’t have answers. So I started researching and developed the prenatal Thai yoga massage sequences with a fellow therapist when she was pregnant,” she said. Happy Mama features a massage table designed to accommodate expanding bellies.
Ideally, pregnant women will sign up for Happy Mama’s Due Yoga classes in their second trimester, she said.
“The first trimester is really about focusing on adjusting to pregnancy - both the idea, and letting your body adjust to a lot of the changes that are happening,” she said. But as long as it’s not a high-risk pregnancy, “basically, from the third month to the last day, she can do yoga,” Thompson said.
Thompson also will offer post-natal yoga classes, for new moms who have had a baby at least six weeks earlier. And, Happy Mama will feature free weekly classes that are open to dads and other members of the community. Those classes start Monday, Dec. 3.
Thompson said she’s also been talking to Down Dog Missoula Yoga about possible classes there, and to other practitioners in town whose work might fit with Happy Mama’s mission.
“I?want this place to be a community center,” she said.
Meanwhile, Down Dog’s Kimberlee Jensen Stedl plans a prenatal yoga class there beginning in January.
Down Dog is on the second floor over Phyzique Fitness at 2615 Connery Way, in Hellgate Meadows behind Home Depot.
Down Dog owner John Squillante said that he knows enough to teach a prenatal yoga class, “but I’m not the right teacher.” Stedl, who will be five months’ pregnant in January, is better qualified, he said.
Both Stedl and Thompson said that yoga can help pregnant women with strength and balance, key as one’s body changes during pregnancy.
“Aside from that, there’s the deep breathing and relaxation aspect, taking the time to just focus on you,” Stedl said. “It’s nice to just have an hour when I’m just going to sit and breathe and have some peace and calm.”
Stedl charges $12 per class, or offers a $50 punch card for five classes. Likewise, Thompson’s classes at Happy Mama are $10 per class for pre-pays, and $12 for drop-ins. People who register before Dec. 7 will save 10 percent on the package rate, and the first 12 women to register will get a free 1 1/2-hour massage.
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