Slingfessionals: How it Really Feels to Dance While I'm Pregnant

I never knew how much people cared about what I did with my body, until I became pregnant.

This morning while teaching an aerial class, I had a very interesting conversation that sparked some deeper thinking. My student told me she put some heels on the other day and was trying to dance with her aerial fabric. The act of wearing something on her feet that could potentially damage her material or get her caught up had her moving in a way that was even more connected and intentional than usual. We talked about how the heels were to a certain degree “a limitation” but it actually helped her become a better mover in that moment.

This perfectly describes how I feel as a pregnant dancer and athlete.

I didn’t know how capable and strong I was until I started carrying another person inside of my body.

My desire to dance and create and move is in my blood (and will now be in my daughter’s blood too). What’s interesting about becoming pregnant is that suddenly the world thinks your body is incapable, or worse, that you don’t have a brain to discern what your own limits are. People who have never spent one single second inside of your body, suddenly can tell you exactly what your “limitations” are. I don’t buy it.

The way I move now is more connected, more intuitive, more intentional than I have ever moved before. And I love it. I love this “limitation” of being pregnant. There might be a few things I am choosing not to do at this time because I don’t want to squoosh my little human or cause any jerking motion to my womb…but everything that I am still able to do right now at 5 months pregnant I do with the utmost caution. It really drives me bonkers when someone leaves a comment on a training video that says “be careful.” I know they are meaning well, but it undermines my ability to discern and judge the health and wellness of my own body and unborn child.

To be honest, I feel like a superhuman right now.

My body is building a perfect being and I can still dance the way I want to and with the utmost care. I don’t do things that are new or out of reach, just what my body is already familiar with. I love training now more than ever, because I get to hyper focus on the smallest transitions. I get to dance with the delicacy and gentleness still that I’ve always enjoyed in my aerial practice. I know that not all dancers or athletes will have this same experience I am having. Some women get so sick and nauseous that just moving off the couch is painful in itself and mama if that’s you reading this, I feel for you!

I just wish people could have more faith in pregnant women. I wish our society/culture didn’t look at pregnancy as a disease, as a limiting experience, as something that hinders you. I wish I didn’t have my own constructed ideas about what I could or couldn’t do while I was growing a person. I honestly never thought at 5 months I would still be training and teaching because I assumed it would just be so hard. I let the world tell me how limiting it is before I even had the chance to experience it for myself. For 31 years all I have heard is how being pregnant/becoming a mother means that you will lack so much and you can’t do this or that. For some people pregnancy actually is more limiting and they require bed rest, etc. I’m fully aware that every pregnancy, pregnant body and woman is different…I’m just speaking from my own experience here and I think it’s up to you (the pregnant mama) and your doctor / care provider to decide what your experience looks like.

I wanted to share this for the pregnant mama who is healthy and strong enough (and has the desire) to continue the exercise that their body and soul wants/needs. If your doctor has given you the okay, and what you do doesn’t cause you any pain or discomfort…you go for it. You can do it mama. Listen to your body and to your little baby growing inside of you. Don’t let the world tell you that your belly is too big or that you’re not being careful enough because you still want to exercise.

YOU are the only person that knows what it feels like to have that little person inside of you.

YOU know when too much is too much.

Trust your body to carry out this natural process and don’t be afraid of perceived “limitations,” constructed in your own mind or by the world around you.

I wanted to share this so other women know that pregnancy can feel good…heck, it can even feel great. It can be a positive experience overall. My body feels strong and healthy. I have happy hormones flowing through my body and I feel the best that I’ve felt in many years. My mood has improved since being pregnant. Pregnancy CAN feel good and it doesn’t have to be miserable - I know, crazy right!?

if you have a positive pregnancy experience with exercise that you want to share with me, I would love to hear it in the comments below! Thanks for reading!

xo

Holly (and the tiny dancer)