LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES, December 16, 2002: Women in Los Angeles are turning to yoga for exercise, emotional support, and to be with others who are also pregnant. One class is taught by Seva Simran Siri Kaur Khalsa, a certified prenatal yoga instructor. She teaches chanting, stretching, deep breathing, strengthening exercises, and visualizations. Khalsa’s goal is to ensure that the women attending her class have flexible spines, strong immune systems and healthy auras. “Anytime you are doing difficult things, remember, this is all preparation for labor. Think … ‘I am good. I am beautiful. I am a powerful woman,’ ” says Khalsa. The class ends with a prayer for the baby growing inside the pregnant women and a song about sunshine and love. After class, the women talk while drinking cardamom tea and eating graham crackers. Heather Catalena, who is eight months pregnant, attends the yoga class every week and says, “I come for the spiritual aspect of it. There is a sense of calm I get here that I do not get anywhere else. One night a week I can feel centered and focused on the pregnancy.” Another woman says, “This yoga class is the one place in my high-speed life where I have the chance to slow down and reflect on the miracle of what is happening inside me.”
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