As soon as I hit the second trimester I felt inclined to widen the spectrum of my breathing practice and include more mudra seals, and techniques from Qi-Gong and creative and devotional yoga. It felt intuitive to dance with the breath and incorporate new kinesthetic imagery and phrases in the “pranayama” part of the yoga practice. In regular prenatal yoga class the breathing tools’ arsenal usually extends to Ujayic Breath (oceanic); Nadi Shodana Pranayama (Alternate Nostril) and Bastrika (Bellows).

All three widen the lung’s capacity, but also help the diaphragm to function smoothly and seamlessly. As a result the breath amplifies in the lower abdomen and is no longer trapped in the upper chest. All these techniques are very beneficial throughout the whole pregnancy, but during the second trimester, especially, they need to be augmented with complimentary ways of expanding the breath in the belly, of relaxing the racing pulse, of regulating the lower blood pressure. And this is when the ancient mudra seals and nature-induced Qi-Gong practices come handy.

During the second trimester the baby is well formed and very receptive to everything you introduce into your system – from exercise, to mindset, to food, to activities. It is like a resonator that reflects back everything you have seeded into its sanctuary. It hears your voice and experiences the surrounding ambiance through an elevated sense of hearing and touch. It begins to perform digestive and excretory functions while its glands begin to secrete valuable hormones and jumpstart the whole system. The spiritual bond deepens as you feel its movements quickening; its will power manifesting; its identity carving a unique blueprint.

There is a devotional connection that intensifies and you assume the responsibility for nurturing the life within you. As you welcome the personality of your kid and feel its soul throbbing through your veins you begin to honor its pure essence and tune to its most intimate needs. The baby is receiving your voice as a form of tender echo – a remembrance of its star seed. This spiritual union is no longer tarnished by the emotional tantrums and hormonal swings of the first trimester. To the contrary, it is a mature appreciation of your two souls joined together by a bond of unconditional love and reciprocity.

The more neutral and open you remain to these devotional energies, the more adequately you can intuit what your baby’s needs – what foods you need to take and what subtle adjustments you need to make to your daily regimen. It entails a deepening of your intuition, a sparking of your immediate insight and a revelation into your life purpose. You feel like a stronghold, a reservoir of wisdom and vastness and nothing can shake that, for you’re a manifestation of the divine Mother herself. You naturally tend to slow down and go deeper into the inner recess of your psyche. It is the perfect time to reassess your personal goals from a vast and expanded perspective and to cut all non-essentials – focusing on the primary – the rite of passage from a woman to mother, from a mother to a priestess, from a priestess to nature herself.

And in this time you need not worry about anything. Everything is somehow magically taken care of, if you stay in that divine space of faith and trust. You notice how the events in your life take place accordingly and all support your role as a mother and life bearer. Rest in the knowing that everything will unfold perfectly – the way it needs to and will illuminate the whole process of inner ripening. You might also experience some subtle changes in your timbre, the voice will change and become more resonant and clear, as the baby will urge you to surrender all your limitations and express your most beautiful, quintessential self. It is a time of learning, of relearning, of unlearning, a sacred moment when you hone the quality of listening, when you cultivate more attention and amplify your sensitivity to encompass the other realms of being. You become very sensitive to energies, people and you notice how some friendships naturally dissipate.

Your baby is silently telling you what to cut and what to keep, when to take charge and when to let go. Bear in mind that you have a wise and mature being ripening inside. This being holds wisdom from star seeds and past lives, and when it comes into the play it means that your life will change for the better. Everything will naturally reassemble itself so you open more space and time for refining yourself. The baby is your mirror, but also your teacher, your guide. You are the baby’s nurturer, but also its guardian and you are shielding it with your love, bathing it tender affection and motherly devotion. It is a sacred moment when nothing is lacking and nothing is extra. It is just right, perfect in its simplicity and magical in its synchronicity.

I have discovered that to get to this state of bare transparency I need a host of breathing techniques to calm down my jittery mind and to prepare me for deeper states of introspection and contemplation. It’s hard for me to just sit and meditate, but if I open the creative visualization with mudra seals, some Qi-enhancing flow and extended breathing I can just scintillate in a state of divine absorption and receptivity.

This bouquet of breathing practices is especially geared towards your physical, mental, energetic and spiritual needs in the second trimester. The mudras are drawn from the ancient Indian performance treatise “Natyashatra” and the Egyptian Book of Universal Magic “Hebet en Ba”. They help seal healing energy in the body; the graceful arm swings date back from the temple dance heritage and help you channel divine flow, and the Qi-Gong welding of Ying and Yang usher you into the intrinsic order of nature, where everything happens coherently and organically. As you enter this innate state of “organicity” you can better respond to the whims of your baby and guide it lovingly into full bloom. As you both grow, you and baby swap roles. Are you the echo or the voice that produces it? Both are vital for the give and take.

  Prenatal Yoga Breathing: Tender Echo (2^nd Trimester)

This Yogea breathing practice is a combination of pranayama, mudra seals, Qi-Gong breathing and Egyptian gestural symbolism. The synching of mindful breathing and body movement frees up the spine to articulate naturally, opens up space in the growing belly and releases stiffness in the joints. The sacred imagery helps refine the inner vision and connect to archetypal wisdom and the principle of divine femininity. The Qi-Gong breathing amplifies the electromagnetic sheath and brings more vital energy and flow in the baby’s growing body. The gestural codes or mudras help seal the energy in the body and regenerate the organs to heal naturally. The creative visualization at the end journeys you into the mystery of motherhood and devotion and allows you to feel the power from bearing and nurturing life.