A few months ago I anxiously asked a friend of mine if she would be willing to do some modeling for me. As a photographer I usually capture family’s and wanted to do something different. I was worried she’d think it would be super weird or out of our friendship bounds but 20 seconds of bravery was all it took. I asked, and she, being the awesome human she is, said yes!
We set a date and shared a Pinterest board, and came up with a vision. It was new, exciting and I was honestly nervous. I knew the session was important, for both of us, and she was trusting me… and I am so glad she did.
We walked to our chosen spot, a gorgeous relatively hidden spot in the woods – we didn’t even have to leave Helensbrugh! We shared focaccia and chocolate, drank tea and spoke about life. Of course, we also took some photos (they’re coming, promise).
Our Pinterest board was very earthy. It focused on loving the body we are gifted with, and appreciating ourselves. There were some beautiful inspirations with shadow and raw, magickal fairy witch energy. Using them, and drawing into her expertise teaching yoga, here’s a snippet of what we created.
These 3 coloured ones are some of my favourite. To me they tell a beautiful story, and to my friend.
The depth of these monochrome ones gives me chills.
I thought the other day about how if I hadn’t taken those 20 seconds, I wouldn’t have had this incredible experience. 20 seconds of bravery turned into hours of creative healing. My photographer cup was filled, my friendship deepened, and now I know a cool spot to take clients who want to get creative. Wins all round.
Oh and of course I shared the gallery and cried at her feedback because it gave me allll the feels!
Do you have a thing you need 20 seconds of courage for? Go do it!
Pregnancy is a beautiful and transformative journey, but lets be honest it can also be exhausting. As your body works hard to grow and nourish your baby, there will be many a day where you might feel like a nap is the only solution. Definitely nap as much as you can if you want to, especially when its baby number 1! When you’ve got more though, napping isn’t always an option, but sometimes a bit of yoga can change the trajectory of your day immensely.
Rather than pushing through exhaustion the way society often expects and encourages us, it’s really important to listen to your body’s wisdom. Women have been growing babies forever yes, but they have also had space and time to honour the transition this brings, which unfortunately we’ve lost.
Pregnancy yoga offers a gentle way to reconnect with yourself and your baby while also providing much-needed relaxation. The right yoga postures can help ease tension, improve circulation, and support emotional well-being—all without over-exerting yourself, and they often lend themselves to getting toddlers involved too!
If you’re in Helensburgh and looking for a way to move that feels nourishing rather than draining, Im running pregnancy yoga classes locally and would love for you to join. If you’re futher away, these six pregnancy-friendly yoga postures will help you rest, restore, and bond with your little one, and you don’t even have to leave the house!
The following postures are designed to be deeply nourishing, allowing you to move in a way that feels supportive and build up some energy for you to take into life off the mat.
5 Nourishing Pregnancy Yoga Postures for When You’re Tired
1. Supported Child’s Pose (Balasana) – A Restorative Hug for You and Baby
Child’s Pose is one of the most restorative poses in yoga, gently stretching the back and hips while promoting deep relaxation. In pregnancy, a supported variation using props can help relieve pressure on the belly and lower back.
How to do it: – Kneel on your mat with your knees wider than your hips to create space for your bump. – Place a bolster or a few pillows in front of you. – Slowly fold forward, resting your chest and head on the support. – Allow your arms to drape alongside or hug the bolster for comfort. – Breathe deeply and visualize sending love and calm to your baby.
Why it helps: This posture provides a sense of safety and surrender, encouraging deep relaxation and reducing stress.
A forward fold can feel like a much-needed pause, giving your body a moment to relax while gently stretching your back and hamstrings. When you’re carrying bump all day, it’s also a chance to let the earth hold that weight a while, and for you to feel supported.
How to do it: – Sit with your legs as wide as is comfortable and extended, knees slightly bent if needed. – Place a bolster or cushion in front of you, leaving space for bump. – Inhale to lengthen your spine, then exhale as you fold forward, resting on the support. – Let your hands rest on your legs or the bolster and breathe deeply.
Why it helps: This posture encourages introspection, helping you tune in to your baby while also relieving lower back discomfort.
3. Cat-Cow Stretch (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana) – Gentle Flow for Spine and Breath
This simple movement helps to ease back pain and promotes fluidity in the spine, making it a wonderful way to gently energize your body without over-exertion.
How to do it: – Start on all fours with your wrists under shoulders and knees under hips. – Inhale, arching your back and lifting your head (Cow Pose). – Exhale, rounding your spine and tucking your chin (Cat Pose). – Move with your breath, taking it slow and steady.
Why it helps: The rhythmic motion soothes the nervous system, enhances circulation, and provides a lovely opportunity to connect with your baby.
4. Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani) – A Gentle Circulation Boost
If your feet or legs feel swollen or heavy, this is a wonderful posture to encourage blood flow and relieve fatigue.
How to do it: – Sit sideways next to a wall and gently swing your legs up. – Keep your knees slightly bent and a cushion under your hips if needed. – Rest your arms comfortably by your sides and close your eyes. – Stay for a few minutes, breathing deeply.
Why it helps: This posture helps reduce swelling in the legs, promotes relaxation, and gently supports circulation. Super effective for taking the pressure of hemeroids too.
5. Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana) – Open Hips, Open Heart
This standing posture allows for a hip-opening stretch while strengthening the sense of deep power with you.
How to do it: – Stand comfortably with the soles of your feet apart, extend them into a wide legged squat, letting your knees drop open. – When you’re ready, as you squat down bring the hands up beside the ears, palms facing forwards. – Stand tall and take slow breaths, letting your body relax and feel the power you hold.
Why it helps: This posture encourages openness in the hips, strengthens muscles in hour legs, and provides a moment to simply be powerful with your baby.
One of the most important lessons yoga teaches us—whether pregnant or not—is to respect and honor the body’s intuition. When you’re expecting, this wisdom becomes even more vital. In many ways, this is training for when you’re parenting. Some days, you might feel full of energy and eager to move; other days, exhaustion might take over, and rest will feel like the best option. Trust that both states are valid.
Practice – on a mat, practice off a mat, come practice with me locally if you can, but ultimately, practice. It doesn’t have to look perfect or fancy, and don’t need anything fancy, just you, your beautiful growing baby and an intention for rest.
I was looking through old photos last night from a few years ago. Family, friends, photos I had taken and then just left on my laptop because life got busy.
There were hundreds of them from the first few years of Ps life. Some made me cringe as a photographer, others made me stop and think “oh my god did I really look like that!”
But the ones that had the biggest impact were the ones of P; and of me with him specifically. They made me pause and reflect how little he was, and how much our life has changed.
Then I found some of me with A before she was walking and that flooded through a whole host of different emotions! During covid they were some of the first self portraits I think I properly played with and I had forgotten about them!
Then I found photos with the kids big expressions. The faces that they still make now, just as older versions of themselves, and the little smiles or scrunched up noses they have grown out of. There’s one of P in Hermitage Park and I can see so much of each of his siblings in the way his face lights up.
I love photography that’s no secret, but to dig through pictures and find captures memories of my own little family that I had forgotten was a beautiful gift from my past self. I am grateful to her.
It’s why I think it’s so important to pause our busy lives to make time for photography. It’s also why I’m so passionate about motherhood photography (and fatherhood/parenthood) because as the person behind the camera, I see the beauty of your everyday little interactions with your kids and I want to freeze them; I want to suspend time and snap up those ordinary exchanges and wrap them up beautifully for you to hide away and open in a year or 2 or 10.
That you in the future might have forgotten how your child whispered into your ear while walking in the woods. Or how they felt up on your shoulders with their wellyboots by your chest. Or how they gifted you leaves and pinecones because to them they were beautiful treasures.
These tiny details feel so big now, but in 2, 5, 10 or 50 years, it’s the photographs that bring back the smells and sounds to your memory.
That’s why photography matters.
That’s why motherhood photography matters even more.
It isn’t for the Instagram post or Christmas card this year.
It’s for you. In the future. The you that has forgotten. The you that misses these moments. The you that wants to remember.
If I had have hired a doula My first birth would have been more informed
If I had have hired a doula My 2nd birth would have been at home
If I had hired a doula My third birth birth… oh wait, I did I did hire a doula, and a photographer and My third birth was informed, courageous, supported
I didn’t want to hire a doula for my forth birth, I invested in myself, my pregnancy, my partner and my freebirth And it was beautiful
Every experience has had its own learnings, and today as I shared that my last baby was born here in Helensburgh, at home in our living room, the surprise on their face didn’t shock me at all, but it did make me wonder how my other births would have gone… if only I’d known what I know now.
A doula isn’t someone who tells you how to birth or what to do; but you know what, I wish someone had told that I should hire a doula for my first birth; although, if I had, maybe I wouldn’t have become one.
Pregnancy is one of the most significant transitions in our life, and one that unlike the menarche is still widely celebrated in Western society. It is of course the magical time when a woman grows a tiny human while battling heartburn, swollen feet, and unsolicited belly rubs from strangers, because lets face it, who needs autonomy right?! The way the world is moving, it’s scary! As we move further and further into a time where white supremacy is clinging on and throwing a party for everyone to see, I’m sat at my desk thinking about baby showers, pregnancy and how we’ve (in masses) lost the meaning of rituals at this sacred time. I want to pause, and take a minute to appreciate the pregnancy rituals that actually honor women and foster a sense of community—no smoke bombs or giant pink and blue cakes required.
Traditional Pregnancy Rituals, from around the world
Across cultures worldwide, far beyond my desk in Helensbrugh, babies are born, people live and die and the world keeps spinning. Pregnancy has long been celebrated with rituals focused on nurturing and supporting the mother, rather than just planning the perfect Instagram moment. These traditions emphasize connection, wisdom-sharing, and, dare I say, actual real life support. I think it’s important to say though, there’s a difference between being inspired by these traditions and being appropriative of them, so definitely consider that before you just grab one off the shelf kind of thing.
Here are a few beautiful examples:
Blessingway (Navajo Tradition)
Unlike a baby shower (which is often just a lot of baby grows presents and weird games ), the Blessingway is a sacred Navajo ceremony centered around the mother. Women in her circle gather to offer blessings, share stories, and quite literally wrap her in love and encouragement. Sometimes, they create a beaded necklace, each bead symbolizing a wish for her journey ahead. No awkward “guess the baby food” games—just pure community.
Seemantham (South Indian Ritual)
In South India, Seemantham is a celebration that again focuses on the mother’s well-being. Family members recite prayers, offer gifts meant to bring prosperity, and pamper the mum-to-be with traditional music and massages. It is a pregnancy pause, to honour the work she is doing growing her baby and about making sure she feels cherished and held towards those last few weeks – It’s not about blue or pink balloons!
Arvigo Mayan Abdominal Massage (Mayan Tradition)
This beautiful tradition is not a single event, but rather something that has been passed down through generations to support fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum recovery. It is a practice where women gather to perform gentle abdominal massages, believed to promote a healthy pregnancy and ease labor. Talk about ancestral strengths – I love this.
Pregnancy Cradling (Ghana, Akan Tribe)
In certain Ghanaian traditions (and this holds a soft spot for me because my mum was born in Ghana) a pregnant woman is surrounded by elder women who cradle her belly and chant blessings. This is meant to ensure the safe arrival of the baby and provide emotional and spiritual support. Can you imagine the power of this, as opposed to a tea party or similar where mum-to-be is shattered and overwhelmed in both love and stuff!
There are more, but you get the point. None of these traditions are about ‘stuff’ or performance. They are about community, village, support, all things that are essential in our life and parenting, and yet things that we are deprived off in the society we live in.
These rituals and community make a difference. They start our mothering journey off in a space of sacredness and wisdom; when the wise women gather in love and joy to celebrate, it is a passing down of power and magick. Yes it sounds witchy, because it is! It so beautifully is.
I’m running pregnancy yoga classes now in Helensburgh and this is what I want to share with the gorgeous mamas coming to stretch and connect with their babies; the rituals and relationships we forge that sustain us are so much more essential that capitalist systems want us to believe. I haven’t decided if I will yet, but I’m feeling really drawn to doing a ceremony at the end of this block of classes. Inspired by, but not imitating the traditions from around the world, I’d make my own mothers blessing ceremony, because though yes the wisdom is celebrated in different ways, ultimately there is an innate wisdom within all of us. Our ancestors birthed us, and we birth the future. We are the ancestors of our great great grandchildren, and honouring that feels incredibly special.
That’s it for tonight, thanks so much for reading,
with love, Rohana x
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