Hi Alison and everyone concerned with and affected by the spread of NCT Yoga classes out there... First of all I wish to say that I am sorry to hear that numbers in your classes have dropped because NCT are offering all in one: information, preparation, couples support, relaxation, now yoga. It is a great opportunity for us to explain better what we offer at Birthlight that is different. Please remember what made you want to train with Birthlight, and what the women who attend to your classes tell you, often with visible emotion: the discovery of the joy that is part of growing a baby, becoming a mother or father, of greeting a newborn. Our work with Birthlight is body-based, we follow the changes, both physical and emotional, that affect each woman differently along the journey of each pregnancy. We are highly trained, all of us (some of us as midwives, physios, health visitors too besides being yoga teachers), in facilitating a gentle awareness of all these intense transformations from conception to the other side of birth. We believe that this awareness or mindfulness, that is the foundation of yoga practice, particularly of breathing in relaxed stretches, helps women to discover or regain their inner strength and their intuition of what is best for them, their babies, their families. This is the specialness of what we do. Not just information, although we have it at our fingertips. Not just yoga postures with a bit of breathing and relaxation, but yoga that reaches hearts and uncovers inner joy and well being.
Please do not be demoralised by a temporary dip in your classes, see it as an invitation to renew yourself and your teaching, of tapping deeper into your motivations, of letting the women who come to you tell you why they have chosen your class. We at Birthlight are developing a strategy for presenting better the value of what the Birthlight certified teachers offer in their classes. The NCT are giving us a marvellous opportunity for explaining better what we are about. If you have a conviction that, as a yoga teacher specialised in the area of pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period, you can offer women and their families a valuable and wholesome approach that can stand its ground as a mode of birth preparation and more, then the word will spread that this is the option you represent and those attracted to that option will flock to you. Some years back, teachers were concerned about the rapid rise of hypno-birthing. It is certainly there on offer, but women have learnt to differentiate classes. I know it is hurtful to help others in good faith and then find that they do not act in the collaborative spirit you hoped to create. But trust the keen perception of your public, trust the power of yoga and mostly, be true to yourself. A few notes stolen from your classes are just that. You, Alison, the giver, can remain as unbothered as if someone took a penny from your full purse. Golden thread breath is the order of the day...
All best
Francoise.