In Might, yoga teacher Chelsea Jackson Roberts joined a rising membership: She turned the fifth Peloton coach to announce a being pregnant this yr.
“It is a working joke between me and [fellow pregnant instructor] Jess [King] at this level,” Roberts tells SELF. “She’s like, ‘Are you aware what number of DMs I received from individuals asking me what’s within the Peloton water?’”
Even earlier than Roberts joined Peloton, the previous elementary faculty instructor had amassed a loyal following of yogis who appreciated her accessible, inventive, and compassionate type on the mat. Now, the hip hop and gospel fan is tapping into the strategies and techniques she’s taught others for many years, seeking to the rules of the follow to assist her navigate this new chapter of being pregnant.
Yoga philosophies have served as Roberts’s guiding mild since she first stepped onto the mat 20 years in the past. The Ohio native initially walked right into a studio to really feel extra linked to her physique, however when she misplaced her finest pal to gun violence in 2004, the follow took on an entire new that means: It helped her to maneuver by her grief.
“Yoga supported me as I confronted the magnitude of the trauma I skilled with the lack of my pal,” Roberts says. “Yoga teaches the significance of presence and embracing the fullness of our human experiences, whereas additionally working towards endurance and kindness in the direction of ourselves. In yoga philosophy, the follow of kindness is called ahimsa, or non-violence.”
Through the years, Roberts continued to faucet into yoga for energy, group, resilience, and assist as laborious instances arose. As an example, when she skilled a miscarriage on the finish of 2021—which she shared publicly when she introduced her being pregnant—she started to reread the Yoga Sutras as a part of her therapeutic course of. The Sutras, which basically function tips, define the eight limbs of the follow of yoga: Yamas [restraints], Niyamas [observations], asanas [poses], breath management, sensory withdrawal, focus, meditation, and ecstasy or enlightenment, as Yoga Journal describes it.
“After I learn the Sutras now, they’ve an entire new that means,” Roberts says. “It is utterly completely different than it was after I was in my early 20s.”
The rules of yoga, and the Sutras specifically, have remained central to Roberts’s progress and evolution, she says, influencing her psychological and emotional method to going through adversity. Dwelling by loss and disappointment—and studying to thrive on the opposite facet—has afforded Roberts a brand new perspective on every part from self-compassion and group to boundaries and relaxation. Listed below are 5 guiding rules that assist her by this new stage of life.
1. Self-care is non-negotiable.
The precept of ahimsa is part of the Yamas limb of the Yoga Sutras, which is usually thought of considered one of yoga’s “moral tips” for ethical codes. As we talked about, ahimsa consists of non-violence and non-harm, but in addition incorporates ideas like non-stealing, restraint, and non-avarice, in accordance with an article revealed within the Journal of Faith and Spirituality in Social Work. Roberts says she now sees the idea of ahimsa in a brand new mild, one which pertains to sustaining her personal well-being.
