Can you do the energization exercise when you are pregnant? Is it safe to do so? Would the tensing have to be less? Or when it comes to certain parts do you not tense at all? Such as the stomach? How would you do the energization exercise in the best way when you are pregnant?
—Jas, UK
Dear Jas,
In general, it is safe to do the Energization Exercises while pregnant. But common sense (as you clearly indicate) and medical advice will naturally suggest modifications. In the extreme, I’ve heard of various late-stage pregnancies where the woman was advised to remain off her feet. That would pretty much end most of the exercises, physically.
Ignoring the stomach exercise, as you suggest, makes good sense to me. (The very nature of the use of the muscles for that exercise suggests their avoidance.) Lower Spinal Adjustment (hips twisting back and forth) may need to be modified especially as the baby grows “big” inside. Spinal rotation (rotating the torso on the base of the hips and pelvis with hands on the hips), too, may need some caution.
Technically, tensing doesn’t need to be less, for example, in the arms or neck and upper body, but I suggest dialing down the overall intensity of how you do the Energization Exercises. (Sometimes, for example, if I tense a body part too much or just the wrong way, I’ll get a muscle spasm. Muscle “contractions” are not what you want to trigger!) Thus a somewhat more gentle and sensitive approach to moving the body and tensing the muscles is warranted in the big picture of one’s pregnancy. Okay?
May this time of your life be filled with light and joy as you await the “coming of the Lord!” :-)
Nayaswami Hriman
Seattle WA
