Toronto Yoga Mamas Blog

Breastfeeding Essentials for Doulas and Health Care Practitioners Course- Advance Pricing Ends Oct 31st

10/27/2017

This is a five hour comprehensive CAPPA and DONA approved breastfeeding course that Doulas can submit for Doula Certification.

Birth and Postpartum Doulas are a vital source of breastfeeding information for new (and experienced) mothers and their partners. Often the very first birth professional to assist with breastfeeding, doulas play a vital role in shaping a mother's nursing journey.

This 5 hr information information packed DONA approved workshop is perfect for doulas, midwives, nurses, naturopaths, homeopaths and other health professionals working with expecting and new mothers.

Led by Taya Griffin, Internationally Certified Board Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
Expand your knowledge by learning:
1) How to prepare a mother and her partner for their breastfeeding journey
2) How to get breastfeeding off to the very best start in the hospital and at home
3) The importance of skin to skin contact and how to practically implement its use
4) The mechanics and the art of latching a baby
5) How to determine whether a baby is drinking well and getting enough at the breast
6) The basic anatomy and physiology of breastfeeding
7) Holistic and traditional solutions for breastfeeding concerns such as engorgement, sore nipples, blocked ducts and low milk supply
8) Alternative feeding methods including milk expression and milk storage
9) How to help the mother set up a support system to ensure she reaches her breastfeeding goals
This Doula breastfeeding workshop is DONA and CAPPA approved and will provide you with a certificate of completion for you to submit for their Doula Certification.

Register Before October 31st and Save!

Increasing Fertility: 5 Things To Help Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy

10/18/2017

Written by Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Shannon Vander Doelen

If you’re thinking that you and your partner are ready to start trying to get pregnant, congrats! As a Naturopathic Doctor, I’m a big advocate of optimizing your health, and this is a time like no other to consider the importance of that! Taking tabs of your current state of fertility health, making the necessary diet and lifestyle changes, and correcting for deficiencies are important steps to not only ensure you are feeling fantastic leading into your pregnancy, but also to support your fertility and ability to get pregnant! Dr. Google and stories from friends and family make all of this very overwhelming. Where should you start? I’ve outlined 5 simple things you can (and should!) start doing now if you think you’d like to conceive within the next year to help prepare your body for baby!

1. Get To Know Your Flow

Our menstrual cycle can give us some clues about our fertility health. If you haven’t, start tracking when your period starts and finishes each time you get it. You can also track other symptoms you notice about yourself throughout the month, including any vaginal discharge you have (if it’s like the consistency of an egg white at the midpoint of your cycle, this is a good sign you are ovulating). A healthy menstrual cycle is approximately 28 days, with flow lasting 3-7 days. If your cycles are shorter than 24 days or longer than 35 days consistently, you might want to speak with a healthcare practitioner to do some further investigations into issues that may impact your fertility health.

2. Start Taking a Prenatal

A prenatal vitamin is kind of a like an insurance policy. It covers you for the things you might be missing in your diet. The vitamins and minerals found in a prenatal are not just needed for the baby’s development, but also to support mama during her pregnancy. At the end of the day, the baby is relying on you for ALL of its nutrition, and if you don’t have enough, the baby will steal from you - leaving you deficient (and then tired, or with leg cramps, or headaches, or any other number of things that you just don’t need to feel!) If you’ve been out to try and buy a prenatal you’ll know there are MANY on the market, and they are not all made equal. My recommendation is to find a product that contains active forms of the vitamins (meaning your body can use them right away without having to turn them into something else). Specifically, when it comes to folate, look for a product that contains methylfolate (or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate) as opposed to folic acid - it’s estimated that about 50% of us cannot convert folic acid into methylfolate in our body, and thus cannot use it! This vitamin, as you likely have heard, is essential to prevent neural tube defects and support the baby’s brain and nervous system development. It is also critically important for fertility!

3. Be Mindful Of What You Eat

As we’ve eluded to, what you put in your body is going to impact both your health and fertility and your baby’s health and development! This is an important time to consider what it is that you are eating (and not eating!) and make some swaps and changes. I encourage all of my patient’s to choose a clean diet - full of real, whole foods, and low in processed and refined foods. Ensure you are getting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (organic if you can!), sufficient dietary protein (at least 1g per kg of your body weight, per day), and healthy fats (which won’t make you fat, I promise!) If you drink more than one caffeinated beverage per day, start to wean yourself down to limit your intake to less than 250mg per day. And, if that doesn’t feel restrictive enough, I also recommend avoiding alcohol during the 3 months before you are trying to conceive. Call me Debbie Downer - but alcohol can act as a toxin to your eggs and impact the genetic health of your baby.

4. Make Your Lifestyle A Priority

Sleep more, stress less, get fit - easier said than done right? A healthy lifestyle is the accumulation of the small things you do throughout the day - a collection of healthy habits creates a healthy lifestyle. And, a healthy lifestyle is important for your ability to get pregnant, a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. If you haven’t had a good excuse to make physical activity (and your diet for that matter) a priority in your life, consider this - women who are overweight (BMI > 35) will try twice as long to get pregnant as those who are a healthy weight. But what might be more challenging is being underweight (BMI < 19), where the time to conception is increased 4-fold! Other important habits to break are smoking and recreational drug use - which can both increase your risk of infertility.

5. Get Your Partner On Board

If you have a partner, then getting pregnant and having a healthy baby is a 50/50 deal! While the focus on fertility support is largely on the person supplying the egg - the person supplying the sperm is equally on the hook! Your ability to become pregnant (and stay pregnant) is impacted by many factors, but the health of the sperm cell that fertilizes your egg is critical. The good news is the factors listed above are relevant for your partner as well, so you can embrace your fertility and ability to get pregnant as a team! If you are eating a clean nourishing diet, avoiding alcohol and caffeine, and maintaining a healthy body weight, but your partner is smoking like a chimney, eats poorly and never exercises, you might run into some troubles. Speak with your partner about how important it is that he takes steps to improve his health too, or encourage him to book a visit with his healthcare practitioner!

The average couple is pregnant within 3 months of trying (and 85% of couples are pregnant within 1 year!) - so statistically speaking we have no reason to expect that you won't be able to get pregnant! In the spirit of health optimization, taking time to support your (and your partner’s) health can improve your fertility for a healthy and happy pregnancy!

If you want to discuss your menstrual cycle, find out what prenatal vitamin is right for you, or get support in making dietary and lifestyle changes, reach out to a Naturopathic Doctor who focuses in fertility and pregnancy! I am currently accepting new patients at Toronto Yoga Mamas and invite you in for a complimentary meet and greet consult to chat further! It is my passion in practice to work with couples to help them start their family with the healthiest first steps.

Book Your FREE 20 Minute Initial Consultation with Dr. Shannon

Book Now

10 Things You Can Do Once You Become A Prenatal Yoga Teacher

10/16/2017

Interested in taking our Spring Blooma Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training happening May 18th-21st, 2018 but are unsure what to do once you have completed your certification?

Look no further, as we have compiled a list of ten things that our Prenatal Yoga Teacher Graduates have gone on to accomplish with their certification.

For starters - come work with us! We are growing and we need new Toronto prenatal yoga teachers to join our team.

What else can you do? SO MUCH! Check out the list of amazing things previous Blooma graduates have done with their training:

1. Started teaching private prenatal yoga classes

Graduates of the Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training have gone on to start their own private practices working with Mamas-to-be on a one-on-one basis.

2. Started teaching prenatal yoga in a public studio

With so many studios in and around Toronto there is plenty of opportunity to work as a Prenatal Yoga Teacher in a public setting. Many of our graduates work within the Toronto Yoga scene including some of our very own instructors!

3. Went on to become a Birth Doula

With so much education around prenatal women and birth, many of our graduates find they have a passion for birth and go on to complete a Birth Doula Training. If this is something that interests you, check out our upcoming Birth Doula Training happening January 26th-28th, 2018.

4. Went on to become a Postpartum Doula

As noted above, many of our graduates find they have a passion for birth and therefore will go on to complete some form of Doula training. If this is something that interests you, check out our Spring Postpartum Doula Training happening April 13th-15th.

5. Enhanced their existing Doula practice.

Many of our students are already Doulas looking to expand their practice, and therefore go on to further education in this area.

6. Went on to take their Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training

Students of the Prenatal Yoga Teacher training will often compliment their certificate with a certificate in Postnatal Yoga Teacher training. Learn more information on our upcoming Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training happening November 17th-19th, 2017.

7. Went on to become Mothers and had a richer birth experience

It is not uncommon for graduates of this program to go on to use this experience to help with their own pregnancy and birth as well as those close to them.

8. Completed their full 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training

Having completed the Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training, many graduates will look to expand in all other areas of yoga teaching by completing their 200 hours.

9. Opened up their own yoga studio

Students who have completed the Prenatal Yoga Teacher training have become so impassioned by the experience that they have gone on to open and run their own yoga studios.

10. Went on to become Childbirth Educators

Due to the amount of information regarding the prenatal body, many graduates go on to be experts in the birth industry who then go on to teach others.

If you are looking to further your yoga knowledge, expand your personal practice, or to completely switch careers, the Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training could be for you.

Find out more about the Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training

learn more

Q&A with Dr. Crystal Draper, Chiropractor At Yoga Mamas

10/10/2017

Dr. Crystal Draper is a Chiropractor at Yoga Mamas who specializes in Preconception, Prenatal, Postnatal and Paediatric health. We sat down with Crystal to discuss Yoga Mamas, her health philosophy and life as a Chiropractor.

Why Did You Become A Chiropractor?

I became a Chiropractor because of my own personal experience with the profession.
As a teen, I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine.
Although it made me quirky, it was also slowing me down while playing sports due to
the pain I was experiencing. So at my next checkup at SickKids hospital, my Orthopedic
Surgeon referred me to a Chiropractor, and I haven’t looked back since (pun intended)!
Since then, regular visits to my Chiropractor have had a huge impact on my life: I’m
more mobile and in a lot less pain.

What Do You Love Most About Your Job?

I love the relationships I get to build with patients every day! Especially with mamas-to-
be – it’s such an exciting and emotional time for them, and to be a part of their journey
toward parenthood is so gratifying.

If You Weren't A Chiropractor, What Would You Be?

Well, I also love educating. Luckily I get to satisfy both passions of chiropractic and
teaching; when I am not in the clinic treating mamas and mamas-to- be, I am at the
Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College teaching chiros-to- be. It’s the perfect blend.

What Message Do You Hope Clients Will Take Away From Their Time Spent With You?

Empowerment. About their pain, their health, and their wellbeing. My patients are in
charge; I am simply here to facilitate by providing in-person care and a homecare
routine that helps address their specific needs.

What's The Biggest Misconception About Chiro?

That it is not safe during pregnancy. Huge misconception! I can’t think of a time that it is more important. Mamas-to- be are going through so many physical changes during this time, and unfortunately, most experience pain. Chiropractic care is a safe and effective way to help decrease these aches and pains, allowing mom to be more comfortable during her pregnancy journey.

What's Your Number One Tip For Mamas and Mamas-to-be?

Do what feels right for you and your babe. There are so many thoughts, opinions and
judgments on what is right and wrong during pregnancy and motherhood, but only you
know what is right for the two of you. Listen to your intuition.

What's Your Personal Health Philosophy?

This question makes me think of a quote that I love and live by, and TYM references a
lot, which is, “Take care of your body, it is the only place you have to live.” I make sure
to eat well-- mostly plants—move my body, and be kind to it when it asks for help.

What's Your Favourite Quote?

Well aside from the one I just mentioned, my other favourite is from Maya Angelou,
which says, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” As a Chiropractor, and
as a person, I want to make people feel their best.

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