Speaker tells how yoga could aid childbirth

Deborah Jordan already had one child when she suffered a miscarriage.

When she got pregnant again, "I decided I was going to really take care of myself." She did that with yoga, massage and even some meditation.

The western Nevada County woman had a home birth for her second child, and the yoga-influenced experience motivated her to help other women. Jordan has been teaching prenatal yoga and meditation for five years now and plans to take her practice a step further.

That step will occur Wednesday at the Wild Mountain Yoga Center in Nevada City, when she introduces Robert Newman, creator of Calm Birth. The concept is a meditation-based approach to pregnancy for couples. Newman will speak for free about the method and his writings.

"It's a natural fit to what I'm already doing," Jordan said. It teaches a couple how to deal with the pain, fear and anxiety of pregnancy in hopes of providing a trauma-free experience. Jordan will soon be certified in the Calm Birth method and will offer it to her clients.

"This is a cutting-edge new method that is complementary to medicine and midwifery," Jordan said. "I've invited people who might connect with him about medical uses."

Newman began learning about meditation in 1967 and soon after began teaching it for a variety of uses. Since 1980 he has been working with two doctors teaching meditation-based medical techniques.

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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@ theunion.com or call 477-4237.