Anything that requires balance from riding a bike to surfing to dancing can be affected by any weight or size changes in your body. Pregnancy obviously causes both weight and size changes. This change is constant and one must continually adapt as their center of gravity changes.
I’ve found that each time I enter the dances studio, my balance is different. Some days I’m really on balance and can easily turn and other days I can’t stand on one leg to save my life. I’ve discovered that while my body is changing and my abs are long gone (I complained about this very issue back around week 13…16 weeks later and there’s no hope!) if I continue thinking about my alignment and posture the same way I always have, it works. I focus on my hips being lifted and straight and my ribs being stacked on top (I’ve always used this visualization of the bottom of my ribs being rubber banded to the top of my hips). The only adjustment I’ve naturally made to compensate for my forward protruding belly is to put my arms farther back when overhead.
Yesterday was a fantastic balancing day. I was able to easily hold 2-footed balances and even effortlessly held a few balances in passé (that classical ballerina pose when you make a #4 by putting your toe to the opposite knee) which I’ve only easily done once other time since starting back to class in July (before I was even pregnant). But again, that constantly changing center of gravity. During one long passé balance, just as I got control of the balance, baby decided s/he was not comfortable and shifted his/her weight, knocking me over (which wasn’t a terribly bad thing since I was supposed to be in 2nd position anyways…have I mentioned the beauties of baby brain?)
