What a weekend. 31 amazing, powerful, beautiful and centered women in one space from 3 days. For all those who missed it.. Here's a glimpse of the wonderful Janice Clarfield and for those of you who missed her.. she will be back in March 2011 for a 4 day prenatal yoga training.

"World-renowed pre-natal yoga teacher, Janice Clarfield, answered some of WelcomeOmDC’s questions this past weekend on break from a pre-natal teacher training run by lil omm yoga studio. Janice has traveled all over the world through her work, sits on the Prenatal Yoga Advisory Committee for the Yoga Alliance, and runs her own studio, Urban Yoga, in her hometown of Vancouver, BC.

But this interview isn’t just for the preg-os out there folks. If you are pregnant, are ever planning to get pregnant, ever planning to support a partner, sister or friend who is pregnant, or teach pregnant students in pre-natal yoga or not, we hope you find Janice’s words below to be inspiring.

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Janice Demostrating Partner Dancer Pose

WOMDC: How did you get involved with teaching pre-natal yoga?
JC: I never intended to teach pre-natal yoga. It was when some of my students in my yoga class became pregnant, and I just knew that they needed something that was very special that was really dedicated and devoted to this transformational time of their life. I wanted the whole language of the class to celebrate their empowerment and their beauty.

WOMDC: Why should pregnant women take a pre-natal class?

JC: The intention of the pre-natal yoga class is to prepare the body and the mind for upcoming childbirth. During pregnancy, the body changes so much, on so many levels. The pre-natal yoga class is an opportunity for women to find the resources or comfort and antidotes to the common symptoms of backache, of nausea, of dizziness, of headache. And to learn postures that are beneficial for labor and for delivery.

In the culture today, many pregnant women don’t have friends who are pregnant. A pre-natal class allows pregnant women to be in the company of other pregnant women to share their common experiences, their common joys, their common sorrows, and to support each other during the pregnancy.

WOMDC: What is your personal practice like and how does that impact your teaching?

JC: I’m a long-time meditator, and my approach is contemplative. I am interested in the body/mind connection, and I really feel that yoga is meditation of the body, and that meditation is yoga of the mind…We live hectic lives that are so externally attentive, and nothing is wrong with being externally attentive, we need to take care of the practical aspects of our lives. But yoga allows us to bring balance, so we can really inquire into our inner life, into that small voice inside.

During pregnancy women are pre-disposed and willing to not only take better care of themselves but also to have inner focus in the creation of new life, and so the practice is also about cultivating patience, compassion, wisdom… Everything that a pregnant woman feels and thinks has a resonance with the baby and the baby is very sensitive and ever evolving in consciousness. There is nothing more important than birthing the next generation with wisdom, compassion and consciousness, it is a very big responsibility.

WOMDC: What have been some of the highlights of your world travels?

JC: I love to travel. I love diversity of culture, and so I made the intention that my work would allow me to travel. I’ve had the great good fortune to be invited to Japan. I’ve always felt an affinity with the aesthetics of the orient and its such a beautiful culture. The Japanese culture has a very high respect for teachers, so it was very wonderful to work with the students.

I go to places that I really love, which is almost anywhere. When I was invited to Australia, I all of a sudden remembered that I used to watch Jacques Cousteau. Before I went to Australia, I became certified in scuba diving. So when I finished my tour, I went to the Great Barrier Reef, and that was just a thrill.

WOMDC: Speaking of traveling, what are your impressions of the Washington, DC yoga community?

I feel that the community is so much fun. Very alive. Very energetic, and really interested in learning and sharing, and I enjoy being here so much.

WOMDC: What’s your favorite yoga attire?

JC: I sometimes do yoga not in specifically yoga clothes. I really feel that I like to integrate my practice. Even when I’m sitting in the car, I like to think about my posture and my breath, and when I’m walking, I like to be mindful… I guess I practice yoga in any clothes that I’m wearing.

WOMDC: How do you incorporate your Yoga Off the Mat?

JC: Being in nature. Nature is my temple. When I’m in nature, I just feel such a resonance…with the ocean, and the mountains, and trees, and the forest. I feel in a way, because I’m not doing formal postures, that that is a way of integrating… I also have tried to slow down, because of our ever increasing pace of life, we tend to rush. Sometimes I just have to say to myself to slow down, and I feel so much better. There’s a quality of intention and mindfulness about this.

WOMDC: What words inspire you?

I love poetry. There’s a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke that I love…not quoting him exactly, it goes, ‘Have patience with all that is unresolved in your heart and learn to live the questions and someday in the future you will find yourself living your way into the answers.’

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Thank you Janice for taking the time to speak with us!"

Thanks WELCOME OM DC!