Once I reached week 13 of my pregnancy I was finally welcome back to my yoga studio – yay! I could start the pregnancy yoga classes which are not recommended during the first trimester.
Yoga is excellent physical exercise but for me it’s always been more of a mental practice, helping me to stop, breath, assess the state of my mind and body. It’s been very good balancing practice to HIIT and weight training, where I often just push push push, without really observing how I’m feeling at that moment (probably because the most common feelings are “this is tough”, “ugh I can’t do this”). Leaving our comfort zone is good for us for development, but there are different ways of doing this. Yoga forces you to be present and to face all sensations and emotions, good and bad, of the moment.
Both my personal experience and research suggest yoga can help to reduce stress and anxiety and improve sleep, which are all great things especially when pregnant! On the physical side, it naturally helps to improve or maintain flexibility and strength of your muscles which could prove helpful in labour.
Below I intend to describe the class from a laywoman’s perspective to give you an idea of what to expect from a prenatal yoga class (Light Centre Moorgate).
My instructor always reminds us that we can use the session to our own needs, whether that’s a stronger or more of a restorative practice. The group size has been about 8-9 women at all different stages of pregnancy (week 13 onwards). In the beginning of the 60 minute class, the instructor asks everyone to tell how far along they are and whether they are working with any specific challenges at the moment. Based on three sessions I’ve taken part in, I’ve noticed that often women battle with the same issues at certain point of pregnancy e.g. fatigue in early pregnancy, and leg cramps during the second trimester. The instructor then tries to give tips and advice to ease these problems.
For me just the experience of being in a room full of pregnant women (and their unborn babies) has been new and exciting! It’s also interesting to see how differently we carry our babies – baby bumps come in all shapes and sizes!
After the initial hassle of getting set up (about 10 minutes) we start a Vinyasa flow based 40-minute practice before ending the class with a 10-minute relaxation and meditation practice. In the varying sequences we have worked a lot on creating movement in the (surprisingly stiff) body with many circular movements to the hips and lower back in particular.
We have used familiar yoga poses such as the downward dog, warrior 2, warrior 3 and reverse warrior, cat (no cow, just back to neutral), forward fold, tree, tricky kitty (from all fours), standing straddle forward bend, chair pose etc. The flow is slow and controlled. We have not done any tricky balances and some poses like the warrior 3 have been optional. Your balance while pregnant just isn’t the same, but when careful, little balancing exercises are good for the core.
We have avoided strong twists, but we have done some short and gentle twists to the spine. Lunge depth is also up for variation. Pelvic floor has been worked on specifically in exercises with pumping movement such as the following: Start in wide legged squat, toes pointing out, with fingers interlaced behind the back, pump up and down with the breath – inhale on the way up, exhale on the way down. When moving up, work the pelvic floor muscles, and relax on the way down.
My instructor has a favourite saying which is “hug the baby in”, by which she means for you to straighten your spine and lower back to the neutral position to avoid over-curving the lower back.
I have very much enjoyed the meditation and relaxation part of the session as well, and I think it really helps to connect with the baby (in some indescribable way). I often get a bit emotional but I think this is the perfect time and place to feel those emotions.
I have also hoped to make some preggo-friends but so far I’ve been a bit shy to talk to anyone and the group has actually been different every time I’ve been there (past three Fridays) so I haven’t been very successful, yet at least. But I’ll keep going back once a week and maybe I’ll build up some courage. If you are there, come say hi! 🙂
I would definitely recommend adding a regular prenatal class to your fitness routine! Loving it!
Namaste!
xoxoxo,
Sini