When should I start pregnancy yoga?
The second trimester is the perfect time to start coming along to a pregnancy yoga class. You’ll hopefully be past the worst of the sickness and nausea, and your energy should be picking back up (hopefully!).
Wait until you’ve had your 12 week scan, just to make sure everything is okay with baby, and as long as you have not been advised by your midwife or another health professional to avoid physical exercise - you’re good to go!
What if I don’t have a bump yet?
That’s okay! You don’t need to look pregnant to come to pregnancy yoga. There are yoga postures that should be avoided throughout pregnancy (such as prone positions, strong back-bends or twists, inversions…) so even if you don’t have a bump yet, it’s still a good idea to find a class with an experienced prenatal teacher.
Can I do yoga the whole way through my pregnancy?
Yoga can be safely practiced throughout your pregnancy, right up until baby is born. There are even a few yoga postures that can be super helpful during labour to help with pain relief and positioning of baby (e.g. lunges, cat curls, squats). As long as you have not been advised by your midwife or another medical professional to avoid physical exercise, you can continue until baby is born.
What actually is yoga…?
Yoga is all about creating balance between the mind, body and breath. We do this through:
physical movements or postures (asanas)
breathing exercises (pranayama)
relaxation and meditation (savasana)
Each element alone can have a positive impact on mental and emotional wellness for the individual, and when regularly practiced together they can be a powerful tool. Pregnancy is a great time to start practicing yoga because, for many of us, it is the first time we have properly paid attention to our bodies.
There is loads more to yoga than the simplified answer above. Yoga philosophy can provide us with a framework for living - ethical do’s and don’ts, compassion for self and others, a means to reach our full potential for a happy and satisfied life. It takes years - possibly a whole lifetime - to fully understand all that yoga philosophy offers us.
What are the benefits of pregnancy yoga?
Yoga teachers with specialist training in prenatal yoga (like me) know how to adapt postures to be safe for your pregnant body and your baby.
Pregnancy yoga can help you feel strong and healthy throughout pregnancy, as well as give you tools to ease common aches and pains (like backache). The NHS advises pregnant people to do 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week.
The birth preparation element will help you feel confident and prepared for birth and your post-natal recovery.
Connecting with other pregnant women and people can be hugely reassuring when you find out other people have similar worries or experiences to you.
Practicing yoga breathing techniques every week will help you cope in labour but also with stress in general. Maybe you don’t really like having blood tests or being in hospital - learning to use your breath is a powerful coping technique that you have at your disposal all the time.
And the relaxation? Well that is massively well-deserved when you're growing a human (or two).
