Prenatal Yoga

Prenatal yoga utilizes standing, sitting, and floor-based poses that are modified for a pregnant woman’s body. Some common prenatal yoga poses are cat-cow, shoulder rolls, child’s pose, downward facing dog, goddess pose, pigeon pose, and seated forward fold.

If you’re not sure how often you should be practicing prenatal yoga, you may want to start with talking with your doctor. A recommendation from your healthcare practitioner is key to maintaining a healthy pregnancy, and it’s always best to listen to your body and do what’s right for you. Prenatal yoga can be practiced 2-3 times a week, or more if you’re an experienced yogi.

Prenatal yoga is a great way to reduce pain that is caused by some of the changes experienced during pregnancy. Using poses designed to relax the body and increase hip flexibility, prenatal yoga can relieve low back pain, tight hips and shoulders, and it can soothe other common difficulties like stress and high blood pressure.

Prenatal yoga offers numerous benefits for expecting mothers, and not just during pregnancy. Along with relieving pain, increasing flexibility, and lowering your blood pressure, prenatal yoga can also help prepare your body for childbirth, and for the mental/physical recovery period afterward.

You can start prenatal yoga at any time during your pregnancy, even if you’ve never practiced yoga before. However, it’s recommended that you talk with your healthcare practitioner first. Once you have your doctor’s approval, you can take prenatal yoga classes all the way into your third trimester.