When is the right time to start (and end) prenatal yoga? I mean your thinking ‘I’m pregnant right so I should come to a prenatal class’ but then in the back of your mind your thinking ‘but I don’t look pregnant and what if everyone has bigger bumps than me’

Prenatal yoga is aimed at all pregnant women it doesn’t matter the size of your bump here. We suggest from your second trimester when (hopefully) the morning or all day sickness has subsided and you are felling more normal and maybe by now more pregnant. There is nothing a like a first scan to make you really believe something is actually in there! But if you are a regular yogi and feeling good the first trimester is fine for you.

But why is it for all pregnant women? I always get asked for a class suitable for the trimester but in all honesty what one moms second trimester can be the same as another’s third depending on their fitness levels, iron levels and general pregnancy mojo. So classes are designed for everyone and to take at the mom to be’s own pace. In prenatal yoga is is more about preparing your uterine muscles for birth rather than perfecting your down dog.

 

Interesting facts every pregnant woman needs to know about prenatal yoga!

Yoga can improve sleep which is much needed when the insomnia kicks in!

Yoga reduces stress and anxiety which the poor pregnancy mind is loaded with.

Yoga increases the flexibility and strength of the uterine muscles needed for childbirth. A big Yee Hah to that!

Yoga helps relieve common ailments such as backache, headaches, in fact any ache. Yoga is just a big ache reliever.

Yoga will help a mom and baby bond through the weekly interaction and time out together.

 

For the newbies pregnancy is a great time to start yoga as your body will reap the benefits and you will think why have I not done this before. For the seasoned yogi you will use prenatal yoga as a way to slow down especially if you are used to a fast paced practice which unfortunately is not babies first choice of class just now.

So to answer start when you are ready and on the other side end it when you don’t feel like you can practice anymore. For some that will be the day of birth as yoga is an amazing way to help open the body so done in the early stages of labour and can aid the process. I remember sat on my mat on my due date willing my baby down (gravity and movement works wonders)

Listen to your own body, exercise if it feels right and take it at your own pace. But moms even if your body is saying no just take a check in with yourself and check its not the mind saying no (and then the body automatically feels tired in response!) pregnancy is a time to keep gently on the move. For some it will be more than others and just remember everyday is different so take one day at a time.

 

See you on the mat moms!