Prenatal Yoga: The do’s and dont’s
I studied prenatal yoga in 2020 - I suppose we can call it a ‘pandemic project’ alongside learning how to bake a sourdough loaf. As the world turned virtual, so did my training. I was lucky to find an amazing course through an Australian company called Bliss Baby Yoga. Here, I learned 3 overarching guidelines to follow when practicing yoga during pregnancy.
Don’t overstretch, compress or strain the belly.
This really leaves it open for you to really listen to your body. If something feels like it’s overstretching, compressing or adding strain to the belly - that’s our cue to back off.
Your body is going through a monumental change. With that change, we welcome in adjustments to our regular yoga practice. If you’re a list gal, here are some comprehensive notes from my training on this ‘do’s and don’ts’ topic. To be honest, some of these ‘rules’ may feel a bit constrained, but they are written with extra caution and I fully support taking extra caution when pregnant. I also fully support listening to your body and listening to a medical professional. If they provide any additional caution you need to take, trust that it’s best for you and your baby.
Setting a peaceful and grounding tone: As much as you can during your practice, try to allow your body to find a softening and a peaceful state. Calling in an intention can be helpful to focus your mind when it wanders.
Breathing exercises: You might hear instructors cue ‘diaphragmatic breathing’ or ‘360-breath’ in class. This style of breathing involves filling up space in your belly and expansion of your side ribs on your inhales. This is really beneficial for pregnant women as it helps to stretch out the intercostal muscles between our ribs inviting in more space for a growing baby. It also distributes the air more evenly so that you’re not overstretching through your belly. Another breath I love is called ‘falling out breath’ where you have an audible ‘ahhhhhhh’ as you exhale. Try it, it feels so good.
Hand placements: When placing your hands on the mat to frame a foot, place both hands to the inside of that foot vs one on the inside and one on the outside. This is simply to provide more space for your belly.
Avoid strong twists: use open more gentle twists. I’ve read many conflicting articles as to why we shouldn’t do deep twists during pregnancy. Some say not in the first tri, and some say just avoid during the 3rd tri. I don’t have the specific answer, but because of the conflicting information, I’m taking the conservative route and avoiding a deep twist.
Avoid overly straining abdominal exercises. This is to prevent diastasis recti, when the abs separate beyond two fingers width. Personally, I feel like if we have proper core and pelvic floor engagement, core exercises can be beneficial during pregnancy. I think we’re all learning that there are so many other amazing core excercises beyond just a crunch. I would avoid a crunch, but planking with proper engagement (hugging the baby) can work for many pregnant women. Breathing exercises where you hug the baby and lift your pelvic floor in and up your exhale are a great way to engage your core. Remember to relax through your pelvic floor and soften in the core on your inahles.
Take care when transitioning from lying on your back. Rolling to the side first, then using the arms to help come to a seated position or standing. This is simply done to avoid overly straining your belly muscles and is really helpful in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters.
Avoid strain to your pelvic area: Growing a baby adds a lot of pressure to your pelvic floor. Our movements should not be adding additional constant pressure. I often teach wide legged squats in class as I believe they are great strength and stamina builders, however they can apply a lot of downward pressure to our pelvic floor. The key with these types of moves, is that you’re engaging your pelvic floor on your exhales. If you’re on a jog and leaking, perhaps it’s time to find another form of exercise for now and work on some pelvic floor strengtheners. It happens to a lot of women - you’re not alone.
Avoid strong backbends: This can be overstretching the belly. If you are an experienced yogi with a lot of backbend familiarity, then it’s really your choice whether to do backbends like wheel. It’s strongly recommended that in the last 2 months of pregnancy, to avoid this even as a regular practitioner of yoga. I’ve seen 3rd trimester women do wheel. It looks absolutely stunning, however I do worry if it’s overstretching the belly. You know your body best.
Avoid laying on your belly: This can uncomfortable for most women starting in their second trimester.
Avoid supine postures for long periods (laying on your back):This is important particularly from the 2nd Trimester onwards. Some women may feel faint or uncomfortable as it can cause ‘vena cava compression.’ The Inferior vena cava is the major blood vessel returning blood from the lower extremities and abdomen to the heart. The pressure on the vena cava can prevent blood from returning to the heart – decreasing mother’s oxygen supply and that of the baby’s. Left side-lying savasana (in theory) is recommended due to the vena cava being located on the right side of the body so this position will avoid compression to the vein. If you would prefer to practice savasana on the right side then trust your body. Typically in class you’re not in savasana for a prolonged period anyway.
Avoid active inversions: It’s strongly recommended that in the last 2 months of pregnancy, to avoid this even as a regular practitioner of yoga. Legs up the wall with a bolster under hips is a safe alternative. I’ve had women tell me this is uncomfortable for them, so I recommend a left-side-lying savasana with a bolster between your knees and ankles. Apana is the downward movement of energy, the energy used for any kind of elimination from our body. Pregnant women are very earth based. We get heavier and more connected to the earth, so to go upside down is contractionary to this natural state. In a normal pregnancy, the placenta lies at the top of the uterus, so if we go upside down, we compress the placenta. Around 34 weeks, the baby’s head engages and drops down, getting ready for birth. If we fully invert, we can risk the baby flipping position.
Hold 1 legged balance poses for no longer than 30 seconds.
Avoid high impact, high cardio activities that increase your heart rate: This is a caution as during pregnancy already increases our resting heart rate.
Take care not to overstretch: Relaxin is a natural hormone that occurs during pregnancy that makes your ligaments and muscles more flexible. Play with the edge of the stretch, and lovingly stop where it feels right.
Avoid holding standing positions for long periods: This is mainly advised for women who are at a higher risk for preterm labor, or if their baby is measuring small. If you need to stand for a while, keep a soft bend in your knees.
Lastly, before starting any new type of exercise, make sure that your medical professional is aware and approves of this activity. Each body is different, and each pregnancy is different. The best thing we can do is take extra special care of ourselves during this time. You and your growing baby are deserve it.
If you’re looking to join a prenatal class with me, I currently lead a class on Monday’s at 3:45 in San Francisco at The Pad Studios. I would love to welcome you there.
