Last Sunday we had a lot of fun learning how to teach a prenatal yoga class. Our teacher picked a guy in the room to be the pregnant woman and with the help of a block underneath his tee-shit, Sean looked like he was almost ready to pop!!!
Pregnant women can totally go on with their practice (unless their doctor is opposed to it of course), but there are a few rules to follow:
– Avoid a heated room, no Bikram for preggies, it can be bad for the baby’s neurons.
– No twist, because it compresses the organs including the uterus, you can still twist from the shoulders tho.
-Obviously you will avoid abs and crunching as soon as you start showing. Being pregnant makes you open your abdomen for creating space for the baby, by doing abs you do the opposite.
– Pregnant women don’t sleep on their belly, so they shouldn’t do pose where their belly rests on the floor. ( No cobra, Upward dog instead!)
– Inversions should not be done during a pregnancy since the center of gravity changes, it increases the chance of falling.
– A prop should be used when the pregnant yogini wants to lie on her back.
While following those rules the practice of yoga is safe, and I see many women at different stages of pregnancy in yoga classes.
Stay tuned for more yoga fun! Namaste.
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Cheyenne yoga 