Photo courtesy of YogaWorks.com
I have spoken before about how yoga can help you become more “in tune” with your body; there is no better demonstration of that than when a woman finds that she is pregnant. I could just feel it, I could tell that something was different, that I was experiencing something new. I described it to my partner as feeling like a little chemistry experiment in my lower abdomen. And it was, and still is, but now expanding upward.
Not only did I feel my little chemistry experiment, but other changes seemed to come on quickly as well. During my first trimester I had A LOT, and I mean A LOT of extra saliva in my mouth, this is totally normal, and if I spit on you I am so sorry. The saliva posed an extra problem during instruction, as I like to be as descriptive as possible in my classes, always teaching to the beginners, I tend to speak a lot.
In another realm of issues with speaking territory was taking in enough oxygen. It could have been psychological, but once I confirmed my pregnancy with the two lined test, I began to develop difficultly speaking and moving at the same time; this (not the saliva!) has followed me into trimester two.
Physically the first trimester slowed me down a bit, especially outside of yoga; bouncing was too much for the alleged “morning sickness” (more like all day and night queasiness!) so running was replaced by a very slow elliptical. Occasionally I had a lower abdominal pain while pushing from plank into upward dog; the limitation was short lived and this move has now found its way back into my rotation. And somewhere during week eight I managed to find myself with a pain running from my right hip, down my leg; this pain, known as sciatic nerve pain, has followed me into trimester two as well.
Regardless of how athletic you are going into pregnancy you may find at some time or another you are limited in your movements. It is okay, if something is causing you pain, take it off the program for a couple weeks, then try reimplementing it, and see how things feel at that point. It is okay to rest your body when you need to, and it will let you know when it needs rest!
I searched and searched for advice on teaching yoga while pregnant, and did not come up with much; perhaps as yoga teachers we are just expected to know and be familiar enough with ourselves to see what we should and should not be doing and experiencing. There is however a laundry list of things to be cautious of, and/ or avoid during pregnancy: deep twists, inversions, and laying on your back to name a few... I still do some variation of all of these things, although I limit my time in laying on my back, and do not take intense twists or inversions (no forearm stands for this mommy -to-be!)
If you do happen to teach yoga, and are looking for advice, I can say listen to your body, and be fair to your clients, if you are teaching an athletic, bikram or ashtanga yoga class, and you feel like you are no longer able to give your clients the experience they are looking for, then it might be time to take a break or attempt to trade classes with someone who teaches a more laid back form. As the pregnancy progresses, draw the attention away from yourself, walk around the classroom, demonstrating poses from time to time, encourage people to hear the movements, and follow their own bodies, as opposed to keeping an eye on what you are doing with yours.
As for the pregnant participants, relish the breathing! When the instructor gives you time to connect with your breath at the beginning and end of class, really work on lengthening and deepening your breaths, feel them throughout your entire body. If you are not attending prenatal yoga class let the instructor know that you are pregnant, he or she will be better able to monitor you and give you the necessary modifications. Never do anything that causes you pain or makes you uncomfortable, there are modifications for every pose. And if you find yourself laboring for breath, stop what you are doing, take a comfortable seat, or child's pose, if that works for you, reestablish your natural pattern of breathing, then continue to follow along with the others.
There are no grades in yoga class... the only thing you earn is better understanding of yourself; seeing and accepting your own limits is a wonderful thing to achieve. The number one goal of pregnancy is to build a wonderful and healthy human being; patience, kindness, and understanding of your body will help you to achieve this, and help to keep you active during the duration of your pregnancy!
Poses for Trimester One:
If you regularly practice yoga, do not be afraid to continue on with the poses you are comfortable doing, I do not recommend adding new, challenging poses (such as arm balances) to the mix, but as long as you feel well it will be okay to continue with your regular practice.
Everyone, even beginner yogi's should try to incorporate some of these poses into their practice...
Baddha Konasana/ Cobbler's Pose (or butterfly) -
Take a seat in the center of your mat, weight distributed equally between both sit bones. Bring your foot palms together in front of your body, binding your hands around your legs or your toes. Lift the crown of your head toward the ceiling, try to keep a straight spine.
Optionally, you may choose to lean forward over your legs, using your elbows to push your knees close to the mat; if this is comfortable for you, feel free to do so, but it is not necessary.
Another thing you may want to try, is stacking pillows or bolsters behind you and leaning back into them, in order to keep your feet from moving forward, take a strap or a belt and wrap it around them.
Ustrasana/ Camel Pose
Laying on your back, bring your foot palms to the mat, with the heels directly under the ankles. Arms should be resting at your sides, palms down. As you inhale, press through the heels, slowly lifting your hips and back off the mat. Hold at the top, then gently release back down.
This is a good pose to help relieve sciatic nerve pain, as it requires laying on the back, you may want to be cautious or discontinue this pose as you move into the second trimester.
Pigeon Pose
Begin on all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips; with an inhale, press back through the left heel, straightening the leg back behind you. As you exhale, bend the knee and bring it forward toward your left wrist, connect the knee with the mat, and slide back along your right leg, bringing the thigh to the mat. Try to stay on the top of the right thigh. Lower your chest down toward the mat.
To increase the opening of the hip, try to bring the left shin parallel with the front of the mat.
Repeat on right side.
Pigeon is helpful in relieving sciatic nerve pain.
If this pose is too much, another great hip opening pose is child's pose, bring your toes together, knees to the width of the mat, stretch your arms out in front, and lower your forehead down to the mat.
Or reverse pigeon (dead pigeon as it is sometimes known), which is taken on the back. Cross your right ankle over your left leg, then loop the arms through the legs and pull them off the floor back toward your body.
Happy practicing mommies to be!!
Peace- Dana
I have spoken before about how yoga can help you become more “in tune” with your body; there is no better demonstration of that than when a woman finds that she is pregnant. I could just feel it, I could tell that something was different, that I was experiencing something new. I described it to my partner as feeling like a little chemistry experiment in my lower abdomen. And it was, and still is, but now expanding upward.
Not only did I feel my little chemistry experiment, but other changes seemed to come on quickly as well. During my first trimester I had A LOT, and I mean A LOT of extra saliva in my mouth, this is totally normal, and if I spit on you I am so sorry. The saliva posed an extra problem during instruction, as I like to be as descriptive as possible in my classes, always teaching to the beginners, I tend to speak a lot.
In another realm of issues with speaking territory was taking in enough oxygen. It could have been psychological, but once I confirmed my pregnancy with the two lined test, I began to develop difficultly speaking and moving at the same time; this (not the saliva!) has followed me into trimester two.
Physically the first trimester slowed me down a bit, especially outside of yoga; bouncing was too much for the alleged “morning sickness” (more like all day and night queasiness!) so running was replaced by a very slow elliptical. Occasionally I had a lower abdominal pain while pushing from plank into upward dog; the limitation was short lived and this move has now found its way back into my rotation. And somewhere during week eight I managed to find myself with a pain running from my right hip, down my leg; this pain, known as sciatic nerve pain, has followed me into trimester two as well.
Regardless of how athletic you are going into pregnancy you may find at some time or another you are limited in your movements. It is okay, if something is causing you pain, take it off the program for a couple weeks, then try reimplementing it, and see how things feel at that point. It is okay to rest your body when you need to, and it will let you know when it needs rest!
I searched and searched for advice on teaching yoga while pregnant, and did not come up with much; perhaps as yoga teachers we are just expected to know and be familiar enough with ourselves to see what we should and should not be doing and experiencing. There is however a laundry list of things to be cautious of, and/ or avoid during pregnancy: deep twists, inversions, and laying on your back to name a few... I still do some variation of all of these things, although I limit my time in laying on my back, and do not take intense twists or inversions (no forearm stands for this mommy -to-be!)
If you do happen to teach yoga, and are looking for advice, I can say listen to your body, and be fair to your clients, if you are teaching an athletic, bikram or ashtanga yoga class, and you feel like you are no longer able to give your clients the experience they are looking for, then it might be time to take a break or attempt to trade classes with someone who teaches a more laid back form. As the pregnancy progresses, draw the attention away from yourself, walk around the classroom, demonstrating poses from time to time, encourage people to hear the movements, and follow their own bodies, as opposed to keeping an eye on what you are doing with yours.
As for the pregnant participants, relish the breathing! When the instructor gives you time to connect with your breath at the beginning and end of class, really work on lengthening and deepening your breaths, feel them throughout your entire body. If you are not attending prenatal yoga class let the instructor know that you are pregnant, he or she will be better able to monitor you and give you the necessary modifications. Never do anything that causes you pain or makes you uncomfortable, there are modifications for every pose. And if you find yourself laboring for breath, stop what you are doing, take a comfortable seat, or child's pose, if that works for you, reestablish your natural pattern of breathing, then continue to follow along with the others.
There are no grades in yoga class... the only thing you earn is better understanding of yourself; seeing and accepting your own limits is a wonderful thing to achieve. The number one goal of pregnancy is to build a wonderful and healthy human being; patience, kindness, and understanding of your body will help you to achieve this, and help to keep you active during the duration of your pregnancy!
Poses for Trimester One:
If you regularly practice yoga, do not be afraid to continue on with the poses you are comfortable doing, I do not recommend adding new, challenging poses (such as arm balances) to the mix, but as long as you feel well it will be okay to continue with your regular practice.
Everyone, even beginner yogi's should try to incorporate some of these poses into their practice...
Baddha Konasana/ Cobbler's Pose (or butterfly) -
Take a seat in the center of your mat, weight distributed equally between both sit bones. Bring your foot palms together in front of your body, binding your hands around your legs or your toes. Lift the crown of your head toward the ceiling, try to keep a straight spine.
Optionally, you may choose to lean forward over your legs, using your elbows to push your knees close to the mat; if this is comfortable for you, feel free to do so, but it is not necessary.
Another thing you may want to try, is stacking pillows or bolsters behind you and leaning back into them, in order to keep your feet from moving forward, take a strap or a belt and wrap it around them.
Ustrasana/ Camel Pose
Laying on your back, bring your foot palms to the mat, with the heels directly under the ankles. Arms should be resting at your sides, palms down. As you inhale, press through the heels, slowly lifting your hips and back off the mat. Hold at the top, then gently release back down.
This is a good pose to help relieve sciatic nerve pain, as it requires laying on the back, you may want to be cautious or discontinue this pose as you move into the second trimester.
Pigeon Pose
Begin on all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips; with an inhale, press back through the left heel, straightening the leg back behind you. As you exhale, bend the knee and bring it forward toward your left wrist, connect the knee with the mat, and slide back along your right leg, bringing the thigh to the mat. Try to stay on the top of the right thigh. Lower your chest down toward the mat.
To increase the opening of the hip, try to bring the left shin parallel with the front of the mat.
Repeat on right side.
Pigeon is helpful in relieving sciatic nerve pain.
If this pose is too much, another great hip opening pose is child's pose, bring your toes together, knees to the width of the mat, stretch your arms out in front, and lower your forehead down to the mat.
Or reverse pigeon (dead pigeon as it is sometimes known), which is taken on the back. Cross your right ankle over your left leg, then loop the arms through the legs and pull them off the floor back toward your body.
Happy practicing mommies to be!!
Peace- Dana