a pregnant point of view

I have taken some prenatal yoga training. Enough to feel comfortable enough to teach a pregnant woman in my class, but not enough to specialize in it.

In the limited training that I’ve had, and most of my googling, there is a baseline list of poses you should not do when you’re pregnant, postures that should be fine, and recommended prenatal asana.

The contraindications are pretty universal: no close armed twisting (like revolved crescent lunge & half lord of the fishes), no sit ups or crunches (you will know when you hit this point as they will become impossible), avoid big backbends, and the obvious: don’t lie down on your belly (or flat on your back after 20 weeks.)

So as my belly grows, I have gradually modified my practice. I stay away from all the above. Closed twists are out; instead of hinging forward and crowding the baby with my arm, I stay upright and get that nice rotation in my spine, sans the compression.

I’m done with cobra and anything prone and either do some cobra lifts in child’s pose, more cow/cat, or something totally different.

But here’s the thing: as I move and modify, my preferences start to go beyond the standard guidelines. I begin to live my own words that I open class with: do what feels strong and safe in your body. And I start to realize, that postures like upward facing dog, ain’t gonna work for right now.

Updog is a way bigger backbend than one might realize. You’ve got your spine extended back, your chest lifted, and the tops of your feet down on the mat. There is a pretty big curve going on here. This posture felt like an unnecessary stretch on my abdomen and belly - so I stopped doing it. In the shift from chaturanga to upward facing dog , I drop to my knees and keep them down for updog. It’s really less about the posture at that point and more about the transition back to downward facing dog.

Chaturanga dandasana. Woo, baby. I am relentless in trying to demo proper chaturanga form and encourage my students to drop to the knees. Why? Four limbed staff pose is really hard! You may see it in beginner classes, but it’s not a beginner asana. Trying to lower down into a pushup while suspending your body in the air, in alignment, without letting anything droop and protecting your lower back…is challenging.

Well, I’ve gained 20+ glorious baby pounds and now it’s even harder. So, I start back at square one. I drop my knees, bend my elbows to lower down to a nice, challenging pushup, and keep my knees down when I lift up to updog. I feel it in my arms, it’s a smooth transition, and I’m continuing to get stronger by lifting my heavier body up and down.

Here are some other modifications I have made:

Feet farther apart in chair pose. Leaves more room for your belly and you can still get pretty low in your squat.

Prop yourself up on your elbows for supine figure 4 (or supine half pigeon.) After 20 weeks it’s best to stay off your back because your uterus could apply too much pressue on important blood vessels that are supplying oxygen to baby. So hook the foot over on to your thigh as you normally would, just keep your back off the ground. You can prop yourself up on your elbows or use a bolster for many typically supine postures.

In any sort of twist, instead of crossing your elbow or arm over baby, keep your arms open. In revolved crescent lunge, like I mentioned, keep an upright spine instead of hinging forward. You can still really press your palms together for a nice twist. In a seated posture like half lord of the fishes, twist the opposite way, the way that doesn’t constrict your belly. The benefit of twists is rotating the spine, which is still accomplished with these modifications.

Dancer’s pose is also a big backbend, so similarly to updog, take it easy. You can lessen the stretch of your abdomen by paralleling your body to that mat, more like bow pose, and focusing on trying to kick your foot up into your hand and stretching into your hip flexors vs. lifting your heart up and leg.

Take savasana lying on your left side, similar to fetal pose. I find it very comfy. Lying on your left side is safer than lying flat on your back, and it’s still a peaceful way to relax on your mat at the end of class and let everything settle in.

In terms of inversions, I’m taking a break. I read in a few different places that if you are doing handstands and inversions before you are pregnant, you are safe to them while you are pregnant. Well, they might be safe…but they aren’t for me right now.

If I stay in forward fold too long, I start to feel a rush of blood to my head. I hopped into a handstand one day pretty early along, probably right in the beginning of my second trimester, and thought my head was going to explode. Nevermind the extra weight, the amount of pressure bearing down on my head is way too much.

I’ve demo’d crow pose a few times in class. It’s physically possible for me, but I’m heavy so it’s hard. It’s also, to me, not worth falling out, hitting the ground and jolting the baby. So I do crow & crane pose very rarely these days.

These are just a couple modifications that I have made in my practice thus far. I am 29 weeks on Monday, and officially bumpin’! I’m sure there will be more lessons learned as my body continues to change.

You may feel differently about some of these modifications. Maybe you’re still rocking the handstands and slaying your chaturangas with your knees off the mat. Get it, girl.

My point is that just because you read that you can do something…doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it. It’s been very empowering for me to find my own prenatal practice and take it a little easier.

I’m not a prenatal expert, so if you are pregnant and practicing or plan on practicing yoga, please do more research as there are definitely postures you should stay away from. The body is an amazing thing, though, and most of them you will feel right away that it’s not for you at this point in time.

Other situations are more preference-based and like anything and everything in yoga…it’s all about exploration and learning what is right for YOU.

Here is an amazing podcast episode that speaks to prenatal yoga & fitness and inspired me to write this post: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0WOkSehfWwL7Y7A0jYLJ5p?si=FTfZLJuHTjWTru3XhArtow

Happy to chat with any mamas-to-be about your yoga practice! Thank you for reading.