I signed up for my first prenatal yoga class when I was probably about 14 weeks or so pregnant with JMAC. With no triathlons on the horizon, I wanted to get back into yoga and the prenatal class seemed really appealing. I definitely remember thinking that it would be more of a restorative type yoga class. I quickly found out that I was wrong! Prenatal Yoga is not restorative. It is challenging, with only sprinkles of restorative yoga.
As I am back for round two with number two, I am thrilled to once again be challenged each class, to meet great moms, and get a chance to escape my husband and toddler for an hour. I have also seen firsthand the benefits Yoga brings to a pregnancy.
A lot of friends ask why I am so passionate about prenatal yoga, so I decided to post my top four reasons I think prenatal yoga is beneficial for low risk pregnancies!
1. Yoga Builds Strength
At the most basic level, prenatal yoga helps expecting moms build full body strength, which is super important, especially for first time moms. You need strength to get through labor and then to carry your ever-growing child around post-pregnancy. Prenatal yoga incorporates a lot of squats, warrior’s poses, chair, lunges, and downward dogs to build strong lower body, pelvic floor, and core. My yoga teacher, Stacy, loves to throw in a lot of push-ups too. Push-ups? Yes, Push-ups! Her philosophy is that you need to be able to easily handle carrying baby around.
2 Yoga Opens The Body And Helps Create Space
Yoga helps you open the body up and find more space. This feels so wonderful, especially further along in pregnancy. We are always working to open up the hips. Doing hip opening poses, such a pigeon, helps the hips get ready to open up for labor, helps improve range of motion, and helps release stress on the spine, thus decreasing back pain! Plus, opening hips is believed to help release negative emotions and feelings, and creates new space for new ideas. A few other poses such as side angle help open up the upper body and find a bit more space for baby, thus letting you breathe a bit more!
3. Meet Other New Moms
I never thought I would meet so many amazing moms and be a part of an ever-growing, strong community and tribe when I walked into my first prenatal yoga class. The moms that I have bonded with have always been available when I or anyone else needed help. Whether it was to watch JMAC for a few days when Brian had to go out of town last minute, or to bring food to a new mother after a baby is born. These moms are always there. I totally understand that not every prenatal yoga community is this strong, but each one should provide you at least the opportunity to meet other moms in your area. I found this super rewarding since I work in a male dominated field and have little to no interaction with other moms at work.
4. Learn From Others’ Experiences
The first 10-20 minutes of each class are spent going around the room for introductions and answering a
question of the day related to pregnancy or motherhood. This ritual allows each mom to learn about the experiences of others with pregnancy, labor and delivery, and child raising. I went into yoga not knowing what a midwife, doula, or natural birth really was. After a few months, though, I had the knowledge to know that I wanted to switch to a midwife and get a doula so I could pursue a natural birth. I never knew that this was an option before these classes, but it had become appealing to me, and remains in my plans for round two!
