Bikram Yoga during pregnancy??

[kdcosgrove]

I was practicing Bikram yoga for over a year before I got pregnant- I am now 13w. I've stopped until at least the second trimester, since I had a miscarriage a few months ago with my first pregnancy and I was a little anxious with this one.
Does anyone know if it's safe to keep practicing during pregnancy? I was going to 2 classes min. a week, but my doctor says to avoid it mostly because of the heat (most Bikram studios are between 100-110 degrees F).
I miss it, and have heard it really helps during labor.

If Bikram is a no-no, what about Ashtanga yoga?

Thanks for any advice, yogis!

[DeerMother]

I say no bikram. The heat is one consideration. Ime, that style makes no adjustments based on a student's individual needs. When I ws preg, I enjoyed the use of props and a class with a lot of restorative at the end.

[starbyfar7]

you'll cook the baby!!

no way@ bikram yoga

i love my hot yoga as much as the next person and its killing me to miss out on my daily class.. but its just not safe. i looked online for information when we found out we were pregnant and i also found conflicting info. some people said they kept going while pregnant and just put their mat near a window and took a break when they needed to but its way too risky for me. overheating is a huge concern during pregnancy. my midwife was iffy about me continuing to jog during pregnancy because of the dangers with overheating, so you can imagine her response when i inquired about hot yoga lol. i just go to regular vinyasa classes now because prenatal yoga is too boring.

just make sure the class instructors always know you're preggo so they can show you how to do modifications to your normal poses.

[summerlilies]

I say don't go. I also went 4x per week before I got pregnant. I miss it too but am looking forward to going again after the baby is born.

The owner of the Bikram studio where I go says it is safe and she knows people that have done it throughout their pregnancies but then again there are also crack addicts who have perfectly healthy babies.

[kcparker]

I would quit it personally, but I have a free-spirit acquaintance who owns a Bikram studio, worked in it teaching all the way through pregnancy, and her daughter was fine. Her feeling was that her body was acclimated to the heat, so it wouldn't be a big deal. She said, "Come on, people in the Sahara have babies, it's all what you are used to."

[~Amy~]

I'd advise no bikram either. Ashtanga is okay with modifications (no jumping, modified upward facing dog) as long as you take it easy. You can easily get overheated doing Ashtanga too.

[menomena]

I had been going for 6m when I found out I was pregnant this time. I stopped right away - not necessarily because I feared the heat effects, but because the thought of heat made me queasy and want to vomit above and beyond normal morning sickness.

I did ask my MW, b/c I was considering going back once the m/s diminished. She was really uncomfortable with me returning, but said that it was my call and that I knew my body best - that if I was insistent on continuing that I needed to pay special attention to hydration/rehydration more than even normal in bikram, not be afraid to take a break or cut a session short if I felt like I was overheating, and that I'd need to modify the poses as I got further along.

Thinking about it... Most of the poses in the second half of the class are on your belly anyway... How would you modify most of those? I felt like it would be wasting my money to not be able to do half of the class, really. I started doing a prenatal yoga DVD at home instead and I love it as a way to keep in practice until I can go back after I am healed after baby's born. I did have to really shop around for a good DVD (borrowed from friends until I found the one I liked).

[tracymom1]

Dang!! This just reminded me that I bought the Chicago Groupon for 2 months of Bikram yoga for this winter. Grrrr!!!