Prenatal Yoga

[s_kristina]

I know a number of us have talked about doing prenatal yoga so I figured I could pick some brains here Have any of you got some good dvd or books that you just love and want to tell me about? I went looking online at our local library to see if they had anything and was not surprised at the tiny selection. They had all of 2 books and no dvds. I was happy to see that they have Ina May's Guide to childbirth so I can check that out and see if I want to add it to my growing list of books to look for at half.com :LOL

[flyingspaghettimama]

Hi,

I'm a librarian. I would suggest asking the library to order some. Somebody has to! I would ask a children's librarian, they may be more receptive than an adult's librarian...but who knows how your library works. If they have a tight budget, they might not, but perhaps they don't have anyone who's asked for it.

You can also probably use a regular beginner's yoga tape for a little while, at least the first three months, and then move into a pregnancy yoga tape. I think it's somewhat debated which poses you are supposed to do, but honestly... I'm still doing flow/vinayasa yoga and feeling fine (but I was doing it pre-pregnancy & it's a very intense style). I don't think there is anything you can't do in the first trimester (i.e. laying on your stomach is fine still, laying on your back is fine...). But your balance will be off in any case, because we have less testosterone in our bodies; and you can stretch better but can also hurt your muscles easier because of the stretchiness. I keep falling over in some of the poses that I used to be able to do easily.

I have obviously researched this!

[Awaken]

Hi! Thanks for bringing this up! One of my favorite topics! I took pregnancy and postnatal yoga with my first, and it made a huge difference to my labor, delivery, and recovery (that along with hypnobirthing).

As far as books/vidoes to recommend- I'm sorry I don't have any since I just take classes.

Now I'm doing vinyasa flow, and the semester is about to end and we have to sign up for new classes. I don't know what to do! I don't want to take preg. yoga because I think I am beyond that now- I LOVE my flow yoga and I would hate not to do it- it's a great workout!

So, loraeileen- you think it would be safe for me to do in the 1st trimester? We do backbends and handstands and things I wasn't sure would be safe. And of course, my balance is already off- I'm having a hard time with that. I'm going to ask the instructor next week what her advice is, but I'd really like to stick with my flow class as long as possible, then move on to something less intense when I start getting bigger!

[flyingspaghettimama]

I would just ask the teacher. I have never done headstands anyhow (I have neck problems) and never so good with the backbends. However, in advanced pregnancy yoga classes, I've seen women still doing headstands if they can balance.

My teacher shows me alternates - such as doing Bow on your side, and she suggested not doing Breath of Fire. She was worried about me getting too hot, but from my own research, exercise and heat does not really hurt anyone, and my midwife said that if I was UNSAFELY hot I would feel sick and uncomfortable (this did happen a week ago when I fell asleep in the car, felt my heart racing and had to roll down the windows immediately!) . I don't usually feel like that when I work out. There was a good book I read a few weeks ago about pregnancy and exercise that made me feel OK about maintaining the current setup.

If I feel really tired then I'll take a break in downward dog or just not do as many jump to plank pose transitions. There is a variety of levels in my class so I feel comfortable doing what I like. Hopefully your class is like this too?

[runes]

I would suggest asking your yoga teacher for modifications. I also have read lots of articles at www.yogajournal.com. Search for pregnancy or prenatal, there are some really well written articles there.

I am a yoga teacher and have been basing my practice on how I feel. One of my first pregnancy symptoms was a slight uncomfortable feeling in bow pose, balancing on my lower abdomen just did not feel right.

It's been really wonderful to be so attuned to my body with the pregnancy and seeing how each pose feels and how things are changing.

Backbends and inversions still feel great and are not contraindicated due to pregnancy. It all depends upon the strength of your practice pre-pregnancy and how comfortable you feel in those poses. I love inversions and am hoping to be able to do headstands and handstands til baby comes!

I am doing the same pranayam as before including breath of fire (I do stop if I feel uncomfortable). I do make sure to do NO breath holding at any time.

I'm planning to continue with my regular yoga classes until late 2nd trimester, when I'll start taking prenatal specific classes.

So happy to hear of all of the yoga mamas out there! Om shanti.

[erth mama]

Hi folks, posting from the oct due date club.... I have "Zen Mama" with Rainbeau Mars and I really like it, there is modifications for each trimester and the vibe is hip and peaceful. ciao

[s_kristina]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been doing hatha yoga and there are some poses that are already feeling uncomfortable so I was hoping that I might be able to find some ideas that are geared towards pregnancy. I hadn't thought to look at the yoga journal site even though I have it bookmarked and get both the email and paper editions from them. I wish talking to a yoga instructor was an option, but where I live now its not. I haven't been able to take classes in person in about 5 years now. I am thinking part of the reason why I am not doing some poses due to odd feelings is probably because of how big my stomach is getting already. Even with this being baby #2 for us I seem to be getting big insanely early. I'll be going by the local library to pick up the books I have on hold there. I might also make a visit to the main branch next weekend to poke through and see what they have there. I am pretty sure they don't have all their dvd collection listed online.

[mtnsunshinemama]

I highly recommend "Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful" - subtitled "Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalina Yoga and Meditation, by Gurmukh. We do lots of these meditations in my prenatal class and the book is inspiring and beautifully written!

[flyingspaghettimama]

s_kristina,

I know how you feel about being "big" so early - but I talked to my midwife and she said that the baby is only about a fingernail's length long and is still beneath the pubic bone (unless you're a lot further along than I am - 8 weeks). All of the "bigness" is just either bloating or internal organs moving around. She said a lot had to do with your ab strength from previous pregnancy (2nd pregnancy - no ab strength!). The baby is not in my big tummy! By week 8, the uterus is about the size of a grapefruit, which displaces internal organs but is not actually palpable.

So you should definitely do what you feel safe with, but there is not much you would be doing to hurt your baby with yoga at this point, from talking to my teacher and my own reading. Except hurting yourself, if you do too much!

[Awaken]

well I spoke with the teacher and as I suspected she said it was fine to continue- just keep checking in with her on how I'm feeling, and she'll give me modifications if needed.

Now I just hope I can keep up! I'm sure I'll feel differently at different points in the pregnancy. I already have no balance so that will really impact things!