There are two kinds of women who practice yoga pregnant: girls who have never done yoga before and are trying it for the first time and those girls who have been practicing for years.
There are tons of prenatal classes around town for girls who are interested in practicing pregnant. They are designed to be gentle, restorative, and meditative. The teacher should be certified in prenatal yoga, even better if she has experienced pregnancy herself.
I was the other kind of girl. When I got pregnant I had been practicing for ten years. I had a wonderful pregnancy, besides the daily morning sickness that lasted all day every day for 40 weeks, and I was always ready to get on my mat. I spoke to my doctor about it and she gave me only one warning: don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right or good. That is the same advice I give students who come to my class regardless of whether they are pregnant or not.
Pregnancy is just another state of being. The body is changing everyday and for me it was fun to experiment with what I could do that I could never do before and let go of things I could no longer do due to my growing belly.
There is a set of rules floating out there in cyberspace warning women that certain poses are off-limits for pregnant girls. Personally, I did all of those poses and more just to see what would happen. I felt then, and I feel now, that the only way to know what works for you is to try it. There is no one rule for pregnancy, just as there is no one rule for anyone else.
Don’t get me wrong – a restorative class during pregnancy is a wonderful opportunity to rest deeply. So take advantage of that. But if you want to continue your practice, do so under the guidance of your intuition. That practice alone will make you well prepared for motherhood.
*Disclaimer- not meant to take the place of medical advice.
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