Prenatal yoga is designed to work with the developing mother’s body, (recognizing the unique changes that are at work in her body), helping to form new life. This is done utilizing poses that help with relieving lower back and hip discomfort, breathing practices to help sleep and relaxation, as well as helping with the preparation for childbirth, and assist in toning of the pelvic floor.
For many women prenatal yoga is their fist introduction to yoga, as it a gentle exercise that helps stabilize the pelvic floor, opening the pelvic girdle in preparation for delivery, and calms the nervous system to reduce many unwanted stresses on the mind and body. The benefits on a physical, mental, and emotional level, can be harmonizing, and give mom more time to bond with baby, while planning for the days, weeks, and months to come. It can also be a wonderful way to safely maintain a physical fitness routine that focuses on all the above prenatal areas, childbirth preparation, and postpartum recovery beforehand.
Pregnancy is different for every woman, and changes day to day. Some women have morning sickness while others skip it all together. One day you may feel super charged with energy, another day moving an inch may feel like moving through molasses. And one pregnancy to another may be very different too.
I introduce breathing practices which help calm the nervous system, and allow mother to take the time to tune in to her womb space, visualizing and bonding with her baby. These practices can also help during labor to manage pain, and discomfort as they may arise, as well as to cope with any anxiety that accompanies the prenatal and postpartum phases.
We work on mobility controlled opening of the hips through gentle stretches and movement, as during pregnancy women release a hormone known as Relaxin, which naturally increases her flexibility. Although this makes expectant mothers more flexible, and ready for delivery of a child, it is important to not over stretch, improperly, as to avoid injuries now and later on.
Along with the hip flexibility, we work on lower back release of tension, balance and stability, pelvic floor and diaphragm connection through breath awareness exercises (which carry on into postnatal recovery exercises), and many exercises to help with managing prenatal discomforts.
In my classes I set out from day one, to design the class for the group, not a one size fits all sequence, cookie-cut-out of a book. Once I meet with the class, and make some assessments, then I start to decide, how I will formulate the style of movement, and the intensity of practice we will move at, giving all factors into consideration.
What Is “Baby & Me Yoga” ?
What is “Baby & Me Yoga”? I know my first time going to a Baby & Me Yoga class over six years ago, I was perplexed, confused, even a little scared. I had very little idea what to expect, and even though I had done yoga for years, I was too embarrassed to ask.
This was all new to me. All of it. New mom, new baby. New form of yoga. Would my 3mo be doing yoga? Would I be moving him into yoga poses, or would he be moving with me into yoga poses? How would this work? I also had trepidation about the inevitable diaper changes, feeding, and crying that would happen. I was already terribly nervous in public when I had to excuse myself from my baby being a baby! What about in a yoga class where we are all supposed to be quiet and follow instruction in synchronized form? But, this was supposed to be for mom’s and babies, so, it had to be made to work with us, right? And it was 🙂
Once I got to the class, I saw that the other mom’s, were just like me. a little tired, maybe nervous too, and one was nursing, supported with a bunch of bolsters, and some blocks, while another was changing a diaper right there on the mat! Crying was inevitable, and when one started, the others fell in suite. The same was true for feeding. There was still synchronicity!
Baby and Me Yoga, is just that. It is about you, and your baby, coming together, in a space, where you can return to your practice. The space is welcoming to the reality of motherhood, and all that comes with that, the crying, the leaking, the crankiness, and babies’ too. We are all parents in the room, and we all share similar experiences, so no one is judging.
The exercises are planned and sequenced, but are completely adaptive to the nature of this style of messy yoga. Meaning: we sometimes have a class that turns into a feeding class, where we work on positions we can do while side lying, and feeding to work with the moment a class turns into a feeding chain. Or, we have a class where all the babies start to nap, so we take advantage of this moment, and try something new!
Exercises focus on gentle, and progressive pelvic floor and core recovery (being mindful of prolapses, diastasis recti, and other possible changes in the postpartum body), as well as stretches that address issues such as shoulders, neck, wrists, hips, lower back; areas that tend to also need attention in these postpartum months.
We incorporate fun, and playful movement for baby at their stages of development, which encourage growth through each of their leaps and bounds. Each class also includes baby massage to ease of digestion, and improved sleep (both for baby and you).
Breath is vital in life, and in all yoga practices, (all the more so in pelvic floor recovery), so you will find it is emphasized in these classes where possible. For relaxation, expansion and stability, and for accessing more effective engagement during exercises as well. Every class therefore includes breath awareness exercises, and relaxation techniques that enable you to feel a greater sense of well-being.
Three Moons Yoga 