Is it safe to practice yoga during pregnancy?

As a certified Prenatal Yoga teacher, I am so often asked this – Is it safe to practice yoga during pregnancy?

Recently a yogini asked me so, when you are pregnant can you still do poses like headstand (Salamba Sirsasana) and wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana).

For me, Prenatal Yoga is about undoing rather than doing. it’s about resisting the temptation to strive, to achieve, to push and contort our bodies into shapes; after all in Prenatal Yoga we areĀ  sharing our practice, our body, our breath with our beautiful new creation; our baby.

Yoga is about awareness and our connection to our inner self and through the practices of asanas, pranayama and meditation we can allow this to happen.

So, of course with this in mind, Yoga is perfectly suited to pregnancy if the mother-to-be listens to her body, heeds the wisdom of her body and respects the changes taking place to her body.

By moving body in a gentle asana practice specifically designed to honor the growing bay with prenatal yoga, the mother-to-be can heighten her awareness of the needs of her body and her baby. She can learn to listen and trust her intuition, and prepare her body physically for the demands of labour, so her body is open and ready to receive the birth of her baby with grace.

By meditating on the breath and practising different breath techniques the she can become familiar with how her body can naturally release tension, and ease discomfort.

By bonding and uniting with her unborn child through the practice of positive thinking (affirmations), intentions and visualizations the mother-to-be can prepare herself emotionally and spiritually to the birth of her baby.

By connecting with her growing baby through her mind, body and breath the mother-to-be can enhance her experience of pregnancy, heighten her awareness of her growing baby, honor and respect the changes taking place to her body and deepen her relationship with her unborn child.

This is The Yoga of Pregnancy.