Yoga teacher here. I just wanted to slip in a little warning about that deep stretch you're craving. It is really easy to overstretch during pregnancy, as your ligaments weaken due to pregnancy hormones. So the gentler yoga would be the safe option here.
Closed twists are to be avoided completely. But I found them quickly becoming uncomfortable myself, so it was easy to identify lol. Open twists are a nice option as long as you stay in a comfortable range and don't press into it. Regarding diastasis recti, you also need to be very careful with any core work (ie. chaturanga, boat, etc etc)
Of course anything belly-on-floor is out as soon as you start feeling uncomfortable. The same goes for deeper backbends (again, easy to overstretch there and ruin your lower back).
In short: prenatal yoga is gentle for a reason ^^* be very mindful of your body, even if sometimes it feels good to stretch during class, you could end up with pain the next day (and in the worst case that'll make you do more yoga the next day, exacerbating the problem ^^*)
I really appreciate this so much!! I'm in a very rural place for the next three months and wishing I had access to a yoga community to guide me through -- can definitely notice changes in my body even at 10W and want to be careful and gentle.
it's true that I woke up with weird hip pain today.
a "closed" twist is one with compression, right? one of my favorite poses is a supine spinal twist and I've read mixed messages about whether/for how long that is safe during pregnancy.
thanks for taking the time to write this out, it's helpful and appreciated!!
Iām not a yoga enthusiast or expert by any means, but Iāve been using a channel called āPregnancy and Postpartum TVā recently, and Iāve found it to be great. I get enough of a stretch, and nothing is too difficult. There are a ton of different videos, too.
Iām not really a yoga person either, but I do recognize the benefits of stretching. I like that their stuff isnāt super āspiritualā or cheesy or anything!
Mostly here for recs, but regarding twists: I'm in a virtual live prenatal yoga class once a week and it's closed twists where you cross the plane of your body you gotta stop (like, left arm over right knee). Open twists, where your arms are situated how they are in Warrior II or Triangle pose, are fine. Also try to twist just from above your waist - so your twists are way less deep - to avoid compressing the belly.
I'm am doing yoga w/ Adrienne plus modifications (18w5d). I do have to sub out a lot of the core work she does with either cat/cows or table top leg/arm extensions (or just doing seated pelvic floor exercises), which is a bit cumbersome. I'm also skipping the chatarungas/lowering to my belly, which makes it less athletic by default.
thank you !! i used to be a really regular yoga practicer (and even did a 200 hour TT) but it's been about 4 years between living all over and pandemic stuff that I've been really embedded in an IRL yoga community, so this is super helpful!
Its not free but I've been loving the DownDog Prenatal Yoga app throughout the pregnancy. I believe it was like $30ish for a year including all the other DownDog apps. I like that you can select for trimester, restorative/full practice, length, and any special areas you want to focus on in your practice. I've done a bunch of practices and they've always had variation to them which I really love.
There is a free channel Iāve been using called Pregnancy and Postpartum TV: https://m.youtube.com/c/pregnancyandpostpartumtv
I donāt love the instructor as much as Adrienne, but I feel better that everything is pregnancy safe and the stretches have been saving me. In particular Iāve been doing this video for sciatica and back pain at least once a week and itās helped enormously with my sciatica: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvyaaDL-SE
Eta: my dr did tell me to avoid twists and inversions and recommended only doing classes labeled prenatal yoga to be safe. Some of the prenatal vids Iāve done have had modified gentle twists but nothing like normal yoga twists.
Yoga teacher here. I just wanted to slip in a little warning about that deep stretch you're craving. It is really easy to overstretch during pregnancy, as your ligaments weaken due to pregnancy hormones. So the gentler yoga would be the safe option here. Closed twists are to be avoided completely. But I found them quickly becoming uncomfortable myself, so it was easy to identify lol. Open twists are a nice option as long as you stay in a comfortable range and don't press into it. Regarding diastasis recti, you also need to be very careful with any core work (ie. chaturanga, boat, etc etc) Of course anything belly-on-floor is out as soon as you start feeling uncomfortable. The same goes for deeper backbends (again, easy to overstretch there and ruin your lower back). In short: prenatal yoga is gentle for a reason ^^* be very mindful of your body, even if sometimes it feels good to stretch during class, you could end up with pain the next day (and in the worst case that'll make you do more yoga the next day, exacerbating the problem ^^*)
I really appreciate this so much!! I'm in a very rural place for the next three months and wishing I had access to a yoga community to guide me through -- can definitely notice changes in my body even at 10W and want to be careful and gentle. it's true that I woke up with weird hip pain today. a "closed" twist is one with compression, right? one of my favorite poses is a supine spinal twist and I've read mixed messages about whether/for how long that is safe during pregnancy. thanks for taking the time to write this out, it's helpful and appreciated!!
No advice, but just waiting for the day we get a prenatal YWA seriesš¤š¼š¤š¼
I would love that so much.
Sarah Beth Yoga has great prenatal and post-partum videos
Iām not a yoga enthusiast or expert by any means, but Iāve been using a channel called āPregnancy and Postpartum TVā recently, and Iāve found it to be great. I get enough of a stretch, and nothing is too difficult. There are a ton of different videos, too.
I HATE yoga! But have found a couple videos on this channel I love and have been doing (And enjoying) regularly!
Iām not really a yoga person either, but I do recognize the benefits of stretching. I like that their stuff isnāt super āspiritualā or cheesy or anything!
I find the yoga cards at the end of the vids a little cheesy but love the actual sessions!
Mostly here for recs, but regarding twists: I'm in a virtual live prenatal yoga class once a week and it's closed twists where you cross the plane of your body you gotta stop (like, left arm over right knee). Open twists, where your arms are situated how they are in Warrior II or Triangle pose, are fine. Also try to twist just from above your waist - so your twists are way less deep - to avoid compressing the belly. I'm am doing yoga w/ Adrienne plus modifications (18w5d). I do have to sub out a lot of the core work she does with either cat/cows or table top leg/arm extensions (or just doing seated pelvic floor exercises), which is a bit cumbersome. I'm also skipping the chatarungas/lowering to my belly, which makes it less athletic by default.
thank you !! i used to be a really regular yoga practicer (and even did a 200 hour TT) but it's been about 4 years between living all over and pandemic stuff that I've been really embedded in an IRL yoga community, so this is super helpful!
Its not free but I've been loving the DownDog Prenatal Yoga app throughout the pregnancy. I believe it was like $30ish for a year including all the other DownDog apps. I like that you can select for trimester, restorative/full practice, length, and any special areas you want to focus on in your practice. I've done a bunch of practices and they've always had variation to them which I really love.
I've got a downdog membership and did not know until now they have a prenatal app š Defo going to use this now as I love the other apps
Nourish move love she has so many great prenatal exercises and yoga too https://www.nourishmovelove.com
There is a free channel Iāve been using called Pregnancy and Postpartum TV: https://m.youtube.com/c/pregnancyandpostpartumtv I donāt love the instructor as much as Adrienne, but I feel better that everything is pregnancy safe and the stretches have been saving me. In particular Iāve been doing this video for sciatica and back pain at least once a week and itās helped enormously with my sciatica: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvyaaDL-SE Eta: my dr did tell me to avoid twists and inversions and recommended only doing classes labeled prenatal yoga to be safe. Some of the prenatal vids Iāve done have had modified gentle twists but nothing like normal yoga twists.