Yoga : Summer Pregnancy Yoga - Online and local options

The last class before my summer break will be the 5th of July. If you’d like to keep practising over the summer, online alternatives include:

Pregnant woman wearing a pink top and blue leggings, leans back into reverse warrior one pose.

My Bodyandmindflowyoga! pregnancy yoga classes on youtube. I have two full-length classes on there.

Apple Yoga is very knowledgeable and comes from a pilates and dance background. Beautifully shot, but short segments.

Nadia Rafaat is super and mindful and lovely.

I loved this video from Lara Dutta when I was in my final trimester of pregnancy with my second child.

Fiji McAlpine is super too, and this is a great class because it’s quite long (an hour) compared to youtube where the classes are often in short segments which can get wearing.

You can also find a local yoga teacher who’s happy to include you in their classes (check first). Bear in mind you will need to take responsibility for adjusting the class for your body and your baby. This means:

  • No squishing the baby (no lying on your stomach or closed twists)

  • No hot yoga

  • No stomach crunches (again, this is squishing the space available to baby thus counter-productive). This includes boat pose. A good alternative is to sit in a modified version of the pose with knees bent, feet on the floor, and take the moment to do your pelvic floor exercises.

  • Be aware of your relaxin-enabled flexibility and don't push your body too far into stretches.

  • Keep breathing - no breath holding in pregnancy as you have more blood that you need to oxygenate.

  • Avoid deep backbends. Your baby tends to pull your lower back into a back bend all the time anyway, so it isn't helpful to do a massive backbend (like wheel, for example)

  • It's often advised to leave out shoulder stands and headstands. Legs up the wall pose is a good alternative.