More Coming Soon!!!

Resources:
*Guidelines for practicing Ashtanga Yoga while pregnant
*photos (coming soon)
*step by step instructions for modifications (coming soon)
*Personal Stories and Blogs

Practicing While Pregnant:

• Rest from your practice during your first trimester.
• Get your provider’s approval before resuming your practice.
• Eliminate jumping and floating from your practice, simply step back for sun salutations, vinyasas and other transitions.
• Avoid deep twists, instead take open twists (twisting away from your leg(s) instead of toward/around them.)
• Do not add any new poses during pregnancy, unless advised to by your doctor, midwife and/or doula.
• Avoid going deeper in poses than you did before you were pregnant. This could lead to over stretching ligaments and could cause long term damage.
• Avoid poses which apply pressure to your abdomen.
• As your belly grows, let the legs separate for all forward folding
• Modify half lotus folds by not going as deep, or taking an alternate foot position.
• At close to 18 weeks, begin taking rest only on your left side, a blanket or bolster between your knees is nice too.
• If inversions were a part of your practice before you conceived, begin to modify the shoulderstand sequence around 18 weeks, and only continue with headstand as long as you can safely execute the pose, without potential of falling over.
• Approach backbends with caution, deep back bending is unsafe for some women while pregnant, avoid any poses where you feel a tightness/pulling in your lower abdomen.
• If you are experiencing any cramping and/or bleeding, get in touch with your provider immediately and get their approval before resuming your practice.
• Trust your instincts, if something feels unstable/unsafe, don’t do it.
• Allow yourself to take water as needed while you practice, avoid getting too hot.
• Eat a small meal about 20-30 min. before practicing, something easy to digest and not too heavy.

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Personal Stories and Blogs:

Returning to the Mat With a Baby on the Way
by: Jessica Lynne Trese
I hadn’t practiced in 18 weeks and the idea of stepping back on my mat was a little overwhelming. I started practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 2007 and since then, I’ve never taken this much time away from my practice.

There are so many reasons we can get pulled away from our mat: injury, pregnancy, depression, illness and sometimes laziness. For me, it happens to be a joyous reason, but the idea of trying to ‘rebuild’ my practice after four and a half months off still brought up all of my old patterns of perfectionism and avoidance (if I can’t get it ‘perfect’ I have a history of just avoiding it)…Keep Reading