Yoga for each Trimester of YOUR pregnancy

Certified Prenatal Yoga Coach

Pregnancy is such a journey! Whether you are very active before your pregnancy or have no idea what type of workout will help your quads or transverses abdominus, it’s an adjustment for each person, mentally and physically to figure out what works.

I trained my body hard before getting pregnant, and had a difficult time accepting that I needed to slow down and tweak a lot of my workouts to adjust to the days I felt extremely low energy, sore or had some new pain I had to address!

From my own yoga teacher training, prenatal training, and by working with a physical therapist, I was able to come up with a great routine and some favorite yoga poses, Pilate moves and strength builders to keep my body strong, flexible, and feeling healthy during each trimester as things changed daily. A lot of pregnancy is learning to let go, truly be with the flow and adjust as things come your way.

I am hoping that even one of these can help you during your journey, and to remember to listen to your body, take it easy on the days you have minimal energy, and to always strive to fit in as little as 10-30 min of physical activity a day, to help keep up your endurance and strength for a healthy body during pregnancy, labor, birth and post-partum. (This can mean just going on a walk, doing a few squats or clamshell exercises with breathwork!)

Remember that consistency is key and will help you maintain your physical and emotional health and so much more than forcing yourself to get through hard hour workouts only a couple of times a week that will take you days to recover from.

Important areas to focus on during pregnancy:

• Transverse Abdominus- the deep muscles under the rectus abdominus that assists with pushing during delivery, and keeps your entire core and spine stable (even your cervical spine or neck) along with your pelvis. If you start to experience low back pain this is a great area to strengthen and focus on.

• Glutes- The glutes are EVERYTHING in your pregnancy! They support your pelvic floor, low back, and give you optimal alignment and positioning in the pelvis for position of the baby, not to mention they also are a big help in the labor and birth process. The Gluteus Medius is part of the hip joint that will need extra love and attention as these start to open and shift during your pregnancy and are important to stabilize and strengthen!

• Thighs- inner, outer, all the legs! Your legs do a lot of work in assisting you during the birth process, so these are critical to strengthen. They also carry your entire upper body plus baby for your entire pregnancy As the pelvis, hips and stomach start to shift and more weight is put on the knees, your legs become an especially important part of the body to help stabilize and strengthen to minimize knee pain, swelling, and help you feeling strong for post-partum life.

• Pelvic floor- Working together with your core, your pelvic floor needs your love and attention for a smoother delivery process and for a speedy recovery post-partum. Aside from Kegels there are many other exercises to do to strengthen the pelvic floor, but also to learn how to relax and let go in the third trimester, so that the birthing process feels more fluid.

• Trapezius- when your belly begins to grow and there is extra weight shifted into the lower half of the body you naturally start to round your shoulders and let your neck come forward. To prevent slouching, strain on the neck muscles and shoulders, this is a GREAT area to work on.

1st Trimester:

The first trimester is known as the “period” stage in your pregnancy. You will want to take it easy, slow down and try to avoid doing too many inversions (unless it’s a really big part of your practice already and you feel comfortable continuing them with an okay from your doctor!) Some women feel more tired, lethargic, and sensitive during these first 3 months, and might even experience some nausea, while others have their full energy. Listen to what works for you and incorporate what feels good.

All areas of the body are important to focus on and strengthen, but I found that these 5 yoga poses were especially helpful to zone in on during the first trimester. This will help ensure you are taking a preventive approach before the body takes on more dramatic physical changes and to help alleviate any pain or soreness in the hips, tailbone, low back, and upper body you might start to experience.

Important areas to focus on:

• Transverse Abdominus

• Shoulders and chest

• Glutes, thighs and hips

• Pelvic floor

Core Builder

2nd Trimester:

A lot of women say they feel their best in the 2nd trimester. This is a great time to add to what you started to practice in the 1st trimester if your energy rises. Continue doing squats, add on slightly heavier weights, continue to engage and strengthen your glutes, hip, core, and leg muscles. If you feel uncomfortable on your back remove any exercise on your back and stick to being on your side or standing.

Important areas to focus on:

• Transverse Abdominus

• Shoulders and chest

• Glutes, thighs and hips

• Pelvic floor

3rd Trimester:

The third trimester is a great time to practice gently stretching, working on your posture as you round out more, and practicing LETTING GO!

You can maintain your physical strength by working on light arm and shoulder builders to keep your shoulders and neck muscles strong. Wide-legged Squats will keep your thighs, glutes, and hips strong while using a chair for hip and glute builders to keep your balance maintained is a great alternative to your regular yoga practice.

To help upkeep cardio, going on walks and swimming are both great ideas. Swimming is one of the best ways to help the body relax and let go, one of the most important things to practice during this stage of the pregnancy. It’s a good time to start to cut back on Kegel exercises, and instead start to focus on imagery exercises, breath-work, and meditations that center around preparing for the birth, relaxing the pelvic floor and all the muscles that will help your body go into labor smoothly.

Yoga poses to practice in the 3rd trimester include:

Wide leg children pose

Pigeon pose (use a block if needed for support or use a chair)

Cat/cow

Butterfly pose

Cow face arms

Wide-legged squats

Garland squats (or Malasana)

Everyone’s pregnancy journey is so different, sacred, and special. Treat yourself with love, see what works and incorporate what feels good to you and your body! Eat good food, get lots of rest, and don’t forget to incorporate a little breathwork and meditation at some point in your day.

Connect with your baby daily, surround yourself with good people and good energy and make sure to practice self-care – because if mama ain't happy, no one is happy! Your strong foundation will set the tone for a healthy child, a healthy pregnancy, and a healthy labor/birth experience.

Let me know if any of these yoga poses felt good to you or helped you along your journey. I hope you enjoy it.

Sending love

Karina