Prenatal Yoga Sequence I

My yoga practice as been pretty irregular the last two months, and this Sunday I woke up really missing yoga. At seven months pregnant I practice a couple of times a week, depending on how I’m feeling. Some days that means a long slow walk instead of yoga, other days I’m up for rolling out my mat. On Sunday I felt great, and after some chai I had a nice one hour practice.

I wrote down the sequence I did, which was mostly pretty mellow. I move through the poses slowly, taking my time in the poses and being very deliberate in transitions. I still have occasional lower back pain from a nerve getting pinched, so for now I refrain from most forward bends (Prasarita Padottanasana being the exception – for some reason the wide stance makes it okay on my back).

If you’re pregnant and want to practice at home, always check with your yoga teacher, health care provider, and/or chiropractor before you practice new poses. In my experience it’s usually okay to continue a practice you’ve been doing regularly since before getting pregnant, but now is not the time to attempt anything new and challenging.

Prenatal Sequence at 7 Months

Vajrasana
Cat-cow
Tabletop -  extend alternate arm and leg, elbow to knee x 3
Adho Mukha Svanasana (AMS)
Balasana w/knees wide
AMS -> Plank x 3
Three-legged dog, external rotation in lifted leg, knee bent
Virasana on block w/neck stretch, shoulder roll
Tadasana
Virabhadrasana II -> Utthita Trikonasana -> Utthita Parsvakonasana
Prasarita Paddottanasana C
Malasana
Ustrasana (at wall) x 3
Balasana w/knees wide
Box on the wall (see picture below)
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana x 3, hold the last one
Relclined pigeon
 Side twist
Savasana

Box on the wall


This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 8:17 pm and is filed under Prenatal Yoga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Prenatal Yoga Sequence I”

  1. Hi,

    I just started a yoga blog, http://www.thejoyofyoga.blogspot.com, where I post a yoga sequence every day to use in personal or studio practice.

    I’m looking for guest bloggers to post their favorite sequences on the site. I would be happy to link back to your blog, or whichever website.

    Anyway, thanks for blogging. The greater yoga community thanks you :)

    Emma

  2. Thanks for visiting! Good luck with the blog, I’ll let you know if I have a sequence I’d like to share.

  3. Hi! Thanks for the sequences! Question; I’d always thought inversions were not recommended in pregnancy. What have you read/heard otherwise?

    Thanks and namaste!

  4. I did a lot of research on this when I was pregnant, and the answer depends on who you ask. I think the general advice on inversions is that if they are already part of your practice it’s okay to continue to do them while pregnant, as long as you’re comfortable and it feels right. But pregnancy is definitely not the time to start working on headstand for the first time!

    I came to a point just a little after I posted this sequence, so around 7 months, when inversions just didn’t feel good and I completely stopped doing them.

  5. Hi I was wondering if you had any recommendations for poses for heartburn. Thanks!

  6. Hi,

    I was just looking at this sequence, and I wanted to add a few thoughts.
    Inversions are okay if you’re pregnant, as a regular practitioner. As you felt within yourself anyways, they should be stopped at around seven months, because they don’t feel right, and there is the chance that it could turn bub.
    I would not recommend doing a camel during pregnancy, though there is a variation of sitting on a block (as in virasana) with hands on floor about ten cm behind, where you can practise pelvic tilts and chest opening, ie, inhale squeeze shoulder blades together open front of body, exhale round shoulders, roll back on sit bones. If you’re less than 36 weeks you can raise the pelvis into a really gentle camel.
    There was no pain for you in Padottanasana because you have created room in the back of the pelvis, sacro-iliac joints by having the legs wide, though there are other forward bends like 1/2 dog against the wall or “campers pose” high squat with elbows on knees that lengthen the lower back, so there is no pain. They are also poses for countering lower back pain.
    Poses for heartburn include supta virasana (on bolsters set up in a t position), purvottanasana (triangle forward bend with feet hip width apart). Note during pregnancy, you should not move past having the torso parallel to the floor so use a bolster, chair, block for support. Ginger root tea and apples are also good for heartburn.
    Also, I would avoid Plank (Kumbhakasana) while pregnant as we’re not really looking to build core strength, rather soften that area.

    Big love, Marnie :)

Leave a Reply