Hi DYWM. First, I want to say that I love the site. I live in a small, isolated, rural community with limited access to yoga classes. This site allows me to enjoy high quality yoga on a daily basis, which I love.
I recently found out I was pregnant. I’m in my first trimester, about 7 weeks along. I am pleased to find that there is a small selection of prenatal classes available on the site, but since I’m in my first trimester, I am still doing other classes as well. I’m wondering if you could provide me with general information what I should be concerned about right now (including specific poses and why) and as my pregnancy progresses into the second and third trimesters, and how I can modify them as I continue to enjoy a variety of your classes. I am talking to my practitioner about this as well, but I’m hoping that DYWM instructors can provide some expertise. I would like to continue to do yoga every day, to the best of my ability.
It may be that this topic is covered on your site and I just missed it. If not, a class providing an introduction to yoga during pregnancy and advice on modifications, would be awesome!
Thanks for reaching out to us! Congratulations on your pregnancy! The most important thing to remember now more than ever is to listen to your body/ energy levels. I practiced a fairly normal practice during both my first and second pregnancy but of course did not push my self or tray to master new poses during this time. It is important to remember a few key things in practice:
Avoid twists
avoid lying or putting pressure on your belly
After the first trimester don’t do sivasana on your back, lay on your side
Avoid inversions reccommended
be aware that you might get dizzy coming up and down in sun salutations due to blood pressure changes.
Also take the advice of your care provider
I hope this helps, and that you can practice some of your normal classes using these moddifications
Thank you Fiji! This is exactly what I was looking for! This is consistent with the advice of my primary care provider, but a bit more detailed and easier to understand. Thank you also for sharing your experience.
I’m now at 11 weeks. Listening to my body has been key so far. As you mentioned, I have had to slow down or modify sun salutations to avoid getting dizzy (or nauseated). I also find myself using more of the gentle classes and less of the challenging classes, and not attempting the deeper poses when the option is there. At first, letting myself ‘take it easy’ was an emotional challenge, but I’ve finally embraced it. I’m starting to enjoy the modified practice.