Yoga in Early Pregnancy

[lilly13]

Hi everyone! I need your advice. Last week, I told one of my yoga teachers that I am pregnant, and she did not let me in her class. She told me that I should do absolutely no yoga or any other excercise until week 14. Is this a precaution from a club/instructor's liability standpoint or it there any serious harm in doing yoga?

I am a regular yoga practiciner and have been practicing it at least 4-5 times per week. I am 8 weeks pregnant now. I have read a pregnancy yoga book and understand now which postures to avoid...

Should I really veg until week 14? I am not feeling well if I do not excercise, however, I do not want to harm the baby... Please could you share your experiences with me? Many thanks in advance.

I was told the same. TBH, I was too exhausted to do anyting during last pregnancy, I stop at week 6, and never went back . I don't seem to be able to find energy or time or both.
She might not want to be responsible for you if she is not trained as a pregnancy instructer. May be you can find a yoga class especially focus on pregnancy, or walk/swim instead.
My last teacher was trained for pregnant women, but even him recommended to stop for the first trimester (but I wasn't has advanced as you). Something to do with blood flow, softening of the joints... which means you can alter the proper development of the placenta and/or hurt yourself.

It depends on the expertise of your teacher. My regular teacher moved me into the pregnancy class as soon as I told her I was pg, which was at 6 weeks. However, she is very experienced and also a doula, which I think makes a difference, as when she was on holiday her substitute made a big fuss about me being in the class at 14 weeks.

Which school of yoga do you practice? Obviously Bikram's out due to the heat, but others are meant to be fine as long as you don't hold your breath or do inverse poses. Later in your pregnancy you'll also be advised not to lie on your back for too long, which you've probably heard re. sleep anyway!

Other exercises are also fine as longa s you don't through yourself into a really rigourous routine having not been very fit pre-pregnancy. Obviously anything that may cause injury such as horse riding is a risk!

I hope you find a teacher who will instruct you properly through these early weeks- my yoga was a bit of a lifeline in my first trimester when I felt rubbish most of the time!!

Good luck.

This is because of the amount of movement your internal organs are subjected to during yoga practice. It's not just about avoiding certain postures (which you sound like you know all about). It's about giving the baby & placenta time to attach properly & the pregnancy time to "settle". I'm previously been told no yoga before 16 weeks. Pregnancy yoga classes are all for 16 weeks plus. I's think it strange if there was no mention of this in your pregnancy yoga book??

I wouldn't panic about your practice up till now, but find an alternative exercise (swimming is great and also quite meditative) until week 14/16. It's no about no exercise, not no yoga - when you think about all the movement internally, it really does make sense.

It is completely acceptable to continue to practice yoga with obvious modifications (i.e avoiding poses which place strain on abdominal muscles). Human beings could not have continued as a race if a bit of bending and stretching posed enormous risk to their breeding surely??
There is no evidence that miscarriage is brought about by normal physical activity of any sort, indeed if you have been practising yoga for years you will probably feel awful if you stop now. If is simply as previous posters have said a precautionary measure so that no blame could be applied to the teacher as most miscarriages happen in the first trimester.
btw, it won't have any negative effect on development of the placenta, if anything it will increase blood flow.

Pinkgrasshopper, thank you very much. I practice ashtanga and viniyasa flow yoga. I tried one pregnancy class last week and found it a bit of a waste of time as women were mostly sitting around, and they were not even breathing! The pregnancy instructor did not correct anyone (probably, from a liability standpoint as well)... It made me quit sad actually. I'll probably go back there when my belly gets large...

I did several diff pregnancy yoga classes. Some were very much for women who just wanted yoga during pregnancy - lots of gentle breathing & lying on balls - not at all like a yoga class for me, but a pleasant relaxation/breathing class.

I did eventually find a ashtanga based pregnancy class which was fab. Well modified & thoughful, but still challenging & a good workout with lovely relaxation at the end - and there were plenty of 8 month+ bellies there. Keep looking.

I continued to go to yoga (Iyengar, I think) with DS until about 14/16 weeks. My teacher knew about my condition, and even that I'd had 2 prior MCs. She said there was no risk and that we'd do modified moves, which I did. I knew from my reading that MCs weren't going to be triggered by the very mild exercise that I had with yoga, and I took it very easily!

But of course, if your teacher won't let you in, that's another matter. She's covering her back, and it is her right to do. Maybe you can find a pregnancy class?

"Sri K. Pattabhi Jois advises women not to practice Ashtanga Yoga at all during the first trimester." Thought they admit that this is a conservative approach. More info here

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me, ladies! I appreciate this very much. Wishing you all easy pregnancies!

Hi Lilly13 do you live anywhere near Richmond, Surrey? Long shot but I go to a yoga class there and my teacher was absolutely fine with me when I told her I was pregnant www.yoga-yoga.co.uk/ . I think it's massively over cautious to stop doing it altogether. I had a miscarriage earlier this year and even with that my yoga teacher, doctor and midwife have all been fine, in fact encouraged, continuing to do it. The problem with pregnancy yoga classes is that they're not really designed for people who don't have a bump and they also tend to be full of people who haven't done yoga before so they don't really feel like a proper class if that's what you're used too.
I hope you manage to find one, I love doing it, think I'd go mad without some form of exercise! Good luck.

Hi JoEW, thanks for your message! You definitely understand what I am going through. My obstetritian was fine with me doing yoga, however, the yoga teachers were not... Unfortunately, I am in Chelsea. I will try the studios around here as well as in Notting Hill and Belgravia... will see if anyone takes me or I will just veg for the next 5 weeks... Good luck on your pregnancy!

www.appleyoga.com/ Lilly13 you could try the South Ken classes with Apple Yoga. Katy, who runs it is a brilliant teacher. I used to go to her classes in Southfields and it is one of the best courses I've ever been to, only changed due to moving house. She does pregnancy yoga too so she's clued up. The tricky thing is starting with a new teacher when you're pregnant, as they don't know you and your level so are a bit wary of taking you on. However, you might be lucky with Katy, she really knows what she's doing.
Good luck!

thank you sooo much!

This in interesting - I'm starting a yoga teacher training course, which requires 2 hours of practice every day for a week in 2 weeks and I'm at week 15.

I've been doing yoga for 10 years now - ashtanga, hatha, vinyasa, bikram and recently Forrest and have a fairly close relationship with my yoga teachers.
None of them told me to stop during the first trimester and one of them is also a body worker that works with women trying to get pregnant!

I am getting a lot of advice now though on modifications for 2nd and 3rd trimester.

I also practice fairly regularly (4-ish times a week for 90 minutes each session) and avoid tummy twists, lying on my front (although right now I actually don't find that uncomfortable) and pranayama where my abdomen is involved (udhayana, breath of fire e.t.c)

I am still able to lie on my back, do inversions (even handstands e.t.c.) and light backbends (no wheel anymore).

Having said that I was a bit hyper-fit before the pregnancy (just completed a triathlon and was still finishing off the running season during the first 12 weeks - doing 10km races and such)so my body may have been more used to vigorous type of exercise.

I'm in the US though and many teachers, although never pushing you are quite hard core. It may also be that your teachers don't feel qualified to advise during pregnancy? Mine are always saying - trust you body - so my advice would be the same - listen to it when you practice. If you have been practicing for a while and suddenly stop for pregnancy, I personally think that's not good for you - but I'm no expert so massive disclaimer here!

Thank you, Gingercoconut! I am surprised to hear that the US teachers are more relaxed. I lived in the US for a few years and just remember it being a much more liability conscious/ litigious society, so I assumed that teachers would be more cautious there.
I am in London and by now have spoken with 4 different yoga teachers, and they do not want to let me into their class . I can carry on practicing on my own or just swim for the next 4-5 weeks. I am a good swimmer, but for my body type, it is just not the same excercise as yoga which I really need ... You should be careful, though. I was planning to do teacher training in February myself and these do tend to get quite intense (well, with the pregnancy, I scrapped my plans)... Also, I was told that it is not so much how fit one was before the pregnancy, but more what changes your body is going through in the 1st trimester (we do not feel most of these changes). Could you maybe speak with teachers who are not involved in your teacher training, who might be more objective as there is no commercial interest involved? I think it is better to double check as this is more serious than a casual practice... I wish you an easy pregnancy and goog luck with your your practice! Btw, if you come up a good preganancy yoga book in the US, could you pls let me know what it is called? Many thanks!

Hi lilly 13,
Will definitely look into books for you and thanks for the tip to check with other teachers. I did ask a couple so far who felt it was fine providing I get modifications on poses - which I've been promised...

I'm also a fan of this pre-natal surya namaskar, which doesn't involved any abdominal or internal organ work but still allows for some strength building, but maybe you also want to wait to try this again till 2nd trimester?

yoga.about.com/od/yogasequences/ss/prenatalsunsal.htm

Go for it with the swimming - for me it has been really good for my breath control in yoga eg. if I'm doing crawl I try and alternate breathing on different sides and breathing every 5 strokes instead of 2 or 3). Another thing I do in the pool is some lengths just on my back kicking with my hands above my head - it really works the back of my legs and bum and allows my back to stretch out without impacting tummy or anything internal.

Enjoy the time off ;) I definitely had a couple of more relaxed weeks but felt great again from week 12 and really wanted to get back into it!

Hi Gingercoconut!

Thank you for sending the link to suriya namaskar. I spoke with a couple of more yoga teachers here today, and was told that it is okay to do gentle yoga (eg, go down to a beginner class from intermediate/advanced) and do modified poses (no deep twists, no deep backbends, no updog, no kapalabhati). The danger is that doing these poses could potentially cause the fetus to detach from the uterine wall... I was also told that most teachers would turn me down from their class as they are not covered by insurance here (liability)... Given that you are in your second trimester, it is definitely okay to do yoga. Just be gentle and don't do anything too intense on the teacher training front... I will go swimming - thank you for the suggested excercise on the back. will try! I am just curious, did american doctors tell you to not do any breaststoke? My obstetritian here said it should be avoided. I understand why it is not good in late 2-3 trimester, but do not know why I shouldn't do it now... Oh well, better safe than sorry. Thank you for looking up pregnancy yoga books!!