First trimester exercise

[soulandsunshine]

Hi guys,

I'm 4 weeks and 4 days today. Before my bfp, I'd gotten into a good habit of doing an hour of yoga most days which really made a difference to my mood. Since then, my yoga teacher has said I'd be better off finding pregnancy yoga classes due to not being able to give individual instructions during online group classes. Turns out I'm also not pregnant enough for pregnancy classes and in a bit of exercise limbo. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks :-)

There are lots of pregnancy yoga videos on YouTube you can follow. There is also the Dowdog app which do a pregnancy version.

Congratulations! I've just been doing YouTube videos (yoga with Adrienne is my favourite) since lockdown and finding out I was pregnant. I'm 10 weeks and starting to have to make minor modifications so half plank instead of full, knees open in child's pose, reducing the core elements but still feel ok to do a lot of the flows and held postures. I guess it depends how you're feeling and just listening to your body.

In my last pregnancy I started pregnant yoga at about 18 weeks which was maybe a bit early but it was really beneficial in the third trimester.

Thank you 😊 I tried down dog pregnancy yoga app today, it was good! Only thing I am a bit uncertain about is being told by my yoga teacher that you shouldn't have your heart below your head for too long and not lying on your back for savanasa (which is how this particular class ended). Thanks for suggestions 😊

You can continue your normal exercise throughout the first trimester. There is nothing which is disallowed except for raising your core body temperature. Lying on your back isn't dangerous in pregnancy; it used to be thought it was dangerous in the third trimester because it could cut off the oxygen supply to the foetus but this was found to not be true. And even when it was official advice, it was OK for the first trimester.

Heart below head should be fine - I am sure any positions that invert aren't being held for much more than a few minutes, anyway. Pay attention to your body and if you feel faint, breathless or strange in any way then stop, of course, but I would not be especially worried about it.

Thanks Bertiebotts, that's really helpful to know!