Help with yoga during pregnancy

[MalbecAndLindt]

I practice yoga solely at home, mostly using YouTube and my DVD collection but have started experimenting with my own sequences and routines.

We are officially TTC this cycle (only CD2 though lol), it's our first. Wanting advice about yoga in pregnancy really. Can I still do inversions/backends etc? Any postures that should be avoided from the TWW/BFP? Any advice would be massively appreciated.

Hi - The usual advice during pregnancy is not to start an activity that your body is not used to, but if you have been doing yoga for a while, there is no reason to stop practicing.

Having said that, you will probably see some differences in what you can and can't do. I remember being just 8 weeks pregnant and feeling my stomach muscles spasm while quickly breathing in and out (can't remember the name of that breathing exercise now). When you feel uncomfortable, it is a good idea to stop whatever you are doing.

Also, you will have a hormone while pregnant that relaxes the joints in your body and so will probably see that you can go much deeper into stretches than you were previously able to. This might not always be a good idea, so remain conservative in your stretches.

Maybe concentrate on pregnancy yoga classes rather than your usual yoga classes. Good luck.

I did yoga from ~14 to 28 weeks (normal, not antenatal yoga, hadn't done it for years before). Teacher advised me to avoid the big twists and not to push/force anything due to the risk of injury to myself (relaxin!).

Lying on my back became uncomfortable towards the end and it was when she said "relax into down dog" and my arms were shaking with the effort, I conceded I was too weak and heavy to continue!

28 weeks - Respect!

I think I gave up yoga during the 5th month of pregnancy, after managing to pinch a nerve during a twist.