Prenatal Yoga For Back Relief

Doing a lazy post today and simply sharing my guest post over at Code Name: Mama.  I wrote about some of the most important yoga poses to do to relieve back pain during pregnancy.

What pose helps you the most when you have an achy back?  If you don't practice yoga (if you don't you should!!) what tips do you have to relieve back pain naturally?

Why You Should go to a Prenatal Yoga Class

This is a picture of some of the lovely ladies that were in my Prenatal Yoga class that I took at Journeys in Yoga during my third trimester. I lobbied the owner of Journeys the first two trimesters to bring Prenatal Yoga back, because I was so sick of doing yoga while pregnant next to a man. It just felt wrong! I wanted the same experience I gave women when I was teaching Prenatal Yoga at my studio in Manor @ Midtown! My dear friend, Teresa, was our teacher. She is an amazing yoga teacher! She should be, I taught her! I kid, I kid. But seriously, she is talented and she understands the pregnancy and birth journey very well (she is also a Doula).

I forced everyone to take this picture, because I am picture freak, but now I am so happy I did because I can share it here!

If you are looking for a prenatal yoga class in town there are two. One at Journeys in Yoga one at Namaste. I can't encourage you to go enough! It is vital to your health, but it will also help you have an easier labor, I promise. I can't guarantee your birth outcome, but yoga will help guaranteed.

This is one of the most important things you will learn in prenatal yoga.  The Squat.  As seen here, in early labor.  Just don't look at my huge, swollen feet. I said don't look!

The squat aids in digestion, as all us former preggers and current preggers know, we need all the help we can get to keep things moving along when you have a 9 pound baby in your belly and your intestines are in your rib cage.

It strengthens your pelvic floor muscles, so you you get the most out of each contraction and pushing and then later get things back in place down there more quickly.

It helps get baby in the right position for an easier decent through the birth canal.  And in late pregnancy, it will help press baby's head against your cervix to stimulate labor.

I have so many wonderful memories of going to prenatal yoga and practicing at home.  What are some of your favorite prenatal yoga memories?

Yoga for Mama and Child: Down Dog

Oh, how I love this pose! It's one of my favorite yoga poses. It is a great all over body stretch and you are giving lots of muscles in your arms, back and legs a bit of work out too. Now, its been awhile since I have been in a regular yoga routine for myself, so don't laugh at my technique! And besides, you are doing yoga no matter what the pose looks like, as long as you are breathing. In through your nose and out through you nose!

Start on your hands and knees. Any yoga I do these days, involves Penelope. She loves to be underneath me with this pose. She giggles so much when I do Down Dog! Then you lift your tail bone in the air and put your body into an upside down V. Your hands and feet should be equal distance apart. Try to balance your body's weight equally between your hands and your feet. You are trying to get your heals on the ground and your back flat at the same time. If that is not possible, bend your knees to get your back flat and then slowly work on your flexibility, so that you can straighten your legs and then get your heals down. Come in and out of the pose as you need to rest. A pregnant variation of this pose, would be to place your hands on a wall and to make a 90 degree angle with your body.


Even babies can do Down Dog! This is Miss Ava at about 10 months old. She had been doing Down Dog about a month at this point. Babies will naturally do Down Dog as they are learning to crawl and walk, but at about 9 or 10 months, you can teach them to do it when you say Down Dog!! Anytime you see your baby naturally do it, say "Yay!!! Down Dog!!! Good job!!! Then do it yourself and say again Down Dog!! Similar to the concept of how you would teach them sign language by repeating the word and showing the sign over and over again. Eventually, they put the word recognition and the body movement together and ta da! They can do Down Dog! Let me tell you it's the best feeling in the world when they do their first yoga pose on their own! Ava's self esteem sky rocketed, she was so proud of herself. And that continued all through her toddler hood. Yoga is something all babies and toddlers can excel at. So not only is it good for their health it is great for their self esteem.

Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!