pregnancy series - Bikram Yoga Lower East Side

pregnancy series
If you’re an experienced Bikram yogi, you can
continue practicing with us once you’re pregnant. Here are some tips and pics showing
you how the postures are modified during
your pregnancy, but remember to talk to us
first, and always consult your doctor about
your practice.
During pregnancy, you’ll have a hormone
called relaxin moving through the body, which
softens bones and joints to prepare you for
giving birth.
This can make you vulnerable to over-stretching because you may feel like you are more
open, but not necessarily stronger. Because
of this, be avoid going further into poses than
your accustomed to.
Secondly, make sure you ease off on the abs
during pregnancy. Less abdominal support
will mean less support for the lower back, so
again, go easy.
And another thing..if you’ve never done Bikram Yoga before, we recommend you wait
until after giving birth before you join us in the
hot room…we’ll be waiting!
Standing Deep Breathing: After three months,
start to incorporate the pregnancy modifications into your Bikram practice..
The breathing stays the same, however
some may find keeping the feet separated
slightly provides more stability.
Half Moon: Keep your feet separated hip
width distance apart. Go only as far as you’re
used to with the backbends.
.
With the forward bend, separate your feet as
much as needed for the forward bends. Because you’ll have less abdominal support to
protect the lower back, consider bending the
knees on the way up and down.
Awkard Pose: Separate your feet as much as
you need to make room for the belly, keeping
parallel alignment..
You may find that you can squat down much
lower than before due to the relaxin affecting hip joints, but do not go lower than thighs
parallel.
Awkard Part 2: Your balance may be tricky.
Keep your heel hidden behind your toes to
protect your ankle joints, which may have
less support due to the relaxin. Strengthen
up your arms since you’ll be using less abdominal strength. You may find that you cannot come down as low – no problem.
Awkward Part 3: Focus on your leg strength.
You may need to separate your knees on the
way down and up. Use your fingers tips on
the floor for balance if needed.
Eagle: Keep your feet separated hips width
distance. Eventually, you may not be able
to cross the legs, so keep focusing on the
arms, shoulder and the upper body stretch.
Build the leg and lower back strength from
the squatting position.
Standing head to knee 1: We’ve moved into
the Balancing Series, where using less abdominal strength may affect your balance.
Keep focusing on alignment, with the toes
directly in front of your heels. Lift your leg so
the knee is line with the hip, without holding
onto the foot with your hands. Make sure to
keep your spine straight.
Standing head to knee 2: Instead of kicking
out, I used a toe grip and kicked out to the
side.
Standing Bow: Enjoy and keep your hips in
one line! As you move further into your pregnancy, avoid lowering your upper body down
too low in the pose.
Balancing Stick: Accommodate for using less
abs and having less balancing strength by
moving into this pose slowly and with plenty
of awareness.
Done with the balancing series, now it’s the
Separate Leg Stretching Series..
Separate Leg Stretching: You may need to
bend your knees, especially when lowering
into the pose. It is safe to grab your heels,
but eventually, you can place your hands on
the floor in front of you, bend your elbows
straight back, and lift your hips up for a nice
stretch.
Traingle: Enjoy! You will probably find your
hips are more open, making this posture actually easier. Remember not to sink into this
flexibility. Eventually, you may not lower down
as much.
Standaing Separate Leg: Keep your alignment with hips squared forward, and bring
your hands behind your back in prayer position for a nice shoulder stretch.
Focus on keeping the spine straight and
lengthening forward, rather than rounding
down into a compression. This will leave
space for the belly. Focus on keeping your
legs engaged and your hips in one line from
the side.
Tree Pose: Find a nice opening for the hip
joint and avoid sinking into your lower spine.
Repeat while other students are in Toe Stand.
FLOOR SERIES
Savasana: Ahhhhh… lie comfortably on your
left side, breath, relax
Fish Pose: To avoid lying on the belly during
pregnancy, replace the postures in the spine
strengthening series with these alternatives:
Instead of Cobra pose, work in Fish pose.
Fish Pose continued: Lie on your back and
keep the arms stretched along side you,
palms facing down. Squeeze your legs together, engage your buttocks, and press
down into the forearms, palms and elbows,
to arch your back up.
Keep using your arm strength to arch the
chest high enough to slide to the top of your
head, looking to the front of the room.
More advanced versions of fish pose include
bringing the hands together into prayer position at the chest, or working with the legs in
lotus position.
Cat-Cow Pose: Instead of locust pose, work
in a cat/cow pose.
Come to all fours, placing the hands underneath the shoulders, knees underneath the
hips. Stretch the right leg straight back and
lift the leg, keeping it parallel to the floor.
Repeat left side.
If you want more of a challenge, lift and
stretch the opposite arm forward, keeping it
inline with the shoulders.
Rest while other students are practicing both
legs, or work in cat/cow posture.
Pigeon Pose: Work in Pigeon pose here,
rather than Full Locust pose. lotus position.
(see description on next page).
Right side pigeon pose:
Slide the right knee forward, line it up just
outside of the right hip and rest the right
outer shin on the floor in front of you. Line the
right heel in front of the left hip and stretch
the left leg straight back.
Place the hands on the floor beside both
hips to square the hips forward, and if you
can balance here, stretch the arms up by
the ears. For an increased stretch, move the
right shin away from the body, but be careful
not to compress the belly. Keep the hands
on the floor to support the upper body if
needed.
Wheel or Bridge: Instead of Danurasana,
work in Wheel or Bridge pose.
For bridge pose, bend the knees and place
the feet on the floor, keeping them hip width
distance apart, as close to the buttocks as
possible.
Use leg strength to lift the hips up to the
ceiling, keeping the shoulders and head on
the floor. Interlace the hands underneath the
body and press into the outer wrists to intensify the backward bend.
Alternatively, hold the outer ankles with the
hands.
Full wheel pose is a more challenging pose
and requires stength in the upper body and
wrists.
Keep the set up established in bridge pose,
and place the hands by the ears. Use the
legs and arms to lift the hips and torso up.
Half Tortoise: To avoid compressing the belly
when lowering into the pose, open your knees as
much needed to make room. You may feel like
you are toppling forward once gravity takes over,
so place your hands on the floor and walk the
upper body forward if needed. Help your self up
with your arm strength rather than your abs.
Camel: Be careful going in and out of this
posture, always place your hands at the
lower back for support. Place the hands on
the heels if they reach easily without compressing the lower back.
Cat-Cow: To avoid compressing the abdomen,
replace Rabbit pose with Cat / Cow Posture.
This posture will feel great and helps to move
the baby into the ideal position.
Start on all fours, wrists under the shoulders,
knees under the hips. When you inhale in
Cow press the chest forward and arch the
spine. When you exhale in Cat, round the
spine up to the ceiling by tucking the chin
and tailbone in, and stretching the shoulders
away from the spine.
Leg Stretching with Passhimottonasana: Avoid
compressing your belly onto your leg when working separate legs. If need be, avoid bending
forward and simply lengthen the spine up as you
flex your toes back to you, bringing the heel up
off the floor. (continued)
Leg Stretching with Passhimottonasana continued:
Both legs: Separate the legs out to the side into
wide angle stretch and lengthen the spine forward. Keep your hands on the floor to avoid a
belly compression.
If you have the flexibility, you may work in full
splits instead of keeping your legs together.
Spine Twist: Be careful with twisting, as you want
to avoid compressing the abdomen. You may
find it more comfortable work in Baddha Konasana, a hip opener. Sit up tall, bring the soles of
the feet together and open the knees out to the
side. Press down on both knees to help open
your hips instead of twisting.