YOGA

[Oliver's mummy]

has any one started doing any exercises!

i bought a yoga DVD out of a Netto near me, it was half price only £2 also got a yoga set, inc, mat, ball (could use as birthing ball), EVA block? and some straps for stretches it only cost £2

tried the DVD for the first time today, its really good!!!

you should all try it, i did not exercise pre-pregnancy but they are really gentle and you can feel the stretching your leg muscles, arms, back and working your neck and pelvis which apparently eases delivery of babes. it takes about 30 mins all in all and has some good breathing techniques too.

i always found yoga and exercising boring but this is fantastic.
ANY ONE TRIED IT?
sorry for long post!

 

[gingerpig]

Sounds cool! If you're not used to doing yoga, make sure you're not doing any stretches which can put pressure on the abdomen - sun salutation, the bit in the cat where you dip (not arch that bit's ok) your back, I think the Triangle, etc. I'm not a yoga teacher so I dont know lol, but it's worth checking which are ok. That is assuming it's not a yoga dvd especially for pregnancy, if it is lol, then feel free to ignore me Sounds like you got a great deal as well.

I love yoga and really enjoy it. I'm going to a maternity yoga class and I've bought a book to do a little every day. I've done it on and off for years though, (more off than on lol) and before I knew I was pregnant I was doing abdominal stretches lol. I think it's most important to be careful during the 1st trimester when the placenta is forming, but I could be completely wrong, and it doesn't apply to you anyway lol. Good luck!

 

[Oliver's mummy]

Sounds cool! If you're not used to doing yoga, make sure you're not doing any stretches which can put pressure on the abdomen - sun salutation, the bit in the cat where you dip (not arch that bit's ok) your back, I think the Triangle, etc. I'm not a yoga teacher so I dont know lol, but it's worth checking which are ok. That is assuming it's not a yoga dvd especially for pregnancy, if it is lol, then feel free to ignore me Sounds like you got a great deal as well.

I love yoga and really enjoy it. I'm going to a maternity yoga class and I've bought a book to do a little every day. I've done it on and off for years though, (more off than on lol) and before I knew I was pregnant I was doing abdominal stretches lol. I think it's most important to be careful during the 1st trimester when the placenta is forming, but I could be completely wrong, and it doesn't apply to you anyway lol. Good luck!

Thanks Gingerpig , it is a antenatal DVD, and my OH makes sure i don't hurt myself or the baby, he's really protective

i don't find it too difficult to manourve(sp?) right now as i have a really tiny bump!

just thought i'd mention have scan tommorow sorry if irrelevant but just so excited!!!

Thanks again for your advice

 

[gingerpig]

Cool - that sounds like SUCH a good deal, don't think we have a netto's near us.. Great that you've got such a lovely protective OH as well, bless, is he all excited? At 7 months my bumps is still not the biggest lol, and I'm really loving the yoga!

Good luck with your scan - it is really exciting!

 

[Oliver's mummy]

Cool - that sounds like SUCH a good deal, don't think we have a netto's near us.. Great that you've got such a lovely protective OH as well, bless, is he all excited? At 7 months my bumps is still not the biggest lol, and I'm really loving the yoga!

Good luck with your scan - it is really exciting!

yes my OH is sooo excited he talks to the bump on a night, if i'm near him baby wriggles about all the time, must know his voice as it is really deep!

did you choose to find out the sex at your 20 week scan, did you have to pay? we have to pay £4 into a machine and get a stamp!

do you find yoga more difficult with your big bump 8)

Sarah and (small) bump

 

[gingerpig]

Surprisingly no, I'm not finding yoga that difficult with the bump lol. I would have thought it would throw my balance right off, but I'm the same with the balance postures which is cool.

We didn't find out the sex, but we did give a donation to the hospital. We were only supposed to get one picture, but the scanner gave us 3, so we gave a bit extra. Are you thinking of find

Bless your OH, Ian's not yet got into the habit of bump talking yet. He's out of the country atm, but he said on the phone last night that he really must get into it which was sweet. He's having such a nesting instinct atm - which explains why we've already got the nursery sorted and have done for 3 months lol.

 

[Oliver's mummy]

Surprisingly no, I'm not finding yoga that difficult with the bump lol. I would have thought it would throw my balance right off, but I'm the same with the balance postures which is cool.

We didn't find out the sex, but we did give a donation to the hospital. We were only supposed to get one picture, but the scanner gave us 3, so we gave a bit extra. Are you thinking of find

Bless your OH, Ian's not yet got into the habit of bump talking yet. He's out of the country atm, but he said on the phone last night that he really must get into it which was sweet. He's having such a nesting instinct atm - which explains why we've already got the nursery sorted and have done for 3 months lol.

i suppose if your used to doing yoga, you'll have quite a good sense of balance 8)

i probably will find out the sex if little one flashes us fingers crossed.

i haven't got anything for a nursery as yet, as i am waiting for to get a house i will prepare nursery asap though, i can't wait

did you get impatient and do the nursery, i would if i could have done

 

[gingerpig]

No I wasn't really that impatient about the nursery, the most difficult thing was when Ian had to drag me away from all the baby toys in John Lewis lol. Ian was so keen to get it done, way before I was really thinking about it, so I didn't have time to get impatient lol. I was quite glad he did most of the work though, as it was really dusty and made me feel awful. I was quite impatient to get a pushchair and that off our local freecycle, so we've got all the equipment we need, however we've decided to go out and buy new in the sales anyway....

Hope you get a new house soon, what are you waiting on?

 

[ScottR]

Hi all

I've been missing a wee while as I try to set up my Prenatal Yoga class, so I just checked in on this message.

It's better than noting, but it's always much better to find a Yoga class for learning Yoga than books or DVD's, there's just SO much they cannot tell you.

It may seem strange but it's not always about doing yourself an injury. One thing that people who really don't know much about Prenatal Yoga is that the way you should be practising is almost the total opposite of a general class.

In a general class we look at building tone and flexibility in terms of the physical body - we tighten everything up. In Prenatal classes we go for elasticity, a relaxing of the muscles (particularly in the perineal area and the abdomen) for obvious reasons - tightening up is counterproductive, will actually make your birth more difficult.

There are also lots of excellent techniques in Yoga to help make your pregnancy, birth and motherhood a more enjoyable experience, but most of those will not be taught on a video - practices like the perineal exercises (sahajoli mudra, ashwini mudra and mula bhanda) which are far more useful than Kegels (counterproductive) and also better breathing techniques. Also the use of sound to help labour and to soothe your baby.

You will also be unlikely to find these practices if you go to a general yoga class, even if the teacher thinks they are capable of adapting postures they still will not be meeting your pregnancy needs to the full possibility that Yoga has to offer. As a Yoga teacher I didn't even realise this until a recent course I did.

Please also bear in mind that it's generally not recommended to do Yoga in pregnancy until about week 16.

Anyway, I came to this forum to answer any questions about Yoga in Pregnancy (pre- and post-), hope some of that interests you. I previously tried to post a link that would help people find YfP classes in their local area but this was stopped by moderators so if anyone wants to find their local classes please email me and I'll do my best to help.

I hope you don't mind the intrusion, I'll post some thoughts on my own experiences and those of my students in here once my classes are up and running in January 2007.

Take care and have a great Christmas,

Scott

 

[topbird]

Hi Scott

I have been doing yoga on and off for about 7 years. I told my yoga teacher immediately (at 6 weeks) and she said it was fine to carry on with the class. But you say not until 16 weeks???

She has been teaching for about 15 years and has 3 children of her own - she taught throughout all 3 pregnancies, so I had hoped she knew what she was talking about.... am confused now.

 

[ScottR]

Hi all

16 weeks is the guideline time from the British Wheel of Yoga, but as with many things relating to Pregnancy Yoga there are different opinions (and, confusingly, medical evidence that often backs up both arguements).

The bottom line is actually that there is very little in Yoga that could harm you. Deep twists should be avoided. However as the first trimester, particularly weeks 12-14, is the time when most miscarriages naturally occur, it is often worried that people may come to Yoga and then blame a miscarriage on the "new thing" they have been doing. So it is advised that teachers don't accept students until 16 weks, especially if they are new to Yoga.

Also the first trimester is generally regarded as a time for rest and relaxation, so if you do Yoga it really shouldn't be the same as everyone else in the rest of the class.

It's all about how much the class meets your individual needs,and a general group class doesn't do this as well as a specific pregnancy Yoga class. This is what I mean about the difference between even a good Yoga teacher and one who has had specialist training. Even good Yoga teachers, unless they have a great knowledge about pregnancy from work or study, do not know enough about pregnancy to truly adapt a practice to focus in on the real needs of the mum and baby.

I am not being disrespectful here, just stating what is obvious to me now after doing my training. A general Yoga Teacher is like a doctor who is a general practitioner - as soon as their patients show something out of the ordinary they give over to a specialist.

>>She has been teaching for about 15 years and has 3 children of her own<<

I am not questioning your teacher's ability to teach. I am merely pointing out that your needs are so different from the rest of the class, so it would be in your interests to do a class tailored to those needs.

If you go to your usual Yoga teacher (particularly if it is someone whose approach you are used to and you have a good ongoing practice), you may benefit slightly from the practice and it's unlikely you will do any harm.

If you go to someone who has had specialist training and experience in this area, they will give you a class that is specially designed to open out your body, nurture you, allay your fears, stabilise hormonal imbalances, realign your body, and also the experience of doing the class along with other pregnant women will be a great experience in social bonding.

This is what I am trying to get across - it's a totally different experience. And you, and baby, will benefit much more from the specialist. It's the same for post-natal Yoga too - you can get a bit fitter in a general Yoga class or you can really have your needs addressed in a specific Post-Natal Class. Your teacher may well disagree with this, feel their ego dented - I too might have done this before I saw the real difference in person. I am not saying your teacher is wrong or that she is not good enough, just that the experience of a specialist class will be better for you and baby and THAT is what matters.

Hope this adds clarity, if it's more confusing then please yell and I'll try again

Take care,

Scott

 

[gingerpig]

Well you've confused me on two main points, which seem to go against medical wisdom...

1) In all of my pregnancy books miscarriages are said to be most common up until week 12, when the placenta forms. You say

first trimester, particularly weeks 12-14, is the time when most miscarriages naturally occur

which would be after the placenta has started to form.

2) You claim that pelvic floor exercises are counter-productive. A lady in my maternity yoga class has just had her fourth child, does PVE and found she could stop her pee mid-flow a few hours after labour. It is a British Wheel of Yoga class. As you claim that medical evidence can often be used to support both sides of the argument, how can you then claim that PVE are counterproductive?

 

[ScottR]

Hi Gingerpig

Thanks for your questions. In the interests of not sowing further confusion, maybe I need to stop posting late at night...

I'll start by quoting the BWY advice verbatim:

"It is strongly advised not to teach asanas to pregnant women until the pregnancy is well established- say from 15 weeks onwards. There is a high incidence of miscarriage in the early months, especially between 12 and 14 weeks."

Re the 'danger zone', if you search the Internet you'll find a variety of opinions on when the most dangerous period is - some say 9-10 weeks, others say up to 20, but most indicate around 12. The important thing to remember is that this is never a strict timetable - every pregnancy is individual and timings are only average and very vague.

16 weeks then allows for errors in people calculating the date they fell pregnant. Wouldn't you agree in this area that 'better safe than sorry' is the only way to proceed? Most people equate Yoga with just the postures, and with going to a group class - it is entirely possible to practice Yoga in the first 16 weeks, it's just that the posture (Asana) work should not be the emphasis of the practice. And that is what happens in most Hatha yoga classes, they emphasise postures. - hence my advice to (as you have done) go to a specialist pregnacy Yoga class.

And, dealing with your second point, I did NOT say that pelvic floor exercises are counter-productive, but I will quote the part I think you are referring to, and explain further as on re-reading it I can see that it could have been explained it more fully...

"In Prenatal classes we go for elasticity, a relaxing of the muscles (particularly in the perineal area and the abdomen) for obvious reasons - tightening up is counterproductive, will actually make your birth more difficult. "

In Yoga we teach pelvic floor exercises known as Sahajoli Mudra, Ashwini Mudra and Mula Bhanda. These roughly equate to a tightening of the urethra, a tightening of the anus, and an upward lift of the vagina. That is vastly simplifying the experience so please don't read too much into words like 'tightening' as it's not 'all about that' (this post is great in highlighting why you should not try to learn Yoga from a book). Now you will also appreciate my anatomy is different so I'm not speaking from experience but from the experience of others (something that I hate doing), so forgive anything that is lost in transaltion.

The key word in the quoted paragraph is elasticity. My understanding of pelvic floor exercises as they are taught in ante-natal classes is that the emphasis is on toning the muscles = tightening. In yoga classes, we aim for elasticity, which is about maintaining tone but also learning to relax at the same time. It's like an elastic band - you can stretch it out to accommodate whatever it is wrapping around, and then when it is no longer wrapping anything it returns to its original shape/size.

My understanding is that outwith Yoga PVE's are all about tone and do not have the same emphasis on developing awareness that yoga practices brings (hence bringing in the relaxation/elasticity that really helps pregnant women). Also the idea of Kegel exercises seems to be for most people to treat your vagina as a sphincter (like the anus and urethra) and close it, when in fact it is not - anatomically it is more like a muscular coil. So it is more accurate to think of an upward lift/contraction of the vaginal muscles.

The main difference though is in the emphasis of how these exercises are approached. From medical sources I see exercises like Kegels being recommended to be done up to 200 times a day. In Yoga we recommend far fewer, and the emphasis is not on muscular tightening but on you becoming more aware of the muscles involved and gaining more control.

This then brings greater possibilities for you to control that area during childbirth and actually be able to relax that area during labour. You then have the relaxation during labour and afterwards, like your friend experienced, the tone is still there. Perhaps, form her experiences with a specialist maternity yoga class, she also develoepd awareness at the same time as she did the exercises and that helped her have an easier birth.

Does this make sense? (holds breath in anticipation) I welcome these questions as they help me put across my viewpoint more completely and hopefully they will help others who read this post.

How are you enjoying your maternity yoga class anyway? How do you feel they are helping you?

Scott

 

[topbird]

Thanks Scott...... sounds interesting! Have emailed the BWY contacts for my region to see if there is a class in my area - unless you can help with this.....

thanks

 

[ScottR]

Hi Topbird

Sent you a PM to try to help you out. In my own opinion the BWY is maybe not the best organisation to help you out, most of their teachers are not specially trained in pregnancy Yoga. There are a few organisations who specialise in training in Yoga for Pregnancy, in my opinion the best of these is Birthlight. However you could do a Google search for your area for "pregnancy yoga" and it would probably help. Would post the links to help people out if the moderator says it's okay.

Take care,

Scott