Saturday & Sunday, April 26-27, 12:30-5:30
Yoga can be a wonderful practice when pregnant, a source of continued health, balanced energy and more subtle bodily awareness as body and baby change day-to-day. It's also great preparation for giving birth and reintegrating the body when in the glowing presence a newborn baby. Whether you're pregnant or a teacher with either pregnant students or new moms, it's essential to practice or teach in a way that is informed by knowing what to do and not do during each trimester, after your baby is born, when lactating and under a variety of maternal conditions.
This 10-hour workshop is designed to give you a basic foundation for safely practicing and teaching pre/post natal yoga.
Topics include:
- Basic maternal anatomy and physiology;
- Guidelines for asanas (postures) specific to each trimester and various pre- and post-natal conditions;
- Adaptations and contraindications for a variety of asana and pranayama (breathing) techniques;
- What to expect and how to support emotional changes;Creative use of yoga props and hands-on adjustments to ensure safety and support;
- Pelvic floor exercises designed to ease delivery and recovery;
- Breathing and relaxation techniques designed to create more comfort during pregnancy, labor and early mothering.
Maternal Anatomy & Physiology
How is the female pelvis structured to accommodate reproduction? What are the essential features of the pelvis? How do the muscles in the pelvis function before, during and after pregnancy? What is the special place of the perineum in pregnancy, when is it at risk and how can that risk be reduced? How are the lower pelvic organs related and how does their interrelation effect pregnancy and delivery? What about the role of the abdominal muscles and diaphragm?
Guidelines for Asanas
What yoga poses - and other forms of exercise - are beneficial or possibly risky during pregnancy and in the early postpartum period (and during extended periods of lactation)? What poses are indicated and contra-indicated in each trimester? How do these prescriptions vary depending on the unique woman and specific conditions such as age, number of pregnancies and other factors?
Adaptive Yoga
Just as every body is different, so is every woman's experience of pregnancy. While there are a lot of common experiences, it's important to acknowledge and support the unique ways that women feel when pregnant and with their new baby. While some women remain very physically active all the way until their due date, others might be on bed rest. In yoga practice, these differences mean creatively adapting poses and breathing techniques to each woman's needs.
Emotional Changes
Pregnancy and childbirth can be among the most emotionally intense times in one's life. It's important to be attentive to shifts in feeling and to honoring those feelings as part of the larger process of change that is happening. Yoga teachers can create a supportive space for pregnant and postpartum students that makes it easier for students to relax and find the most joy along their path.
Hands-On Adjustments
Skillful, sensitive, appropriate touch and verbal cues can guide and support your pregnant students to a more conscious awareness and self-refinement in their pre/post-natal yoga practice. But before we touch and speak we must first see and understand the unique qualities present in an individual student's practice. This requires keen observation skills and an understanding of hands-on cues that both address common risks and encourage deeper inner guidance in a variety of poses.
Pelvic Floor Exercises
In traditional Hatha yoga, we have a practice called "mula bandha" that tones the lower pelvic muscles and stimulates the awakening of uplifting energy at the root of the spine. We can usefully build on mula bandha techniques to explore a variety of other pelvic floor exercises that have many benefits, including a stronger and more flexible set of perineal muscles, more subtle awareness of the lower pelvic organs and their surrounding support structure, much great ease in the delivery process and reduction of a variety of physical risks that often naturally arise in pregnancy.
Breathing, Relaxation & Delivery
Conscious breathing - pranayama - is at the heart of yoga. The ancient methods of pranayama offer many benefits during and after pregnancy, including more balanced energy (higher or lower as the need arises), deeper relaxation, less anxiety and more nuanced awareness of what;'s happening in your body throughout pregnancy, delivery and and beyond.
Price: $95 Early Bird (if registered by April 18th, $110 thereafter).
