How to adapt your sun salutations in pregnancy

I originally shared this information over on my instagram page, and it became such a long post I thought I’d share it here too, with the aim of supporting more yogis through their pregnancy. I hope it’s helpful!

It was great to welcome a new group of pregnant yogis to our Pre-Natal class this week. Our theme was Adaptation, as there is SO much to adapt to during pregnancy, birth and postpartum - physically and emotionally.

I personally struggle to adapt with my body changing; not the bump but expanding hips, bum, arms – all of it, despite sticking to my normal exercise routine and diet. I have no control over it, and it’s one big lesson on surrender and adaptation. Luckily I have a husband whose love language is words of affirmation and thinks me being pregnant is the sexiest thing ever and he showers me in compliments every single day. This definitely helps!

Then of course we have all the others changes - hormones, mobility, energy levels, interrupted sleep, discomfort (instability in the pelvis, pubic symphysis, sciatica etc), the joys of constantly needing the bathroom and changing family dynamics. As for birth, we often have to adapt to our original plan and then motherhood comes along and that’s a journey of constant adaptation!  You can probably start to see why I chose this theme for a pre-natal yoga class.

One of the elements of this class was learning how to adapt a sun salutation for pregnancy.

6 Steps to Adapt your Sun Salutation

If you are pregnant and would like to continue to practice Flow Yoga in a group class or online, follow these 6 steps:

1.           Feet Position

Position your feet wider than normal, to allow space for your baby

2.           Connection

Use the practice as time to connect with your baby – so start one hand on your heart and one on your baby

3.           Use blocks

For halfway lift, use blocks if needed OR place hands to shins (rather than finger tips/hands to floor)

4. Switch chaturanga / cobra > cat/cow

     Once you get to second trimester, you will probably not feel comfortable to lower from plank to the floor and come into cobra, as this will squash your bump. I find that after a while chaturanga is also not possible as it pulls too much through the front of the belly, which can cause abdominal separation. Instead, drop your knees so you’re on all 4s and come into cow* (inhale), and then cat (exhale) before moving back to downward dog.

Advanced option: For a stronger arm workout, from all 4s I do a push up and then move to cat

5.           Prevent abdominal separation

If it feels too strong to go from cat > downward dog, move from cat > child’s pose > downward dog. Notes: When you come into cow, have more of a neutral spine that you would normally, ie less of a backbend. This will help to prevent abdominal separation.

6.           No jumps

Jumping forwards or backwards is not advised, especially in the first trimester. Watch this space for my next blog post - “Yoga For Your First Trimester” where we’ll dive deeper into this.

Adapting to change with more ease & less resistance

We can use our yoga practice to help us find more inner strength and surrender, so we can adapt to change with more ease and less resistance. This is relevant whether we’re pregnant or not, but I find it particularly helpful during this season of growing a human.

Questions?

If you have any Qs about adapting your yoga practice during pregnancy, comment on my instagram post and I’ll get back to you there. Keep moving!