Pregnancy Yoga – More Than Movement

Pregnancy yoga isn’t just regular yoga with a few adaptations… it is its own unique type of yoga, designed specifically for this phase of life. Yoga is so much more than just making some shapes and the Yogic Philosophy principles connect deeply to pregnancy, birth and parenting. 

Pregnancy yoga provides holistic preparation for mind, body, and spirit, helping you navigate the journey ahead with confidence and awareness.

Even after practicing yoga for 12 years, it was only during pregnancy that I truly appreciated the transformative power that yoga holds.

1. Connecting with your true Self

Yoga is based on the principle that your Spirit is the core of your being, the source of your joy. Your job, your role at home, the person you are with friends, are all roles that you take in life – and beyond those roles exists your true Self. Pregnancy brings a new role: Mother. This experience can help you connect more deeply with your true Self.

Yoga asks you to witness things in life with an air of non-judgement. The experience of pregnancy often means things change for you: you may be unable to exercise as you used to; you may have to let go of the things that you feel have defined you previously; your priorities may change. If you can observe the changes you experience at this special time without labelling them as good or bad, you can begin to see that you are more than the exercise you do, the things you have valued previously, the external things that you refer to as yourself. The observation of changes (as opposed to reaction to them) means you can begin to cultivate stillness in the mind which in turn brings you closer to your true nature, your Spirit or Self. If you’re able to witness things from afar, it becomes easier to accept the changes pregnancy provided you with. You may not run as far as you did before pregnancy….but you’re still You at your core.

2. Energy exchange

Yoga says that the Universe operates through energy exchange. The energy from your mind has the power to affect your physical body, the physical body can in turn affect the mind. Breath work in our pregnancy yoga sessions shows you how everything is linked. For example:

• Fast, shallow breathing can increase adrenaline and inhibit labour progress. 
• Slow, steady breathing promotes oxytocin, calm, and smoother labour.

Practicing breath techniques in Pregnancy Yoga lets you observe the inhalation as the energy of the Universe coming to you, and the exhalation as a return of that energy back to the Universe. Noticing our breath in this way helps you to see there is something greater at work than just you – this is surely truer than ever in pregnancy when life is being created within you!

Pregnancy gives you a chance to surrender to the needs of our body and bring you an awareness of the balance in life. Movement in pregnancy yoga is intuitive: move when your body needs it, rest when it calls for stillness, and notice how this evolves week by week.

3. Cause and effect

Every action, even a thought, has consequences. Yoga encourages you to trust your instincts rather than conform to external expectations.

For instance, in pregnancy yoga, striving to reach further in pose because you think it will look better to others might cause an unpleasant physical sensation, but moving slower or smaller might bring some physical and emotional release. Yoga encourages you to trust your gut instincts more often and be less concerned with what things look like to others.

Your pregnancy experience is unique to you. Mums to be often feel the pressure to keep going – “pregnancy isn’t an illness!” – but perhaps your body is asking you to rest and appreciate your experience. Others will be told not to overdo it but might actually feel full of beans still! Trust what your body needs in this moment. Your body knows what is best for your baby, it is supporting the creation an entire new life from 2 cells, without the interference of your mind and thoughts, so trust in that feeling in your heart. If something doesn’t feel right – in a yoga pose, in a relationship, with a decision you make – perhaps it is not what you truly need.

4. Give up the struggle

Yoga asks us to practice acceptance. Struggling against change creates stress and tension; acceptance brings ease.

Pregnancy can bring limitations: nausea, exhaustion, or physical discomfort. Resisting the challenges creates stress and tension in our mind and our body. Yet when you decide to accept that life has changed temporarily, this creates more ease. Pregnancy Yoga gives you a chance to learn ways to adapt and meet challenges by working with your breath, to control your emotional reaction when you meet moments of fear or anxiety. Practicing acceptance helps you to confront challenges that lie ahead – if your birth plans change, you can deal with them.

Yoga encourages you to use your energy wisely rather than be drawn in to emotional battles. When you are pregnant, everyone wants to shares their opinions with you and often these can be quite polarised. This may make you feel confused, annoyed or frustrated, but you can choose to listen to others points of view and accept that they be different to your own. Everyone has their own unique journey that has led to their own choices and beliefs. You have yours – trust in them.

5. Set intentions (but practice detachment!)

Yoga recognises that everything is made of the same stuff so the thoughts are given as much weight as the physical: your mind and body experience the same reality, just in different ways. It follows on that you and the Universe are different manifestations of the same stuff too! Therefore, your thoughts have the power to influence your experience. I think this concept is really powerful in pregnancy and exactly why making birth plans can be useful. 

Setting an intention organises and strengthens possibilities. The power in a birth plan is not that you need to follow it to the T and be disappointed if things change in the moment, but that you investigate and consider the possibilities. For instance, if you imagine having a water birth at home but don’t formulate this intention explicitly it is unlikely to manifest – you won’t have a pool in your house, you won’t have the support, you won’t be prepared! However, if you intentionally plan to have a water birth at home you will have the motivation to find a birth pool, to contact your midwife, to make the necessary preparations. It’s then much more likely to happen, just from a practical point of view! Writing down our intentions and desires for birth gives them more power.

However, the paradox is that yoga also suggests you practice detachment. Being open to how things actually unfold is essential. The mystery and adventure of life lies in being open to what comes about, rather than controlling what unfolds. To continue with the above example, if on the day of labour the home water birth is unable to materialise for any reason, surrender to the greater force at work. Setting intentions for different birth scenarios is super powerful for this reason – if your first intention cannot manifest, perhaps your second ‘best’ will have more strength and no doubt be more preferable than ‘the luck of the draw’.

Movement practice in pregnancy can help you practice not being set on a particular outcome. A pose you felt comfortable in at 16 weeks might be unattainable at 36 showing you that you are able to adapt and respond to changes. Again, practicing breath work in pregnancy illuminates its power. Whilst you may not be able to control the events of birth specifically, you can control our breath – this in turn controls our emotional response, our hormonal response and then the physical process of labour. Know that your true Self is the only source of security and embrace the uncertainty of your journey – again when is this truer than in pregnancy? Nothing is certain in pregnancy and your feelings (physically, emotionally and mentally) are in constant flux yet your body has had the wisdom to grow this baby and create an entire new life. You’ve got this!

6. Everything and everyone has a purpose

The yogic law of dharma states that every being in life has a purpose. Every single cell in your physical body has a job to do and so does every other cell in the whole Universe.

In pregnancy, your body has done exactly it’s job to create a new life: it has been the shelter, the nourishment, the energy your baby needed to grow. In labour, every part of you is able to work with your baby to birth them. Your hormones trigger labour to begin and to continue, your uterus contracts to build strength to birth your baby, your breath fuels your muscles with oxygen and your heart pumps this energy to them. 

But also your baby will play a role – they will find the optimal position for birth, they will turn to fit through the pelvis, they will not breathe until they leave water… You’re always in this together – through your yoga class, through your whole pregnancy, through your birth experience.

I truly believe that pregnancy and motherhood are a magical and transformative time. Your mind opens up to the possibility of something more, you come to realise your own power (and perhaps how society has been suppressing it, but that’s another blog!) Notice how you and your baby have been on this journey together, just the two of you, both completely and effortlessly fulfilling your roles. Think about what you want, set a birth plan or preference (or several!) to focus your mind and help you research your options and your rights, but remain open to events that unfold. Release tension, relax the mind, breathe.

Trust in your body, Trust in your baby, Trust in the Universe.

NB. This post is inspired by the work of Deepak Chopra in ‘The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga’. A comprehensive and accessible read if you are interested in yoga philosophy.

Join me for a regular Pregnancy Yoga practice in BS15 and BS4 and feel the power of yoga for yourself.

Tuesdays 6.30pm at The Langton Wellness Hub

Thursdays 6.30pm at Hanham Community Centre