Prenatal yoga is designed to allow you to practice yoga with a few modifications to ensure your safety during pregnancy. If you are a beginner or haven't practiced in a while, you should stick to prenatal yoga during your pregnancy because it is gentler. However, if you've been cultivating a strong and consistent practice, you can expect to continue your regular yoga practice after your first trimester with the exclusion of poses that require lying on your abdomen. The "Yoga Journal" article "Yoga for Moms-To-Be" (see Resources) emphasizes a gentle practice for all moms in the first trimester due to the increased risk of miscarriage at that time. After the first trimester, a normal practice with prenatal modification will be safe as long as you follow your intuition.
Warrior II Pose
The Warrior II pose can increase your leg strength and generate courage and self-confidence. This pose is intended to invoke your inner sense of wisdom, courage and strong concentration. As a mom-to-be, you will likely find great use for these qualities during pregnancy onto delivery and beyond. To perform this pose, stand with your feet about 3 feet apart, turn your right foot 90 degrees to the right and bend your knee into a side lunge. With your arms outstretched at your sides, tuck your tailbone down toward the floor and lift your chest while looking out over the middle finger of your front hand. Then hold for several breaths and repeat on the other side. Practice the Warrior II pose as often as you like, and begin to deepen and lower your stance when possible. Allow your breath to flow naturally. This is a challenging posture, so you may be tempted to hold your breath.
Cat Pose
You can do the Cat pose while kneeling on your hands and knees and rounding your back up toward the ceiling. This pose will help you practice the pelvic tilt you'll experience during the baby's delivery. Perfectly safe during pregnancy, the cat pose will bring some relief to your overworked spine and internal belly organs.
Bound Angle Pose
In the Bound Angle pose, you can sit with the soles of your feet together and your knees moving away from each other. It will look like your legs are forming butterfly wings. You can hold the outside edges of your feet here and bring them as close to your pelvis as is comfortable. Lift from your sternum and bring your shoulder blades back and rotated downward. The Bound Angle pose opens and strengthens the hip flexor and pelvic girdle. Flexibility and strength in these areas helps create ease in childbirth.
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