When Stacy Broussard talks about prenatal yoga, her eyes light up and the inflection in her voice changes. “Pregnancy is such an amazing miraculous thing,” she says. “I think our bodies are incredible—that’s part of why I love yoga.”
Broussard has been practicing yoga since she was 11 and found a yoga mat and a Denise Austin VHS tape that her mom purchased. She used the tape until she didn’t need it anymore; she had memorized the sun salutations and the standing poses. In 2006, at the urging of a friend, Broussard quit her high-pressure job in art sales to attend a month-long yoga training in Mexico. And she’s never looked back—since her return, she’s been a teacher at Urban Breath.
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How long have you been teaching prenatal yoga? Almost nine years. I started practicing prenatal yoga when I was pregnant with my first. When she was a few months old, I did a weekend prenatal yoga training and then started teaching it.
What should moms know about prenatal yoga? There is a lot of conflicting information on prenatal yoga. Things like don’t do yoga while you’re pregnant, don’t go upside down, or don’t twist at all. Then the other information is like if you’ve already been doing yoga, you can pretty much do what you’ve been doing but make modifications to make space for your belly. This is more of the school of thought that I go with. When I was pregnant, I kept doing what I was doing and modified if I needed to.
What sort of modifications? Taking your feet wider so your belly has space between your legs. There are a few things that you shouldn’t do—like don’t lie on your belly, because it’s not comfortable. Don’t hold your breath, because you could pass out.
What are the advantages of prenatal classes? One benefit that is so beautiful is the community aspect. You get to be in a room full of other pregnant women, instead of being the only pregnant person in a normal yoga class. A pregnant woman can certainly go to a regular yoga class, but she’s going to have to modify a lot of the poses, so she’s going to get a more comfortable experience going to class that is specifically prenatal.
I spend the first 15 minutes of my prenatal classes having everybody share—who they are, how they’re feeling, how far along they are, what’s going on with them that week—so that gives me really good insight on how much I need to modify.
Do you get moms-to-be that are new to yoga? I think it is a gateway. It’s mixed, though. There are a lot of people who have done yoga before, and there are people who have heard, “Oh you’re pregnant—you should do yoga.” People are very motivated in pregnancy to take good care of themselves. And other times it’s people who have been doing yoga for a long time and want to make the proper modifications, and sometimes it’s a little bit of both.
But I notice that people fall of the wagon once their baby is born. It’s harder. Before you have children, you can just get up and go do whatever you want based on what your schedule allows, but once you have a baby, three people’s schedules come into play.
What are some of the mental benefits of prenatal yoga? Pregnancy is a huge transformation, because a mom is now rearranging her entire life to fit around this new person in her life, so it can be a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. Most people find a mental release from being with the breath.
In prenatal yoga, I focus a lot on letting go of the fears and the stories we’ve heard about what birth is like and what parenting is like. Your experience is your own and being present is such a great way to prepare yourself for birth and parenting.
Physical benefits? There are so many. As the uterus grows and expands, if a mom is sitting a lot of the time, the uterine ligaments that attach the uterus to the sacrum get shortened. Then when she is trying to give birth, her baby is not able to necessarily get into the best birthing position, so yoga can help balance those ligaments.
The cat-cow flow, which is simple and easy, works as a uterine toner. It firms and strengthens the uterine muscles, which is going to make contractions more effective.
A lot of the poses we do focus on keeping the core muscles strong without over exerting the rectus abdominis [abdominal] muscle, which has a huge risk of separation. Almost every mom who’s had a baby has had some sort of abdominal separation. Backbend postures can make that worse, so we keep the backbends a little more mild.
Advice for moms-to-be who are new to yoga? Come dressed comfortably and bring some water. Come with an open mind, because yoga is different than people think it is. People think it’s just an exercise, but it’s really a holistic approach to mind, body, and spirit. And make sure you’re going to a class that has a teacher with some kind of prenatal certification.
Broussard recommend’s these prenatal yoga poses to get started:
Cat/Cow/Child
Begin on your hands and knees, with your hands below your shoulders, knees about mat-distance apart, and feet together. Inhale to lengthen your spine while tilting your head and tailbone slightly back.
Exhale as you round your spine and sink your hips back toward your heels. Repeat for 1–3 minutes. This sequence can help to relieve lower back pain and strengthen abdominal and uterine muscles.
Legs Up the Wall
Sit next to the wall and roll down to laying on your side with the back of your legs parallel to and against the wall. Slowly roll onto your back as you swing your legs up the wall. You can lift your hips to add a blanket or bolster under your pelvis if it’s uncomfortable to be flat on your back. You can stay here for 5–10 minutes, or as long as you are comfortable.
This pose helps to boost circulation, combat fatigue, and can help reduce edema.
Seated Twist
Women are often told not to twist at all during pregnancy. As long as the twist is done in a way that maintains space for her growing belly, twists are safe throughout pregnancy. Twists are wonderful for relieving constipation and back pain.
Sit on a bolster or folded blanket, bend your right knee, and slide your right foot back toward your seat. Place your foot wide enough to keep your belly inside of your thigh. Press your left hand down behind your left hip and right arm inside of your right thigh. With each inhale, root your sitting bones down and lengthen your spine. With each exhale, press your arm and thigh into each other to gently twist a little more. Hold for 5–10 breaths, and then repeat on the other side.
Supported Reclining Bound Angle Pose
Prop a bolster up at an angle using a few blocks. Sit with one hip at the bottom of the bolster and carefully lower down to your side and then onto your back. Make sure the bolster is all the way up against your sacrum (the back of your pelvis) and that your spine is centered with the bolster.
This is meant to be a relaxing and passive pose. If you feel a big stretch in you inner thighs or knees, you can place a blanket under your knees for more comfort. Hold in this pose for 5–10 minutes. Be sure to roll to your side to come up when you are done.
This pose is a great alternative to the traditional yoga relaxation pose, Savasana, as most women that are 20 weeks pregnant or more are not comfortable laying on their back. Be sure to come out of the pose if it is uncomfortable for you, makes breathing difficult, or makes you feel lightheaded.
For more information on prenatal classes, visit the Urban Breath website. If you are a yoga instructor wanting to be trained in prenatal yoga, find information on an upcoming training class here.
