A grounding and smooth vinyasa yoga practice for mama’s in their third trimester; this prenatal sequence offers a well-rounded flow to strengthen and support the legs and low back. This class features Wave Theory from Shiva Rea’s Prana Flow. Connect to breath as you dance through several progressive waves, building heat and stability with lunges, warriors, chair pose, and triangle pose. Close your practice with seated poses to lengthen the inner thighs, low back, and hamstrings.
Style: Vinyasa Yoga. Prenatal Series – Trimester 3
Duration: 30-mins
Level: Open-level class
Props: 2 Blocks
Focus: Lunges, Triangle, Supported Bridge, Gate pose—no peak pose
Location: Haramara, Mexico
This practice asks that you create a state of calm in your body for you and your babe. As you sit and breathe, place your hands on your belly and feel your baby. What is the word you would like to fuel your practice with? Can you select one word for you and your baby to breathe into as you flow? Choosing a word gives the mind something focus on as you dance through practice; it acts as a mantra to connect with and allows for a more meditative state. Mantra quiets the habitual fluctuations of the mind by focusing on a set word or series of words, which will enable you to flow freely and feel the sensations of the body as you breathe and move.
Through yoga, we train our bodies and minds to become more disciplined in action and thought; practicing while pregnant treats you and your baby to all the benefits of the practice. The physical postures (asana) equally strengthen and lengthen the muscles and connective tissues that prepare the body for childbirth. Prenatal yoga may decrease the pain around the lower back and hips, and allow for better sleep and concentration. The attunement to breath, words (mantras), and meditation strengthen the mind’s ability to stay present and focus on the tasks at hand, which also prepares you for childbirth and the shift into motherhood.
Opening Meditation
Start seated and place your hand’s palm down on the belly, close your eyes, and feel your breath move through your body. Bring your palms to your stomach, and feel your baby as you breathe. Check-in, how are you doing today? How are the two of you doing today? What is the word you want to feel in this practice, to nourish you and your child?
Wave 1
Anahatasana (heart pose) take knees wide to allow space for your belly.
Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog) take feet wide to give the belly lots of room.
* You can always take tabletop on hands and knees if a downward dog is too much
Uttanasana (forward fold) take feet hip-distance or wider.
* Place hands on blocks or on thighs to support the weight of your baby
Roll up to stand with chin into the chest
Tadasana (mountain pose)
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Anjaneyasana (low lunge)
*Take hands inside the feet as you step back and the front leg wide to allow space for your belly
Ardha Purvottanasana (tabletop)
*Hands to blocks as you transition to a downward dog, or stay in tabletop pose
Marjaryasana (angry cat pose) to open the back body
Anjaneyasana (low lunge)
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Tadasana (mountain pose)
Repeat on the other side
Wave 2
Utkatasana (chair pose)
*Take feet wider than hip-distance to support the belly
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Anjaneyasana (low lunge)
Ardha Purvottanasana (tabletop) OR Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog)
Phalakasana (plank pose)
Knees to the ground, come to shins at the back of your mat for a Prana Flow breathing
Ardha Purvottanasana (tabletop) OR Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog)
Ashta Chandrasana (high lunge)
*Front leg a little wide to make space for your belly
Take back knee to the ground and kick-stand the back leg to the same side of the mat
Utthan Pristhasana (lizard pose) variation
Parighasana (gate pose) variation
Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2)
*Use a block on the inside of the front leg to support the transition to upright
Viparita Virabhadrasana (peaceful warrior)
Trikonasana (triangle pose)
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Roll up to stand with bent knees
Tadasana (mountain pose)
Repeat on the other side
Twisting Sequence
Utkatasana (chair pose)
Wide-armed twist from chair pose
Both palms to blocks and round the back to release
Repeat on the other side
Tadasana (mountain pose)
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Ardha Purvottanasana (tabletop)
Balasana (child’s pose)
*OR heart pose with wide legs to make space for the belly, place forehead to a block
Cooling Sequence
Setu Bandhasana (bridge pose) active, or supported with a block, for eight breaths.
Take hips to the ground and come up to sit.
Sukhasana (seated twist) variation
*Take the legs wide to allow space for your belly and twist in the same direction as the leg that’s extended, so you don’t compress the baby.
Janu Sirsasana (head to knee forward bend)
*Take hands inside the extended leg to bow forward and down, belly to the ankle that’s close to the groin, use a block or bolster to rest the forearms
Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose)
*Take elbows to a bolster or to blocks to support the weight of the belly and torso
Seated meditation with hands to belly to close your practice.