I was the rather typical left-brained, career driven, 32 year old chartered accountant when I became pregnant with my daughter. I applied the same ‘hurdle’ theory to my pregnancy as I did to all other major feats and events in my life so far. If you study, plan, prepare then you will overcome the hurdle and get the best outcome, just like a qualification, wedding, moving home etc. You then get to relax and enjoy the fruits of your effort. Until you identify the next goal, that is!

I soon learned that pregnancy was far less predictable.I couldn’t control or really influence what was happening to my body. I ate well (when the nausea allowed me to) and I tried to sleep well (again, not always as easy as it sounds) but my body was growing, changing shape and generally just felt different each day. I didn’t actually look very different to anyone else for a while and I continued to work at my desk as I always had and travelled when necessary. I found the afternoons difficult, though, struggling with fatigue and by the time I got home I felt achy, uncomfortable and frankly pretty swollen after a day in the office. My remedy for this was to stretch and move. I walked and swam to keep myself feeling fit and I practiced yoga.

Yoga’s a gift

Yoga – it’s a gift for every body but particularly the pregnant body. I had a regular practice but I adapted this to what I felt I needed during my pregnancy. I attended a weekly pregnancy yoga class which gave me a lovely hour or so of time set aside to really focus on me and the amazing little human that I was somehow growing inside me. Of equal importance to the stretching, strengthening and breath work was the little community around me, I was in the company of women in exactly the same stage as life as me. In the office I was just the same person I always was and my pregnancy was very much below the surface, but in pre-natal yoga I felt like I was able to accept my new identity as a mother.

How yoga in pregnancy helped me

Practicing yoga during this pregnancy and my subsequent twin pregnancy was of huge support to me. I had methods of breathing that helped me in pregnancy to relax, to return to sleep and when the time came, to keep me relaxed and focused in labour. I learned wonderful stretches that I could do at home each night before bed to alleviate my aches and pains and I retained strength and flexibility in the right areas.

At 5ft 3” I managed to carry my twin pregnancy to almost 38 weeks with very little back ache and pelvic pain which affects many women. I attribute this health and strength to my yoga practice. After finding such support from yoga in pregnancy, I knew I wanted to share this with others and teach yoga.

Sharing my love of yoga

After careful consideration, I started my 200Hr CYS Glasgow Yoga Teacher Training with Judi Farrell at MCY. I was only 8 weeks postnatal after my twins but the training weekend each month together with assignments in between gave me this wonderful focus – I otherwise gave everything (and still do!) to my babies but this training was just for me. Completing my 200hr training meant I could then go on to specialise in Yoga for Pregnancy, which I did last year with Judy Cameron and the British Wheel of Yoga. I now teach Yoga for Pregnancy and Postnatal yoga in Busby, in Glasgow’s Southside.

Why you should practice yoga during your pregnancy

I now know, through two pregnancies and my studies in yoga anatomy, that sedentary, desk based jobs are pretty incompatible with pregnancy. Outside pregnancy, office workers are burdened with hunched shoulders, tightness in the hips, back pain and overall poor posture so apply this to a woman’s body where there is a growing bump, a shift in centre of gravity, joints flooded with relaxin, anxiety about pregnancy and childbirth, the list could go on… then you know women that these women are going to have one or two ailments to deal with!

Words of wisdom

If I could provide some advice it would be:

1) Keep moving

Walking and swimming are very effective ways of staying fit and active in pregnancy, although you may need to adapt your pace and stroke.

2) Stay hydrated

This is required to form amniotic fluid, produce extra blood volume (we have up to 50% more blood by the end of our pregnancy), build new tissue, carry nutrients, help indigestion and flush out your wastes and toxins as well as baby’s! Being well-hydrated also helps with fatigue.

3) Be kind to yourself

Take time to relax and enjoy your pregnancy. It can be tempting to work up to the eleventh hour to maximise time on the ‘other side’ but the last few months and weeks of pregnancy are when you will benefit hugely from self-care and preservation – after all your baby needs its mother to feel strong and capable as they approach labour, not frazzled! Find your ‘you-time’, be it pregnancy yoga, pregnancy massage, taking a long bath.

4) Breathe

Learning some simple breathing techniques can really help to calm you during pregnancy and labour. Shortness of breath is extremely common as a result of increased blood supply and our body’s changing shape. Staying fit and having some breathing and postural tools to use can be invaluable.

5) Connect

Try to be around other pregnancy women, it can be of huge support when you have anxieties around pregnancy, labour and bringing a baby home! A pregnancy yoga class is a supportive and nurturing environment for any woman in pregnancy and these friendships can last beyond pregnancy.

About Victoria

Victoria has practised yoga for over ten years, finding that it brought her balance as she trained and worked as an accountant. She loves the tradition, challenge and adaptability of Ashtanga yoga which she tried for the first time at Merchant City Yoga and has a real appreciation for how yoga can benefit the body wherever you are in life, having practiced during singleton and twin pregnancies and throughout her post-natal recovery

Wanting to share this appreciation with others, Victoria completed her teacher training with CYS Glasgow at MCY in 2017. She continued her studies with Judy Cameron and the British Wheel of Yoga specialising in Yoga for Pregnancy and now teaches pregnancy yoga classes in her local area.

“I believe every woman should have easy access to tailored yoga classes during pregnancy and postnatally; it is an amazing way to look after your mind and body and the classes create a lovely feeling of community”

Some resources

These come from one of our recent CYS Glasgow Yoga Teacher Training graduates who was pregnant for most of the course!

Online classes

Strength & Stability | Pregnancy Yoga | Tonic

Yoga for Pregnancy | Hips and Lower Back

Energising Flow | Pregnancy Yoga | Tonic

Ashtanga Yoga Prenatal Modifications

Books

Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan – “…a really brilliant book which complimented my yoga practice really nicely.” Chelsey

Birth in Awareness: A handbook in Prenatal Yoga by Gabrielle Earls

And also Yoga Sadhana for Mothers: Shared experiences of Ashtanga yoga, pregnancy, birth and motherhood by Sharmila Desai and Anna Wise

What do you think?

We’re looking at putting on a lunchtime Yoga for Pregnancy class here at the studio. If you or someone you know is pregnant and works in Glasgow City Centre, please could you share and complete this short survey about pregnancy yoga? Thank you!

TAKE OUR QUICK SURVEY

PS If you’ve found this post of interest please share as other people you know may find it interesting too…

Yoga in Pregnancy – the Benefits by Victoria Harris