The experienced students go get mats, pillows, and a belt. The new women follow their lead and make a nest on the floor. The room is big and quiet; the women talk softly or not at all. Some move directly into a yoga pose, legs up against the wall, giving their weary feet a rest from carrying the extra weight of pregnancy. The teacher, Louann Harlow, comes in and greets each woman by name. “All right,” she says, “Let’s begin”.

They stand in front of their mats; bare feet feeling full contact with the floor. “Rock on your feet to find your center,” Harlow instructs. “Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Hear the sound of the ocean in your exhale. Beautiful.”

Through the full, rhythmic breaths Harlow teaches in this modified Ashtanga Yoga class, the women relax into their bodies, moving into the present, taking a moment to be with their babies and with themselves.

“Yoga gives a pregnant woman an understanding of herself and her body more,” said Harlow. “Practicing gives her more confidence for all the changes of pregnancy and in labor.”

Yoga can strengthen the pelvic floor, the abdomen, and the legs. It can stretch and ease back and shoulder aches. But the main benefit it provides pregnant women is the use of the breath. “A women knows her body through the breath,” said Harlow. “It has many benefits- it gives the baby more oxygen, it gives the mother more energy, and it can be very useful in labor and delivery.”

Amy Colo, a midwife in Boulder, Colorado, also teaches prenatal yoga. “I am a firm believer in yoga for pregnancy,” says Colo. “It helped me when I was pregnant and I can see the changes in the women in my classes. They know how to go deeper into their bodies.”

The women in both classes breathe, stretch, and hold poses. Towards the end, Harlow has everyone re-create her nests and lie down, knees bent. The women in late pregnancy lie on their sides, sinking into deep relaxation

After Harlow brings them back from their private meditations, the students return pillow and mats to the shelves and begin sharing their pregnancies. The yoga class not only provides preparation for pregnant bodies but also for pregnant spirits. It is a place they can support one another, revealing emotions, and concerns with women literally in the same state. It’s a powerful thing to be in a room full of bellies, full with new life.

Harlow and Colo also invite postpartum women to join their classes and bring their young babies. Many women find themselves isolated after birth. Practicing yoga with other women gives them a chance to reclaim their bodies and be with other mothers. The same benefits such as strengthening the pelvic floor and easing shoulder and neck tension are equally applicable to post-partum women. Their bodies are recovering from birth and the adjustments to nursing and motherhood. Harlow suggests waiting at least four weeks before starting yoga again.

Yoga is one of the best practices a pregnant or postpartum woman can do. It’s gentle but very effective. And it feels great. Just ask one of the women with the graceful walk coming out of a yoga class.

Copyright © 2002 Anna Stewart. All rights reserved worldwide.