How to Teach Yoga to Pregnant Women

Set your classroom thermostat at room temperature. Never create the hot yoga classes that are 90 degrees F or higher. These environments can be dangerous to expectant mothers who are easily prone to overheating. It is also a good idea to provide a water fountain or cooler to help make sure that students remain properly hydrated throughout exercising.

Find out from your students what trimester they are in and ask about their comforts and discomforts. If sitting or standing a certain way is painful of uncomfortable for them, consider an alternative pose to teach them so as to maximize comfort while still helping them to achieve their fitness goal.

Begin your class with a breathing exercise. Teach your students about ujjayi. This breathing technique requires students to breathe in slowly through their nose until the lungs are full and then exhale slowly and completely. Learning ujjayi will help pregnant women learn to breathe properly and relax which can help them during labor by lowering blood pressure and reducing the impulse to tighten their muscles.

Make support structures such as chairs and wall space available to your students and try to avoid poses that require students to balance for long periods of time. Pregnancy throws off a woman's sense of balance and a fall could be dangerous to mother and child.

Do some mild stretching of the back, arms, and legs if possible by conducting a standing stretch or starting a brisk walk around the room. This helps to loosen the muscles and prepare the women for exercise. Avoid stretches that involve bending over the belly too far, especially for women in the third trimester as this can be difficult or painful if not impossible.

Start the exercise with a sitting pose such as the tailor's pose. Have the women sit against a wall on a yoga mat with rolled up towels underneath their knees with their feet touching out in front of them. Have students gently press their knees down as far as they can and hold the position. Remind them that they can come out of the pose at any time, or adjust for comfort and stability.

Help students on to their hands and knees so that the arms are shoulder width apart but the elbows are not locked. Instruct them to round out their backs and pull in their buttocks as they inhale and then to straighten back out as they exhale. Allow them to complete this exercise for a few minutes at their own pace. Students in their third trimester may want to skip this one as a hands and knees pose may be difficult to accomplish.

Position chair backs in front of your students and have them stand up and hang on to the back of the chair. Students who are farther along should be given a stack of books behind them. Instruct students through a basic squatting position, have them contract raise their chest, straighten their backs, and lower their tail-bones towards the floor. Those with books can rest their bottoms on the stack. Have them take a deep breath and as they exhale stand back up. This helps loosen the pelvic muscles which can make labor and delivery easier.

Finish the session with a side lying pose to cool down. Have students lie down on their left or right side, whichever is more comfortable, with their head resting on their arm and a body pillow between their knees and thighs. Take them back through the ujjayi in this position to finish the lesson.