What does this mean for your yoga practice? It depends. If you have a strong, consistent practice, not much has to change, but being pregnant is not the time to “go big” with new yoga poses that your body has never done before. While I always admire the courage of anyone trying to improve their practice, pregnancy is not the time to be introducing new, strenuous movements or routines into your life. So with that in mind, here are simple guidelines to keep you and your baby (or babies) safe, happy, and healthy while still practicing yoga during pregnancy. “General guidelines are to keep the heart rate under about 140 beats per minute, and be able to speak while exercising without panting,” says Wendie Trubow, M.D., MBA. “You also want to avoid highly heated environments so that the core body temperature stays close to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.” It’s also a good idea to avoid raising your heart rate too much, and to avoid heating pranayama or retention. Plus, your baby is now much more secure in the place where it will continue growing for the next several months. Your yoga practice now should be entirely about opening, preparing for birth (with lots of hip openers), and nurturing yourself and your growing offspring. If you haven’t already, now is definitely the time to get into a prenatal class or find some prenatal yoga routines online.
