The Benefits of Yoga During Pregnancy 

Pregnancy is a huge part of life – both throughout the prenatal phase, and as you adjust to your lifestyle postpartum. Staying active during pregnancy is a priority for many – and modified FS8 workouts can help you achieve that goal.  

Health professionals recommend yoga during pregnancy for variety of reasons. The benefits of yoga for back pain include helping you deal with the stresses of a changing body, elevating your strength, and boosting your flexibility and mobility. 

When pregnant, you want to be informed about the safety of any form of exercise – particularly if it’s your first time. So, communicate with your primary healthcare provider to see if it’s the right fit, as during pregnancy and postpartum you’ll require clearance from your medical practitioner before attending classes. To learn more, we’ve put together this guide on the benefits of  yoga for pregnant women.  

The benefits of yoga during pregnancy 

When it comes to exercise during pregnancy, yoga’s versatility makes it a popular choice. Yoga can help you relax, work up a sweat, and there are also more gentle, meditative aspects that are more practical at different stages of pregnancy, too.  

Let’s explore the many prenatal yoga benefits below. 

Improved flexibility and strength 

Prenatal yoga focuses on improving your muscles and flexibility, especially in your hips, core, back and pelvic area. Muscle strength helps you support yourself as your bodyweight increases. Learning how to improve flexibility will ease back, groin and abdominal pain, too – and improving these areas not only promotes better birth outcomes, but may even reduce your risk of a c-section¹. 

Better posture and alignment 

Your body alignment is crucial for safely carrying out daily activities, such as household chores, getting dressed and getting out of bed. But when you’re pregnant, your pelvis can tilt forward, causing increased lower back curvature. 

Yoga during pregnancy involves many poses (bird dogs, lunges, side planks) that train your body to stand walk, sit and lie in ways that reduce strain on your back – allowing you to maintain a healthy posture as your baby grows. 

Preparation for labor

One of the key prenatal yoga benefits is the way it helps you prepare your body for birth, which can reduce discomfort when you’re in labour.  

Certain yoga pregnancy movements and postures can help to strengthen the pelvic floor: and the abdominal, deep hip and gluteal muscles that support it. During labour and childbirth these muscle groups are engaged, so increasing their strength, flexibility and endurance with prenatal yoga can make for an easier, less painful labour and delivery². 

Stress reduction 

As always, the benefits of exercise for mental health should never be overlooked. Yoga during pregnancy already reduces your stress hormones through enabling better posture, flexibility, strength, and sleep. 

Better still, prenatal yoga stretches (glute spinal twists, pigeon stretch) and exercises may directly lower stress by relieving tension or aches in your body; and through the endorphins produced by building up a gentle sweat. 

Another way yoga helps reduce stress is through the social benefits of group exercise. It can be comforting and reassuring to perform yoga with others – for example, in your local FS8 studio – especially when they’re on a similar journey. 

 
Improved sleep quality 

There are a variety of ways yoga for pregnant women can enhance sleep quality. The best yoga for sleep poses to try are those that reduce back pain, making it more comfortable to lie on your back or side.  

Yoga also supports sleep by giving you greater control of your breathing – and, as a result, greater mental clarity, too3. Consciously inhaling and exhaling during yoga movements is like many breathing techniques for sleep, such as diaphragmatic, box and three-part breathing. 

Promotes mindfulness during labor 

When it comes to benefits of yoga for women, mindfulness can be a powerful practice for acclimatizing to uncomfortable changes to your body, challenges to your mental wellbeing and the physical pain of labour.  

The mind-body focus of prenatal yoga aims to help you change your relationship with new sensations in your body. By preventing the trigger of negative emotions or thoughts that come with pain (especially during labor), you’re less likely to be overwhelmed by the experience – and be less fearful of losing control⁴. 

Aids postpartum recovery 

Postpartum recovery can take several weeks – or months – and may involve both physical and emotional healing. 

Yoga for pregnant woman is an active way to build the strength of your core and pelvic floor muscles, so that any weakening of those muscles is reduced. However, the strain on your body can be dependent on other factors – such as the size of your baby, or the amount of pushing required during delivery – which makes active recovery particularly important. 

So, what is active recovery? Well, at FS8 it looks like a variety of poses for muscle healing and breath work. What’s more, we can modify our low-impact yoga classes, like FS8 Restore, to suit pregnant women – promoting a faster recovery postpartum.  

Trimester-specific guidance for yoga during pregnancy 

Because of gradual changes to your body each trimester, there are certain prenatal yoga movements you’ll want to focus on at each stage of your pregnancy, and others you’ll need to avoid. Below, we’ll guide you through what yoga poses you should prioritize at each trimester – as well as the movements you should steer clear of. 

Yoga during the first trimester 

In your first trimester, the initial changes to your body will make you feel tired. You may also be experiencing morning sickness and ongoing nausea5. That’s why the first trimester is the perfect time to practice a few gentle poses to enjoy more prenatal yoga benefits, such as breath work, mindfulness and meditation.  

First trimester poses to practice: 

• Tree pose. 
• Seated forward bend. 
• Garland squat. 

First trimester movements to avoid: 

• Forward bends. 
• Backbends. 
• Twists. 

Yoga during the second trimester 

During your second trimester, you may feel some of your energy return and feel less nauseous muscles6. As your baby gets bigger, your balance may also be affected6, so be mindful of this when performing yoga movements – avoid stretching all the way to your limits.  

As your bump grows, you’ll notice a bit more strain on your core and lower back. To prevent agitating these areas, avoid poses on your back for the rest of your pregnancy. 

Second trimester poses to practice: 

• Bound angle pose. 
• Triangle pose.
• Child’s pose 

Second trimester movements to avoid:  

• Anything on your back. 
• Forward bends. 
• Backbends. 
• Twists. 
• Intense abdominal contractions. 

 Yoga during the third trimester 

In your third trimester, your baby will be taking up a lot of space. At this stage, you’ll likely be feeling the most fatigued you’ve felt so far ⁷, so take it easy with your prenatal yoga routine. If you can only manage one or two poses, that’s normal! 

 Yoga for pregnant women is most difficult in the third trimester. We recommend performing all exercises next to a wall, chair or table to provide extra support. 

Third trimester poses to practice:  

• Warrior II. 
• Garland squat. 
• Side lying corpse pose. 

Third trimester movements to avoid: 

• Anything on your back. 
• Forward bends. 
• Backbends. 
• Twists. 
• Intense abdominal contraction. 
• Squats. 

The benefits of yoga during pregnancy are empowering, helping you stay connected and in full appreciation of your body as your baby grows. Want to know more? Explore our guide to the five types of yoga and their benefits. 

^{1  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7028270/}

^{2 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10518512/}

^{3 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213911121002193/}

^{4 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3846392/}

^{5  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6995862/}

^{6 https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/kidsfamilies/MCFhealth/Documents/having-a-baby/hab-stages-of-pregnancy.pdf}

^{7 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8663733/}