Prenatal Yoga

Types of yoga to avoid: 

As described above, yoga for pregnant women can have a whole host of benefits and positive implications. However, some yoga types and poses are not recommended as they can have adverse effects on you and your body. Typically, it is advised to avoid hot yoga types, where the rooms are heated up (sometimes up to 40 degrees Celsius). You may be susceptible to hyperthermia, which is a condition when your body temperature is raised to a level not advisable for pregnant women. Always check with your studio if the yoga class you plan to attend is safe, and be sure to let your instructor know that you are expecting.

Poses to avoid:

While first-trimester yoga might seem easy, as your belly grows, so will the level of difficulty with yoga, as well as other exercises. It is important to make sure you avoid certain poses that may cause discomfort and complications during pregnancy. 

Twisting and revolving: 
It is good to avoid any poses that require you to rotate or twist your body, in a way that may pinch the belly and the developing baby. For example, doing the revolving side angle could be replaced with a regular side angle with the support of your knee.

Laying on your tummy:
Once you enter the second trimester, it would not be a good idea to lay on your tummy anymore, and you should definitely avoid doing any exercise that would require you to do so. 

Folding and bending forwards:
As you can imagine, it is also important to avoid any poses and exercise that would require you to bend forward and squeeze your tummy. Instead, you can do the same poses but with legs spread apart to avoid any pressure on the baby.

Many of the poses and their feasibility with pregnancy depends if you perfected those poses before the pregnancy or not. For example, a headstand would be fine to do if you were good at it before you got pregnant. Learning to do it, however, might not be a good idea.