Over the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of incredible women who were struggling with preparing for birth. I’ve also worked with some amazing yoga teachers on guiding their students through this transformative time. They’re smart, driven, compassionate women who do so much to set themselves and their students up for success.
But here’s the thing—no matter how dedicated they are, I’ve noticed they’re often making the same mistakes that are jeopardizing their yoga birth preparation
The good news? Once you recognize these patterns, you can make simple but powerful changes that not only feel better but make a real difference in how you approach labor and motherhood.
So today, I want to discuss the three most common mistakes in the hopes that discussing them will help you recognize the behaviors in your own life! And give you the chance to make a different choice that just might feel a whole lot better!
Mistake 1: Always focusing on external rotation for “opening the hips.”
I get it, nearly every yoga student, pregnant or not, says their hips are too tight, and there is also this image of birth being an action that requires a massive range of motion in the pelvis which then gets translated as turning the knees out in a deep squat. The thing is both of these are misunderstandings in our cultural picture of how movement and yoga influence the body. If the hips are chronically tight, then we actually need more than just stretching the overly contracted muscles. We need to look at the whole movement integration and see if those same tight muscles might actually be lacking strength to do the work they need to- or are they doing work that somewhere else should be.
Beyond the muscle strength/flexibility balance, there is a structural issue with only outwardly rotating the thigh bones in a female body. Doing so, creates excessive contraction and narrowing of the base and back of the pelvis. And guess which tissues need to be pliable and responsive for a baby to emerge in birth? You guessed it- the back and base of the pelvis, along with several others as well. If we are looking for holistic body balance in yoga (and I think we should be), then especially for a female pelvic structure, we almost need more focus on internal instead of external rotation. Try it out for yourself and see what you feel.
Mistake 2: Assuming advanced students will know when to stop when practicing while pregnant.
Ah the age old teaching cheat. ‘Oh you have a longtime practice? Then you must know what to do.’ Yes, advanced students may have a deeper awareness with their body’s mobility and overall function, and they may be able to create more subtle shifts within an existing posture, but all too often people who have been practicing for a long time have also developed advanced “cheats”. The body doesn’t want to release its tight spots- it has them for good reason, and advanced students have often found the workarounds for those pinch points to they can still gain the range of motion and the “shape” of the pose, without diving deep into their own internal patterns. Why does this matter in pregnancy? Well in pregnancy the body’s hormone balance shifts, making out connective tissues more elastic. This sounds good until we remember that our ligaments (made of connective tissue) are meant to stabilize joints from moving too much. Advanced students are also prone to pushing their range of motion. Ever looked for “the edge”, and this sets them up for over stretching and destabilizing joins that need structural support. Remember those tight hip muscles- guess what might be supposed to be doing that stabilization work- Yep, the connective tissue.
So what’s the shift we need? Well here’s where that increased sensitivity in advanced students is actually their advantage. Can they feel where the 50% mark is and not go further? What does it look like to play not with the range of motion of a pose, but with the internal experience? Now we not only hone our internal awareness, but we develop the deep strength that just might restore the birth balance we needed in the first place! And bonus, fewer injuries and overall body pain!
Mistake 3: giving outdated alignment cues like “square your hips”, or “tuck your tail.”
It’s my small crusade in yoga to stop having people trying to follow cues that weren’t designed for a female body. Trying to lock the body into specific shapes, or constantly pushing the bones in one direction (such as tucking the tail) leads to excessive strain on internal joints (remember the hormonal shifts and increased flexibility) and and also doesn’t allow the body to find it’s new internal balance as the center of gravity and body shape change. By the time we are ready to give birth the center of gravity can be as much as 4 inches further forward. As a result of this the spinal curves in a pregnant body actually deepen to increase shock absorption. But if we then try to flatten out a lower back curve, we take away the very wisdom the body was working with.
It’s key to remember that many of the alignment cues taught in most yoga teacher trainings were originally developed by MALE yoga teachers. Think about it, Mr Iyengar, Mr Krishnamacharya, Mr Jois and so on were never pregnant (and they were usually teaching 13yr old boys!) So why are we following cues designed for male bodies when we are practicing in a female body structure? The solution? Start looking for function over perfect form. Do the joints feel spacious inside? Are joints able to move within the shape of the pose? Do things feel floating or collapsed? This guides us into a more balanced practice, and one which ultimately supports female body structure far better, in pregnancy, and lifelong.
I hope this was helpful.
Keep an eye on your inbox because in a few days I”m going to be opening registration for a newly designed program to help people learn how to go deeper in their understanding of working with movement during pregnancy and I have a feeling you’d be amazing in it. (Psst, yoga teachers, you would definitely benefit from this one!)