If you’re pregnant, you might be wondering whether prenatal yoga is worth trying, especially as your body starts to change and your usual movement routines become more challenging. Maybe you’re dealing with aches and pains you weren’t expecting, or maybe you’re looking for a space where you can feel supported throughout pregnancy. We asked Laura Adelson, co-owner of Tangerine Yoga, about how prenatal yoga helped her navigate pregnancy, find relief from physical discomfort, and prepare for birth.
I went to my first prenatal yoga class when I was six weeks pregnant at Tangerine Yoga with Abigail Stevenson. While I enjoyed the experience, at six weeks pregnant, I could still do many of my other regular activities. I could go on long walks with my dog. I could still weightlift comfortably and go to our non-heated yoga classes, like Flow + Restore. It was later in my pregnancy that prenatal yoga became really invaluable for me.
Acid reflux, for example, was something I wasn’t expecting with pregnancy, and it was very bothersome. One of the cool things about practicing prenatal yoga with teachers who are also doulas is that Jessica Apfel and Abigail Stevenson could offer advice about how to relieve symptoms like acid reflux, and they could also give me modifications so I could participate in prenatal yoga comfortably. For example, instead of going into a full forward fold, I could put a block under each hand and stay in more of a half lift with a flat back, keeping my head elevated. Instead of downward dog, an inversion where the head is below the heart, I could take table top.
There’s a lot going on physically throughout pregnancy. As the baby grows, there’s more and more weight on the front of the body. It can put a lot of stress on the posterior chain - the low back and the glutes. My glutes in particular had a really tough time keeping up with it. When I tried to go on longer walks later in pregnancy, my glutes would seize and cramp up. That was disappointing for me because moving my body is part of what helps me feel like myself.
Although I couldn't continue long walks later in my pregnancy, I was able to do prenatal yoga throughout. The flow and more active, strength building sections of class became more important to me as I was able to do fewer of my pre-pregnancy activities. Examples of yoga practices that helped give my hips and glutes some relief later in pregnancy were things like hip CARs (controlled articular rotations) and hip-opening poses like Fire Log, also called Double Pigeon.
Especially later in my pregnancy, prenatal yoga became a really special, almost sacred place for me. There aren’t that many spaces truly catered to pregnant people. One time when I was about 5 months pregnant and flying home from Utah, I wanted to get a 10-minute massage during my layover. Once they found out I was pregnant, they wouldn't provide the massage. It can feel like, “Oh, nope, you’re pregnant, we don’t want to take on the liability of touching you."
“There aren’t that many spaces truly catered to pregnant people.”So it was really nice to have prenatal yoga where I could move my body, receive hands-on assists, and get support from Jessica and Abigail and from the other students in the room.
Jessica and Abigail always start class with circle time, where everyone can share how their week has been and what symptoms are most salient for them. Then Jess and Abby offer advice and help tailor the practice accordingly.
And sometimes it was just really nice to hear that other people were going through things similar to what I was going through. Things like rage from the hormones, or frustration with their partner, and having that normalized was really valuable to me.
I also really appreciated the role yoga played during my birth. When I was in early labor at home, my lower back started to get involved in the contractions and it was really painful. My doula had me move into a yoga position, similar to Child's Pose I think, to help shift the baby's alignment. Once I did that, my back muscles were no longer involved in the contractions. I was able to stay home longer - eating sorbet and watching the Princess Bride - rather than going to the hospital earlier.
My first piece of advice would just be to try it. If you enjoy it, great, but if it’s not for you, don’t force it. There’s already so much pressure on pregnant people to do certain things - I'd never want to contribute to that.
If yoga is something you enjoy and want to do during your pregnancy, I’d encourage people to start before the third trimester and to be as consistent as possible. Others could have a different experience, but based on mine, I'd want to be familiar and comfortable with a prenatal yoga class before the third trimester, which is when I needed it most.
In general, I believe people get the greatest benefit out of yoga by practicing consistently - at least once a week. And yoga's benefits are not only physical, but also social and emotional. When you come to prenatal yoga every week, you start to get to know the other people in your class and build a real sense of community.
Laura Adelson, MS, C-IAYT, is a yoga therapist and co-owner of Tangerine Yoga in Brooklyn, which she runs with her husband, Ian. Laura first joined Tangerine in 2017 and worked in nearly every role before she and Ian took ownership in 2020 to keep the studio and its community alive during the pandemic. She holds a Master of Science in Yoga Therapy and works with private clients at Tangerine’s downtown Brooklyn studio and in their homes throughout Brooklyn. Laura and Ian are also preparing to open a second Tangerine Yoga location in their neighborhood of Prospect Lefferts Gardens, where they live with their young son, Cillian, and dog, Iris.
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