The magic of prenatal yoga teacher training
Training to be a prenatal yoga teacher has been a goal of mine since completing my 200-hour yoga teacher training with Spanda Institute back in 2019. So when I became pregnant with my first baby towards the end of 2023, I felt it was the perfect time to learn. This is my experience of studying the 85-hour prenatal and postnatal yoga teacher training with Gea Krajcar during my pregnancy. Of course, you don’t need to have experienced pregnancy yourself to teach a prenatal class – the most important thing is to offer a supportive, safe, and nurturing space for your pregnant students. Wondering about continuing your yoga education with a pregnancy yoga teacher training course? Here’s what I learned.
photography: Sanjin Kastelan
Why we need more pregnancy yoga classes
Pregnancy yoga classes offer something beyond a traditional yoga class. Not only are they specifically designed for a pregnant body to move safely, but they bring together women at a time when community is so important.
Community
The value of meeting people going through the same experience as you can’t be underestimated. And by including an ‘opening circle’ as part of each class, pregnant students have the chance to share what’s coming up for them emotionally or physically. And from my experience, that can be wobbly or tired one moment and excited the next. Pregnancy yoga classes meet every student where they are.
Strength over flexibility
So many people choose to continue with dynamic yoga in pregnancy, but this can risk injury when the body is changing, and the presence of the relaxin hormone makes everything looser. With that in mind, yoga during pregnancy focuses on building strength alongside restorative practices for deep relaxation. But it can also feel like a flow yoga class too. The course with Gea taught me that you can create a dynamic practice in pregnancy that’s safe for your students. It’s all about engaging the pelvic floor and deep core when doing stronger movements and using all the props – blocks, bolsters, blankets – to support the body to move more easily. I was astonished at how the feeling of a vinyasa class could be created for pregnant students – even into the third trimester. While you might be using a wall or chair later in pregnancy or stepping ‘Ashtanga style’ through a standing sequence, there was still a feeling of fluidity and the style of yoga I love.
Pregnancy yoga poses
Many familiar yoga poses can be adapted for a pregnant body, from virabhadrasana and vasisthasana to janu sirsasana and malasana. Learning pregnancy yoga poses is so useful even if you’re not planning to teach prenatal yoga – it means you’ll have the knowledge to support any pregnant student who could turn up to a regular class. For example, you can offer open twists, alternatives to supine poses, or help students adapt their stance in standing poses and lunges to make space for a growing bump. Unexpectedly, I enjoyed learning about how to sequence chair yoga for pregnancy too. And these poses can even be useful if I want to continue my education to teach students with restricted mobility or seniors.
Read more about the benefits of studying Spanda’s prenatal course.
Tailored for each trimester
Gea’s course was perfect as it was online and spread out once a month across six weekends. This wasn’t too much of a time commitment and it aligned so well with my pregnancy. The weekends focused on classes to suit different trimesters and this happened to fit with my own body, so I could really embody the practice. I learned how to safely create yoga classes for any stage in pregnancy and postnatally too. But the course with Gea is about so much more than sequencing. We covered anatomy, biomechanics of birth, theming, mudras, and meditation. We also explored what it’s like to give birth in modern times. There was an excellent guest lecture from a doula where we heard more about the importance of respecting the physiological nature of birth. Overall, it was the perfect mix of practical teaching, lectures, and practice.
Authentic, creative theming
The beauty of Spanda Institute’s sequencing method is that it gives you creativity but also a framework to guide you. I learned this method during my 200-hour training in Sri Lanka with Nina Vukas, and it followed through to this training so well (although you don’t need to have studied it before). I loved exploring the different ways to theme a pregnancy yoga class and how to connect it with my own personal experience. From learning to let go of expectations and plans to embracing new possibilities and change, I truly learned how to theme authentically and thread that intention (or sankalpa) throughout a class. The way Gea introduces wonderful mudras, mantras, and plays her harmonium created magical classes for all of us on the course – even on Zoom.
Birth preparation
The course gave me so many tools to use throughout my pregnancy and labour so, as I write this at 38 weeks pregnant, I feel confident in how to move intuitively and use my breath to help my baby move into the outside world soon. A personal favourite is the rebozo techniques. Using a scarf (rebozo is a Mexican shawl), a partner can give the pregnant student relief during contractions with a gentle hip squeeze or a supported malasana. Amazing.
What’s next?
I’ve enjoyed attending pregnancy yoga classes in Brighton where I live and see the value of creating a community for mums and mums-to-be, as much as the physical and emotional benefits of moving and maintaining strength in the body. Now I’m looking forward to bringing my pregnancy yoga classes to Brighton (when I’m ready and my baby is older). I’ll offer classes that are reminiscent of vinyasa yoga to encourage those who prefer a dynamic practice to transition to prenatal yoga and connect with their changing bodies. And importantly, I’ll create a welcoming space for anyone who wants to try yoga in pregnancy.
What I’m looking forward to most? Meeting my little one very soon and then using the tools I’ve learned to slowly – ever so slowly – build back strength in my body again while I nurture a new life.
Meet our Sangha
Catriona Fuller
Catriona is a copywriter, trained journalist, and certified yoga teacher based in Brighton (UK). She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Nina Vukas at Spanda Institute in Sri Lanka in February 2019. Since then she has trained with Gea Krajcar to become an accredited prenatal and postnatal yoga teacher. Yoga has been a big part of her life since 2012, initially in Hot Yoga and Ashtanga, but a need for a more mindful practice drew her to seek something new. Training with Nina, and additionally through studying women’s yoga and pregnancy yoga, Catriona gained a heightened respect for the body’s natural rhythms and how yoga can create balance in body and mind.
A yogi with an inner fire (Pitta), Catriona loves travel, music, nature, cooking and debating the roots of language. Combining her creative side and love of life by the seaside, Catriona’s classes are designed to inspire strength, calmness and a new perspective.
Follow Catriona on Instagram for updates, inspiration, and pregnancy yoga classes in Brighton.
