PREGNANCY YOGA
“Yoga” means to unite or to bring together.
Yoga can play a key role in facilitating a smooth pregnancy and empowering the mother-to-be to have the most conscious birth experience. With yoga women deepen their connection to their own bodies, finding more comfort while they experience the rapid and unfamiliar changes of pregnancy. But more importantly, yoga does wonders for the physical and mental development of the baby.
My approach to yoga is non-dogmatic and my classes incorporate a range of Hatha Yoga traditions which are adapted to suit the overall dynamic of a class as well as each individual’s needs.
Women connect with their hearts and minds as they settle into the calm stillness of the meditative practice. By slowing down and paying attention, women also connect with their growing baby to form a loving bond before birth and to deepen this bond after birth.
Pregnancy yoga is suitable for mums-to-be from 12 weeks (although actually whenever you want!) and you can safely practice until your baby arrives. This style of yoga is a lovely gentle, supportive and nourishing practice. It will help you enjoy your pregnancy and also alleviate the common ailments sometimes experienced by expectant mums, such as back pain, pelvic girdle pain, aching joints, tiredness, fatigue and breathlessness.
In an antenatal yoga session you’ll learn a combination of yoga positions and movements to create comfort and space for you and your baby. You will learn breathing techniques to help you through your pregnancy and through childbirth itself and you will experience some lovely deep relaxation techniques, helping you stay calm and relieve the anxieties associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
Classes are a happy mix of women at different stages of pregnancy and with varied experience of yoga. All poses are clearly demonstrated and designed to help you feel your best as your baby grows. We also practice useful poses for labour and birth so that they become familiar, comfortable and easy to use instinctively in labour.
Breath awareness is an important element of each class. We learn how to employ the breath to release fear, tension and difficult thoughts, and we focus on variations of the breath and traditional pranayama to calm the busy mind. This equips mothers with a powerful tool to stay grounded and focused during labour.
Also importantly, women connect with each other, in a rare atmosphere of trust and camaraderie where they can speak freely about issues that non-pregnant friends and family don’t easily relate to.
Expect a class based on movement, sound, chanting, prayer and moving meditation. My weekly classes are gentle and informal. No previous yoga experience is required. Each class ends with a quiet moment to feel at peace with your growing baby, a cocoon of love and calm in our busy lives. The vibe in the classes is upbeat, nurturing and friendly. With candles burning, music playing and lots of warmth and good humour.
Dancing is a great way of staying active during labour. It’s fun, the music can help to keep you focused and gravity will be doing its job whilst you’re busy grooving away.
Hip circles are a great movement to help open up your pelvis and encourage baby to travel down the birth canal. What better motivation is there for doing hip circles than sticking on a song you love, turning the volume up loud and dancing like nobody’s watching? Plus, dancing is always fun – even when you’re in the midst of labour.
Another tool I find I find very useful is a verbal affirmation or encouraging self-affirmation through mantras. A mantra is a word or phrase that you say to yourself repeatedly, as a way of coming back to the centre. Mantras give birthing people a way of grounding themselves, finding empowerment and strength, and gives them something to grab onto when riding the intense waves of labour. Singing mantras is said to flow with the rhythm of life. They change your energetic existence by changing your thoughts. What a great concept for birth! Chanting is a fantastic way to promote relaxation during pregnancy and pain relief at birth.
This is an invitation to deepen your practice through dancing, singing, humming, breath sounds, mindfulness and vibrational wellness for labour and birth. Ultimately, women come to know themselves as a part of something greater, as the spiritual nature of pregnancy and motherhood connects them deeper into the circle of life.
I offer a number of weekly classes across London.
Private Yoga Classes
I also offer private one-to-one Pregnancy Yoga sessions anywhere in London. This is a great option for mums-to-be who don’t want to practice with an audience, don’t feel prepared to join a public class, or just have no time to go to a studio and prefer the comfort of their own home.
In private yoga sessions you have the chance to ask questions, break down postures and receive truly personalised alignment instructions.One-to-One Sessions can be booked as a one-off class or as part of a regular program and can take place at a venue of your choosing. It can be your home, office, or even your local park (weather permitting). This will save you travel time and hassle, and the relaxation benefits will be maximised.
Each class features sequences of postures (Asanas), breathing (Pranayama) and relaxation techniques to realign, nurture, recharge, balance and invigorate the mind and the body.
1:1 or small group at your home (75mins)
1 session: £140 + parking
3 sessions: £375 + parking
6 sessions : £720 + parking
Terms:
Payment is due on first session
Payment can be made by cash or bank transfer
Pre-paid sessions to be used within 3 months. Not refundable, but you can transfer to someone else
You can always re-schedule an appointment without charge please give me as much time as possible
To book a class or for more information, get in touch
Pregnancy Yoga Video
Practice daily from the comfort of your own home with my online Pregnancy Yoga Video. In the video, I take you through a series of poses and breath exercises that you can call upon whenever you want throughout your pregnancy. View the trailer below for a little taste of what to expect.
Access the full video for only £20.
Holistic Birth Rehearsal
Couples Workshop:
Physical & Emotional tools for Labour & Birth
This workshop will help couples connect deeply with their baby, during such a significant and intense time of their lives. It’s also a sweet way to connect with your partner – whether your partner is a spouse, sister, mother, doula or friend!Using yoga poses, partnering poses, massage techniques, and breath and alignment exercises, the birthing-partner will learn how to best support the birthing woman during labour. They’ll learn how to help relieve aches and discomfort using their own body, and other props often helpful in childbirth.
Couples will have the chance to:
Learn gentle yoga postures with an emphasis on working in pair
Work together as they might in labour
Learn breathing and massage and touch techniques useful for pregnancy, and labour
Learn movements and positions for labour and birth
Learn and understand birth as a sexual event
Enjoy a bonding meditation and visualisation with your baby
No yoga experience is necessary. The workshop is perfect for all trimesters, experience level, and body size. Couples are encouraged to come to the workshop 2 or 3 times to consolidate learning and continue to build connection and trust.
IN-PERSON GROUP WORKSHOPS
£125 per couple (2.5hrs)
Check out my schedule to book yourself in for the next available workshop
1:1 IN-PERSON SESSION AT YOUR HOME
£180 + parking (2hrs)
Testimonials
“I just wanted to tell you how incredible I think your classes are. I am a Midwife at King’s Hospital, and before I attended your classes I was finding it difficult to allow time to care for myself and connect to my pregnancy. However from the first session I attended I immediately felt grounded, centred and at peace. I have a natural tendency and interest in meditation and nature which I found useful to practice with an App through my pregnancy, but your classes took this to another level for me. I felt there was such a nice balance of talking / meditation / breathing exercises and movement. After each class I felt rejuvenated, centred as one with my body and my baby. I ahh’d ooo’d and shhh’d my way through labour just like you had shown us, that alone got me through the hardest parts. I look back on my labour as one of the most intense but spiritual and wonderful experiences of my life and a lot of this is down to your classes” – Vicky
“I just wanted to thank you for your classes – particularly the couples yoga class. I came to your class at the Shala quite frequently throughout my pregnancy, as well as practicing daily yoga at home, and I’m sure yoga was the main reason I had a simple pregnancy and a labour for which I needed no pain relief, despite it lasting 35 hours. Baby Ramona was born on 30/11 weighing 8lb 9 oz and we are both very grateful to you.” – Vicky
“I went to Alexa’s classes from the middle of my pregnancy and with my son after he was born. Both Pregnancy and the Baby + Mums classes have helped me feel good in my body, connect with my child and meet other mums. I also did a hypnobirthing workshop with my partner which allowed us to feel ready and confident about the birth. Alexa brings so much kindness and warm, positive energy. I feel grateful for her classes and recommend them strongly.” – Pauline
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