by Bianca Petersen, Certified Ma Yoga® Instructor
I never imagined that my journey to becoming a prenatal yoga instructor would begin with something I had to let go of. Before becoming a prenatal yoga instructor, I was a hot yoga instructor. I loved the heat, the intensity, the challenge, and the way yoga made me feel strong in my body. Teaching hot yoga was something I was passionate about.
Then I experienced a miscarriage. Pregnancy loss changed me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. When I became pregnant again, I carried not only the excitement of becoming a mother, but also the fear of losing my baby again.
Suddenly, something that had once felt so natural to me, yoga, felt completely different. I was nervous to practice. I questioned what was safe. I didn’t want to push my body or take any unnecessary risks. After years of teaching and practicing hot yoga, I found myself stepping away from the practice I had once loved so much. I was scared. It wasn’t until my first son was born, I slowly began finding my way back to yoga. Though, this time it was Baby and Me Yoga. But even then, with all of the business of mom things, I still was not practicing as much as I liked.
During my second pregnancy, I slowly began to find my way back to yoga. At first, it wasn’t about doing a challenging practice or getting a great workout. It was about reconnecting with my body and learning how to listen to it.
My practice looked different. It was gentler. It was slower. I became much more aware of my breath, my changing body, my energy, and the little life growing inside of me. And something shifted. I realized that yoga during pregnancy wasn’t about asking my body to do more. It was about learning how to support my body as it was doing something extraordinary.
Every day became an opportunity to pause, breathe, connect with my baby, and remind myself that I could trust my body. That daily practice became one of the most grounding parts of my pregnancy. Even though I had stepped away from teaching in a hot yoga studio, I knew that teaching yoga was still a part of me.
But I also knew I wanted to learn something new. I wanted to understand pregnancy, the changing body, and how yoga could support women through such a transformational season of life.
After having my second child, I joined a postpartum pregnancy circle. During one of our conversations, a question came up: What is one thing you miss from before having a baby? The first thing that came to mind was teaching. That realization stayed with me.
I don’t think I became a prenatal yoga instructor simply because I wanted to teach pregnant women how to move. I became one because I know what it feels like to be afraid of your changing body. I know what it’s like to question whether you can trust your body.
I know what it’s like to feel strong one day and completely uncertain the next. And I know how powerful it can be to have a space where you don’t have to perform, push, or prove anything. Prenatal yoga gave me that space. Now, I want to create that space for other mothers. That’s what led me here.
I’m grateful for what prenatal yoga has taught me. I’m grateful for the woman, the mother, and the teacher I have become because of it. And if my story can encourage even one expecting mother to take a breath, trust herself, and step onto her mat, then every part of this journey has meaning.
