Welcome to MaYoga.org!
(soon to be its own website!)
Our mission: to bring yoga, education and support to pregnant people and new moms, especially in underserved communities
Let's make the world a better place, one mama at a time.
Birth should be a beautiful experience.
- 45% of women report their births were traumatic
- 1 in 7 women experience depression in the year after they give birth
- postpartum blues impacts approximately 50% to 75% of new mothers
Birth should be safe for all people.
- Black women are 27 percent more likely to experience severe pregnancy complications
- Black and Native American women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.
Yoga is making a difference.
Studies show:
- Yoga helps ease depression in pregnant women
- Yoga is associated with reduced risk of low birth weight and preterm labor.
- Prenatal yoga reduces back pain
- Needs-based education alleviates prenatal anxiety
- Yoga reduces the induction of labor, duration of labor, preterm labor and low birth weight
- Postpartum yoga significantly improves postpartum depression
We need your help.
GOAL: Bring live online prenatal yoga and postpartum classes to moms-to-be in their own homes.
Our goal: $10,000
GOAL: Free, comprehensive, evidence-based, nurturing birth education courses for moms-to-be and partners.
Our goal: $10,000
Ma Yoga is OB tested:
- it's based in biomechanics so it's therapeutic
- it incorporates birth, postpartum and parenting education
- teachers provide simple adjustments to make space for baby and breath
- it's non-judgmental and evidence-based
- it's committed to empowering diverse community leaders
What's a Ma Circle?
Ma Circles are partnerships between a yoga teacher and a local business, where pregnant mamas and new moms can come for prenatal and postpartum yoga, birth and wellness education, and friendship.
We created ten Ma Circles in Southern California by the time Covid happened, and then we went 100% online.
But people need friends, resources and support in their own neighborhoods.
And, research shows that Ma Circles can improve birth outcomes.
Stress is the #1 risk factor for negative birth outcomes, and research has shown that top stress-reducers are:
- yoga
- meditation
- nurturing community
- self-care and healthy routines
- birth education and connection to resources
Plus, yoga has been shown to improve maternal health and birth outcomes.
Ma Circles combine all of these transformative elements to change pregnancies, labors, and lives.
Ma Yoga means harnessing...
The power of nurturing energy
The syllable “Ma” means mother in just about every language.
Mutter (German). Mère (French). Majka (Serbian). Mat’ (Russian). Madre (Spanish). Moder (Swedish). Máthair (Irish). Mataji (Hindi). Móðir (Icelandic). Mama (Chinese). Mama (Swahili). Mama (English).
In Sanskrit, the ancient language of yoga, “ma” also means the highest, most powerful and wise – as in “Ma Kali”, the Mother of all goddesses.
Ma Yoga isn’t just about becoming a mom to a baby.
It’s about helping people learn to mother themselves.
And when we do, we begin to embody our highest, most powerful and wise “Ma” Self.
Birth Inequity in the US
Black and Native American women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.
And we don’t know why.
We do know that the cause is not lack of resources or education: the Pregnancy-Related Mortality Ratio for black women with at least a college degree was 5.2 times that of their white counterparts. (CDC)
And we also know that stress is the #1 risk factor for negative birth outcomes.
Could stress be the culprit?
Studies show signs that racism-related stress contributes to negative birth outcomes.
We don’t pretend to be able to get rid of racism this year, and the inequities in birth outcomes have many causes.
But helping people learn tools to let go of the stress is a great place to start.
In addition to racism, being without a supportive network is another contributor to stress. (PRB.org)
Of course, hundreds of studies have shown that yoga and meditation are highly effective at reducing stress.
Especially with Ma Yoga, the breathing, strengthening and releasing postures are inextricable to the connections made with other students, and the larger community.
In a Mama Circle, we are all connected.
The Difference Ma Circles Make
The unique curriculum of Ma Circles – combining prenatal yoga, birth and lifestyle coaching and supportive community – was developed originally at by Ma Yoga founder Jessica Jennings, MS in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente.
Since then research has substantiated what participants know.
Yoga has been shown to:
- Reduce labor duration
- Reduce fatigue and nausea
- Increase likelihood of vaginal birth
- Increase pain tolerance
- Reduce depression, anxiety and stress
- Improve relationships and community building
- Improve maternal-fetal attachment
How MaYoga.org supports communities
At Ma Yoga, we wholeheartedly subscribe to a community-led model, wherein the community we serve actively shapes our organization’s vision for change.
Our commitment to this model is deeply rooted in our origin story and is manifested in our continuous growth and evolution.
Founded in 2009 with the goal of creating a ‘Ma Circle’ in every neighborhood, we began with four locations, primarily partnering with local businesses to provide specialized prenatal and postnatal yoga classes.
Founder Jessica Jennings, MS, personally experienced a difficult postpartum, feeling isolated even though she had her prenatal community – because they were so far away.
Her decision to create Ma Yoga came from the desire to support women all the way through postpartum and beyond.
We continuously strive to amplify the voices of the yoga teachers, birth practitioners and others who want to support, guide, and inspire pregnant women and new moms in their communities.
Our online community provides an invaluable space for open dialogue and shared wisdom. From prenatal yoga practices to postpartum support, community is the heart of our organization.
How MaYoga.org helps postpartum women
At Ma Yoga we believe that when people feel respected, nurtured, and supported, they can connect to their own inner wisdom and power. Our motto is “educate and meditate”; our students are encouraged to learn evidence-based pro’s and con’s of all their options, as well as listen in to their own “inner GPS”, so they can make choices that are right for them and their families.
By bringing birthing people and parents together in “Mama Circles” in their own neighborhoods, we are able to help them prepare for postpartum, as well as connect them to local postpartum educators and support people throughout the process.
While only some of our teachers also work as postpartum doulas and breastfeeding educators, all have training in postpartum care and share helpful information, as well as connecting parents and parents-to-be to resources and inviting local educators to speak before class.
Our teachers provide breastfeeding and other postpartum resources by systemized outreached to existing practitioners, collaboration and mutual support relationships.
Thank you to our MAMAthon Teachers!
September 22 - 8:30am PT
September 29 - 10:00am PT
Outdoor Flow Yoga – All Levels
O’Melvaney Park
Granada Hills, California
September 27 - 6:00pm ET
September 22 - 4:00pm PT
September 8 - 5pm PT
Surrender into Stillness
Online
Los Angeles, California
September 22 - 11:00am ET
September 28th - 2:30pm ET
September 8 - 11:30am ET
September 10 - 2pm PT
Become a Ma Member
Yoga teachers, birth practitioners, moms, grandpas and anyone who wants to find their “inner Ma” is welcome to become a Ma Member.
Your $30/month helps us provide free Ma Membership to those who need.
Plus you get free live classes all week long, plus Ma Yoga Anytime!