After 20 years of teaching prenatal yoga and seeing first-hand all the benefits of prenatal yoga, I’ve seen one that stands out above the rest.
Most of us have heard by now of the benefits of prenatal yoga for pregnancy. Studies have shown that prenatal yoga:
- reduces pregnancy discomforts
- helps ease and prevent depression and anxiety
- decreases risk of negative birth outcomes
For sources and more on the benefits of prenatal yoga go here.
But early on in my career, there was one that I was about to discover rose above them all…
Defending My Thesis
The head of the Exercise Science Dept. at Cal State LA had just asked a question, and the whole room looked at me to see my reaction.
I had spent the last 7 years working at Kaiser Sunset, where I developed and ran a group visit and yoga program called Pregnancy In Balance.
I was standing in front of the faculty – a bunch of pure science, traditional, ex-Olympic athlete coaches and other impressive sports scientists – presenting the results, which I was pretty excited by: women in the group visit and prenatal yoga program said they would recommend Kaiser to family and friends 96% of the time, vs. women in traditional, one-on-one care who said they would recommend Kaiser only 67% if the time.
I began talking specifically about the benefits of prenatal yoga reported by participants in the group visit and yoga program:
- a huge group of women mentioned they liked that prenatal yoga helped them get and stay out of pain, and feel good physically throughout their pregnancy.
- And an even bigger group mentioned the way they felt emotionally after yoga. They said they were calmer, dealt with stress better, and nicer to be around, according to their partners.
- But the biggest group – by far – said they loved the connection with other people in the group. They enjoyed sharing experiences and felt comforted when they realized they weren’t alone. They liked getting information that they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, and hearing answers to questions they wouldn’t have even thought to ask.
When I shared this, the head of the department asked, “Does it bother you that the biggest group liked the community more than the yoga?”
For a moment, I felt like I had been discovered as the total sham that my small voice likes to tell me I am. And then I could see clearly:
“Thank you Dr. _________ for bringing that up. Actually, prenatal yoga can’t be separated from creating community.
When do our check-in in the beginning and share what’s arising for us personally; when we breathe and move together on the mat; when we do partner poses and learn how to help each other and make space for baby; we create community. Students connect to each other in ways they might not in a regular birth education class: we are more vulnerable with each other, and create bonds that often last deep into motherhood. So I feel just the opposite – it makes me proud to know we did our jobs as prenatal yoga teachers.”
After that, I left Kaiser to start Ma Yoga with the other teachers I’d trained in the program, with a vision for a “Ma Circles” in every neighborhood.
We made it to ten in Southern California before Covid closed down all of our partner businesses.
And after that, we switched to our online “Ma Circles” so anyone, anywhere could drop in and experience the benefits of prenatal yoga!
Science Agrees: Community Relieves Depression
A recent study looked at community support, and concluded that birthing people need a support network to help with coping skills as a way to avoid post-partum depression.
The study, published in the journal of clinical Psychological Science, found that women with strong social support networks during their pregnancy had lower levels of a certain stress hormone – pCRH (placental corticotropin-releasing hormone) – which made them less likely to develop postpartum depression. Developing community might be one of the most important benefits of prenatal yoga.
So there you have it: our pregnant women’s perspective, science’s perspective, and Ma Yoga’s perspective…
And we all agree! If you’re pregnant, enjoy all the benefits of prenatal yoga: relieving aches and pains, lowering risk for negative birth outcomes, and improving mood and reducing depression and anxiety risk and symptoms. .
But maybe most importantly, find yourself a “Ma Circle” that will allow you to connect to other mamas – so you can experience deep connection and joy during this exciting time.
Click here to book your first free semi-private online prenatal yoga class with our caring birth and yoga experts.
