“Yoga for Your Pregnancy,” $19.95 on DVD. Grade: B+
When women get pregnant, they often have tons of questions about what kind of exercises they can continue to do. But many don’t consider what kind of exercises will help them through their pregnancy and even through childbirth. This video addresses just that.
The folks at Yoga Journal have joined forces with Lamaze experts to put together this video for moms-to-be.
The video can be broken down into the following segments:
• Energizing and strengthening: 30 minutes.
• Relaxing and rejuvenating: 17 minutes.
• Breathing: 7 minutes.
• Guided meditations: 5 minutes.
• Birthing-room yoga: 5 minutes.
• Postnatal yoga: 15 minutes.
Consider the last four sections bonuses, because most of the time you’ll want to use the first two workouts.
Prenatal expert Kristen Eykel leads two women in this workout. Only one of the three women looks pregnant, which may be the downside of the video for many women who would probably want other pregnant women “in the room” with them.
Despite that, Eykel is a good instructor. In voice-over, she leads you through a series of yoga postures. In these postures you move, so it’s a flowing workout.
For example, instead of sitting with your legs in butterfly pose (feet together, knees falling out to the sides), you bounce your knees up and down vigorously for a couple of minutes.
Eykel is good about telling you how the moves help you and your baby. There are moves here for relieving sciatica, alleviating hip pressure and helping to calm your baby back to sleep when his or her kicks wake you in the middle of the night.
“Yoga for Your Pregnancy” is available at amazon.com.
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