What I’ve learned (SO FAR) about pregnancy, abdominals and Diastasis Recti. (There’s a lot more to learn!)
And, the yoga postures I decided to eliminate or modify to manage it.
This brings me to my fourth principle: As my baby grows larger, my abdomen has grown significantly. To protect both my baby and my body, I will adjust, modify or eliminate yoga postures as needed. The way my body feels each day will be my guide.
My husband and I stayed at a gorgeous wellness hotel, in the elevation of dormant volcanoes on Lanai, Hawaii this past summer. It was a special time for us together. And, one of the things that I appreciate and love about him is his willingness to try different activities with me. We attended a few meditation and restorative yoga classes at the yoga studio. Approaching the end of my second trimester, I noticed that certain restorative yoga postures felt different. Supine postures put too much pressure on my abdomen, and I had to completely abandon postures like a restorative child’s pose.
Initially, I modified…
Forward folds that crunched my belly and created discomfort
Upward Dog because it eccentrically activated my abdominal core and caused discomfort
Prolonged supine postures late in my third trimester because of discomfort and possible risk to baby
Seated postures for meditation: leaned against the wall or used two blocks in Virasana/Hero’s Pose with my knees a little wider for comfort
Long holds in (open) twisting positions. For some reason it made me feel nauseous and light-headed. You may feel differently.
That said, here is what I’ve learned about practicing supine yoga postures once baby becomes larger:
If you lie on your back, the weight of the baby could put too much pressure on the “inferior vena cava” or the “IVC” as they call it in the doctor’s office. As I understand, the IVC is an important blood vessel that if blocked could cause complications in pregnancy. My OB wasn’t too concerned about this, so I lay on my back for limited periods of time. However, you should check with your doctor and only do what feels safe and comfortable for you. Side lying position with yoga bolsters or pillows under your knees and head work well for Savasana.
I also LOVE the yoga chair during pregnancy. Instead of a restorative child’s pose, I folded a blanket, put it on the chair, stretched my legs to Upavistha Konasana, Sukhasana or Baddha Konasana and rested my head on the chair. Heaven. Super calming to have my head down + an easy, gentle stretch on my hips. You may or may like this option depending on your hip mobility. (I didn’t stay in it too long.) Give it a try and let me know what you think.
About my abdominals...
As my pregnancy continued to progress, I started to feel pulling and stretching on my abdominal muscles because of my protruding belly. As muscles are put on stretch, they must work harder. Without pressure management, as I learned through Dr. Sarah Duvall’s course, I could develop a significant “diastasis recti.”
This is how I (currently) understand what a diastasis recti is: There are four layers of abdominal muscles and they are: Transversus Abdominis, Internal Obliques, External Obliques and Rectus Abdominis. Note: they don’t work alone, they are integrated with many other muscles and have many complex functions that I learn more and more about every year. There is a line of fascia down the middle of the abdominals called the linea alba and this fascia stretches in pregnancy. My physical therapist, Alicia, said no matter what I do (or what any other pregnant person does), this will stretch apart and cause a diastasis recti. My goal is/was to not make it worse by managing the stretch, load and pressure in my abdomen.
Being mindful of this, here are some postures I either modified or completely abandoned. Here are a few:
High Plank and Low Plank/Chaturanga Dandasana: Completely eliminated in the second trimester. Gravity is pushing directly down on the back, and it became a challenge to keep the abdominals lifted with a protruding belly. It was too challenging for me to manage the pressure of the abdomen without it “pushing out” and over-stretching.
Upward Facing Dog/Urdhva Mukha Svanasana: Completely eliminated in the second trimester. If the abdominal muscles are being stretched because of a growing baby, then the last thing I want to do is stretch it even more. In Upward Dog, gravity is also coming down on my back. In this posture I’m now stretching + activating (eccentric contraction) the abdominal muscles significantly. If Plank/Chaturanga didn’t already pull on the linea alba, then this one definitely will.
Cow Spine/Bitilasana: Modified starting in the second trimester. Just like Upward Facing Dog Pose, Cow Spine as I practice it in a quadruped position also involves back extension and an increased stretch on my already stretched abdominal muscles. However, I decided to keep practicing this movement. I believe it is important to move my spine in all three planes of motion: frontal, transverse and sagittal, in both directions. Cow/Cat Spine moves in the sagittal plane providing my spine the ability to move gently from flexion to extension. It’s a dynamic stretch too; as long as I limit how far I move into extension, this feels safe to me. If I feel too much of a stretch in the front abdomen, then I hold back on my range of motion.
Have you modified or eliminated any yoga postures in your pregnancy? What were the turning points for you? What were you feeling? We’re in this together!
P.S. Yoga Teacher/Fitness Instructor Pro Tip: Learn kinesiology!(I didn’t get a really good training on kinesiology in yoga training, and I hear a lot of yoga teachers telling students to “extend forward”, which confuses me. Maybe I’m missing something? I did get a great education on kinesiology in LMT school and in my functional science fellowship.) As I understand, we generally don’t “extend forward.” When the spine bends forward it is called “flexion”; when the spine bends backward it is called “extension”. For example, in Uttanasana, you are bending your spine into flexion. However, in this posture you can work to extend the spine RELATIVE to that place of flexion. Also, in Uttanasana, there is flexion at the hip.
