Prenatal Yoga: Shoulders And Heart Openers

This prenatal yoga class focuses on opening the shoulders and heart space through 7 movements of the spine, offering relief from tension while promoting better posture and breath awareness. We’ll integrate deep core work to support spinal stability and explore mindful movement as a powerful labor management tool. Grounding mindfulness techniques will help cultivate a sense of calm and connection, leaving you feeling open, supported, and empowered throughout your pregnancy journey.

Suggested Props: bolster/pillows, yoga blocks, chair/couch

Transcript

Welcome to your prenatal yoga class. I'm Melissa. I'll be guiding you through this 30 minute class. Today we are going to focus on kind of. . . The seven movements of the spine opening up the heart space. So some maybe like. Cat cows some gentle gentle back bends just to get everything kind of mobile in the shoulders and in the rib cage. So let's go ahead and get started coming down onto your mat. Finding a comfortable seat. So whether that's on a block. Or a bolster or a chair. We're going to take a moment to get into diaphragmatic breathing. And so placing your hand onto your tummy. Maybe softening or closing the eyes. Spine nice and lifted, Shoulders down and back. As you inhale, Baby and belly press into the palms. Ribcage expands. As you exhale, Everything softens and pulls back into the center. Inhale, Expand through the belly. 360 of the ribcage, Maybe collarbones lift. Exhale, Let everything soften and fall back to the midline. Continue feeling the breath press into the palms, That gentle rise and fall of the tummy. Grading. The waves of the breath for baby. Jaw is nice and soft. Let's take about three to five breaths right here. And then when you're. Finish with your three to five breaths. Go ahead and place your hands. At your sides. Just around your rib cage so you can either Place your hands almost like you're placing them on your hips and then sliding them up so you can feel your ribs. And then as you inhale, Belly will expand and then feel the rib cage expand into the hands. Exhale, Release. Inhale expand through the belly expanding the rib cage maybe lifting the shoulder or that collarbones exhale letting everything soften come back to center Continue breathing. Focusing on the expansion of the rib cage this time. Three to five breaths right here. When you're finished with your three to five breaths go ahead and gently release your hands down maybe onto your lap Take a nice deep inhale. Open your mouth, Let it go. Go ahead and gently blink your eyes open if they were closed. So the importance of the diaphragmatic breath. So as a yoga practitioner. The diaphragmatic breathing is very important for us to get into that parasympathetic nervous system, That rest and digest. It also helps us drop into this meditative state. Um, But for pregnancy, The magic of the diaphragmatic breath, Well, First of all, We've got baby growing, Right? Pressing up into our organs, Which is pressing up into our lungs. So it's a little bit harder to breathe. So learning how to utilize the sides and the back to breathe into is really important. But what's really cool, What I find is really cool. Is that The diaphragmatic breathing can actually help with heartburn and acid reflux. So if you are experiencing acid reflux in pregnancy, We have this hormone called relaxin that kind of softens the esophagus. It softens many things like our joints and our connective tissue, Which is helping us kind of prepare for letting baby into this world. But it softens our esophagus. And the diaphragm, When we utilize it for breathing, It can kind of help. Close that. So we're feeling less of the reflux, Which is really, Really cool. So this is great to do, Obviously, Any time of day when you're feeling a little bit of acid reflux. You can do this at night before you go to sleep as well. It could help you get into. . . That um that quietness. I. You can also take a TheraBand. Right and wrap it around or like right underneath kind of where your bra strap would be. Wrap the TheraBand around, And then practice breathing into the TheraBand, Right? So we breathe into the tummy, Expand 360 of the ribcage. And then let that go. And so that can give you a little bit more feedback as well to make sure that we're expanding through there. Little lesson on the diaphragm today. Let's go ahead and find your way onto your side, Your left side. So slowly rolling down onto the earth. And then we'll stay with our shoulders stacked. Own. Shoulders stacked if you can, If you have. A block or a pillow. You can place a block or a pillow underneath the head. Like so. You can place a block or a pillow. In between the knees. And we want the hips stacked, The shoulders stacked. Placing our hands together. And this is going to help open up the shoulders, What we're doing. So hug the block. As you inhale, Press your top arm forward expand through the ribcage, Right? We're still diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale, Reach forward. As you exhale, Ooh, Got a little back crack there. As you exhale. Pull your top arm back. So like you're pulling a bow and arrow, But notice I'm not rolling over. I'm keeping my shoulders nice and stacked. Okay, So nice and stacked. Helping to open up the front side of the chest or their pectoral. Inhale, Keep your shoulders stacked. Reach the arm out behind you. Breathe here. Just feel this wonderful stretch into the front side of the body, Which might be really nice if we have heavy purses or if we have a desk job. Take an inhale. Exhale, Come back through center. And back to the start. We'll do that again. Inhale. Send the top hand forward. Expand through the ribcage. Exhale, Pull back. Keep the knees nice and tight so we can keep the hips on top of each other. Inhale open up keeping the shoulders nice and stacked Breathe. Take an inhale. Exhale, Gently fold your hand forward. Then come back to that starting position. Let's do that one more time. Inhale, Expand through the ribcage, Reach forward. Exhale, Pull back, Keeping the shoulders nice and stacked. Inhale, Open up. And now if this is too intense, You can always just hold at the bow and arrow. You can always just hold with the pullback. This is just so lovely for me right now. Keep breathing. Inhale. Exhale release come back through center gently press yourself up and then switch sides. So you can just roll over if that's easier. Or you can literally come to the other side of your mat. Excuse me, If you want to face the same direction. So again, Shoulders stacked. Hips stacked. Optional block or pillow underneath the head if that helps. Optional block or pillow between the knees, Hugging the knees towards one another, Right? So we can keep our hips stacked. Reach the arms out. So we're stacking the hands. Inhale, Press the top hand forward, Expand through the ribcage. Exhale, Pull the top arm back. Keep the shoulders stacked, A little bow and arrow here. Now option is stay here. Or inhale open up your arm. Keeping the shoulders nice and stacked. So again, And this is like so different. Normally our supine twists, We're like, Ah, Melting our shoulder into the mat. A little different here. Inhale. Exhale, Come back to the starting point. Inhale, Expand through the ribcage, Reach the top hand forward. Exhale, Pull back, Bow and arrow, Keeping everything nice and stacked. Inhale, Open it up. Hug the block. Breathe. Inhale. Exhale, Come back through center one more time. Inhaling Expand the rib cage, Reach the top band forward. Exhale, Pull back. Inhale open up and breathe Continue to hug the block or hug your knees towards one each other. Begin inhale. Exhale gently come back through center And then press yourself up. Meet me and table talk. So. Stacking our shoulders on top of our wrist. Our wrist parallel to the top of the mat. The knee is hips distance or wider. Whatever feels good for you. And let's just flow through a couple of cat cows, Right? So we're opening up the heart space. We're doing the seven movements of the spine today. Inhale cow pose lengthen through the crown of the head maybe drop the belly a hair but not so much that you feel it in your lower back exhale pull baby up and in separate the shoulder blades really puff up that space between your shoulder blades inhale back through center Pull the shoulders down and back, Broaden across the collarbones. Exhale, Cat pose, Press away, Dome the back. Tailbone to the earth. One more time. Inhale, Lengthen. Exhale, Cat pose. Inhale back to tabletop. And then exhale to either puppy pose. So that's keeping the hips up. Or exhale to child's pose and feel free to widen the knees as much as you need to, To create space for belly and baby. Reach the hands nice and long. And gently walk your hands over to the right. Stack your left hand on top of your right hand. Breathe into the left side body. Nice deep inhale. Nice deep exhale. Inhale, Come back through center. Exhale, Walk your hands over to the left. Stack your right hand on top of your left. Breathe into the right side of the body. Nice deep inhale. Nice full exhale. Inhale back through center. Exhale, Come back onto your tabletop. Inhale, Tuck your toes. Exhale to downward facing dog or just meet us in standing if down dog is not for you today. And if you are in your down dog, Separate your feet nice and wide. Maybe pedal them out. This is like really nice for this. Halves. As we tend to get a little bit. A little bit more sore in our lower body. And then your choice if you want to walk your hands to your feet. Pour your feet to your hands. Coming into a nice forward fold. Soften your knees and gently roll up one vertebrae at a time. Amazing. Go ahead and place your blocks. If you have blocks. At the top of the mat. Separate your feet. About. Let's separate them nice and wide. Getting ready for warrior two. Pivot the right tools. Towards the right. Left toes either facing the long edge of the mat or the front corner of the mat. Bend through the front knee. And then I always like to kind of tilt the hips back and forth until I feel. A nice. A nice position that feels good in my hips. Right? Because like in our traditional vinyasa, We're like all about alignment, Right? We have to make modifications for growing baby. And sometimes that means we might need to bump our hips back a little bit and that's okay. Scissor the legs together. Take an inhale. Exhale, Cactus your arms, Shoulders down and back. Inhale. Exhale, Cat cactus. Puff up your heart like you're in cat pose. Hug the elbows towards one another. Inhale. Open up. Now puff up your heart. Send your elbows as far back as you can, Almost like you're trying to touch them together. Inhale. Exhale, Cat cactus. Puff up the space in between your shoulder blades. Inhale, Open it up. One more time. Exhale. Cat cactus. Inhale, Open it up. Exhale. Warrior II, Extend through your hands. Inhale, Reverse, Reach the right hand up and back, Breathe into the side body. Inhale. Exhale, Triangle pose. Extend through your front leg. Bump your hips back. Reach your hand forward and place your hand either. . . Gently. On your shin. Or maybe a block on the inside of the calf or maybe a chair. Really root down to the front toe mound of the foot. Engage your quads so we don't lock out our knees or hyperextend. Roll the right shoulder down and back. And now if you want to get into the chest and a little bit of a heart opener, Feel free to. Find maybe a half bind or place the hand on the sacrum. And rotate your heart towards the sky. You can always give yourself a nice little back massage here. And then as you inhale, Reach the hand up over the head. And then exhale to our wide leg forward fold. Shift your toes towards the front edge of the mat. Option to grab onto the blocks. Shift the hips back and forth. And from here, We'll take a few windmills. Inhale right hand high Exhale, Back through center. Inhale, Left hand high. Exhale back through center. One more time, Each side. Inhale, Right hand high. Exhale back through center. Inhale, Left hand high. Exhale back through center. Pull through your heart. Lift. Through the crown of the head, Soften the knees, Press down to rise up. And then we'll find that on the left side. Pivot your left toes towards the left. Bend through the left knee. Then again, Sway back and forth with your hips. You find like. What feels good for you? Shoulders down and back, Inhale. Exhale, Cactus your arms. Inhale here. Exhale, Cat cactus, Puff up the space in between the shoulder blades. Scissor the legs Inhale, Open the arms and elbows past the body if possible. Exhale, Cat cactus. Huff up the space in between your shoulder blades. Inhale, Lift your heart. Exhale, Cat cactus. Inhale, Lift your heart. Exhale warrior two. Inhale, Reverse. Lift the left arm nice and high. Continue to bend through the front knee. Continue to pull your feet energetically towards each other. Take another inhale. Exhale, Triangle pose. Extend through your front leg. Reach towards the front of the room. Or the front of where you're facing, Bump the hips back, And then tick-tock your arms to 6 and 12. Option for a block, A chair, A couch. Root down into your left toe mound, Engage your left quad. And then again, We want to scissor the hit. Feet energetically towards each other. But we have like a nice steady stamp. Option to find that half bind or the hand on the sacrum to find a little A little massage here. Roll the left shoulder down and back. Jaw nice and soft. Inhale, Reach your hand back to the sky, Something a little different. Root down, Press up to rise. So we'll pivot our toes to face the front of the room. Interlace your hands. Behind your back or grab onto. A towel. Or maybe opposite. Hands or elbows, Whatever's comfortable. Roll your shoulders down and back. Take an inhale, Gaze at the sky. Exhale, Wide leg forward fold. Soften your knees, Hinge at the hips. And then if you can, Reach your fist towards the sky. Let your crown of the head hang. Maybe sway side to side. Deep inhales and exhales. Take an inhale. Exhale, Release your hands down to the earth. Toe heel your feet in. One to two to three footprints. Toes out, Heels in. Find your malasana yogi squat. Option to place a block underneath the sacrum. Three breaths here, Take an inhale. Open your mouth. Let it go. Again, Nice deep inhale. As you exhale see if you can release your pelvic floor. One more time all the way up all the way in Find some softness on the exhale. And then gently find A forward fold, Sway your hips side to side. Then we'll gently find a seat. So maybe that's on a block. Maybe that's crisscross applesauce. Virasana or Hero's Pose. Just again. Seven movements of the spine so we'll close it out here inhale hands to the sky Exhale, T-twist to the right so our right hand becomes. . . We twist to the right, Right arm behind us, Left arm in front, Baby stays. Facing front, It's our torso or our rib cage that opens up. Inhale back through center. Exhale, T twist to the left. Left arm behind, Right arm in front. Baby stays front. One more time, Each side. Inhale through center. Exhale, T, Twist to the right. Inhale back through center Exhale, T, Twist to left. Inhale back through center. This time, Exhale, Side bend. Place your right hand to the earth. Reach the left hand up and over. Root down into your left hip. Inhale back through center Exhale, Side bend to the left. Reach the right hand up and over. Root down into the right. Inhale back through center. Exhale side, Bend to the right. Inhale through center. Exhale side, Bend to the left. Inhale back through center Exhale, Release. Let's just take a few cat cows. Inhale, Puff up your heart. Exhale, Press it back. Again, Inhale, Puff up your heart. Exhale, Press it back. Last time. Inhale, Pop up your heart. Exhale press it back really separate your shoulders Come back through center. And then we'll set it up for. . . Let's set it up for a bridge pose. So lying down onto your side. Option to place a block in between the thighs if that helps. Or not totally up to you feet flat on the ground maybe a little bit wider than normal as you inhale. Lift your hips, Press into your hips, Lift your arms. As you exhale, Slowly lower one vertebrae at a time. Let's do that two more times Inhale, Bridge pose, Press down to rise up, Engage your glutes, Send your hips to the sky. Exhale, Release hands. And down by the hips. Last time, Inhale, Bridge pose, Press down to rise up. Reach through your hands. Exhale slowly lower. Feel free to windshield wiper the knees back and forth if you need it. And then we'll gently find your way. Into your resting pose. So that might be a traditional shavasana. That might be lying on your side. Right. With maybe a bolster. In between Your knees. You can also come into reclined goddess or Queen's throne. By bringing in a block onto a high height. Onto a low or medium high and placing a pillow or a bolster. You can actually do this with a rolly suitcase as well. Put the rolly suitcase down and kind of tilt. A pillow onto it. But whatever position you do. Come back to that diaphragmatic breath. And we'll take about maybe one minute of breathing. So we're inhaling. Through the belly, Expanding. 360 rib cage. Exhale, Letting everything fall. Inhale expanding through the belly 360 rib cage exhale letting everything fall back to center continue Three to five breaths on your own. When you've finished with your three to five breaths. Mamas, Feel free, If you want to stay in Shavasana longer, Feel free to do that. If you're ready to move on, Gently roll to one side. Press yourself up into a seat. Bring one hand on heart, One hand on baby. Noting the two hearts beating. Noting the connection. And we'll take one nice cleansing breath. As a collective community, Inhale through the nose. Open your mouth, Let it go. You so much for joining me today you are strong you are resilient you are enough I hope to see you next time. Thank you so much, Friends.