​The second trimester is when you may start seeing an increase in low back pain, particularly around the SI Joint. This is due to relaxin’s effect on the SI joint, causing it to loosen and become less stable as well as later in this trimester the postural shifts in the low back due to increased load of baby. 

But wait, what is my SI Joint? This is the joint between the sacrum (the heart shaped bone at the base of the spine) and the illium bones (the pelvic bones that come around and meet either side of the sacrum in the low back). This is considered a joint because it is held together my connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) and the sacrum can move slightly in relationship to the pelvic bones.

Wondering how to tell if what you have is SI Joint pain or just general low back pain? Often times you will feel the pain on one side more strongly than the other. It may also show up as sharp one sided pain that happens when you do a movement that triggers it. Definitely seek out a professional to help you diagnose.
 
Mama hacks for Sacral Pain

• If you’re open to chiropractic care, it can be a huge help at this time. Often what needs to happen is the sacrum needs to be manipulated back into place. If there’s one in your area, seek out a chiropractor who specializes in prenatal care. If there’s not, find a chiropractor that does gentle manipulation with something called an activator—no big scary cracking movements here!
• Physical therapists can also sometimes be of help with this issue if you’re feeling unsure about a chiropractor. While their focus is more on musculature, sometimes giving you specific work to do with muscles around that area can also prevent the joint from moving as much.

 
Yoga Hacks for Sacral Pain

• Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to do that can help sacral pain, but there are somethings to be aware of during your practice as anything that triggers the pain should be avoided.
  
  • Be mindful of one legged poses:
    
    • Balance poses may hurt on one side, but not the other. Only doe the one side that doesn’t hurt.
      
    • For opposite limb extension choose to keep the foot on floor of the extended leg.
  • Don’t force the hips to square in poses like Warrior I.

Are you returning to your yoga practice postpartum? We recommend waiting till you get clearance from your care provider before returning to your regular fitness routine. And even after you get clearance you may find it takes some time to have that time, energy and drive to get back on your mat. Not to worry, start when you like and know that you have the support of short online postpartum yoga videos that can help support you get back into the swing of things and also do so with the small snippets of time your little one may be allowing you. Ready to go back to your regular yoga class? If you can, find a postpartum yoga class to attend in your area. If you can't, here are some tips for ways to modify your yoga practice to support your body.

Yoga is not something that requires fancy pants, or tops or a yoga mat really. Yoga is something you can do anywhere with very little. The great thing? There some wonderful yoga poses that you can do using the support of your wall. And guess what? Everyone's got one of those. You can do these with or without a yoga mat. Just make sure that if you're on a slippery surface you're in bare feet so you don't slide. Yoga at the wall during pregnancy can help give us that added support for balance that we most definitely need as baby gets bigger. It can also allow us to go deeper into poses we might not necessarily go into away from the wall. Whether you have a regular prenatal yoga practice and just want to change things up or are looking for some great poses to get your started for the first time in a prenatal yoga practice, these 5 poses are for you (p.s. do in them in order for a nice mini practice to start or end your day)!

Waiting for baby to arrive can be hard, waiting for baby to arrive after we've passed our due date can be even harder. I always like to tell students to think about it as a "due month" rather than a "due date." Anywhere from three weeks before to two weeks after your due date baby can arrive. This can take some of the pressure off that magical due date (on which only about 1% of babies are actually born!). With that in mind, once we pass our due date our care providers may start to encourage us to do things to get labor going. There's tons of tips and tricks out there but here are 3 quick things you can do that can help baby drop into position if that's what is keeping labor from starting. 

Many mamas come to yoga for the first time during their pregnancy. Yoga is recommended by a care provider or a friend as a way to address some of the common discomforts that go along with inhabiting a pregnant body. It can also provide much needed mind-body practices that can help address stress and anxiety and potentially prepare one for childbirth. There are many folks though who have had a regular yoga practice up until the point of their pregnancy and want to continue doing their regular yoga classes. My advice? Definitely check out a prenatal yoga class or pregnancy yoga videos online this will give you an idea of what you can and can't do. And will also give you inspiration for modifications when you're in a class that is doing something not recommended for the pregnancy body. There are some general guidelines you can keep in mind in your practice:

Alright mamas, so we may all notice that as baby gets bigger and bigger we lose more and more of our abdominal support. It makes sense right? The abdominal muscles are stretching  to make space for baby and can no longer support us in the same way the used to be able to. This means that finding other parts of our core for support becomes increasingly important in order to help support our backs during this time. This yoga practice for pregnancy is perfect to help teach you to engage your side waist (your obliques) and also your glutes to help give you core support and stability at this time. Give it a try!

New mamas, have you noticed how sore and tight your neck and shoulders are postpartum? This practice is for you! Hours upon hours of nursing/feeding our babies, rocking and holding and simply carrying them around wreaks havoc on our neck and shoulders. This quick little practice is the perfect daily practice to help unwind some of that tightness and help you manage some of the discomfort you're feeling. The great thing? This practice is also great for your partners too, because guess what? They're doing the same exact thing you are and I'll be they also are experiencing tightness in these areas. So make it a date! Sit down and do this practice together (once you finally get baby down to sleep!). 

Let's face it, sometimes we are exhausted when we're pregnant...sometimes its hard to get up and down from the floor...or we may have limitations on the exercise we can do during our pregnancy...or maybe we work all day at a desk and need a practice we can bring to work to help us address the discomfort we're starting to feel from sitting all day. If any of these apply to you, this practice is for you! This is a prenatal yoga practice that you can easily do from your chair, whether sitting at home or sitting at work. All you need is you and a chair and 5 minutes. Got that? Let's go! Looking for other gentle practices to support you during your pregnancy? Visit our online yoga video subscription for more.

Have you ever gotten baby to FINALLY fall asleep and you realize you've got your hand, writs or arm in an awkward position? You don't want to move baby so you stay and then notice your hand or arm start to fall asleep. Sound familiar? I know this happened to me a lot especially in those first few months. We find that wrists get sore from holding, nursing, rocking and feeding our babies and then as our little ones get bigger we begin lifting and carrying them in ways that irritate our wrists. Its amazing how sore our wrists can be int he postpartum period. You'll love this 3 minute quick practice to help you address some of these issues and you'll find your wrists feeling better in no time (want more? visit our online yoga videos)!

Ever notice how the further along  in your pregnancy you get the tighter your legs get? Not to mention the calf cramps and restless legs that can start happening at night! One of the main reasons this happens is as we gain more weight both from baby's weight gain, and our own, we have more weight the legs must support. On top of that we also loose our core strength as the belly stretches and hips and low back start to take up the slack. When this happens we end up relying on our legs more. Do yourself and your legs a favor and add this practice to your week to help release those tight and sore legs. Looking for more yoga support for your prenatal yoga practice? Check out our whole library of online prenatal yoga videos!