[Edna Iriarte]

Hi Deb:

How are you?

I'm 15 weeks pregnant and doing great so far. However, one of the things I've been struggling with is maintaining my posture, especially around my upper back and shoulders. I think that sleeping on my side is also not helping. Any suggestions on what yoga poses I should be doing to help me with this?

Warm regards,

Edna
from Levitate

[Deb]

Hi Edna

Sorry to hear that you are having back pain! Here are a few poses that you may find will release the tension in your upper back and shoulders. Start with Garudasana arms (Eagle Arms), intertwine your arms, crossing at the elbows and the wrists, and as you inhale, raise your elbows up and as you exhale, slightly round your upper back and draw your elbows down towards your belly. This will spread the shoulder blades and open the upper back. Along the same idea, try doing cat/ cow several times. This pose is wonderful for opening the whole back and chest area. I would also suggest supported fish pose. Place one block under your shoulder blades and another one under your head. This is a very relaxing chest opener and will help release your neck, shoulders and upper back.

You may also want to examine the way you are sleeping. If sleeping on your side is new to you, you may be over compressing your shoulder towards your neck. Try side lying by extending your bottom leg and then bending your top leg and placing it on a pillow supporting your knee and ankle. This will allow you to safely role more towards your belly, but still feel supported. You will also notice that in this position you are no longer stacking your hips and applying less pressure on your greater trochanter. So your hips will thank you for this modification!!

Also- keep a look out on the Prenatal Yoga Center website for our online video section. We are starting with "alleviating back pain".

Hope this helps!

Warmly,
Deb