You’re a mama now, even if you haven’t held your baby in your arms yet. The second you see that second pink line on a pregnancy test, you start to feel the endless joys–and endless responsibilities–that come with the territory.

Then you let the cat out of the bag.

And everyone you know (and probably a few people you don’t know, too!) start telling you everything you should do. And the things you CAN’T. I know you… If it weren’t for those well-meaning reminders, you’d immediately go on a drinking binge, eat the most mercury-laden fish you can find, bathe in soft cheese, and take up skydiving.

No?

Gosh, I just love when other people take it upon themselves to tell grown-ass women all the things they damn well already know. Don’t you?

I hesitated to write this blog post because I don’t want to add to that noise with a post about which yoga poses to avoid during pregnancy.

Remember: YOU Know Yourself, And Your Pregnant Body, Best

I believe that all mamas have this amazing built-in intuition that guides them and helps keep their babies safe–if they just know how to tap into it and listen.

When I teach prenatal yoga classes, the thing I am most interested in teaching is HOW to access that phenomenal inner guide. Yoga poses are a great tool to help them do just that. (Of course, there are plenty of other benefits of prenatal yoga poses, too!)

If you’re really aware of the signs your body is giving you when you’re on your yoga mat, you don’t actually need a list that someone else made to tell you which poses to avoid. You already know.

I suspect that as you get further along in your pregnancy and your belly grows, you’d never dream of doing the poses on this list anyway because 1-it’s really just common sense, and 2-your body is going to give you pretty strong signals that they’re not a good idea anyway. (You’ll see what I mean in just a second, promise!)

That said, I know it can be helpful to have a straight-forward list of what you should avoid when you practice yoga asanas, especially if you’re new to yoga.

I hope you’ll use the following list of yoga poses to avoid during pregnancy  to validate what you already know instead of taking it as just another list of hard-and-fast no-nos. As I remind my students frequently, YOU are the only one who really knows what is appropriate for you in any given moment.

You’ve got this.

xo,

Erica

Yoga Poses to Avoid During Pregnancy

Any pose where you lay on the ground, face down.

These poses are actually fine early on in pregnancy because the wee one is tucked in and protected by the bones of your pelvis. However, once that cute little baby bump emerges, you’ll want to skip poses like Dhanurasana (Bow Pose), Salambhasana (Locust Pose), and Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) unless you’re modifying them somehow to avoid putting your weight on the baby.

Try this: A bolster under the hip bones is a lovely modification for these postures (See How to Modify Sun Salutations during Pregnancy), and so is taking a more mild version of these backbends on hands and knees.

Any pose that you lie flat on your back for an extended period of time.

You can (and should!) still practice Savasana (Final Resting Pose) when you’re pregnant. But by around the second half of your pregnancy, you’ll want to prop yourself up to make sure you and the little one are getting good blood flow.

Try this: Here’s how to modify Savasana for pregnancy.

Any twist that compresses the belly (which squishes the baby).

This includes poses like Ardha Matsendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose), Prayer Lunge Twist, and Utkatasana (Chair Pose) with a Prayer Twist.

Try this: Luckily, it’s easy to modify these twists by either twisting AWAY from the knee or by simply staying upright when you twist. Think about twisting more in the shoulders, chest, and upper back, and not twisting into the belly. Think about keeping your belly button facing straight ahead.

Any balance pose that could put you at risk of falling.

We all wobble and bobble in balancing poses like Tree Pose (Vrksasana) and Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) from time to time. You don’t have to take them all off the table just because you’re pregnant.

Try this: On those days when you’re feeling super off balance, it’s a good idea to set up next to a wall juuuuuust in case.

That also means that pregnancy is not the time to start a practice of inversions like Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) and Headstand (Sirsasana)–especially in the middle of the room. This group of poses is almost impossible to learn without a fall or two, and when your center of gravity is shifting daily as your baby grows, well… why risk it?

See also Is It Safe to Practice Inversions During Pregnancy?

Anything pose that causes the belly to look like a mountain peak.

As a general rule, you want your baby bump to look round, like a basketball, without a point in the center that looks like a mountain peak. That peak that many mamas start to see  when they lean back or go from lying down to sitting up, your body for whatever reason. That peak is caused when the abdominal muscles separate. Any exercise that brings out the peak could be making that separation worse and lead to a diastasis recti problem after baby is born.

Try this: If you notice the mountain peak when you’re backbending, back off until it goes away. If you see it when you Plank, bring your knees to the floor. And always, always, roll to your side before you press yourself up to a seated position after Savasana.

Other things to avoid:

The following aren’t poses per say, but you still might want to know that most people recommend avoiding them during pregnancy.

Jumping (say from Uttanasana [Standing Forward Bend] to Chaturanga Dandasana [Four-Limbed Staff Pose] for example).

Heated classes. Take it from a mama who survived a long, third trimester in the summer in hot, humid Charleston, SC. It’s never a good idea for a pregnant mama to get over-heated. Opt for classes and practices that build heat from the inside out instead of those classes 100+ degree heated rooms.

Anything that just doesn’t feel right.

Just because it felt amazing yesterday doesn’t mean it’s a good pose for you today. Seriously. Don’t do anything that leaves you with an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. That feeling is there for a REASON. Trust it. Listen to it. Honor it. Heed it.

You may never understand WHY it’s there, but know that it’s almost always right.