Strengthening your core. Safely.

As your belly grows during pregnancy, or as you visualize it shrinking after you've had your baby, it is very tempting to do 'ab crunches' and look for all kinds of core workouts that promise you a flat tummy. 

In prenatal and postnatal yoga we encourage you to avoid traditional ab workouts because they can lead to your abs separating (something called "rectus abdominus diastisis") - which is a situation that can take years of physical therapy to remedy.

One of the best exercises to do, which we practice regularly in MTRNL prenatal and postnatal classes, is "Opposite Arm & Leg Extensions". And there are a million ways to modify it depending on your specific body type. (One of the benefits of MTRNL classes is that we do them via live video, so if the pose isn't working for you we can modify it for you in the moment until it feels good for you...)

Here is a short tutorial on this super powerful, safe and sustainable, deep core workout:

Don't forget to keep your foot flexed when you lift it to avoid leg cramps!

Namaste, beautiful mama!