Prenatal Yoga | Full Circle Yoga KC (Overland Park)

5 Prenatal Yoga Poses

April 21, 2017 by Full Circle Yoga KC Leave a Comment

Here are my top 5 Prenatal Yoga Poses! Full Circle Yoga KC is an Overland Yoga Studio specializing in Prenatal Yoga, Baby Yoga and Chair Yoga for seniors.

Cat/Cow Prenatal Yoga Pose– this pose helps alleviate lower back pain by making room in spine and dropping baby forward. You can do this pose anytime when you’re feeling lower back discomfort and can often feel immediate response. This is also a wonderful pose during early labor to help rock baby down.

Squat Prenatal Yoga Pose– this pose alleviates hip discomfort and opens and strengthens hips in preparation for birth. Many women give birth in this position. A block can be used to sit on in this pose to open a bit more. If placenta previa is present, 1-2 blocks should be used. If mama is over 34 weeks and baby is breach, avoid squats- doing all fours or bridge pose instead.

Goddess Prenatal Yoga Pose-this is the ultimate mama pose! This pose helps support and work the pelvic floor. At Full Circle Yoga KC we do this pose in almost every prenatal class because it’s such a powerful way to prepare for birth. We tap into our inward strength and breath and build confidence in preparation for birth.

Butterfly Prenatal Yoga Pose– Another wonderful hip opener and can be done anywhere. “It is found that pregnant women who sit daily in this pose for a few minutes will have much less pain during delivery and will be free from varicose veins.” – Childbirth Without Fear by Dr. Grantly Dick Reed

Shavasana Prenatal Yoga Pose– An opportunity to relax and surrender. Queens pose is a wonderful pose in prenatal yoga. Our days can be filled with stress and constant on the go. Ten minutes of Shavansa can restore the mind, body, and spirit.

-Namaste

Pregnancy Yoga: Kansas City

April 19, 2017 by Full Circle Yoga KC Leave a Comment

What is Prenatal Yoga or Pregnancy Yoga? Practicing prenatal yoga is one of the best ways to keep fit during pregnancy because it incorporates, movement, breath, and awareness. All of three of these aspects are needed during a mother’s birthing journey.

Medical experts at the Mayo Clinic have even touted prenatal yoga as “a multifaceted approach to exercise that encourages stretching, mental centering and focused breathing.”

Prenatal yoga offers multiple benefits:

Keep you feeling good and your mind in balance through a full body workout
Create mindfulness around breathing in preparation for labor and delivery
Minimize discomfort of pregnancy through various prenatal yoga poses
Learn poses that can help move labor and delivery along
Meet other moms-to-be for a sense of community and sisterhood
Reduce the risk of gestational diabetes
Offers and opportunity for self care during pregnancy

Full Circle Yoga KC offers prenatal yoga classes that support a mother’s pregnancy journey. In our prenatal classes we practice mindfulness in breathing, bring awareness to our changing bodies, and offer movement for a full body workout.

Some Prenatal Yoga poses that are helpful include:

cat/cow- helps alleviate lower back pain by dropping baby forward. This is also a wonderful pose during early labor.
Squat- alleviates hip discomfort and opens and strengthens hips in preparation for birth
Goddess-works the pelvic floor

Prenatal Yoga In Kansas City

April 11, 2017 by Full Circle Yoga KC Leave a Comment

Are you looking for Prenatal Yoga in Kansas City? We’ve got you and your little bambino covered…..Full Circle Yoga KC offers a welcoming and relaxing space to exercise, focus, and connect with other pregnant mamas.

We begin our prenatal yoga practice with introductions and a question related to pregnancy. Some of those questions include:

What fruit or vegetable is baby this week?
What lesson have you learned during pregnancy?
What’s your ultimate food craving?

These questions allow for laughter, reflection, and mindfulness, and a way to create community among strong and beautiful moms-to-be.

Full Circle Yoga KC prenatal yoga practice is structured in a way that practices the birthing journey. Our flow moves from “early labor” to “active labor” to “transition and pushing” where we hold poses, practice breathing, and trusting our bodies. We wind down to Shavasana or “bliss” where baby and mom meet skin to skin. Poses are offered to help alleviate discomfort during pregnancy as well as poses that help during labor.

Our studio is small and intimate allowing relationships to be created among mamas and offering one on one mama attention throughout our practice.

Prenatal Yoga Aaaahhh’s

April 6, 2017 by Full Circle Yoga KC Leave a Comment

Prenatal Yoga at Full circle Yoga KC practices being noisy in preparation for birth! So many women, (including myself) are afraid of making noise, or vocalizing during birth. During my first birthing journey with my daughter I clinched my jaw when I would breath and when it came time to push, I pushed with a clinched jaw. As a result I broke several capillaries while pushing and made labor and delivery a little more difficult for myself.

During my second pregnancy 5 years ago, I became certified in Prenatal Yoga where I learned the power of breath and vocalization. I remember it feeling awkward and a little embarrassing when we practiced during training, but then came time for my second birth, and what a difference it made!! As a result my second labor involved a lot of Aaaahh’s to support deep and long breathing, the opening and relaxation of my pelvis, and served as a productive pain management tool when the waves of contractions became more intense.

Professionals such as Ina May Gaskin, Robert Bradley, Barbara Harper, and Maria Iorillo have all spoke of the powerful connection between an open throat and opening of the throat of the uterus, the cervix.

At Full Circle Yoga KC, we practice vocalizations such as Aaaahh’s and horse lips to help you understand productive breath, eliminate fear and create confidence for your birthing journey.

Overland Park Yoga Studio

April 5, 2017 by Full Circle Yoga KC Leave a Comment

Full Circle Yoga KC is an Overland Park yoga studio that specializes in embracing the full cycle of life. Classes include Prenatal Yoga and Bring Your Own Baby (BYOB) Yoga for those entering the beautiful journey of pregnancy and the transition into motherhood. Full Circle Yoga KC also offers chair yoga for older adults living in retirement communities who are seeking an added component to health and wellness.

I have been teaching prenatal yoga for over two years. Recently a door opened that allowed me to open my own studio. I had been talking, dreaming, thinking about making this jump, but actually making that move seemed scary, maybe a bit silly, and financially risky for my family. I knew I wanted to bring health and wellness to two generational groups of people in a way that I felt lacked in our healthcare system and in Kansas City. Rather than fighting upstream in the healthcare system I felt a calling to connect in a different way and offer a scared place for these vulnerable, yet incredibly strong, brave, and beautiful groups of individuals. Knowing that we all have gifts to offer others, I realized after teaching prenatal yoga I wanted to offer a continuum of support along the journey of motherhood through BYOB yoga. Watching moms connect with one another during pregnancy and create a supportive community for one another during the beginning stages of parenthood has been so nourishing to my soul.

I have worked with older adults for the past twenty years, and through interacting with this population have gained so much knowledge and wisdom. When I took my first job as a social worker 20+ years ago it was in a nursing home. I thought I would just stay there until “I got experience” and move on. Instead, I became passionate about changing the way we care for our elders. Through chair yoga, I have the opportunity to focus on wellness and positive energy through the celebration of movement and mindfulness.

With one door closing and another one opening, the birth of Full Circle Yoga KC commenced.