Offering practices and movements that are biodynamic and effective during labour is the ultimate aim for teachers of Pregnancy Yoga. It’s the end point of the pregnancy yoga journey, where the mother now draws on everything she has learned to support her through the childbirth adventure. Yoga for Labour offers a blueprint for embodied and empowered birthing.
Thanks to the work of Spinning Babies and Optimal Birthing with Molly O’Brian, birth professionals now have a greater understanding of the biomechanics of labour and the role body positioning, myofascial release and touch have to play in supporting a labouring woman.
This interesting new area of exploration offers a body of knowledge that can empower women to use their bodies more effectively during labour to aid their babies descent and to encourage their bodies to facilitate an easier birth for baby and mother. This essential knowledge can prevent induction, caesarean sections and instrumental deliveries. It requires no equipment, it is easy to learn and has transformed many a birth outcome.
As pregnancy yoga teachers we work with bodies; our women are ideally placed to receive this knowledge during pregnancy yoga classes and labour yoga workshops and be empowered and embodied during labour. Yoga is more than just bodywork. Its a complete mind-body practice that takes a holistic approach to the body and to birth. Alongside biomechanical knowledge and bodywork we use breath, sound, mantra and visualisation to increase the potential for the bodywork to be effective.
During this four hour workshop, we will explore birth anatomy, optimal foetal positioning and look at a range of biomechanical remedial positions and dance-based sequences for labour with breath and sound incorporated.
By the end of the workshop you will have a range of concrete ‘ Labour Yoga’ practices to teach your women for use in late pregnancy and during the labour itself.
You will need a ball and a chair as props.
Recording available.
About Nadia
Nadia is a YAP Senior Registered Yoga teacher with over 15 years of supporting women through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Alongside holding numerous perinatal teacher trainings and CPD trainings, she is a trained and certified Dancing for Birth teacher and has studied Birth Mechanics with both Spinnning Babies and Molly O’Brian’s (advanced practitioner course).
As a birth doula for over a decade Nadia has used a range of movement practices with her clients to resolve positioning issues, create comfort and shift energetic and physical blocks during labour.
Nadia is the course content director and lead teacher on the Yoga & Mindfulness for Pregnancy & Birth Teacher Training programme.