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Mobility and movement support the changes that occur in your body during pregnancy. While every body is unique and so are your needs, these are movements we've found to be helpful for all our pregnant mamas.
Cat & Cow
Cat cow is an exercise you can do at home to get good motion and movement in the sacrum.
Starting on all fours - arch your back up like a cat
Then bring your belly down and let it relax like a cow.
This allows for some good motion and movement in the lower back in the sacrum.
If this position is putting too much pressure and stress on your wrist, try this alternative: Start in front of a bench or couch, rest your forearms on the furniture, and then go through the motions there.
90 / 90
This stretch is called 90 / 90 because we sit with our knees bent at 90° angles.
This is a great hip flexor stretch for everyone - pregnant or not.
First step is to sit up nice and tall with your knees bent at 90°. You'll know you're not at 90° if your feet are touching your legs.
Begin by rotating your torso toward the side your toes are pointing and bring your legs up and over the same direction. Your feet are essentially going to stay in place while your legs move.
Next rotate the opposite direction with your torso and legs.
Depending on how much space your baby is taking up, you may need to lean back a little bit. And that's okay.
Slowly move side to side. Stretching out those hip flexors. This is a great movement in the morning, at the end of the day... there's not really a bad time to give your hip flexors some love.
Sit Like a Guy
Sit Like a Guy is a piriformis stretch. Ironically enough, this muscle can become tight from sitting for prolonged periods of time in the same position.
Start with the right leg pulled over the left side. The triangle that's created when your leg is crossed over is kind of like a hammock or basket for your baby bump.
Lean forward into that area, making sure to keep your back straight. You're going to feel a stretch across your right buttocks. Only lean far enough forward to feel the stretch.
Hold that position for 10 - 20 seconds and then slowly sit back up.
Over-stretching can aggravate the muscle, so less is always more with this one.
Standing IT Band
Hip pain in pregnancy? There's a good chance your IT Band (thick fibrous tissue that runs from your hip to just below your knee) is playing a role! This tissue gets extra irritated when lying on your side... which we know you are.
For the Standing IT band stretch, you're going to start standing next to a chair.
Stand up nice and tall, take your outside leg (that's farthest from the chair) and hook it behind the leg that is closet to the chair.
Then while still standing up tall, lean into the side that the chair on.
You will feel a nice stretch through the hips.
Stay they're 10 seconds and then slowly come back up.
Repeat on the other side.
Opera Pose
The Opera Pose is a great way to help to stretch out the pec muscles, neck flexors and the upper back. A majority of our daily activities require us to flex forward - sitting or working on a computer, looking down to read or be on your phone, holding and feeding your baby, etc. This flexion position contributes to tension in the muscles on the front side of your body. The Opera Pose is a simple, effective way you can stretch those muscles (another great thing you can do for them is change how you are positioned when you're carrying out your daily activities, but more on that later).
In a standing position, extend your arms out away from your body.
Slightly tilt your chin up. Be mindful to not exaggerate the position, which can cause more tension in the upper back area.
As you hold that open position, keep your shoulders down and relaxed.
Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat as needed.