Become a pregnancy yoga teacher

Our Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training Course is an 85 hour, Yoga Alliance accredited, comprehensive qualification in teaching pregnancy yoga. 

Pregnancy yoga is recommended by midwives as one of the best ways to prepare for pregnancy and childbirth, and our course will give you knowledge, tools and confidence to teach yoga to pregnant women to make a positive and often life-changing contribution too their pregnancy and birthing experience.

Over the six days of the course you will:

• Discover the anatomy and physiology of conception, pregnancy, labour and birth to enable you to understand a changing woman’s body and help prepare them for labour and birth.
• Learn a full range of yoga postures and sequences to enable you to create your own pregnancy yoga class and be able to modify postures for specific needs.
• Learn how to use props during breathing, postures and relaxation to help women be as comfortable as possible and get the most out of your classes.
• Learn specific breathing practices and pranayama to support pregnancy, labour and birth and enable pregnant women to activate the parasympathetic nervous response.
• Learn how to use mudra and sound to help women connect to their babies and feel present during their pregnancy and birth.
• Discover the psychological and emotional aspects of pregnancy to enable pregnant women to be mindful and to feel reassured. 
• Experience the power of yoga nidra and learn the science and structure behind it so that you can be confident writing and delivering your own scripts. 
• Learn about the post-natal period and mum and baby yoga to give you the tools to also teach your own post-natal classes.

More information about the pregnancy yoga teacher training course

Topics covered in contact time will include:

Course outline:

• Mantras and blessings
• Aims, objectives and outline of the course
• Personal stories and expectations
• Housekeeping
• Home study, course work and assessment
• General precautions and guidelines

Anatomy and Physiology:

• Fertility and natural conception
• Assisted conception, IUI, IVF, ICSI, donor pregnancies
• Anatomy and physiology of foetal development and pregnancy
• Optimal foetal positioning
• Stages of labour and birth
• Managing the onset of labour or birth during a pregnancy yoga class
• C-Section, episiotomy and complications of childbirth
• Common birth interventions
• Pregnancy loss, stillbirth and premature birth 
• The pelvic and pelvic floor practices
• Common pregnancy ailments
• Pelvic girdle pain

Asana, adjustments and modifications:

• Transitional moves
• Seated poses
• All fours poses
• Standing poses
• Sequences
• Wall and ball work
• Resting poses
• Partner work

Breathing and Pranayama:

• How breathing is affected by pregnancy
• Lung measurements
• Tidal volume and passive inhalation and exhalation
• Hyperventilation
• The three part breath
• Circle breath
• Golden thread breath
• Ujayii breath
• Breathing for labour stages and birth
• Visualisations for breath work

Nada yoga and Mudras:

• Mudras for pregnancy
• Mantras
• Meditations
• Use of affirmations and inspirational words
• Using sound in pregnancy, yoga and birth
• Use of music during a class

Psychology and emotions:

• Psychological work of pregnancy
• Supporting women during the class
• Connecting with the unborn child
• Anxiety
• Pregnancy loss
• How to deal with emotional disturbances
• How birth affects the future life of the baby

Yoga nidra:

• Science of yoga nidra
• Construction of a practice
• Using the sankalpa during pregnancy
• Different approaches to the rotation of consciousness
• Do’s and don’ts for yoga nidra and pregnancy
• Designing your script
• Delivery of a script and use of the voice

Propping and support:

• Use of props for seated postures
• Use of props for asana
• Propping for relaxation, different approaches, for different stages of pregnancy

Post-natal recovery:

• Physiology of the post-natal period
• Common post-natal problems
• Do’s and don’ts of post-natal yoga
• Guidelines and ideas for running a post-natal mum and baby course
• Yoga for breast or bottle feeding
• An overview of post-natal mum and baby yoga

Practicalities and personal development:

• Class observations and reflections
• Self appraisal
• Registration forms, paperwork
• Risk assessments
• Ethics
• Different approaches to pregnancy yoga
• Managing expectations
• Structuring your own classes
• Food and drink during a class

Home study work

To be completed before the course commences:

• Personal reflection work (max 500 words)
• Listening to at least two different yoga nidra recordings

To be completed before the course finishes:

• Two pregnancy yoga class observations (max 500 words each)
• Two case studies into specific ailments of pregnancy (min 300 words, max 1,500 words)
• Two yoga nidra observations (max 500 words each)
• One yoga nidra original script (max 15 minutes when delivered)
• Pregnancy yoga registration form and medical questionnaire 
• Pregnancy yoga poster or handout explaining key benefits of pregnancy yoga (max 500 words)