If I could grant every expecting parent one thing, it would be the ability to listen to their body.
Your posture in pregnancy is a clue to where our attention is. And so often, our attention is on something or someone else! I hope to convince you that you are just as worthy of this attention, and show you moments throughout your day you can give this some practice.
How we sit, stand, and perform everyday movements not only affects the aches and pains we may feel in our body, it also affects our sleep, mood, and energy levels. And in pregnancy, you need every bit of extra energy you can get!
Here are my top 5 suggestions to power up your posture in pregnancy!
1. Take this lying down.
One of the best things you can do to take care of yourself, is to lie in side-lying for 10-20 minutes each day and tune into your body-mind connection.
Did you know you can power up your posture just by resting? As you lie down, we can release the downward pressure on the spine we often feel when upright, and allow it to decompress. This is the practice of “constructive rest” – and you can find more guidance HERE.
challenges of standing during pregnancy
2. Leaning back is a pain in the back.
Many people – not just pregnant people – react to holding a heavy weight in front of them by leaning back to counter it. This causes the lower back to arch a lot, which is often painful.
Can you catch yourself leaning back? Sway your hips forward/ back/ side-to side (good practice for labor!) Find a point of balance with your hips are underneath you, so they are in line with your ankles and even with each other, as in the second photo here.
3. Sit on your seat, not on your tail.
For a lot of people struggling with pelvic pain and sciatica, finding balance on their pelvis is a game-changer.
Sit on your hands and try to feel the rocker shaped bones at the bottom of your pelvis – your sitting bones. Rock forward and backward to remind yourself where these are. As you sit, use your sitting bones as your base of support.
As you sit at your desk, a visualization that might help is to imagine your pelvis as a bowl of water: you don’t want the bowl to tip forward or backward, but to stay level.
4. Put your head on top.
When you slump or lean back, your upper body has to counter by rounding the shoulders and bringing the head and neck forward. But if you had a smartphone before being pregnant, you may be more than familiar with this posture. Is looking at the screen pulling your head and neck down, and your whole body with it?
Place both your fingers in your ears – this is the place your head balances on your spine, and you can lightly move your head from this point. Most people notice that bringing awareness to this point lets them lighten up, rather than bending forward like a cashew.
5. The waist is not a joint.
If you’re finding that as your pregnancy advances, you can’t seem to bend over anymore – this might be a sign that you’re trying to bend at the waist – instead of where you should be bending: the hip joint! Bending at the waist aggravates your low back and tenses up your whole body.
Make friends with your hip joint! To find this, try marching in place, and finding that place where there is a fold, where the leg meets the pelvis – ta-da! Next time you pick something off the floor, feed the dog, etc., bend at the hip joint and at the knees. (P.S. this is adding some labor-prep squats to your daily routine without adding an exercise class!
Bonus! See an Alexander Technique teacher
Alexander technique teachers are experts in helping students change postures that are associated with tense “fight or flight” mode into postures that are more open, relaxed and free. An Alexander Technique lesson will be customized to your personal habits and daily activities and will include gentle, calming hands on guidance.
Taking the time to stop take care of yourself will set good habits for parenthood and beyond. Whether you choose Alexander Technique or another method to support you in pregnancy, I hope you set a habit to notice and take care of YOU!
Written by:
Sarah Mayhan is a 1600-hour trained Alexander Technique teacher – who found the technique valuable both in the physical demands of performance and addressing chronic pain, and then for the marathon of pregnancy, birth, and caring for her active little boy. She has led workshops for expecting and new parents at Prenatal Fit. Applying Alexander Technique to teaching new parents has included activities such as – finding restful positions for sleeping, lifting baby out of the crib, and pumping at work. Find information on her Chicago-based teaching practice and additional tips for new parents at: https://poisedpowerfulparenthood.com
