Exercise isn’t always easy when you’re pregnant – symptoms like nausea, fatigue, and the overall awkwardness of your body’s temporary condition can be difficult to combat, let alone overcome (and that recliner is definitely more tempting than any thoughts of exercise).

However, if your doctor has cleared you for regular activity, it’s important to get moving as often as you can. Yoga is a gentle way to achieve a healthy pregnancy workout – and its benefits are many.

“Prenatal yoga practice alleviates common pregnancy discomforts like low back pain, sciatica, and fatigue; reduces swelling and inflammation around the joints which can be stressed as weight gain occurs; and promotes circulation of blood and oxygen throughout the body, promoting healthy digestion and regularity,” says Kathy Thompson, the owner and director of Follow Your Heart Yoga Center in Germantown.

Even if you’ve never done yoga before, the prenatal yoga classes at Follow Your Heart are designed for both new and experienced yoga students. If you’ve taken a childbirth class, you’ve likely been tutored about the various recommended breathing exercises that can help ease labor. Prenatal yoga is a valuable way to continue to practice and further hone these techniques, while also helping you develop strength, flexibility, and a calmness that will serve you throughout your pregnancy and better prepare you for the challenges of delivery.

The benefits of yoga don’t stop there, though. After the birth of your child, you can take advantage of baby and me yoga courses, ideal for a mom whose baby is not yet crawling. “Postnatal yoga helps new moms feel good about themselves as they perform poses that affect the whole body as it comes back to its pre-pregnancy form,” explains Thompson. “This is a wonderful opportunity to bond with the new baby and for mom to learn some ways to gently move and massage the baby's body.”

Follow Your Heart yoga also offers a beginner’s family yoga course for mom, dad, and kids. Yet another way for families to connect on a deeper level with each other, reduce stress, and communicate more openly.