BabyOhm

One of the most common pregnancy related complaints I hear from my pregnant clients and prenatal yoga students is back pain. Low back pain, mid back pain, shoulder and neck pain...you name it, most pregnant women feel it at one point or another! What pose comes to the rescue?? Cat/Cow stretches!

This flow of movement between two poses works on stretching your entire spine, releases low back tension, helps gently tone the abdominal muscles, and helps lubricate the spine. This post is safe for all trimesters and can also be extremely beneficial during labor to alleviate tension or to help with “back labor”.

Come onto hands and knees making sure that your knees are directly under your hips and a few inches a part. Your wrists should be placed directly under your shoulders with the fingers facing forward. If there's pressure under the knees you can place a folded blanket or towel underneath. Elongate the spine, reaching the crown of your head forward, your gaze looking down at the floor.

On your inhalation (breathe in and out of the nose) let the belly drop towards the floor and hallow out your back, lifting the tailbone and lifting the chin slightly. Gently squeeze the shoulder blades together to open the heart. This is called Cow pose.

On your exhalation tuck the tailbone, tuck the chin and round out the back reaching the spine towards the ceiling. Using your abdominal muscles gently engage the core and give your baby a hug to tone the abs. This is called Cat pose.

Keeping your arms straight continue flowing between these two poses with your breath. Inhale to Cow. Exhale to Cat. Feel the tension in your spine releasing, feel the rhythm of your breath. Continue this movement 6-8 times total and then allow yourself to rest in Child's pose. Take your knees wide and push your bottom back toward your heels, keep the arms extended with the palms pressing into the mat and rest the forehead on the floor or a blanket. Connect with your breath, connect with your baby. After a few breaths in Child's pose, feel free to come back to hands and knees and do another round of Cat/Cow!

Practice Cat/Cow each day as a way to prevent or alleviate back pain. It is an invigorating moving meditation that can be done to help awaken the body after a good nights sleep or to stretch the body after a restless night.