Asanaverse

Phase 2 · The Standing Work

Part of the 6 Week Prenatal Yoga Program for the Second Trimester

35 Minute Prenatal Yoga Sequence for Back and Hips

Weeks three and four. The standing work from the documented trial protocol, with a wide base throughout.

The middle two weeks do the standing work properly. In the trial that documented its full pose list, the specific back pain score did not separate from the control group, and gait speed, standing time and turning all did. Something changes in how you move even when the pain score does not, and this is the part of the program that does it.

35 min · Level 1

← Back to the full program

Wann hilfreich

For weeks three and four, twice a week. Thirty-five minutes. A chair, a block, a bolster and a blanket. For the second trimester of an uncomplicated pregnancy, from about week 14 to week 28, with your midwife or doctor knowing you are doing it. No lying flat on your back, no closed twists, no poses on your front, no inversions and no breath holding: those are the standard modifications and this program is built around them rather than adding them afterwards. Stop and call your midwife for bleeding, contractions, fluid loss, severe headache or visual changes, dizziness beyond the usual, reduced movements, or a painful swollen calf.

How you move

Walking speed, standing time and turning all improved measurably in the trial this sequence is drawn from.

Everyday symptoms

The general pregnancy symptom score improved clearly in the same trial, more than the specific back pain measure did.

Hips

A lunge and a supported squat. Room in the pelvis while it is still easy to find.

Standing, wide base

Twenty minutes upright with the feet wider than usual and a chair in reach. Sit down whenever you want to.

BerghaltungTadasana
01
3 min

Berghaltung

Feet hip width or wider. Two part breathing, into the belly and then the ribs, with a long breath out.

The base and the breath, the same as week one. Familiar openings make longer sessions easier to start.

Mehr über Tadasana erfahren
Berghaltung mit SeitbeugeParshva Tadasana
02
1 min each side

Berghaltung mit Seitbeuge

Reaching up and over, feet wide. Length rather than depth.

Space for the ribs, which is worth two minutes at this point in a pregnancy.

Mehr über Parshva Tadasana erfahren
Krieger 2Virabhadrasana II
03
90 sec each side

Krieger 2

Wide stance, front knee over the ankle, arms long. Hand on a chair if you want it. Ninety seconds now.

Longer holds ask the legs to carry the extra weight rather than the lower back doing it.

Mehr über Virabhadrasana II erfahren
DreieckTrikonasana
04
1 min each side

Dreieck

Hand on the shin or a chair seat, chest turning open, plenty of room at the front.

A long side over a wide base, with nothing pressing.

Mehr über Trikonasana erfahren
SeitwinkelUtthita Parsvakonasana
05
1 min each side

Seitwinkel

Wide stance, forearm resting on the front thigh rather than reaching down. Keep the chest open and turned up.

The side body and the hip together, in the version where the forearm takes the weight.

Mehr über Utthita Parsvakonasana erfahren
Weite stehende VorbeugePrasarita Padottanasana
06
2 min

Weite stehende Vorbeuge

Feet wide, hands on a chair seat or blocks, back long, folding only as far as the back stays long.

A wide legged fold with the hands supported. It lengthens the back of the legs without asking the pelvis for anything.

Mehr über Prasarita Padottanasana erfahren
SquadMalasana
07
2 min

Squad

Supported squat, heels on a rolled blanket, sitting on a block or a chair edge, elbows gently widening the knees.

The pelvis opens here and the support underneath is what turns it from work into rest.

Mehr über Malasana erfahren
Hoher AusfallschrittAnjaneyasana
08
1 min each side

Hoher Ausfallschritt

A long lunge with the back knee down on a blanket, hands on the front thigh or a chair. Feel the front of the back hip open.

The front of the hip shortens as the pelvis tilts forward through a pregnancy, and this is the direct answer to that.

Mehr über Anjaneyasana erfahren

On the floor

Eight minutes on hands and knees or sitting. Nothing on your front, nothing flat on your back.

FersensitzVajrasana
09
2 min

Fersensitz

Kneeling with the knees wide, blanket underneath. Take your time getting down.

The transition, unhurried.

Mehr über Vajrasana erfahren
KatzenposeMarjaryasana
10
3 min

Katzenpose

Hands and knees, knees wide, rounding on the out breath. Keep the movement in the middle and upper back.

Three minutes with the weight off the lower back. Longer than the first phase because it is worth it.

Mehr über Marjaryasana erfahren
Kuh HaltungBitilasana
11
2 min

Kuh Haltung

Chest forward on the in breath, without letting the lower back drop.

Small, and the small version is the correct one.

Mehr über Bitilasana erfahren
Stellung des Kindes Balasana
12
2 min

Stellung des Kindes

Knees very wide, bolster lengthways underneath you so the bump rests on it, head turned to one side.

Knees wide and a bolster underneath makes this available for most of a pregnancy. Without both it is not.

Mehr über Balasana erfahren

Breath and rest

Seven minutes of breathing and a side-lying rest. Do not skip this part.

SchmetterlingBaddha Konasana
13
2 min

Schmetterling

Sitting, soles together, knees supported. Alternate nostril breathing, no holding.

The component that carried the effect in the research, rather than the one that fills the last five minutes.

Mehr über Baddha Konasana erfahren
TotenstellungSavasana
14
5 min

Totenstellung

Left side, cushion between the knees, one under the head. Never flat on your back.

Five minutes of guided rest on your side, and the same ending every time.

Mehr über Savasana erfahren

Integration

Twice a week for weeks three and four, with the ten minute sequence in between. Take every standing pose wider than a class would normally cue, and use the chair whenever balance feels different from last week.