I’ve been really enjoying teaching pregnancy yoga during my own pregnancy – sharing the practice with my lovely group of mums-to-be, going together through all the ups and downs of this fragile and powerful period of our lives and being inspired by each other. However, it gets a bit inconvenient when you become the most pregnant of all the students. Running around and trying to help everyone out with slight modifications of postures becomes quite a challenge. So, entering my 39th week, I’ve decided to start the maternity leave and resume teaching in November.

The last class for this season was dedicated to a theme I wanted to focus on for quite some time - Warrior Mum.

I love the warrior poses, with their strong grounded feet, the open heart and arms expanding powerfully up or to the sides. According to yoga every physical posture (asana) cultivates a certain attitude if performed regularly and with dedication, so flexibility of the body becomes flexibility of the mind. The warrior poses in this sense cultivate courage and open-heartedness, floating over the strong feet with wide open arms and giving hands. A beautiful metaphor for motherhood!

Recently I came upon an interesting TED talk by Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist from Harvard who doesn’t have to do anything with yoga, but thinks that bodily postures we regularly assume shape the way we feel about ourselves and others. So, the poses of power, as she calls them, with legs comfortably apart and chest proudly forward, not only leave that impression on others, but can also boost our confidence and encourage us to develop such qualities in ourselves. Classical warrior would be a great example of a power pose in this sense.

The physical part of the class was focussed on energising flowing sequences based on and around the warrior poses. We started gradually preparing the body through loosening the spine, opening the hips and chest and strengthening the legs for a firmer grip in these powerful standing poses. I also found it useful to finish the class with more restorative poses releasing the tension in the lower back and hips.

Here are the little stick-men I drew planning this class: