Pregnancy Yoga/Pilates Reviews

I have come to learn that I love yoga. I have always been semi-flexible with all the cheerleading and gymnastics I've done through my life, but I definitely have lost most all of that. I like how yoga combines relaxation with strength and stretching. It's not a vigorous exercise (unless you do it P90X style), but it's great for pregnancy. Now I mentioned in one of my surveys that I have sciatic lower back pain that has gotten worse with pregnancy. The yoga is helping by strengthening the area and just making it easier to move. Let's get started with the reviews.

This first video is Yoga Mama and I am borrowing this from Leah and I really love it. She says silly things like "Take the love you have in your heart and the love you have for your baby." She's says it in that exact pose above. It's cheesy, but I do like her voice and the workout is about 40 mins and it's a great routine for overall fitness. If I have to choose, this is my favorite.

I like this Yoga for pregnancy because she has 6 different routines, so you don't have to do the same thing over and over. The major reason I like this is because she has a 20 min workout just on back pain and sciatica. Each stretch is designed specifically for that reason and when she says you should feel the pain you get right now and every time I do so I know it's hitting the areas I need. Warning though, her setting she does the yoga in isn't ideal. She is basically floating on a background so it's a bit odd.

Shiva Rea is popular in the yoga world and she has a pretty good overall yoga video. It's a bit longer than the others, I think its a 60-70 min workout. I just like the variety between the 3 so I don't know what's going to happen after each move. 

I thought I would mix it up and try pilates. Now, I have never done pilates before so I didn't know what to expect. Bottom line, I did not like it. It was a harder workout than the yoga, but that's not the reason why I didn't enjoy it. It was a lot of leg/ab work with just a lot of repetitive motions and I didn't see how this would help me.

If you are new to yoga and just want to try it out, I'd recommend trying one some videos on youtube or even renting from the library. Here is a youtube channel that has a variety of videos and you can see some beginner classes on the right.