10 Pregnancy Yoga Class Theme Ideas

When I first started teaching pregnancy yoga I struggled to think of unique class theme ideas. I often found myself coming back to the same set of poses and my classes felt a little bit boring to me.

Seven years (and a whole of experience) later I feel like I’ve now got a bank of pregnancy yoga class theme ideas in my head.

So if you’re just starting out teaching these type of classes – I hope this list helps!

Pregnancy Yoga Class Theme Ideas

Back pain

I’ve not met a pregnant woman yet who doesn’t experience some sort of back pain or discomfort. Theming around this common pregnancy complaint allows you to focus on both alignment and stretching out the back, hips and legs. You could also educate on the difference between general back ache and hip/ pelvis pain and what to look out for.

Restorative

Growing a human from scratch is exhausting. Restorative classes are always welcome during pregnancy. Use lots of props to make sure your students are as comfortable as possible and to ensure they aren’t stretching too much in any position. 

Connect

One of the best things about pregnancy yoga is the opportunity it gives you to connect with your baby and intuition. Some women aren’t really sure how to connect with their baby and yoga classes give them an opportunity to do this.

Breathing for birth

This theme is my personal favourite. In EVERY one of my pregnancy yoga classes I’m teaching breathing for birth.  The more you practice breath work, the more likely the women in your classes will naturally use it during labour. A whole class based around the different types of breathing to use during birth would benefit every pregnant woman, regardless of the type of birth she ends up having. 

Love / oxytocin

Cultivating feelings of love (to get the body pulsing with oxytocin) is a beautiful theme for pregnancy yoga classes. Oxytocin is our natural pain reliever so it’s worth knowing how to get it flowing. Within a class on this theme I would speak about yoga tools for birth, the importance of creating feelings of love and how to keep labour progressing.

Gratitude

Is gratitude ever a bad theme for a yoga class? Enough said.

Stamina for birth

Mental and physical stamina is such an important skill to work on in the lead up to labour and birth. This is what will carry women throughout birth and whatever particular challenges they face during their experience of it. Build physical and mental stamina by practicing holding poses and using the breath to experience difficult sensations in the body.

(You’ve probably also noticed a lot of my classes are themed around birth. It’s so important to prepare properly and frankly – women these days are BUSY. The hour and a half or so they spend with you each week might be the only time they have to prepare for birth, so I always include some element of birth preparation in all of my pregnancy yoga classes.)

Hips and legs

During pregnancy women often find their legs ache from the extra weight they’re carrying around all day. A class based on this part of their body will help relieve tension in the lower body, reduce leg swelling and decrease restless leg syndrome.

A word of caution though. Some women won’t need any extra stretching for the legs and hips and working in this area may cause discomfort or pain. Learn more about pelvic instability and what to avoid here.

Trust your body and intuition

The ability to trust your own body’s intuition is something I wish all mothers knew how to do. You need this to make the right choices for you during pregnancy. You need it during birth. And you definitely need it for those early days with a newborn when you’re unsure of every decision you have to make.

In a class based around this theme talk about how to connect with your intuition. Teach them how to listen to the clues the body gives us and then give them lots of space for reflection and tuning in. 

Anxiety, worries, fears 

Pregnancy is such a huge time of change in every woman’s life and this can feel very scary and overwhelming. Yoga gives us tools to deal with these anxieties and fears, and a pregnancy yoga class is also a safe space to talk about them openly with other women who understand.

So that’s it. Ten class themes that you could literally cycle around for your entire pregnancy yoga teaching career and each class would bring something different.

If you’d like more information on each of these class themes let me know in the comments below. If you’d like more information about teaching pregnancy yoga I’ve created a free basics guide. Download yours here.