How long should I keep teaching yoga while pregnant?

I often get questions from other yoga teachers about how long they should keep teaching yoga while pregnant. So I thought I’d create this little series just for the teachers out there. If you have other questions you’d like answered please feel free to ask away in the comments and I’ll answer them for you in a future post.

Questions to consider when teaching yoga while pregnant.

I know this is probably not the concrete answer you were hoping to find but like everything when it comes to how long you should continue teaching yoga while pregnant; it depends.

I’m hoping that given you’re already a yogi, you will be open to self-reflection and connecting in with your own intuition when it comes to finding this answer for you.

So instead of giving you THE answer – I thought I’d give you some questions to consider instead.

How does your body feel when you teach?

I know for me personally, I am often not as connected to my own body as I should be when I teach. I’m thinking about my students and their bodies instead and as a result I’m often not the most kind to my own.

This created problems for me during pregnancy. I would unknowingly push myself too far while demonstrating poses and end up sore afterwards. If you can teach and still be mindful of your own body, this may not be a problem for you.

Do you have to demonstrate every pose?

I know when I first started teaching yoga I felt like I needed to demonstrate every single pose during the class. These days, I only ever demonstrate one side only, and sometimes only the more complicated poses (ones that we don’t do in every class).

I trust that my regulars know what they’re doing and the newbies will follow them. Not being glued to my mat means that I’m free to move around the class, observe students and give better cues based on what they need.

If you feel like you can only teach while demonstrating, you may need to give up teaching earlier in your pregnancy than if you’re happy just talking your students through the class.

How much energy do you have to give?

As you likely already know, growing a tiny human takes a lot of your energy. So does teaching yoga. During different stages of your pregnancy you’ll have more energy to give than at others. Or you may find that you have no energy for anything other than growing your baby for the entire 40 weeks.

This is 100% okay. Just as you don’t ask your students to push beyond their physical limits, nor should you. Show compassion for yourself and let go of the identity of ‘yoga teacher’ during pregnancy if you simply don’t have the energy to give.

I’d love to hear from you now. How long did you continue teaching yoga while pregnant?

Oh and before you go… I’ve created a free basics guide for yoga teachers wanting to teach pre and postnatal yoga. If you’re a yoga teacher who is pregnant you will also find this helpful to know about the changes going on in your own body. You can download it here.