bestexerciseduringpregnancy.com

The New Method Baby and Mom Prenatal Yoga

Relaxing, strengthening, and allowing oneself to feel rather than think have long been associated with ancient yoga practice. Instructor Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa expertly ties this essential combination of physical experiences together in a gentle exercise video for pregnant women of all fitness levels. Prior to the 45-minute routine, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa discusses the role of yoga in helping with pregnancy; the calm and security that develop through guided breathing and gentle movement are transferred from the mother’s body to her growing baby. The nonimpact routine itself provides ample warm-up, toning, and conditioning portions, as well as a deep, head-to-toe relaxation and visualization segment. Ten pregnant students (all pleasantly unrehearsed) stretch, bend, and learn along with the viewer, to the peaceful sounds of a live band consisting of wood flute, bass, quiet drum, and shimmering bells. Every bit as enriching for the soul as it is for the body. –Liane Thomas

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Not What I Was Looking For in a Yoga DVD
I have been practicing yoga for over seven years now with a studio, through various classes, and using home DVDs when my schedule is hectic. I did a fair bit of reading about prenatal yoga once I found out we were pregnant, and I knew my body would be very happy to have the yoga continue to help my back and my poor sciatic wonky-hip pain. My yoga studio has a prenatal class, but the schedule does not work with mine so I thought I would get a DVD to supplement until I could make it to classes again.

This was not the right video for me. There was too much discussion, too much commentary, and not enough actual yoga going on for my taste. I did not appreciate this woman attempting to facilitate my relationship with my “bay-bay” (hug your bay-bay, dance with your bay-bay, your bay-bay loves it when you do this move, etc). I have my own special time 24/7 with this beeb in my belly, and I did not get this dvd to inform me of the fact that I’m supposed to hug and love my belly. I needed some quiet time (she never stops talking) with some gentle moves to keep my back happy, my body moving, and my mind at ease. This DVD is currently sitting by the door as I will not use it again.

I’m not sure why I didn’t just go with the Gaiam dvd… it is now on order.

1 Star Creepy
I watched for 10 minutes and I had to stop. They make you chant at the beginning as a part of the workout and it’s really creepy. I was looking for a nice workout, not an introduction to a new religion.

3 Stars A very easy exercise
I was at my 16 weeks when I started to use this DVD. This is my first pregnancy. I enjoy exercising and before I got pregnant, I go to the gym at least once a week. I enjoy challenging lower-body toning exercises, bodycombat (high-cardio) classes, machine-weights to tone my upper body. I have done beginner to intermediate yoga classes and do not have a very flexible body. I now swim twice a week (20 minutes) and exercise to this DVD every other day.

The instructor is not pregnant in this video and looks very “zen-ish” with her head dress (a white turban looking thing). The video starts out with a 10-15 minute clip of her talking about how yoga is good for the mother and the baby.

During the next 5 minutes or so, she instructs the class to sit in an upright cross-legged position, with eyes closed and chant to a language I do not understand. Apparently, it means “I bow to the divine power in myself” or something to that effect. I find this section disturbing and do not like the sound of it at all, so I typically fast forward to the point where the lesson proper begins.

The class has a live band playing at the back of the room. Music is okay. The venue looks rather old-fashioned. However, lighting was okay. You will see some camera man moving behind the flowers and pillars once in a while. The women were dressed in big T-shirts and tights, others in full body suits. They have make-up on, and some look quite pretty and attractive. Nothing fanciful or appealing about the set, in general.

The next 30-minute section has very good exercises to help a pregnant woman stretch and relax her body. Gentle stretches and exercises that are only enough to get my heartbeat up by a little. However, even though the exercises are simple, I feel very good after at the end of it. I feel good to have stretched the thighs, arms, toes, calves, lower and upper back, neck, kegel muscle. All in all, if you are looking for a non-strenuous and gentle stretching exercise to help you to remain flexible and to relief stiff joints and aches, this would be the DVD. One thing to note, the instructor in this video emphasizes a lot on “feeling” the movements in the body and to release all inhibitions.

This is not the DVD if you are looking to tone those hips, butts and thighs and sweat it all out.

The video ends with another session of chanting (which I skip). Apparently, the words are supposed to heal and give you strength or something like that. And after that, we all lie down and close our eyes to relax, as with all yoga classes.

I am still waiting for two DVDs to arrive:

1) The Perfect Pregnancy Workout

2) Shiva Rea Prenatal Yoga

2 Stars Helpful exercises drowned in silliness
I was looking forward to a gentle challenge for my last month of pregnancy when I popped this video into the VCR (It was a hand-me-down tape from a friend). After losing my patience with the turban and muu-muu wearing instructor’s long monologue that opens the tape I fast-forwarded until I saw the typical exercise-video setup.

This was the beginning of the end for me. I resisted completely turning off the tape but couldn’t help laughing as I watched some of the overly-enthusiastic participants writhing around while the instructor croons “Your baaaaby loves to mooooove this waaaay.” It made me feel ridiculous.

The reason I gave it two stars is that there are a few truly useful exercises that can be learned if you can ignore the instructor, participants, and music to get to them. If you’re interested in trying this video, see if you can borrow it from the local library before you spend any money on it.

4 Stars Great for labor prep
Kinda silly looking as I guess it’s “look” is quite outdated now. But this video is wonderful. It’s very gentle and easy but felt great when I was 7 months and beyond during my pregnancy. I feel it’s focus is much more towards preparing and opening a woman’s body for birth rather than a typical yoga workout.

Retrospectively, it was this video and all the yogic philosophy that goes along with it that allowed me to birth naturally.

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ZenMama with Rainbeau Mars Prenatal Yoga Workout

Your pregnancy, one of the most profound and transformational experiences of your life, is the time to take very special care of your baby and yourself. Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help you to become more sensitive to your body’s and your baby’s ever changing needs. In this program yoga instructor Rainbeau Mars provides a safe and effective pre-natal yoga practice that will help you to maintain a strong and centered body and mind. You will work through a sequence of postures that are not only designed to keep you happy in the moment, but also to prepare you for the experience of giving birth. Since your yoga practice during this special time will need to be adjusted depending on which trimester you are in, Rainbeau works with two assistants. Together, the three of them demonstrate how each posture should be practiced according to where you are in your pregnancy. Benefits of pre-natal yoga practice: • Increases endurance and stamina • Builds strength and flexibility • Improves concentration and breath awareness

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Good for beginners
This video is perfect for someone, like myself, who is not into working out. It would also be great for those of you who work out a lot and would like to have a dvd on hand for relaxation. I alternate this tape with walking daily, and I feel great. I am brand new to yoga, and really enjoyed this video. There is a lot of focus on correct breathing techniques, which makes you feel wonderful. I love the relaxation technique at the end. Having no experience with yoga, I did have a hard time following Rainbeau’s instruction. I recommend watching the video first. I strained my neck trying to look up from one of the poses; three days later I still haven’t gotten the kink out!

4 Stars Challenging, Approachable, Restoring
ZenMama with Rainbeau Mars has grown on me among my small collection of pre-natal yoga videos. I wasn’t convinced at first, and found some of the asanas more challenging than I had hoped for - however, those little challenges have worked themselves out, and it wasn’t enough for me to shelve this video. Now, it’s risen to the top of my list.

Rainbeau Mars uses a variety of asanas, talks them through in a very human, compassionate way, and encourages you to welcome the challenges and breathe through them. At first, I felt she talked too much through the video, but after awhile, I realized that it helped me build a connection to my practice. Also, her talking through shavasana at the end really tuned me into 1) how to relax my body 2) why this is considered such a hard pose, even when it would seem so easy!

I believe this video will be a challenge for those who are not already practicing yoga, or who are new to fitness. Her third trimester accommodations might be useful for those who are in even their first trimester, but need a bit more support through some of the asanas. It might not be as challenging for people who are super-familiar with yoga, but I think that it hits a good happy medium, and wherever you’re at, is a good video to supplement studio practice, or use twice a week (or more) at home.

4 Stars Very pleased
I really enjoy this workout. I am a little familiar with yoga, but have never practiced it before and I found it fairly easy to follow. There are a few parts that I think could have been explained a little better, but after trying it out a couple of times I found them easy to get the hang of. I really liked that Rainbeau had 2 other women with her, and that each of them was in a different spot in their pregnancy so there are different variations shown for each trimester. It wasn’t like some cheesy yoga videos I’ve seen before, but very calming and relaxing. I would definitely recommend this video to a friend.

5 Stars great
This is the only prenatal yoga video I’ve found that I like. Let it be said, I am not the hugest yoga fan to begin with, so I am quite picky about it. I just force myself to do it bc I know it is good for me. Anyways, I don’t mind doing ZenMama because it’s not as corny as a lot of other vids and bc find Rainbeau Mars voice very soothing.

3 Stars Good workout but not very technical
I must admit I like the actual routine in this video. But I am not sure I feel comfortable saying this is a good beginner video because the routine is easy and basic, but the instructions Rainbeau gives are not really that great and really lack technique. She doesn’t name most of the poses which means you need to be watching to see what she is doing, which is a bit annoying and a problem in many poses. Her technique is a little poor, and her verbage while instructing the routine is a little off and sometimes annoying because it doesn’t really flow.

If you want to be technical about how you move throughout the routine watch the girl in back with the red hair and blue leotard.

There are also parts of the workout that if you have a bad back, as I do, and have never been to a formal yoga class, you are likely to hurt your back as she does not tell you to gently roll up or give you any of the gentle instruction that allows you to save yourself the back pain when doing yoga. Just be aware.

Other than the lack of technique and formal titles for poses I think this is a good video, but not necessarily a good one if you are a true blue beginner as it does not explain enough IMO.

Buy/More Info

ZenMama with Rainbeau Mars Prenatal Yoga Workout

Your pregnancy, one of the most profound and transformational experiences of your life, is the time to take very special care of your baby and yourself. Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help you to become more sensitive to your body’s and your baby’s ever changing needs. In this program yoga instructor Rainbeau Mars provides a safe and effective pre-natal yoga practice that will help you to maintain a strong and centered body and mind. You will work through a sequence of postures that are not only designed to keep you happy in the moment, but also to prepare you for the experience of giving birth. Since your yoga practice during this special time will need to be adjusted depending on which trimester you are in, Rainbeau works with two assistants. Together, the three of them demonstrate how each posture should be practiced according to where you are in your pregnancy. Benefits of pre-natal yoga practice: • Increases endurance and stamina • Builds strength and flexibility • Improves concentration and breath awareness

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Good workout but not very technical
I must admit I like the actual routine in this video. But I am not sure I feel comfortable saying this is a good beginner video because the routine is easy and basic, but the instructions Rainbeau gives are not really that great and really lack technique. She doesn’t name most of the poses which means you need to be watching to see what she is doing, which is a bit annoying and a problem in many poses. Her technique is a little poor, and her verbage while instructing the routine is a little off and sometimes annoying because it doesn’t really flow.

If you want to be technical about how you move throughout the routine watch the girl in back with the red hair and blue leotard.

There are also parts of the workout that if you have a bad back, as I do, and have never been to a formal yoga class, you are likely to hurt your back as she does not tell you to gently roll up or give you any of the gentle instruction that allows you to save yourself the back pain when doing yoga. Just be aware.

Other than the lack of technique and formal titles for poses I think this is a good video, but not necessarily a good one if you are a true blue beginner as it does not explain enough IMO.

4 Stars Challenging, Approachable, Restoring
ZenMama with Rainbeau Mars has grown on me among my small collection of pre-natal yoga videos. I wasn’t convinced at first, and found some of the asanas more challenging than I had hoped for - however, those little challenges have worked themselves out, and it wasn’t enough for me to shelve this video. Now, it’s risen to the top of my list.

Rainbeau Mars uses a variety of asanas, talks them through in a very human, compassionate way, and encourages you to welcome the challenges and breathe through them. At first, I felt she talked too much through the video, but after awhile, I realized that it helped me build a connection to my practice. Also, her talking through shavasana at the end really tuned me into 1) how to relax my body 2) why this is considered such a hard pose, even when it would seem so easy!

I believe this video will be a challenge for those who are not already practicing yoga, or who are new to fitness. Her third trimester accommodations might be useful for those who are in even their first trimester, but need a bit more support through some of the asanas. It might not be as challenging for people who are super-familiar with yoga, but I think that it hits a good happy medium, and wherever you’re at, is a good video to supplement studio practice, or use twice a week (or more) at home.

5 Stars great
This is the only prenatal yoga video I’ve found that I like. Let it be said, I am not the hugest yoga fan to begin with, so I am quite picky about it. I just force myself to do it bc I know it is good for me. Anyways, I don’t mind doing ZenMama because it’s not as corny as a lot of other vids and bc find Rainbeau Mars voice very soothing.

4 Stars Good for beginners
This video is perfect for someone, like myself, who is not into working out. It would also be great for those of you who work out a lot and would like to have a dvd on hand for relaxation. I alternate this tape with walking daily, and I feel great. I am brand new to yoga, and really enjoyed this video. There is a lot of focus on correct breathing techniques, which makes you feel wonderful. I love the relaxation technique at the end. Having no experience with yoga, I did have a hard time following Rainbeau’s instruction. I recommend watching the video first. I strained my neck trying to look up from one of the poses; three days later I still haven’t gotten the kink out!

4 Stars Very pleased
I really enjoy this workout. I am a little familiar with yoga, but have never practiced it before and I found it fairly easy to follow. There are a few parts that I think could have been explained a little better, but after trying it out a couple of times I found them easy to get the hang of. I really liked that Rainbeau had 2 other women with her, and that each of them was in a different spot in their pregnancy so there are different variations shown for each trimester. It wasn’t like some cheesy yoga videos I’ve seen before, but very calming and relaxing. I would definitely recommend this video to a friend.

Buy/More Info