Customer Reviews

Yoga for Pregnancy, Labor & Birth

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I did not practice yoga regularly prior to pregnancy -- I had been to 5 or 10 classes in my life. However, by my second trimester everything hurt: feet, back, hamstrings. I picked this up at Buy Buy Baby and found that by just doing the short section at the begining (35 minutes or so) 2 or 3 times a week, all my pains were gone. Although there is a lot of focus on the pregnancy in the DVD, my husband will sometimes do it with me and he reaps benefits.

This best thing about the DVD is s that it's so approachable to do just a half hour in your living room and immediately feel better. I also like it that the pregnant women in the video are not little skinny pregnant women -- they are full and fleshy. The production value is also much better than the other (Australian) yoga video I picked up.

I've dabbled in yoga over the past few years, but usually I stick with pilates. Tired of my normal pilates videos I decided to give this a try when I found it on the shelf at Borders.
This DVD is great for relaxing. The poses are very easy and it moves at a great pace. My sciatica problems have been reduced and other aches and pains have gone away.

This DVD was useful while I was pregnant. The positions were good and she did a good job of explaining how to get into them and I enjoyed the meditation at the end. What keeps me from giving it a great review is one phrase that she kept repeating that was a bit distracting and by the third or fourth time, was making me laugh: She kept saying, "This can help the baby get into the right position, whatever that means."
"Whatever that means"? It sounded like she was avoiding being judgmental toward a baby being "bad" for getting in the "wrong" position or something like that. Since there IS such a thing as an ideal position for birth (head down, occiput anterior, etc.), and yoga positioning is really good at getting babies there, the "whatever that means" seemed really funny. Of course a well-positioned baby isn't a better person than a mal-positioned one, but it will come out a heck of a lot more easily, and isn't that part of what we're doing the yoga for?
Overall, I enjoyed using the DVD and it was a good purchase, but that element was bothersome to me. Likely it wouldn't be to most women.

I have tried several pregnancy yoga videos and this is the best by far! I have been studying Iyengar yoga for several years and have taken a pregnancy yoga class with a well respected instructor. This video is the closest to a traditional Iyengar class. I find that a lot of the other yoga video incorporate a lot of fluff. Collette's voice is very soothing and the instruction is good. I would recommend having some experience in yoga first - some of the moves such as Warrier 2 need more instruction as I don't think she approaches these from a beginner's perspective. There is a good combination of breathing, stretching & more challenging moves and they cool down at then (legs up the wall) really helps with swelling.

At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle Colette, the instructor. She projects a very New Age, holistic vibe (as advertised) which was a little cheesy for my taste, but I found a lot of the poses very relaxing and restorative. I agree with another reviewer that many of the poses aren't held for long enough, but there are many good poses. It is definitely on the relaxing side, and promotes stretching and good positioning for the baby during birth, "Whatever that means." (she says that throughout the entire video). Lots of good breathing techniques, or reminders, rather. The whole thing is done by voiceover, even though she is in there doing the workout with her preggo students, which I found a bit odd, but I guess it was supposed to make the whole thing seem more relaxing and less distracting. By the end, I was used to her hippy dippy approach and found myself really enjoying the routine.

I have done yoga before and am experienced enough to know what I wanted out of a pregnancy yoga workout. I have many years of weight training in my background as well. I read the reviews of many yoga dvds before I purchased this one.

I am very happy with this purchase. I find this to be a wonderful yoga experience. I was not looking for a yoga workout. I am in the 2nd trimester and wanted to have a calm dvd to get a good stretch and this dvd has given me just that.

I recommend this to someone who wants to relax. It isn't a yoga workout and you probably won't get sweaty- unless you have one of those great heat stroke attacks that comes with pregnancy- but you will feel calm after this video.

I also bought the fitmama dvd so i could have a workout dvd as well. I recommend having both.

Good luck!

I'm in the 5th week of my 3rd pregnancy. I gained 45 with my first and was in terrible shape. I didn't loose the weight until after my 2nd pregnancy where I only gained 25, but started overweight. I finally lost all the baby weight and then some and now here I am for #3. I am no where near in great shape, but at least my weight is down and I'm working on it. I promised myself I would have a more healthy pregnancy this time. My diet is great, I just needed to find a workout that I would enjoy and that wouldn't take an hour of my time. I purchased 4 pregnancy workouts - 2 pilates and 2 yoga and I love them all. I looked at pretty much every prenatal workout Amazon has to offer (spent a couple days reading reviews) and am super happy with my choices. All 4 make the workout very personal, the music is great, and there isn't any of that super peppy over acting stuff like so many workouts. They are all well trained in their art and have many years of experience behind them.

#1 - Yoga for Pregnancy Labor & Birth with Colette Crawford
I did this today and it really relaxed my body and mind (which I needed as my 3 and 5 year old were running around the house doing crazy things). It's very simple and straightforward and anyone can do it. I feel motivated after doing it and so many pressures are gone. As mentioned in some of the other reviews the girls in it aren't super skinny and that is kind of nice sometimes. She talks a lot about breathing, being in the moment, and just knowing your body. I would recommend this to anyone who just needs some time to learn to relax and do some great stretching to help with aches and pains!

#2 - Pilates During Pregnancy with Niece Pecenka
All I can say is - wow! My legs are out of shape. The ab workout is great and helps me feel open and even helped my bloated feeling pass. The leg work is a challenge and has a lot of different moves my other pilates workouts don't, but I know it will get easier as I gain strength. Some of he movements aren't always the same length, but I still love doing this workout.

#3 - Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga with Elena Brower
This is a great workout! This is my first time doing yoga, though I've done some of the moves in my regular non-pregnancy pilates workouts, and I'm loving it. It has really loosened up my stiffness and made my hips and lower back feel so much better. I thought I was going to die during my 2nd pregnancy because of all my aches and pains. I talked with many of my friends about yoga and what I should look for. They told me about how I should feel it, but not overstretch, to know what my bodies limits are. The breathing really helps. This one also has a postnatal workout I am looking forward to!

#4 - 10 minute Solution Prenatal Pilates with Lizbeth Garcia
This really energized me. It uses weights along with great moves and my heart rate was up and going. I love Lizbeth Garcia. I LOVE that you can pick which order you do the workouts in and you can do one or as many as you like! I'm looking forward to the postnatal workout after my beautiful little one arrives!

I hope this helps anyone out there looking for some great workouts to stay in shape and feel in control during pregnancy. Just a side note, I've noticed working out really helps me control my cravings and wanting to over eat. It strengthens my mind and helps me feel in control.

I'm signed in as my husband so a man isn't actually writing this. :-)

I just got this have only done it once but I thought it was great! I feel like this was the first time doing yoga that I actually "got it". I've taken a few classes here and there and done other home workouts. I've never too had much trouble with the poses, found the stretching good and enjoyed it alright, but I never felt that in-tune with my body thing that yoga is supposed to provide. I never have felt like I got the breathing rhythm down either.

I'm not sure if it was the instructor on this dvd or just being more in-tune with my body now that I'm pregnant, but I really felt like I was getting it. The way she described breathing made way more sense to me, and I loved how she says to follow your own breath instead of always saying exactly when you should be breathing in and out.

I also loved that the instructor really focused on how certain positions will help during labor or will help relieve pregnancy strains. I feel that this is a great resource that I will be able to use during labor. I was definitely able to relax and get inside myself, which is very important during labor. One of my favorite parts was a humming exercise. I can totally see myself humming during labor to stay focused.

I also appreciated that the students on the video were totally normal looking girls. They were quite large and pregnant and not tiny little things with just basketball bellies. It shows that you can do this stuff right up to the end.

my only real complaint about this video is that the yoga portion is so short. i am used to doing an hours worth and 30 minutes seems unsatisfying to me. also, she does not tell you that you need wall space and they mention "optional" equipment, but don't tell you how to do the positions with out them.

the instructor seems to know what she is talking about and there are some helpful parts concerning baby positioning and labor. i bought two different prenatal yoga videos and this one is the better of the two

This Yoga exercise is very gentle and easy. No pose to push you to the limit. The instructor shows the poses sometimes, but the poses are easy enough to follow the models who are both pregnant. This is not to elevate your heartbeat or be worried about your muscle pain next day. When you simply want to be released from the back pain, or feel like to stretch your legs and arms safely, this DVD doesn't hurt. If you're not pregnant, it could be boring, but especially after 2nd and 3rd trimester, this is very nice, indeed. I learned a couple poses that makes me feel like doing several times in a day. So, while I"m in the kitchen, brushing my teeth in the bathroom, I practice some poses before discomfort from back or leg pain become serious. That is nice.