Prenatal Sun Salutation Sequence

Raised Arms Pose — Urdhva Hastasana

Start by standing in tadasana, but take your feet as wide as your mat.

Inhale. 

Bring your hands up through the heart center and then reach your arms toward the ceiling coming into ​urdhva hastasana. The palms can press together or you can separate the hands shoulder's distance apart, whichever is more comfortable. Slide your shoulders away from your ears.

Camper's Pose

Exhale.

Bend your knees while keeping the feet wide and parallel. Lower the thighs to almost parallel to the floor. It's ok if you don't come quite that low too. Bring your elbows to your thighs and press your palms to your heart center in anjali mudra. This is called camper's pose, for obvious reasons. It's offered as an alternative to a full forward bend because it allows space for the belly, which often feels better on the pregnant body, plus it's more of a hip opener.

Lunge With the Left Foot Forward

Inhale.

Bring the palms flat inside the feet, and step the right foot to the back of your mat to a lunge. Note that the left foot is outside your hand for this prenatal version. Again, this makes more space for the belly and is a bit more hip opening than a traditional lunge. Come up to your finger tips if that feels better than flat palms.

Prenatal Plank Pose

Exhale.

Step the left foot back to join the right in a plank position. If you're not used to doing planks, then you can drop your knees to the floor.

Normally you would lower to chaturanga or knees, chest, chin on the same exhalation. In this sequence, take an inhale in plank and then move on to the next step.

Prenatal Chaturanga Dandasana Variation

Exhale.

Drop the knees to the floor if they aren't there already. Bend the elbows straight back as your lower your torso to a chaturanga dandasana position. Knees, chest, chin, and cobra aren't practical here because they are done with the belly on the ground. Upward facing dog is usually skipped because it's pretty intense on the low back with a pregnant belly.

Inhale.

Straighten your arms, bringing the torso back up to a plank position.

If this pose is too much, skip it and come straight from plank back to down dog.

Downward Facing Dog

Exhale.

Push back to downward facing dog. This is pretty much a standard downward dog except you can take your feet a bit wider than usual if you like.

Late in your third trimester, you may want to start avoiding even mild inversions like downward dog, especially if your baby is already in a head down position. An all-fours table top position is a good substitution.

Lunge With the Right Foot Forward

Inhale.

Step the right foot forward to the outside of the right hand coming into a lunge. It's ok if your foot doesn't make it to the front of your mat in one step. Take a few smaller steps or help it forward with your hand if necessary.

Camper's Pose

Exhale.

Step the left foot to the front of your mat outside of the left hand. Bring your forearms to your knees to return to camper's pose.

Raised Arms Pose — Urdhva Hastasana

Inhale.

Straighten your legs and bring your hands up through your heart center toward the ceiling as you return to where you started.

Repeat the entire sequence stepping the left foot back first.