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 Pregnancy yoga provides a safe and supportive context for pregnant women to come together – sharing in a practice designed to promote optimal health and wellness for both mom and growing baby.
These yoga classes are specifically designed to support a more comfortable and healthy pregnancy, and to prepare for labour with special practices of movement, breathing and meditative techniques.
The focus of the classes is three-fold: movements for ease and endurance during pregnancy; breathing to relax and focus the body-mind; and essential techniques to help stay focused, empowered, and flexible during labour.
What is pregnancy yoga?
The practice of prenatal yoga will help you to meet the challenges and transformations of pregnancy and birth with strength, confidence and calm. Pregnancy yoga incorporates gentle, safe movements and stretches to strengthen and open your body; breathing exercises to increase calm, focus and balance; and relaxation techniques to release deeply held tensions and to promote the well being of yourself and your baby. Pregnancy is a time for moderation, so you are always encouraged to modify movements or to rest as necessary.
Who can practice pregnancy yoga?
These classes are open to women enjoying a healthy pregnancy, during the second and/or third trimesters. Previous experience in yoga is absolutely not necessary, many women come as complete beginners to yoga.
These classes are for pregnant moms, however we also offer a one-time Saturday afternoon class for couples to prepare for labour together with movement and breathing. Visit the workshops page for more information about the next "Couples Workshop: Preparing for Childbirth with Movement and Breath."
In pregnancy yoga, you will learn and develop several useful techniques, including:
- movements and strategies to relieve common discomforts of pregnancy (backache, digestive difficulties, sciatica, etc.)
- advantageous positions for labour and delivery to promote an easier birth
- breathing and relaxation techniques to help maintain focus, calm and relaxation throughout your pregnancy and delivery
What will pregnancy yoga do for me?
Regular practice of pregnancy yoga, in conjunction with gentle cardiovascular exercises such as walking and swimming, can:
- boost energy and lessen fatigue
- reduce physical and emotional tensions and stress
- enhance strength and confidence
- improve posture, stability and balance
- create optimal health and awareness
- reduce the likelihood and need of medical intervention during delivery
- encourage a positive childbirth experience
Who is teaching the pregnancy yoga classes?
Clearlight Gerald (MA, RYT) has special training and certification in teaching pregnancy yoga (completed at the Kripalu Center in 1999), and she has been teaching yoga for pregnancy and childbirth preparation for over 7 years. During this time Clearlight has had the privilege of teaching several thousand expectant and new mothers in both her pregnancy yoga and mom and baby yoga classes. Read more about Clearlight below.
Schedule & Registration
Visit the classes page for schedule and studio information for pregnancy yoga classes.
For complete rate and registration information, please visit our rates & registration page.
Birth Stories
• Visit the birth stories page to read personal accounts of labour and delivery from women who have already taken these pregnancy yoga classes.
Preparing for Childbirth with your Partner
Visit the workshops page for more information about the next "Couples Workshop: Preparing for Childbirth with Movement and Breath."
Resources for pregnant and new moms in Montreal
• Visit the pregnancy resources page to find a listing of pregnancy yoga books, videos, Montreal health professionals specializing in prenatal and postnatal care, baby supplies, community groups and more.
Music for labour
• Visit the music (relaxation) resources page . Music can transform the atmosphere of labour by inviting relaxation, deep focus, calm. The selections listed in the relaxation section are some that have been used by other moms during labour and also with new baby to relax and renew.
All of the Pregnancy Yoga, Mom & Baby Yoga and Kripalu Yoga classes are taught by Clearlight Gerald, MA, RYT.
Clearlight started practicing yoga in 1991, and began teaching in 1999 after she completed her certification as a Kripalu Yoga Teacher and Pregnancy Yoga Teacher (K.Y.T.). Today, Clearlight is a student of Richard Miller, a key figure in the wisdom teachings of nondualism, and she pursues her love of yoga in her studies, practice and teaching.
 During her first years of teaching, Clearlight studied and practiced with many wonderful teachers from around the world, including Donna Farhi, Gary Kraftsow, Anodea Judith, and Krishna Das. It was at this time she gained extensive experience and insight into the practice and application of yogic breathing and asana, physical and energetic anatomy, and the ancient teachings of yoga.
During these formative years she taught at different locations throughout Montreal, including Concordia University, Marianopolis College and the Montreal Athletic Association, and worked part-time as a program assistant at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts. In 2002, Clearlight created Yogaspace Studio in Montreal, where she now teaches exclusively.
In 2004 Clearlight met Richard Miller. During her first interactions with Richard she felt that she was "coming home to truth" - and in that moment knew she had found the teacher and the teachings that she was deeply compelled to follow. Since then, Clearlight has been immersed with Richard and a community of practitioners in studies that are dedicated to these teachings.
Clearlight is currently focused on the meditation practice of yoga nidra, and has recently completed the first level of Yoga Nidra Teacher Training, which was taught by Richard during an intensive training. She is also an appointed steward of the Center of Timeless Being, a non profit organization dedicated to the path of self-inquiry and awakening through the teachings of nondual wisdom. (To learn more visit www.nondual.com)
Concurrently, Clearlight continues to deepen her focus and skill as a specialist in teaching prenatal yoga and postnatal yoga, a path she chose after feeling profoundly inspired, well before her teacher training, to bring yoga to pregnant and new mothers. As a result of following her heart, she has had the privilege of teaching several thousand expectant and new mothers in her pregnancy yoga, and in her mom and baby yoga classes.
She has been witness to the dramatic beneficial effects of yoga experienced by women during this time of transition, and she continues to offer an inspiring context in which women and couples can connect more deeply to the wisdom, balance, and joyfulness that they bring with them into childbirth and parenthood. (Make sure to read the wonderful birth stories by moms who were in Clearlight's classes.)
 Clearlight's dynamic teaching style reflects the passion she has for her personal practice and her love of inquiry. Her teaching of the physical practice of postures balances both an emphasis on core stability techniques and safe alignment with the importance of not only liberating deeply held tensions, but of discovering how the practice of yoga can bring a greater sense of wholeness and balance to every aspect of one's life.
Other aspects of her teaching include yogic breathing, chanting, the sharing of inspiring music and poetry, and meditation (including yoga nidra), and are all led with the understanding that yoga is a practice not of acquiring, but of uncovering Oneness.
Finally, since the question does come up so frequently, it must be shared that Clearlight was named Clearlight at birth by her mom and dad, and that she feels a deep gratitude for this beautiful gift from her parents!
W e b s i t e U p d a t e s a n d N e w C l a s s e s
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© 1999 - 2008 yogaspace.com / yogaspace.ca
photos © 2004 yogaspace.com / yogaspace.ca
all rights reserved
Yogaspace Studio
L'Esprit Rehabilitation Center
5252 de Maisonneuve West, #100, Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3S5, Canada
514-933-8671
site by Futura Studios
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