Prenatal Yoga: Triangle Pose

Video Transcript

"So, now what Katie's going to show us is how to do Trikonasana, or triangle pose for women who are in their second trimester of pregnancy. So Katie, go ahead and spread your feet wide, about one of your own legs lengths. And maybe even a little bit wider than that. Draw your right foot this way. And then from here, you're going to inhale the arms up shoulder height, and then go ahead and exhale. Turn your right foot out ninety degrees, and turn your back toes in about forty-five. And so, as you inhale sit up nice and tall. As you exhale you're going to reach over the right side. Send the top hip back until you can't reach any further, and then draw the right hand down towards your shin. Maybe you can use a block, and press your hand into the block for this part, as you draw your left arm up towards the ceiling. So, I think the trick here in Trikonasana is to reach through the crown of the head, See if you can rotate that top hip open towards the ceiling, and rotate that top shoulder up towards the ceiling as well. Allow the neck to be soft here, and then draw a strong thigh muscle, so you're not just locking that front knee; you're using a strong thigh muscle to support. Allow the belly to be soft, and breathe, so breathing from the belly, all the way up to the tops of the lungs. And then you're going to hold your triangle or Trikonasana for about thirty seconds, and then to safely come out of the pose strong legs. Use strong legs and thighs and then that top arm pulls you back up to center on the inhale, beautiful. And then go ahead; exhale. Relax the arms, turn the feet back parallel, and then we'll move it over to the other side. So, go ahead and turn your left foot out ninety degrees, so legs come wide again. Turn left foot out ninety degrees; inhaling the arms up. Back toes come in about forty-five. And again, inhale; sitting up nice and tall. Allow the belly to be soft, and as you exhale, reach over the left; drawing the right hip back. And when you can't reach any further drop the left hand, and draw the right hand up towards the ceiling. So again, Katie's got enough length in the hamstrings that she can come down to the block. If you can't reach all the way down to the block you're just simply going to rise up until you can rotate open that top shoulder and hip towards the ceiling. And then again, to safely come out of the pose, breathing deeply; strong legs and that top arm pull you back up to center, and then exhale the arms, turn the feet back parallel, and relax the shoulders. So, how did that feel; that feel okay? Yeah, that wasn't so bad. Okay, good. It's a wonderful hip opener to do in triangle and Trikonasana. It's wonderful for opening the hips for later on in third trimester in pregnancy, when you're getting ready for labor. It's also a wonderful way to strengthen the thighs."