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Integrated Yoga for Pregnancy- API of Peoria
with Julie Carnegie Reams
Childbirth preparation as part of peaceful parenting
Please join us each Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Universalist
Unitarian Church for over an hour of yoga positions that flow from the heart.
Practicing yoga during pregnancy directly:
- improves fetal oxygen flow
- increases mother-child bonding
- lessens the risk of pregnancy induced complications such as hypertension
and likelihood of C-section
- increases a woman's stamina conditions her muscles
- creates mental focus and relaxation, enabling a smooth pregnancy and
a satisfying childbirth.
Integrated yoga not only offers a connection to body, breath, and spirit, but
also to a community of women who have crossed the birthing threshold. This
integrated class offers expectant and experienced mothers an opportunity to
share their hopes, wisdom and experiences.
Class Information
Time: Tuesday 7:00-8:15 p.m.
Location: Universalist Unitarian Church, Peoria, IL
Cost: $5 for API of Peoria members, $8 for non-members
Wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat, if you have one.
About the instructor
Julie Carnegie Reams has been a seriously playful student of yoga for over nine
years. A longtime student of Anusara Yoga, Julie was a senior instructor at
YogaWay studio teaching beginning, level 1, pregnancy and gentle yoga. A DONA
certified birth doula and approved birth doula trainer, Julie combines her
detailed knowledge of the pregnant body with the Universal Principles of
Alignment to help prepare expectant mothers for the rigors and joys of
childbirth. Playfully integrating the principals of alignment with breath and
relaxation, Julie offers a class that exhilarates, inspires and soothes the body
as well as the soul.
What is Yoga?
Yoga is an ancient Indian tradition dedicated to developing the body and mind.
The word "yoga" means "yoke" or "union" and reflects this tradition’s emphasis
on uniting and harmonizing the body, the breath, and the mind. The practice of
Yoga helps the practitioner to develop optimal health, strength, and flexibility
so as to free the mind. When our bodies are vibrant and open—free from aches and
pains and illness—we have greater mental clarity and emotional freedom.
What benefits of yoga for pregnancy can I expect?
- Increased body awareness.
- By finding areas of tension and imbalance, yoga helps increase
suppleness and the ability to relax.
- Synchronized breathing and stretching relieve bad posture, poor
circulation and sluggishness.
- Yoga postures open up trouble spots such as the lumbar spine, shoulders,
neck and back.
- Yoga improves circulation
- Skin becomes used to stretching, resulting in fewer or no stretch marks
- Yoga during pregnancy calms the mind.
- The inner security that comes with a regular yoga practice helps to
prepare a woman for the birth experience.
- Specific postures can help relieve common pregnancy problems like
nausea, backache, and fatigue.
Is yoga a religion?
No. Yoga developed out of and alongside Hinduism in ancient India and also has
influenced and been influenced by Buddhism and Jainism. But yoga is not itself a
religion: it does not entail belief in any doctrines or deities. Yoga encourages
each person to explore his or her own experience to discover what is true and
what works.
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To find out more about yoga for pregnancy classes, please contact
Julie here.
INTEGRATING BODY, BREATH,
AND SPIRIT
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