Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh, India

Female bodies go through immense change across a life — childhood to adulthood, menstruation to motherhood — and each phase brings its own physical, emotional and spiritual shift. You cannot teach prenatal yoga without understanding the cycle that precedes it.

• The phases of a woman’s life and what each one asks of the body
• The menstrual cycle — the body preparing for a possible pregnancy
• How the cycle affects mood, energy and physical health
• Nutrition across the cycle
• Rest, diet and regular practice as the basis of a healthy cycle
• Recognising when something is outside the normal range

The anatomy here is specific to reproduction and to birth, and the pelvis gets more attention than anything else — those are the supportive muscles a healthy pregnancy depends on.

• The ovaries — producing eggs and the hormones oestrogen and progesterone
• The testes — producing sperm and testosterone
• The pelvis: a bowl-shaped structure at the base of the spine, connecting the upper body to the lower and supporting the bladder, intestines and uterus
• The pelvic floor and the muscles birth relies on
• Ovulation — a mature egg released roughly once a month, around day 14 of a 28-day cycle
• The fertile window: the egg survives 12 to 24 hours, but sperm live several days, so the window spans about five days before ovulation and the day itself
• How the body changes structurally across the three trimesters

Infertility is generally defined as not conceiving after twelve months of regular unprotected intercourse — six months for women over 35. It is common, it is a medical matter, and it is one a teacher will meet in the room, so it is worth understanding properly.

Contributing factors in women: hormonal imbalance, irregular or absent ovulation, uterine conditions, and the age-related decline in egg quality.

Contributing factors in men: low sperm count or motility, hormonal issues, and blockages or infection in the reproductive organs.

What yoga offers here is support alongside medical care, not a substitute for it. You learn the asanas and pranayama that help with stress, circulation and hormonal balance, and the nutritional approach that supports them — and, just as importantly, how to hold space for a student going through it without promising an outcome.

Preconception is the period of preparing the body as a foundation for pregnancy, before anything has begun.

Garbha means womb and Sanskaar refers to values, so Garbha Sanskar is the ancient practice of nurturing the physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of the baby during pregnancy. Through yoga, meditation, mantra chanting, good thought and a sattvic lifestyle, parents create an environment that shapes the child’s growth and nature before birth.

The mantras taught for Garbha Sanskar:

• Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya — for peace and divine connection
• Gayatri Mantra — for wisdom and purity of thought
• Mahamrityunjaya Mantra — for protection and healing
• Santana Gopala Mantra — for a healthy and intelligent child

The course guides couples through these practices, along with asana, pranayama, diet and sleep — which is why partners are welcome on this training too.

After conception comes the prenatal phase, where the mother needs different care in each trimester. This is the heart of the course, and the part you will use most as a teacher.

• Asana for the first, second and third trimester — and what changes between them
• Which postures are excluded, and why: lying on the belly or back, deep twists, strong backbends
• Pranayama through each trimester
• Mudras and bandhas appropriate to pregnancy
• Asana and pranayama to help prevent complications
• Surya Namaskar during pregnancy — how it is modified
• Reading a pregnant student and adjusting the class in front of you

Labour is the final stage of pregnancy, and the point at which a woman is most vulnerable in the whole journey. Labour usually proceeds naturally, but complications can arise and can affect both mother and child, which is why the preparation done beforehand matters.

• What happens through the stages of labour
• The muscles childbirth relies on, and the asanas that strengthen them
• Breathing practices for labour
• Positions that help during the stages of birth
• Preparing a student mentally as well as physically
• Understanding common complications and their warning signs

After childbirth women often feel weak, so the postnatal work is gentle by design and staged carefully. Practice can generally begin four to six weeks after a vaginal delivery, and eight to ten weeks after a caesarean — and knowing where that line sits is part of what a postnatal teacher is for.

• When it is safe to begin, and how to stage the return
• Rebuilding strength, flexibility and muscle tone, particularly in the core
• Strengthening the pelvic floor
• Recovery after a caesarean
• Supporting mental health — postpartum depression, stress, irritability
• Practices associated with milk production and normal blood pressure
• Gentle asana and breathing for the postpartum body

Yoga Nidra is a form of meditation practised lying down and led entirely by the voice, which makes it one of the few deep practices available to a woman at any stage of pregnancy. It is taught here both for the mother and for the connection between mother and baby.

• What Yoga Nidra is, and how it differs from sleep and from seated meditation
• Reduces stress and anxiety
• Improves sleep quality
• Boosts mental clarity
• Balances hormones
• Deepens self-awareness
• Leading a Yoga Nidra for a pregnant student

You teach during the course, in front of your peers and your teachers, which is what turns the material into a skill rather than a set of notes.

• Building a lesson plan for a prenatal class
• Assessing a student before she joins the room
• Teaching practice with feedback
• Guidelines and safety boundaries for a prenatal teacher
• Communicating with a student about her own body
• Knowing when to refer a student to her doctor or midwife