Easy Standing Poses

Now that you have learnt how to keep your spine aligned, and know how good that feels, you can maintain the alignment as you move gracefully through these sequences. They develop strength and suppleness, helping you to protect and nourish your growing baby as well as yourself. They also help to keep your feet firmly on the ground and remain steady as your body changes.
Grounding

The joints and muscles around your hips, legs and feet take the weight of your whole body, and the muscles of the pelvis and pelvic floor carry the weight of your upper body and trunk. These important muscle groups can be strengthened and toned by the following grounding exercise, which allows your weight to pass smoothly through your legs and feet into the ground beneath you. It becomes ever more important to work with gravity rather than against it as your baby becomes heavier.

* Stand with your feet apart and loosely bend your knees, making sure you maintain your upright posture through the spine.
* Bring your hands into Namaste, the prayer position, and press your palms firmly together with elbows out to the sides.
* Spread your hands wide, so that you keep your elbows bent and open up your chest area, all the time breathing in deeply.
* Stretch your arms out to the sides and lower them, breathing out. Repeat steps 1 to 4 several times.
* For a stronger version of this exercise, place one foot on a low chair and bend the other knee.Change legs after a few breaths and repeat with the other foot on the chair.

Standing stretches

By stretching up from the hips and through the waist, these stretches create space for the diaphragm to contract downwards to a greater extent, so that you breathe more deeply. Twist and sway rhythmically as it you are dancing.

* Stand with knees loosely bent and stretch your arms overhead, first one side and then the other. Feel your ribs and waist opening and releasing
* Bring your arms out at shoulder level and swing round from the waist, first to one side and then the other, without changing your leg or arm position. Now repeat both movements.

Adapted easy triangle sequence

This sequence works out your oblique abdominal muscles and your lumbar spine. Strong obliques help to prevent backache, hold your developing baby firmly and trim your figure.

* Stand tall with feet wide and knees well bent. Place your hands on your hips and sway from side to side, tipping your pelvis up to the right as you sway to the right and up to the left as you sway to the left in a rhythmical movement. Keep your spine erect, coccyx tucked under and chest lifted. Repeat the sequence several times to loosen the hips and pelvis.
* Bend to your right side without tipping forward. Place your right hand along your leg and bring your left elbow back to open the left side of the waist and chest as you look upwards.
* Now stretch your left arm right up and back to open the left side of your body. Repeat the movement while bending to your left side. Repeat several times on each side.