Whether you are a beginner in Pilates or have been practicing for years, incorporating Pilates into your prenatal self-care is a perfect way to stay healthy, flexible, and relaxed. At Sheppard Method Pilates, our Westwood Pilates instructors can guide you through safe and effective Pilates exercises, no matter your level of experience. The benefits of Pilates during your pregnancy are as numerous as they are when not expecting, and we are happy to share them with you.

Contact Sheppard Method Pilates in Westwood to speak with our expert Pilates instructors about how Pilates can help you through your pregnancy. Schedule your class with one of our team members today.

5 Benefits of Practicing Prenatal Pilates

If you practice Pilates during pregnancy, you will likely experience some of the benefits listed below. We hope that as your Pilates instructors, you will find Sheppard Method Pilates a place of peace and restoration.

Enjoying Pilates classes with our team may reap the following benefits:

  1. Strengthen the core and pelvic floor. During pregnancy, the body releases a hormone called relaxin. This hormone helps the ligaments to become flexible and increases their elasticity, allowing the body to adapt and open during childbirth. Strengthening deep into the abdominal muscles and pelvic floor via Pilates moves can help to reduce pain, prevent loss of bladder function (incontinence), and reduce back pain. Pilates can help you to increase core stability and posture, which may be compromised during pregnancy.
  2. Improve breath control. Breath is a key element in any Pilates practice and a crucial part of the labor and delivery process. Pilates can help improve breath control and increase air exchange during pregnancy, which benefits both mom and baby. As your pregnancy progresses, breathing can become labored, your back may be stiffer than usual, and your lungs feel pushed up into the chest. Breathwork during Pilates can help reduce this strain.
  3. Increase balance and stability. Because pregnancy changes your center of gravity, relaxes the hip joints, and changes how your body moves, Pilates helps you to create physical balance and restore stability. Pilates helps to promote symmetry, increase strength, and brings awareness to postural changes so that you can adjust accordingly.
  4. Boost relaxation. Carving out an hour for yourself to practice Pilates can be a crucial part of having an enjoyable pregnancy. So much energy, time, and attention are directed to your growing baby, but Pilates reminds us to slow down, focus on the body, and reflect on the changes that occur during pregnancy. Movement often helps the body to relax, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and helping to endure the changes within the body during pregnancy.
  5. Promotes mobility. Pilates encourages you to use strengthening movements and stretches to help increase spinal mobility and spinal supporting muscle flexibility. The exercise of Pilates practices helps with spinal flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral bending.

Come to Sheppard Method Pilates to Practice During Your Pregnancy!

Moderate, low-intensity physical exercise intensity during pregnancy can have positive effects on maternal health and the pregnancy process. Let the team at Sheppard Method Pilates help you feel healthy and strong through your pregnancy with classes tailored to your needs. We are here for students of all levels and can work with you to create a safe and effective Pilates program during your pregnancy.

Call the Westwood Pilates instructors at Sheppard Method Pilates to discuss how we can help you include Pilates in your exercise regimen during pregnancy. Schedule your class now!