This course is fully certified by FEDANT, Yoga Alliance Professionals UK, The Yoga Alliance USA, and is taught by highly qualified and experienced tutors: Sally Parkes & her team.

Venue: Meadowlark Yoga, Online via Zoom

This 85hour Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training course, covers relevant prenatal & postnatal aspects of teaching yoga, including Pregnancy, Postnatal, and Mother & Baby Yoga.

More information about this course:

We aim to support you in developing those skills which enable you to offer the expertise, knowledge and confidence needed when delivering safe, effective and uplifting classes and one to ones, to women who are on their momentous physical and emotional journey into motherhood.

The course focuses on the teachings of yoga with an emphasis on the major role that Shakti (female) energy plays throughout the incredible experience of pregnancy (including conception, pregnancy and birth), as well as the spiritual aspects of this important time in a female’s life.

You’ll develop your knowledge and teaching skills through a combination of women’s anatomy and physiology, asana, pranayama, mudra and essential relaxation techniques.

Other aspects of yoga, including methods developed from Pilates and exercise for post-natal rehabilitation and recovery, are also learned during the postnatal yoga module, with plenty of practice and discussion before moving on to the final module; Mother and Baby Yoga.

The course ends with an insightful talk on what’s involved in setting up your own business running Pregnancy Yoga, Postnatal Yoga and Mother & Baby Yoga classes.

This includes tips on using social media, how to hire the right space and how to organise classes, all within the context of keeping client referrals coming and your yoga sessions successful.

Special guest teachers will be invited to present during this course and you will receive recordings of the sessions to revisit after graduating.

You will receive bonus pre-recorded material and a PDF training manual.


Topics Covered:

• Yoga related movements for all the trimesters to stretch and strengthen the physical body and help alleviate common conditions of pregnancy.
• Appropriate relaxation, pranayama, visualisations and meditation for the prenatal mother.
• How simple breath work and deep relaxation can help rejuvenate a women mentally, physically and emotionally.
• How pregnancy can negatively affect postural alignment, and how with the correct programming of yoga asana, we can in part counteract these changes.
• Effective use of yoga props to help the mother feel more supported.
• The difference between sequencing yoga asana for a mother in her second and in her third trimester.
• Moola Bandha – the importance of a healthy pelvic floor and how the alignment of the pelvis affects its engagement.
• Energetics – An overview of the Chakra System and how the pelvic floor relates to and affects the root chakra.
• A discussion on the effects that pregnancy has on the direction of prana, and how this relates to birth.
• Hypnobirthing for pregnancy and birth (with Anna Brook Yoga)
   

Birth and Birth Preparation Module:

• Positions for optimal foetal positioning and how the position of the baby may affect labour.
• Working with an exercise ball and chair for the late stages of pregnancy, in preparation for birth.
• The importance of the Nervous System, and the role the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems play during birth.
• Birth and labour – description of a 'normal’ or ‘physiological’ birth.
• The spiritual aspects of birth.
• Meditations and birth affirmations for the birthing mother, that can be used no matter how her birth unfolds.
• Postnatal and Mother and Baby Yoga Module:
• Yoga and Pilates related movements for the post-natal period to stretch and strengthen the physical body and help alleviate common conditions of a post-natal woman including postural changes such as upper and low crossed syndrome.
• How simple breath work and deep relaxation can help heal a women mentally, physically and emotionally.
• Post-natal recovery yoga for mother who has experienced a medicalised birth ie: medical induction, Syntocin drip, Epidural, Ventouse, forceps, Caesarean Section, and/or birth trauma.
• Mother and baby yoga – How to plan and facilitate a class safely and effectively so it is all inclusive and involves both the mother and baby.
• Getting started: Starting up your career as a pre and postnatal yoga teacher 

We will discuss and share ideas of how to start your business as a pre and post-natal yoga teacher. We will cover how to register as a pregnancy yoga teacher, writing a health questionnaire, how to take payments for classes, legal data collection and protection procedures etc.

This course teaches you to deliver classes and one to one lessons that are:

• Safe, effective and functional
• An even blend of the yoga system
• Empowering
• Uplifting
• Informative
• Non-judgemental

You will finish the training course with skills to:

• Teach a Pregnancy Yoga class, a Post-Natal Yoga class and a Mother and Baby Yoga Class.
• Teach a well-rounded yoga class that honours a woman’s mind and body at this special and sacred time.
• Adapt your general classes for any pregnant ladies who also attend.
• Integrate yoga props and small equipment into your classes and one to ones to make them more bespoke.
• Adapt the class for those with injuries and/or common ailments such as lower back pain, pelvic girdle pain, low/high blood pressure and fatigue.
• Have a clear understanding of why it is important to incorporate all elements of yoga into a class.
• Have the knowledge of what actually happens to the body during pregnancy and birth.

As part of the 85hour course program, this course requires you to do at least 25 hours of private study/reading as per the Yoga Alliance guidelines.


Homework, Assignments and Exam:

Students will be asked to write a short pregnancy yoga sequence after the third day to teach towards the end of the course to the rest of the group. This will constitute the practical exam for the course.

There are also several assignments to complete including one class observations (ideally prior to the course), teaching practice and a case study. You will also be expected to thoroughly read the course training manual.

Reading List:

'Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful' - by Gurmukh

'The Female Pelvis' - by Blandine Calais-Germain - Sally is also using this book more and more on the course, so you may like to purchase this at some point.

Course training manual (This will be sent to you as a PDF upon receipt of full payment)

Investment for this course:

£647 (early bird) 4 x monthly payments of £161.75

A PDF manual will be sent out once full payment has been received.

Yoga Alliance, Yoga Alliance Professionals and FEDANT Certification:

All graduates will receive a certificate upon completion. This training is 85hours (including private study time) to meet with the standards of The Yoga Alliance Professionals (UK) and The Yoga Alliance US, and is also certified by the Federation of Antenatal Educators (FEDANT). The course is open to anyone with a keen interest in ante-natal education and a passion for sharing their knowledge after the course with mums-to be, including yoga teachers, doula’s and midwives. You will be able to register with FEDANT’s register of Ante-Natal Educators, and if you have a 200hr Yoga Teacher Training certification already, you will be permitted to register with The Yoga Alliance Professionals (UK) or The Yoga Alliance USA as a Pregnancy Yoga Teacher.

This course qualifies for RPYT designation with Yoga Alliance.

Please enquire if you have any questions about this course.


Why are we so different to other Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training schools?

Our certification is well established and recognised worldwide and can be registered with both Yoga Alliance US and Yoga Alliance Professionals (UK).

At 85hrs, our training is more extensive than many others and covers not only pregnancy yoga, but yoga to help with birth preparation, postnatal yoga and mum & baby yoga. This is a more cost effective way to get fully trained on the application of yoga for all 4 trimesters, ensuring our graduates are ready to go out and support women on all stages of their journey into motherhood.

All coursework submitted by our students is individually read and marked, and personalised feedback is emailed out to each student.

All successful graduates are emailed a certificate and certified logo that can be used, without charge, on all of their marketing to show that they are a certified teacher of Sally Parkes Pregnancy Yoga.

We also offer a teaching directory on sallyparkesyoga.com, where all graduates are able to get their details listed, ready for potential clients who are looking for a trusted and certified teacher.

We support you!
Support doesn't end with the last day of training as we have ongoing support and chat groups via Whatsapp and Facebook, where our hundreds of our graduates from throughout the years, keep in touch and offer support and advice to each other.