We're going to show you how to do squat pose. Squat pose through a pregnancy can be done to either strengthen the legs or it can be done as a beautiful stretch to open up the hips and the lower back as well.
First we're going to show you how to do it for strength. Vicky's going to stand with her feet about shoulder width apart and the toes are going to turn out a little bit. Take your feet just a tiny bit wider. Very nice.
From here keeping the knees over the toes she's going to bend her knees and squat down. Very good. Try to keep the heels on the floor. Elbows come to the insides of the knees. Hands together.
Press the hands together and press the knees open with your arms. From here roll your shoulders back. Lift your chest and breath comfortably. You can hold this pose to strengthen the legs. You can also stand up from here keeping your chest lifted. And then slowly bring yourself back down into the pose. This is another way to strengthen your legs and back.
And then again inhale. Stand up nice and slowly. And then exhale. Gently come down. Good.
We'll have Vicky stand up one more time and I'm going to show you how to do the more gentle stretching variation. We'll take blocks. And you want to have them about either two high if they're little or one high if you have thicker blocks.
Vicky's going to do the same thing. She's going to slowly come down. This time though, and she may have to adjust a little bit, she's going to sit down on the blocks. Good. From here she can very easily get her arms to the inside of the legs. Roll the shoulders back. Lift the chest and breath gently.
This variation is wonderful for when you don't want to worry about the strength of your legs. Instead you can let your hips open up, let your lower back relax and just breath comfortably.
About video: Learn how to do the squatting pose for prenatal yoga from fitness expert Cait Morth in this Howcast workout video.
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