Perinatal Yoga Diploma Part 1

Perinatal Yoga designates yoga applied to pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal period. At Birthlight we have supported continuity of care from the start, offering yoga classes for women from pre-conception all the way to the time when they are ready to resume their general yoga practice.

The Birthlight Perinatal Yoga course offers a distilled teaching of the adaptations of classic yoga to pre and postnatal yoga that Françoise Freedman has developed over twenty years. The practices are explained with a comprehensive background of subtle anatomy and physiology of women during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum. Theory is never separated from practice but always blended in for a deeper understanding of the beneficial effects of yoga at this special time in women’s lives.

Who is this course for?

This course is for teachers who are motivated to develop a specialisation in yoga with pregnant women and new mothers.

Course Objectives

This course enables students to develop a practical understanding of the way classic yoga can be adapted to the demands of pregnancy childbirth and the postpartum. The course blends western knowledge of anatomy and physiology with an understanding of traditional yoga techniques and Ayurvedic teaching. It has been developed after over ten years of teaching and training at the Biomedical Trust in London and also includes many aspects of Yoga Therapy.

Our style is interactive and very practical. We will gear the content to your individual needs, and we have a reputation for responding to issues as they arise. We make sure that the material can be assimilated by all participants in a non-competitive and supportive atmosphere.

Course Contents Include:

• Anatomy and physiology of pregnancy and childbirth
• Maintaining the alignment of the spine through pregnancy and after birth.
• Using the pelvic ligaments and muscles
• Deep breathing and the pelvic muscles
• Yoga and the psychosomatic dimensions of pregnancy
• Yogic breathing in pregnancy and childbirth
• The application of yoga in the preparation for labour and birth
• Techniques for teaching relaxation
• Helping women make their own choices during pregnancy and birth
• Yoga after birth - muscle toning, posture and emotional well-being
• Balancing possible pathologies with the normal

Our Trainer - Francoise Barbira Freedman

The founder of Birthlight, Françoise Barbira Freedman is a medical anthropologist. After spending long periods of fieldwork in Peruvian Amazonia, including two pregnancies and stays with her young family, she was inspired to share the gentle approach to parenting of her Amazonian hosts among friends in the UK. As a trained yoga teacher and therapist, Françoise used the idiom of yoga to create an original programmer of movements and nurturing relaxation for mothers to be and new mothers with their babies.In 2000, fourteen years after the first informal Cambridge classes, Birthlight was set up as a registered charity with an adjunct company Birthlight Training Limited. Francoise is also the author of many books related to pregnancy yoga which was sold internationally.

Further Training

All Birthlight Part 1 course holders are warmly encouraged to continue developing their practice and teaching by undertaking case studies and coursework, doing the Part 2, which will lead to the Birthlight Diploma, which is the full qualification needed to become a qualified Birthlight teacher.

• Classes are subject to changes. Please check with our service staff for confirmation. Certain courses require a minimum number before commencement.
• Classes that fall on Public Holidays will be postponed to the following date.
• Please come 15mins before the class starts.
• The course fees is non-refundable