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8 Easy Prenatal Yoga Poses For The Second Trimester Of Pregnancy

8 Easy Prenatal Yoga Poses For The Second Trimester Of Pregnancy

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These easy prenatal yoga poses are perfect for the second trimester – practice them at home to help back, hip, and thigh pain. 


prenatal yoga

First Things First

I am not a medical professional or even a professional yoga instructor.

I practice yoga at home and have enjoyed many classes over the years. I always recommend talking to your physician or a professional before attempting new or unfamiliar physical activity, especially if you are pregnant and are facing any complications or risks.

I want to also remind my readers that all of my images on my blog are my copyrighted intellectual property, and should never be displayed without my permission, distributed, copied, or sold online. I’m sad to have to write it out again, but this has been a big issue for me in the past. Please refer to my LEGAL page here on SLAYathomemother.com for further information.

Second Trimester Prenatal Yoga Poses

prenatal yoga poses

If you are new to my blog, welcome! I’m so happy to have you here and to share some of my favorite prenatal yoga poses for the second trimester.

We finally conceived our third baby after a year and a half of trying, and had to resort to completing two rounds of fertility drugs before the pregnancy took. Chris and I are so happy with this pregnancy, and so grateful, especially because it’s been the smoothest pregnancy so far (minus a Fifths disease scare in the beginning, but everything is fine!).

I’m currently 22 weeks pregnant, so baby is the size of a carrot!

We are waiting to find out the gender on the day of our delivery, so I will update you guys on my Instagram page when we find out and baby is safely here in January 2020!

These prenatal yoga poses can help you feel more relaxed and ease some of the physical discomforts that come with the second trimester of pregnancy like lower back pain!

Here are some of my favorite second-trimester prenatal yoga poses – remember to take your time and only do what feels comfortable…

Child’s Pose

prenatal yoga poses childs pose

I always start out and end with child’s pose. It’s a great way to stretch your hips and thighs, and also allows you to recenter yourself mentally.

I especially like this pose during pregnancy because there are so many hormonal changes, emotions, and disruptions that happen during pregnancy that can really throw us preggo ladies off.

While pregnant, be sure to spread your knees out a bit to accommodate your growing belly.

Seated Side Bend

prenatal yoga poses seated side bend

With your belly getting bigger (and your sweet pea putting on some weight), your growing uterus is putting extra pressure on your back, which is probably sore right about now.

The seated side bend is great for stretching your back, neck, and shoulders which are now all affected by your pregnancy posture.

Head to knee pose

prenatal yoga poses head to knee pose

Normally, with a head to knee pose, your head would touch down to your knee, but your baby bump makes that near impossible these days.

Still, stretch your foot out, grab your toes with your fingers, and stretch forward a bit.

This helps strengthen your back muscles, as well as relieves indigestion you might be experiencing.

Camel Pose

prenatal yoga poses camel

A really great pose for stretching your shoulders and back, the camel pose is a great second-trimester prenatal yoga pose to incorporate into your fitness regime.

This pose is also great for relieving lower back pain, which can be typical in the second (and third) trimesters.

With this pose, depending on your balance and the size of your beautiful bump, you may find it difficult to reach your heels with your hands. Feel free to rest your hands on a piece of furniture or a body pillow.

Butterfly Pose

prenatal yoga poses butterfly cobblers

Great for stretching your knees, hips, and thighs, the butterfly pose is a great pose to use throughout pregnancy.

Put the bottom of your feet together and inch them in towards your pelvis – only go as far in towards your pelvis as feels comfortable.

Pelvic Tilt

The pelvic tilt pose is great for relieving lower back pain and pressure, and is much like the bridge pose, except one leg is crossed over the other at the knee.

Sumo Squat Pose

prenatal yoga poses sumo squat pose

Usually, with the sumo squat pose, feet are pointed outwards. While pregnant, if your balance is off by a bit, you can straighten your feet out like I have in the picture above.

This pose is great for helping with lower body strength and balance.

CAT/COW POSES

prenatal yoga poses cat pose

I’ve saved the best for last – these poses combined are great for relieving back pain and helps stretch your spine.

I find this to be incredibly helpful after a weird night of sleeping with my pregnancy pillow – you know the ones where your back hurts from laying on your sides for too long and you’re wishing for nothing but to sleep on your back to help stretch out your spine!

Alternate cat pose and cow pose to help alleviate this discomfort. Get on all fours on your yoga mat, spreading your knees out about 12 inches from each other (or here it’s comfortable and you’re able to keep your balance).

Arch our back up (see photo above) into cat pose for 3-4 breaths.

Lower your spine into a relaxed cow pose (see photo below) for another 3-4 breaths.


Have you tried prenatal yoga? Tell me some of your favorite poses in the comments below!

*Post originally published October 2019, updated October 2020.

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