360 Breathwork in 3rd Trimester

360 breathing in 3rd Trimester (here at 30 weeks adding in some glute med stuff)

360 breathing helps to contract and relax the transverse abdominals by using the muscles of your inner unit which are the diaphragm, the transverse abdominals (TA or TVA), the muscles of the pelvic floor and the multifidi along spine. When I was studying anatomy and being trained as a Pilates teacher @kinected_kaneschool we talked constantly about this group of muscles.

When pregnant, this breathing practice helps make room for baby and the expanding rib cage and widening pelvis. For me, I credit a breathing practice as the reason I didn’t have any lower back pain during pregnancy (but everybody is different so, as always, listen to yours).

In 3rd trimester the emphasis should be the softening, the expansion and the relaxation of the inhales (vs the lift and tone of the exhales) as we want to be opening up as much as possible at this phase.

Postpartum, this breathing will help bring the TVA back into its pre-pregnancy shape (and I don’t mean shape in terms of how it will look but shape in terms of contracting back into the corset like shape of the muscle once baby is no longer inside).

TRY IT:

Inhale: fill rib cage in all directions, fill belly in all directions, allow pelvic floor to relax and “bloom” like a flower

Exhale: gather rib cage, gather belly, like you’re trying to move your abdominals and rib cage away from your clothes in all directions. Gently gather pelvic floor like you’re trying to lift your V&A openings into your body

TRY IT WITH US in our Breathwork classes on our online class library.

➡️ thedanahermethod.com/classesondemand