Prenatal: Hips & Hamstrings

About This Class

This 50-minute prenatal class with Melissa Mercedes guides expectant mothers through a slow, restorative-oriented practice centered on opening the hips and hamstrings, and creating length through the sides of the body. The session begins with grounded breathwork in a supported cross-legged seat, transitions through bound angle pose, wide-leg forward fold, cat-cow, and downward facing dog warm-ups, then moves into a full sequence of low lunges, half splits, and half pigeon on both sides to deeply open the hips and front of the thighs. Kneeling side stretches and thread-the-needle variations address the side body and shoulders, and a seated spinal twist closes the active portion. Class ends in a fully supported Savasana (Supta Baddha Konasana) using bolster, block, and a blanket roll under the ankles. The instructor consistently offers prop modifications — including blocks, blankets, and bolsters — to accommodate a growing belly and varying trimesters, and weaves in mindfulness cues around breath, compassion, and emotional readiness for labor and childbirth. Ujjayi breathwork and vagus nerve stimulation through forehead-to-block contact are explicitly referenced to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and encourage deep relaxation.