Kathy Duke: Hi! I am Kathy Duke. I teach prenatal yoga at the Health Advantage Yoga Center. Today, we are doing prenatal yoga. I am going to show you how do a squat. Squats are very good for releasing tension from the lower back, letting the muscles lengthen and helping the pelvic area to open. However, its not recommended that you do deep squats after 34 weeks because they can induce labor.

Do not do squats if your baby is in the breach position. Remember to check with your health care practitioner before starting yoga or any form of exercise.

Lets begin in mountain pose with our feet aligned below our hips. Step the feet out to a comfortable distance, making sure that your knees and your toes face the same direction.

On an exhale breath, start to bend the knees and let the hips release down between the thighs. You can use a block underneath the hips for support.

Press the palms together in front of your heart and let the shoulder draw back. If your heels do not reach the floor, you can step up on the edge of a blanket to support underneath the feet.

Feel the lower back softly relaxing as you breathe. To come back up, you can place the hands in front of you and press down into your arms and your legs to lift the hips and then roll up, relaxing the lower spine as you lift. That is how we do a Squat pose.

Next, we are going to do Warrior II pose.