Welcome back to our Move With Us series! This week we’re focusing on pregnancy.

During pregnancy our bodies undergo a lot of changes that cause increased load and tension through different areas. This week we’re focusing on some of the main areas that are affected, increasing mobility and working to relieve some soreness and stiffness.

These stretches are suitable for all pregnancy stages but also great for anyone wanting to increase their mobility!

Take a seat on the floor or your mat and let’s get started..

Seated Thoracic Rotation

• Sitting cross legged on the floor, place your leg hand on your right knee and place your right hand behind you

• Twist around to the right, gently pushing your hand into your knee and into the floor

• Feel the stretch and release through your mid back

• Hold for 3-5 seconds and then repeat on the other side

• Repeat 3 times each side or more if desired

Seated Thoracic Reach

• Sitting cross legged on the floor, place your left hand on your right knee and gently twist to the right

• Reach your right arm up to the ceiling, really stretching and opening up through your right side

• Keeping your shoulders relaxed, slightly bend towards the left to increase the stretch

• Hold for 3-5 seconds and then repeat on the other side

• Repeat 3 times each side or more if desired

Seated Thoracic Flexion and Extension

• Our aim is to encourage more movement through your mid back in flexion (bending forwards) and extension

• Interlace your hands and place then on the back of your neck

• From here, tuck your chin towards your chest and curl forward through your spine while drawing your elbows together

• Start to open up through your elbows while you sit tall and extend through your upper back, pushing your chest up towards the ceiling

• Slowly move through both movements, flexing and extending your spine, repeating 3 times or more if you feel is needed

Around The World

• Starting in a four point kneel position, we are going to move through a modified cat/cow stretch to mobilise the whole spine and pelvis

• Shifting your bodyweight to the left, stretching through the left low back while flexing your spine into a cat stretch

• Slowly shift your body weight forward towards your left shoulder then towards your right shoulder

• As you move back into your right hip, start to extend through your spine

• Continue in a circular movement while working through the cat/cow stretch

• Repeat 3-4 times before reversing directions or more if desired

Puppy Pose

• Starting in the four point kneel position again, walk your arms forward and slightly increase the distance between your knees

• Sitting back into your hips, place your forearms on the mat and start to bend forward

• Eventually place your forehead on the mat and feel the stretch through your upper back

• Rest in this position for 10-15 seconds or longer if desired

We hope you found this helpful! Feel free to repeat this series multiple times through out the week and keep Moving With Us. If you have any questions or need any advice on any of these exercises, please don't hesitate to reach out and chat to us.

Remember that you shouldn’t feel pain during any of these exercises. If they are painful for you, consider avoiding that exercise or decreasing the intensity. We are always here to help if needed.

If you’re after some more advice or are in need of some hands on help, we’d love to see you at Collective Motion! Collective Motion offers Osteopathy and Pilates and is conveniently located to service our Bentleigh community as well as its surrounding suburbs including Bentleigh East, McKinnon, Ormond, Glenhuntly, Murrumbeena, Carnegie, Oakleigh, Gardenvale, Brighton East and Hampton East. Click below to book an appointment and let us help you get moving again.