How to Become a Prenatal Yoga Teacher

By: Steph Ball-Mitchell, E-RYT-500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP, CAADC

Becoming a Prenatal Yoga Teacher: The Gifts of Prenatal Yoga

becoming a prenatal yoga teacher

Yoga is wonderfully healing throughout the lifespan, but particularly during the period of transition and growth in pregnancy, prenatal yoga can support women in this divine life change. Pregnancy is a delicate time that requires added awareness and extra care for all aspects of health for both the mother and the baby.

In a prenatal yoga class, you will find a deeper level of support for your unique needs and guidance in addressing the relevant issues and emotions that you may be feeling during this significant phase of life. Whether you are a pregnant mama, a loved one of a pregnant woman, or a yoga teacher looking to expand your skillset, prenatal yoga is an essential practice that can provide a higher level of support in this beautiful period of life.

What is Prenatal Yoga?

Pregnancy is a major transition for women on all levels of their body, mind, and soul, and women often need some additional support and care. But prenatal yoga classes are so much more than yoga poses or asana. Prenatal yoga classes are truly about a beautiful and mindful journey within to connect to your intuition and divine femininity.

We all contain this nurturing mother energy within us, and during this magical time of life, prenatal yoga guides you towards this inner light so that you can navigate this transition with grace. Using the power of mindful movement, breathwork, and meditation, prenatal yoga guides you to connect with your inner self, awaken your divine feminine, and support your body physically with whatever may arise.

The Physical Benefits of Prenatal Yoga During Pregnancy

A pregnant woman undergoes innumerable changes in her body and mind during pregnancy. It is often common for women to experience a range of physical symptoms or discomforts during this time. A trained prenatal yoga teacher can take these factors into consideration and support pregnant women in a yoga class in the best way possible. Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training 

Prenatal yoga provides many benefits for pregnant women. See below for the top 10 physical benefits of prenatal yoga:

1. Reduces stress and anxiety

2. Prepares the body for childbirth

3. Improves flexibility and endurance

4. Increases strength and muscle durability

5. Relieves lower back pain

6. Soothes nausea and morning sickness

7. Alleviates headaches and migraines

8. Addresses shortness of breath and respiratory function

9. Strengthens the pelvic floor

10. Opens the hips to prepare for birth How to become a certified prenatal yoga teacher


Childbirth is a significant stress on the body, but with supportive prenatal yoga, you can move through this event with greater ease. But it is important to remember that due to the many physical changes occurring in pregnant women, they need to take extra care when attending general yoga classes. Senior yoga teachers and doctors often advise pregnant women to exclusively participate in prenatal yoga classes to ensure they receive this proper guidance and support.


The Energetic Benefits of Prenatal Yoga

Beyond the physical and mental benefits of prenatal yoga, this phase of life also marks a major energetic shift that can be gracefully guided by this practice. During pregnancy, a woman’s body undergoes a massive transition physically, but we often forget the energetic changes happening during this time as we can quickly get too focused on the body. Prenatal yoga is not just for physical support; it also supports women mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and energetically.

Yoga is an energetic system that helps to balance the nadis or energy pathways that flow throughout your entire body. It is common for blockages to occur in these pathways, but with conscious flowing movement, breathing practices, and meditation, we can begin to loosen and release these energetic blockages within us.

Particularly during pregnancy, it is essential that these pathways are flowing correctly to nourish both the mother and the baby energetically.  This energetic flow provides immense support to overall wellbeing. Yoga can transform your mental health, improve physical function, and restore your vitality during this time that can often feel exhausting and depleting.

The Power of Divine Feminine Energy in Prenatal Yoga

On an even deeper energetic level, prenatal yoga taps into the divine feminine energy that lies within all of us. This stage of life opens the expecting mother energetically to the divine feminine as she steps into her new role and discovers the mother within. By consciously guiding women through this process, they can move through the common energetic blockages, heal the feminine within, and prepare for their new and exciting role in motherhood.

We all contain this mother principle within us, and with proper guidance and awareness, we can unleash its potent power that can give a new understanding during this transition. Tapping into the divine feminine energy and mother within requires conscious guidance into what these principles truly mean and how to access them in a way that honors their power.


Why Should You Become a Prenatal Yoga Teacher?

Becoming a prenatal yoga teacher is both an honor and a responsibility. Caring for and supporting a mother during this time of transition takes great awareness and understanding, as the needs of women during this phase are often higher than in other stages of life. But with the proper training, you can confidently and safely support pregnant women through relaxing and healing yoga classes.

See below for the benefits of becoming a prenatal yoga teacher:

1. Support Women During this Beautiful Stage of Life

Giving back to others is a truly powerful experience, and to witness the healing process occurring is the ultimate gift. As a prenatal yoga teacher, you have the opportunity to provide a unique level of care and support that is often missing in our conventional healthcare system.

2. Step Into Your Role as a Guide for Others

Prenatal yoga teachers play an essential role in the care of pregnant women, and for many people, this can feel like a life calling to step into that role. Whether you feel deeply that teaching prenatal yoga is your purpose or just wish to have additional skills to support others in your classes, learning these skills is essential in the path to becoming a successful yoga teacher.

3. Heal and Nurture Yourself as Well

One of the many gifts of being a yoga teacher is that you also benefit from these practices as well. As you learn how to support other women in pregnancy, you will also learn how to support yourself during different stages of life and how to connect on a deeper level with your body and your inner self. We all need to heal the divine feminine within us, and prenatal yoga gives all people this beautiful opportunity, whether they are pregnant or not.

The Importance of a Yoga Alliance Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training (RPYT)

Given the different needs of women in this phase of life, it is essential to remember that having in-depth training in prenatal yoga is vital. Yoga Alliance has established a higher standard for prenatal yoga teacher training, ensuring that pregnant women and their unborn children are adequately protected and guided during this critical stage of life.

By joining a Yoga Alliance prenatal yoga teacher training, you can gain the skills and the credentials as an RPYT (Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher) to give expecting mothers the confidence and assurance that they will be protected.

But it is important to remember that completing a full 85-hour prenatal yoga teacher training (RPYT) is not the same as prenatal yoga continuing education. Although these continuing education programs are undoubtedly valuable for yoga teachers, they do not provide all of the skills that a yoga teacher needs to support women during pregnancy properly.

Additionally, they will not allow you to register with Yoga Alliance and upgrade your certification, and this added qualification can give new mothers greater confidence in your skills. So, make sure you check the depth of training that your prenatal yoga teacher training program may provide to ensure that you will receive the skills necessary to succeed on this beautiful path as a healer and guide for expecting mothers.

Become an Expert Yoga Teacher in Our Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga during pregnancy can have a profound effect on both the mother and the child that is yet to come into this beautiful world. Supporting a woman during this major transition is a true honor, and by providing your gifts to this population in need, you can see profound transformation and healing occur.

At Online Yoga School, our high-quality online and Yoga Alliance approved prenatal yoga teacher training can give you all the tools that you need to step into your new role and guide pregnant women safely through this practice. As you achieve your new qualification as a prenatal yoga teacher (RPYT), you are also taking a significant step on your life path and following your dreams of helping others.

So, what are you waiting for? The time is now to take the steps on this path of the divine feminine. Reach out to us for more information on how you can join Online Yoga School's online prenatal yoga teacher training!

Know the difference between a RPYT Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training and a Prenatal Yoga Continuing Education Course Online Yoga School Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training How to become a certified yoga teacher

About the Author

Founder of Online Yoga School and Yoga & Ayurveda Center


Steph Online Yoga SchoolSteph Ball-Mitchell, E-RYT-500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP, CAADCSteph has over 25 years of experience in yoga and movement.  Her understanding of yoga and the human body has been influenced by lifelong dancing and holistic health.  She found her life’s purpose in helping people become happier and healthier through her own healing journey.  Steph assists her students in knowing the joy and wonderment of integrating the mind and body through accessible yoga.  She encourages an authentic and life-nurturing practice, one that brings greater consciousness to each moment and every movement of the body with a heavy emphasis on breath.  

With a masters degree in counseling, Steph brings awareness, acceptance and a down to earth approach to her classes.  She studied with Maty Ezraty and later completed her second 200-hour training with Nancy Candea at Yoga Impact in New Jersey and her 300-hour training with Chris Loebsack at Boundless Yoga Studio in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.   The perpetual student, Steph has studied with Leslie Howard, Travis Eliot, Bryan Kest, Donna Farhi and countless others.  She has extensive training in pelvic floor yoga, restorative yoga, yin yoga, power yoga and accessible yoga.  Most recently, Steph was certified as a Grand Master of Meditation through Swami Vidyanand.

Steph founded Yoga and Ayurveda Center with her husband.  She later launched Online Yoga School to support her local trainings and has recently launched a virtual yoga studio to accommodate the international community of trainees.

When she isn’t on her mat, Steph can be found volunteering, enjoying her husband and children, dancing and cooking.  She currently enjoys serving on the board of World Yoga Federation and Meditation Alliance International and previously enjoyed serving on the Education Committee of Yoga Alliance and places a strong emphasis on inclusivity in her teacher trainings.