I love your work Leah and use it to inspire my class designs. Hope that's ok? Still hoping for the hypermobilty info...

I'm 39 weeks now and have loved doing your classes throughout my pregnancy. They have been so useful in connecting to my changing body and growing baby whilst keeping me mobile and feeling energised and relaxed. Im looking forward to moving and 'staying loose' through my labour too! Thank you so much for your creativity and intuitive teaching.
I'm looking forward to doing your post natal work outs in a few weeks time :)

Leah, just did the class again Made me think if you would you consider doing a mat class on movements (Pilates or others) for labor? You mentioned in some of your classes that particular movements are recommended to try during labor, but it would be great to have a whole class only with this focus.

Marta - So glad this class provide you a bit of a pick-me-up at 26 weeks! My goal was to give a variety of classes in this pre-natal series and this one is one that I hopes make everyone feel loose and energized Plus, that arm work is nice. xo

Erica - Thank you for your comment and for trying the class. My goal in both pre-natal series that I have shared on Pilates Anytime is to provide pregnant women (and Pilates professionals) a variety of pre-natal classes with different intensity levels, themes (some focus on mobility, some on strength, etc), and movement repertoire, which includes classes that are purely pregnancy safe variations of Pilates exercises (Check out my first series I filmed during my first pregnancy) and other classes that include a lot of free-form and dance-inspired movement that were created more based on the Pilates principles and based on a lot of research and experience of what how a woman's body moves during labor rather than the Pilates movement or exercises themselves.

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I believe that practicing Pilates is not just exercise-based, but also the practice of implementing the Pilates ideas and lessons into every type of movement. This idea I feel is very important to pre-natal Pilates as a preparation for labor, as during labor women will not be doing the pelvic floor or the hundred, instead they'll hopefully be moving their bodies with freedom, strength, control, focus and harmony. But it is important to also practice pre-natal modified Pilates exercises like the Hundred and many more to provide women with the strength, endurance, mobility, etc to have a healthy pregnancy and labor, which is why I have other classes that provide that as well. Women need it all in labor, therefore we should prepare for it all, which is why some of my classes are more intense, so to speak, than others.

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At the beginning of each class, I always give a little introduction explaining the main goal of the class and what we'll be doing, that way women will really know if it is the right class for them that day. At the very beginning of this video I say that my goal is to...."move a little bit more freely, a little less Pilates if you will and little bit more dancer-y. I just want you to feel floppy and let loose a bit, that's what I want to focus on today." This class was not intended for strength building (the arm work, the spinal work and hip work) or endurance building, nor was it a stretching class although I included a bit of each in the exercises, it is a primarily mobilization and free-movement class.

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Thank you for reading my response to your comment. I wanted to provide a bit more explanation so that you and others know my goals and reasons for this class. I do hope that you will try it again with these goals in mind and feel and reap the benefits, as it is a nice little class for pregnant women particularly in late pregnancy (I had my son 2 1/2 weeks after filming this class and incorporated a lot of these movements into my labor, which I hope other women do as well).

All the best to you Erica, and please let me know if you have any other questions.

Viola - I am so happy to hear that your tight neck and shoulders felt better after this class. Every woman will experience something different and I love hearing each experience. I hope that you can carrying some of that letting loose feeling during some parts of your labor, as it'll come in handy. I'm so happy you are enjoying the whole series, I'll be back at PA and hope to do more pre/post natal classes

Heidi - Absolutely, I love that the classes are sparking your movement creativity for your pre-natal clients, that's what we need a lot of pre-natal variations that will meet the different needs of your different clients during their pregnancies. We should be open to provided different movement options that are most advantageous for a healthy, strong pregnancy and a confident and open labor.