Yoga to nurture new life. Worldwide, leading specialist yoga teacher training in 5 areas:
Pregnancy
10/09/2025
Julie Bickerton’s Story – Yoga For All Bodies
'I’ve been called many things in my time, all lovingly earned through the work.
Let’s keep it clean and professionally related….Yoga Julie, Va**na Julie, Holistic Maven, Magic Hands, The Baby Whisperer…. Those are a few that I can remember.
I’m now officially a crone and proud of it. Wise, weathered, and still wildly passionate about women’s wellbeing.'
When the global pandemic hit in 2020, the baby swimming industry entered a deep winter— countless institutions quietly shut down.
Yet one instructor chose to swim against the tide: Sunny, the first person to introduce UK’s Birthlight to China.
From bringing the program to China in 2013 to withstanding pressure and hosting the third international summit in 2024, she has spent a decade lighting an unwavering beacon for the industry.
There’s something special in Birthlight pregnancy yoga classes that can’t be measured or written in a syllabus.
It’s the feeling of lightness, joy and humour that quietly fills the room.
🌸'This little magic ingredient happens when we let go of worries, even just for the yoga session and stay fully present,' 🌸 Kirsteen, Birthlight Tutor, says. It is part of what Birthlight terms the "Spirals of Joy", when we lift the spirits and raise oxytocin levels the benefits flow through us on many levels, and not least to babies in the womb.
In pregnancy, where emotions often feel close to the surface, this gentle lightness supports both body and mind through all the normal fluctuations. It helps connection and and a feeling of community flow amongst class participants. In turn making practising together more supportive and enjoyable.
Kirsteen will be tutoring the upcoming Birthlight Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training at Yogamoves in Utrecht this September.
Learn how to guide classes with care, sensitivity and joy for pregnancy, birth and early postpartum recovery with this training based on over 25years of collective experience offering this training in the UK and abroad.
By the end, students often say they’ve learned as much from the process as from the new repertoire of practices.
🌿 Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training 🌿
This unique teacher training will equip you with the skills to teach both individual and group sessions that support the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of expectant mothers.
PART 1: In Studio:
Dates: Friday–Sunday 19-21 September 2025
Times: 11.30 - 19.00
Location: Yoga Moves Studio Fly | Croeselaan 209, Utrecht
LIVE SESSION mid-way:
Saturday 8th November 14.00-17.30
Ever thought about becoming a certified Aquanatal Yoga Teacher? This course could be for you...
Imagine guiding pregnant women through accessible, gentle and effective exercises in the soothing and supportive medium of water.
With Aquanatal Yoga, you can:
✅ Help women stretch without strain or overheating.
✅ Tone muscles safely with the support of water.
✅ Lead deep relaxation sessions that promote bonding with their baby.
Birthlight comprehensive training gives you the knowledge, skills, and confidence to teach safe, accessible, and transformative Aquanatal Yoga classes.
No prior swimming qualification is needed (just confidence in the water!).
If you love working in water and helping women enjoy their pregnancy, this could be your next step!
📩 DM us to find out how to get certified.
Birthlight Aquanatal Yoga for Pregnancy Training is a blended course- part live online, part face to face:
* Live Online Thursday 23rd & Friday 24th October 2025 Evenings 6-9pm
* Pool days face to face Thursday & Friday 30th & 31st October 9.30am-5pm Brighton
* Live online Wednesday 5th November 2025 Evening 6-9pm https://birthlight.com/product/birthlight-aquanatal-yoga-training-course/
£495 new members/ £460 members thereafter £545 new members/ £495 members**
01/09/2025
Here's what past attendees are saying about Birthlight Perinatal Training.
Join us for our next training - blended course format: Perinatal Yoga Training 3 in-person days in Leighton Buzzard, UK and live online days.
Perfect for Yoga teachers (200hr) wishing to train to offer specialised classes for Pregnancy, labour and birth, and early Postnatal recovery. Health professionals with a personal Yoga experience may also apply.
**Early Bird: £645 new-members/ £610 members if booked by 23rd August 2025 https://birthlight.com/product/perinatal-yoga-training-october-2025-lb/
29/08/2025
Pregnant? Why not try Aquanatal Yoga?
Pregnancy brings so many changes - physically, mentally and emotionally.
Your body works harder than ever and simple movements that were once easy can start to feel challenging. Many women experience sore joints, back pain, swelling and fatigue, while also juggling the emotional ups and downs of preparing for a new baby.
That’s where Aquanatal Yoga comes in: a gentle, supportive form of exercise designed specifically for pregnant women in water. Hydrostatic pressure combined with the support and buoyancy of being in water mean that you can exercise safely and effectively without feeling so tired as you might on dry land.
Aquanatal Yoga offers:
💦 Gentle stretching without strain or overheating.
💦 Muscle toning without impact on sore joints - being in water takes the weight off
💦 Relaxation and bonding time with your baby.
💦 Reduced stress and discomfort in the lower back, hips, and pelvis.
Every session is tailored to your needs and guided safely in water, helping you feel calm, supported, and connected throughout your pregnancy. Plus, the social circle of other expectant mums adds a fun and friendly dimension!
Ready to enjoy a pregnancy experience that nurtures both you and your baby?
Yoga, specifically adapted for pregnancy, has many benefits for those totally new to Yoga and for seasoned practitioners alike whatever Yoga style and whatever your birth plan wishes may be.
Birthlight Perinatal Yoga refers to yoga adapted specifically for pregnancy, birth preparation and early post partum recovery.
Here're 5 common benefits that yoga for pregnancy classes encompass:
1.Finding Strength from Within: gaining confidence in your body, finding better posture and easeful movement.
2. Slowing Down and Relaxing: A regular reset with deep relaxation has a multitude of benefits for you and your baby.
3. Tips for Daily Life: easy small things that help you enjoy your pregnancy more in daily life.
4. Learning to Let Go of Worry: techniques to calm the monkey mind and disengage from worry.
5. Preparing to Become a Parent: lots of practices are useful after birth too in your new life as a parent!
If you’re a yoga teacher, midwife, physiotherapist, swim teacher or health professional working with women, Aquanatal Yoga opens a whole new world:
✨ Teach in a fun, welcoming environment that encourages friendships.
✨ Help women reduce stress, relieve common aches and pains and prepare for birth.
✨ Combine your existing skills with water to create accessible beneficial sequences that would be impossible on land.
Whether you already teach prenatal yoga or work with women in water-based therapies, this course will expand your expertise and give you the confidence to deliver supportive enjoyable classes for a wide range of the pregnant population.
Are you ready to start teaching Aquanatal Yoga for and help women feel more confident, relaxed and connected throughout pregnancy and beyond?
📩 Send us a message to learn more and secure your spot.
Birthlight Aquanatal Yoga for Pregnancy Training is a blended course- part live online, part face to face. https://birthlight.com/product/birthlight-aquanatal-yoga-training-course/
**Early bird until 23rd September 2025 £495 new members/ £460 members thereafter £545 new members/ £495 members** With 2 days in-person in Brighton.
22/08/2025
If you’re a yoga teacher, this could transform your teaching and your students’ experience.
Drawing on over 30 years of collective experience our Autumn training blends classic prenatal yoga principles with Ayurvedic pregnancy wisdom, tried and tested adaptations for common pregnancy complaints and group practices that build trust and connection in your classes.
You’ll leave with practical tools you can integrate into any style of yoga:
🌿 The ability to create truly inclusive classes.
🌿 The confidence to support women at every stage from early pregnancy through recovery.
Blended course format: Perinatal Yoga Training 3 in-person days in Leighton Buzzard, UK and live online days.
Perfect for Yoga teachers (200hr) wishing to train to offer specialised classes for Pregnancy, labour and birth, and early Postnatal recovery. Health professionals with a personal Yoga experience may also apply.
**Early Bird: £645 new-members/ £610 members if booked by 23rd August 2025 https://birthlight.com/product/perinatal-yoga-training-october-2025-lb/
20/08/2025
Want to confidently guide pregnant students through safe, empowering yoga practices?
Swipe through to discover 10 powerful reasons why our Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training could be the most valuable investment in your teaching journey
Perinatal Yoga Classes in Leighton Buzzard, UK.
Perfect for Yoga teachers (200hr) wishing to train to offer specialised classes for Pregnancy, labour and birth, and early Postnatal recovery. Health professionals with a personal Yoga experience may also apply.
**Early Bird: £645 new-members/ £610 members if booked by 23rd August 2025 https://birthlight.com/product/perinatal-yoga-training-october-2025-lb/
18/08/2025
Birthlight Perinatal Yoga Training isn’t one-size-fits-all.
With over 25 years of offering this course we’ll teach you how to adapt for every trimester from the often-overlooked first weeks to the crucial early postpartum phase.
We haven’t run a course in the UK with an in-person component for a long time and we’re delighted to now offer the best of both worlds:
🧘♀️ Part in person for 3 days in Leighton Buzzard
🌐 Part live online
You’ll explore:
🌿 Pelvic micromovements for stability.
🌿 Restorative breathing for maternal mental health.
🌿 Ways to empower women of all body types and fitness levels in the yoga class, at home/work and even the birth space.
Perinatal Yoga Training in Leighton Buzzard, UK.
Perfect for Yoga teachers (200hr) wishing to train to offer specialised classes for Pregnancy, labour and birth, and early Postnatal recovery. Health professionals with a personal Yoga experience may also apply.
**Early Bird: £645 new-members/ £610 members if booked by 23rd August 2025 https://birthlight.com/product/perinatal-yoga-training-october-2025-lb/
15/08/2025
Pregnancy yoga is more than just modifying a few poses.
It’s a unique opportunity to support mothers in body, mind and community.
Our October course dives deeper than conventional approaches
✨ It explores anatomy, physiology, emotional wellbeing and practices that nurture pelvic health, mental balance and prenatal connection with baby.
✨ With two thoughtfully spaced modules, it integrates your learning between sessions by putting the course into practice in class teaching, and gaining personal feedback to refine your teaching skills and knowledge.
✨ By the end, it will equip you with tools to guide women confidently from the first trimester through early postpartum recovery.
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The Birthlight Trust is an educational charity, with over 30 years’ experience of promoting an integrated approach to pregnancy, birth, babyhood and parenting with Yoga.
Pregnancy, birth and the first 1000 days are an exciting and fragile time. Women need support to connect or reconnect with their own body and prepare for the arrival of a new life. Birthlight offers unique yoga-based teacher training to mother the mothers and nurture new life, on land and water. Our simple yet effective moves and our way to teach in circles help to build strong and healthy foundations for life.
Our courses include:
Fertility Yoga, Pregnancy Yoga, Birthlight Yoga for Maternity, Birth Preparation, PBAC, Postnatal Yoga, Yoga to support Breastfeeding, Aquanatal Yoga, Aqua Yoga Therapy, Nurturing Baby Massage, Baby Yoga, Toddler Yoga, Aquatic Nurture for Newborns, Baby Swimming, Toddler Swimming, Well Woman Yoga, Yoga for Pelvic Health, Yoga for Breast Cancer Recovery and Well Woman Aqua Yoga.
In a nutshell, our aim is to practically support the wellbeing of women through the journey of pregnancy and birth and to help both parents and infants relax in mutual enjoyment of their life together. We do this by transferring specially designed, original sets of body-based skills and exercises. These are drawn from classic yoga and also from traditional modes of care and parenting across cultures. We work both on land and in water with parents to be and new parents with their babies.
At the heart of Birthlight is Francoise Freedman PhD, whose vision for Birthlight has stemmed from her field research with rainforest indigenous people in South America, her teaching as a medical anthropologist and her exploration of innovative body-based practices to support motherhood as a trained yoga teacher/therapist and swimmer.
