Prenatal Yoga Center will guide you through the bumpy road of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
Project Description
CHANGING LIVES ONE BIRTH AT A TIME
Pregnancy And Transitioning To Parenthood Is Difficult For Many, No Need To Go Through It On Your Own.
*Through community, students find support so they know they aren't alone
*Education will help students make informed decisions about their unique pregnancy and birth allowing them to be active participant in this experience.
*Yoga provides more ease, balance and comfort to their bodies to help them have a more functional birth.
My Story
My name is Deb Flashenberg, prenatal yoga teacher, certified labor support doula, Lamaze childbirth educator, and mother of two. I've had the incredible honor of being director and founder of Prenatal Yoga Center for the past 17 years. It's a role I am incredibly proud of. Everyday, I strive to support all the students I encounter in the studio or outside its wall. However, my path did not start as one might expect.
I vividly remember inserting my freshly minted key into the lock of the studio for the first time. I had just signed a 5 year lease for the space that would become Prenatal Yoga Center. My heart was full of overwhelming excitement and extreme anxiety for the task I just undertook.
As I turned the key, I thought, what are the odds that I will even be here in five years?
I was 28 years old with no kids yet and no idea where exactly I was headed with my life. The idea for Prenatal Yoga Center just appeared to me, and all the right people and opportunities fell into place to make it happen. So I just went with it. Over the years, through surprising and perfect circumstances, I fell deeply in love with supporting the pregnant person. Soon birth advocacy became my passion.
Our Offerings
Seventeen years later, Prenatal Yoga Center is a full service Center offering prenatal, postnatal and Baby and Me yoga along with a myriad of childbirth education classes and support groups. Our sole purpose is to support and empower new and expectant parents during this transitional stage in their lives.
We offer multiple classes and workshops 7 days a week. At times, that requires shuffling the pregnant students out as we cleverly arrange strollers for the postpartum afternoon classes and then flipping the space back to prenatal yoga for the evening classes.
In the time Prenatal Yoga Center has been in existence, we have served over 17,000 new and expectant families in a one room studio space of 650 square feet. The front desk is neatly tucked into the side of the practice space, and the bathroom is right off the main room (which I admit is convenient for the pregnant people in class). I am amazed at what we have accomplished in this small space.
Help Us Into the Next Phase of PYC
Today, my vision and our community is much larger than our little starter-space. So, I am thrilled to announce we have secured a NEW HOME for Prenatal Yoga Center in the same neighborhood!
The new studio will boast a bigger practice room which is finally separate from the lobby and sound the horns…a second bathroom!
Can you believe we have served over 17,000 students with just one bathroom!
Pregnancy and new parenthood can feel isolating if you don’t already have a group of “mom friends.” We are now able to provide a lobby space where new parents can gather and spend some time before or after class building supportive friendships.
We will also have a treatment room to receive body work- self care is such a necessary part of a balanced life and healthy pregnancy.
Most importantly, our classes will feel more spacious and comfortable. Our students will feel less rushed between classes allowing the community to truly connect and grow. And we will be able to expand our very important offerings to the prenatal and postnatal community as they prepare for birth and enter early parenthood with support and confidence.
I am humbly asking for your help to bring this new space to life by making a donation to our iFundWomen fundraiser.
Your backing makes all the difference. This bootstrapped passion has already helped thousands of new and expectant parents make a real change in their lives.
Now more than ever women are being robbed of their choices about their bodies. As prenatal yoga teachers, my team and I have the unique opportunity to empower pregnant people to make their own choices in childbirth. We have literally changed lives one birth at a time. Please help continue our services for the next generation of parents and babies.
With deep honor and gratitude,
Deb and the PYC Team
PS! Don't just take my word for it. Hear what our community is saying about us!
Our Community
The Project FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:
What makes the Prenatal Yoga Center methodology different then other prenatal yoga?
Our unique prenatal yoga classes go well beyond simply modifying yoga poses. We celebrate community and strive to make your pregnancy as comfortable as possible, so we will address any aches or pains in your body so you will feel more comfortable.
Each class also includes poses that bring balance and alignment to the pelvis, pelvic floor and pelvic and uterine ligament with the intention of encouraging your baby into a more optimal birthing position so you may have a more functional, less complicated birth.
Yoga asana is also used to discover coping skills. Students explore poses that allow for safe, strong sensation. This offers you the chance to learn what coping skills you may gravitate towards and how to use them when you are really experiencing physical and mental discomfort, like in labor and early parenthood. This mindful exploration of yoga poses can leave you feeling more prepared for whatever lies ahead in your pregnancy and birth.
The final component to PYC prenatal classes is how seamlessly childbirth education is interwoven through out. This empowers students to continuously learn about pregnancy, the birth process and early parenthood in a very digestible, nonintimidating way.
How does Prenatal Yoga Center serve and support people outside NYC?
PYC is proud to offer so many free services to our community. For the past 3 years, PYC has produced the podcast Yoga | Birth | Babies which has featured interviews with some of the most renowned and respected birth workers, doctors and postpartum specialists in the world.
Prenatal Yoga Center also providers free online yoga videos and childbirth education videos directly from our website.
Do you only serve the pregnant person?
No! We also provide support for the new parent through our podcast, blog and in studio classes like New Mother Support Group, Breastfeeding Support Group, Postnatal and Baby and me Yoga Classes. The "4th Trimester" is an often overlooked and under supported time in a new parent's life. We are here to help new parents through this transition.
Why is it so important to gain knowledge and education during pregnancy?
When new parents gain knowledge and education about pregnancy and birth, they emerge feeling equipped to handle the uncertainty of birth and be a part of the decision making process which can lead to a more satisfying birth experience, even if the birth unfolds differently than anticipated.
“We need to empower women to take an active role in their birth so they can emerge feeling heard, seen, understood and supported.” ~Deb Flashenberg, Founder and Director of Prenatal Yoga Center
I want to support Prenatal Yoga Center no reward needed. You may contribute any amount you wish.
Enjoy a special shout out on our Instagram Story
Social media as a post on Facebook and Instagram
Receive the online course Prenatal Yoga for Your Body, Mind and Baby. This series includes 4 one hour prenatal yoga classes, a bonus Pregnancy Safe Abdominal Video and a careful selected resource page of Deb's Podcast, Yoga | Birth | Babies and blogs.
For the generous donation of $200 you or your company will get an evergreen shout out on the popular podcast Yoga | Birth | Babies.
For those who have strolled through Central Park, you have likely sat down on a dedicated bench. Well, this is your yoga studio equivalent! Get your name added to a dedicated yoga mat for all to see and use for years to come!
Our new space will have a dedicated wall space to thank all those who went above and beyond to see PYC inhabit it's new home and support another generation of expectant and new parents.
For $400 or more your name and/or your company's logo on the SPONSORS page on the PYC website. This will be a permanent Friends of PYC page!
Rewards
I want to support Prenatal Yoga Center no reward needed. You may contribute any amount you wish.
Enjoy a special shout out on our Instagram Story
Social media as a post on Facebook and Instagram
Receive the online course Prenatal Yoga for Your Body, Mind and Baby. This series includes 4 one hour prenatal yoga classes, a bonus Pregnancy Safe Abdominal Video and a careful selected resource page of Deb's Podcast, Yoga | Birth | Babies and blogs.
For the generous donation of $200 you or your company will get an evergreen shout out on the popular podcast Yoga | Birth | Babies.
For those who have strolled through Central Park, you have likely sat down on a dedicated bench. Well, this is your yoga studio equivalent! Get your name added to a dedicated yoga mat for all to see and use for years to come!
Our new space will have a dedicated wall space to thank all those who went above and beyond to see PYC inhabit it's new home and support another generation of expectant and new parents.
For $400 or more your name and/or your company's logo on the SPONSORS page on the PYC website. This will be a permanent Friends of PYC page!