First, the line: we are not healthcare professionals. Everything below assumes your doctor or midwife has cleared you to train, and stays within the frame they set. If you do not have that frame, get it first.
Within it, though, Qi Gong is one of the better options there is for pregnancy and the postnatal period.
Why Qi Gong in particular
- Low joint load. No jumps, landings or impact. During pregnancy relaxin loosens the ligaments, which raises the risk in fast or loaded movements.
- No lying on the back. The practice is upright, which removes the main restriction of the second and third trimesters.
- Breath work. The single most useful skill for birth and for the period afterwards. A lengthened exhale is the one button within reach when things are hard.
- Hips and pelvic floor. Slow hip work in an upright posture is far more suitable for this period than stretching.
- It adapts week by week. The same sequence at a different range, without standing out from the group.
What we adapt during pregnancy
First trimester: the fewest changes, more attention to fatigue and nausea. We do not increase load.
Second trimester: higher stances, a wider base, no deep torso rotation. No exercises that raise abdominal pressure.
Third trimester: mostly standing and seated breath work, hip mobility, unloading the lower back. Shorter blocks with more breaks.
What we avoid in every trimester: Kung Fu technique, partner work, low stances, fast rotation, and anything carrying a risk of falling or impact to the abdomen.
Returning after birth
Here the most common mistake is too soon and too much.
The first six weeks: not training but breath and walking. Longer after a caesarean and according to medical advice.
After your postnatal check: start with breath and work on the deep stabilisers. With diastasis or pelvic floor issues, see a specialist physiotherapist first - we work with their instructions, not around them.
The first three months: Qi Gong rather than Kung Fu. Low load, with emphasis on the posture that changed during pregnancy.
After three to six months: a gradual return to harder training, guided by how you feel rather than the calendar.
Flowing water never grows stale; a door hinge never gathers rust.
What we hear most often
“I do not want to stand out.” You will not. Classes are group classes and corrections are individual - in our groups everyone has a different version of the same movement, and nobody is counting.
“I have no energy.” A shorter session beats none. You come, do half, and leave. That is entirely legitimate.
“I have no childcare.” Say so - a fair number of families choose the 6:00 morning slot precisely because the other parent is home at that hour.
Where our role ends
We do not diagnose, we do not treat, and we do not replace pelvic floor physiotherapy. What we do is movement, breath and posture within the frame healthcare sets.
If you tell us what you were told, we work with it. If you do not, we cannot adapt anything.
Practicalities
Qi Gong runs at 17:30 from Monday to Thursday at Ziherlova 44 in Ljubljana. For a conversation before a first visit, write and tell us where you are.
