The Poppy Perinatal Yoga School

Yoga for pregnancy, postpartum, and the people who teach it

Pregnancy, birth, and post-birth are among the most magnificent and intense journeys a person can experience. The practices of the Poppy Perinatal Yoga School help you move through them with more support, strength, and confidence.

Explore the teacher training

Yoga Alliance–accredited 85-hour Registered Prenatal Yoga School

Expecting, or newly postpartum? Find a class or prepare for your birth.

Cat balancing in crow pose, kissing her smiling baby on the mat beneath her

The Poppy Approach

Four principles, one thread

Poppy is not a style of yoga — it is an approach, founded on principles that can be woven into any style to help pregnant people prepare for birth and postpartum people recover with more ease and support.

  1. BreatheExpand the whole ribcage — more room for organs, baby, and breath, and less pressure driving down on the pelvic floor.
  2. AlignFind the alignment that lets soft tissue release excess tension and strengthen where there is excess slack.
  3. SupportFeet, legs, and core — the pillars that steady you through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery.
  4. SoftenMeet intensity without hardening against it, so you can respond with intelligence and resourcefulness.

Explore the Poppy Approach

Teacher training

The path to certification

The Poppy Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training is offered in two levels. Start with any Level 1 training, add Level 2 when you are ready, or take both together in the 85-hour immersion.

  1. Level 1 · Essential

    Foundation

    3-, 4-, or 5-day training

    Any Level 1 training stands alone. Complete one and you can begin weaving the Poppy approach into your own classes.

    Outcome: Graduate — Poppy Perinatal Yoga Trained

  2. Level 2 · Comprehensive

    Deepen and certify

    6- or 7-day training

    Level 2 plus additional written coursework earns certification in the approach, at a deeper level of knowledge and skill.

    Outcome: Certified Poppy Perinatal Yoga Integration Teacher

  3. Levels 1 + 2 together

    The 85-hour immersion

    9-day training · 10-day in a retreat setting

    Both levels in one arc, with teaching practicum, live feedback, sequencing clinics, and the full guest-workshop series.

    Outcome: Eligible to register as RPYT with Yoga Alliance

Yoga Alliance Registered Prenatal Yoga School seal

The 9-day/10-day training is accredited by Yoga Alliance as an 85-hour Registered Prenatal Yoga School (RPYS), and every Poppy training counts as Yoga Alliance continuing education.

A Poppy teacher-training cohort gathered in the studio

From the training room

I summed up the gratitude I had for the last 10 days I spent in this perinatal yoga teacher training in one word: transformative.

Nakia

This training is a game changer. My current postpartum practice and my teaching style is shaped entirely around this training.

Melissa Bonnette

I took the 3-day training. It gave me tools to feel confident teaching prenatal and postnatal students. […] I cannot recommend highly enough.

Debbie Nall

For pregnant & postpartum people

Poppy isn’t only for teachers. Practice with Cat in Houston or online, prepare for your birth, or find a Poppy-trained teacher near you in the graduate directory.

Weekly classes

Pregnancy & Postpartum Yoga, Tuesdays 11:00–12:00 at Heart of Houston Birth & Wellness Center. Pre-registration required.

Reserve a spot

Online, anytime

Stream prenatal and postnatal yoga classes on Mat2Mat — available 24/7, wherever you are in the world.

Watch on Mat2Mat

Childbirth preparation

The Spinning Babies® Parent Class with Cat — more comfort in pregnancy and more ease in birth, in Houston or live online.

Explore the class

The Poppy newsletter

Hear it first

Training dates are announced to the list before anywhere else — along with scholarship openings, new classes, and manual updates.