Let's face it—walking into a New York City yoga class can be intimidating. We’ve all been there: those crowded, dimly lit rooms packed with lithe, Gumby-like yogis in impossibly complicated poses with impossibly defined triceps. Now consider that same scene while six months pregnant when, ironically, yoga pants are about all you ever want to wear. Fortunately, there is Prenatal Yoga Center, a trusted resource—and down-to-earth haven—for New York City moms.

Walking into the Prenatal Yoga Center (or PYC, for short) elicits a warm and fuzzy, it’s-nice-to-be-here feeling. Opening the door to the flagship studio’s West 72nd Street location, one is immediately struck by the friendly, uncomplicated atmosphere of this one-room space. Charming, tin ceilings soar high above the wood floors. Cheerful butter-yellow walls and bright, airy windows round out the happy vibe. At a recent post-natal class, founder and studio director Deb Flashenberg beams at the dozen or so new moms, some with cooing infants sprawled before them on blankets, as she encourages introductions around the room. A baby shrieks with excitement; Flashenberg compliments the cross-legged tot on her sukhasana pose. The women laugh. Clearly, this is not your typical Manhattan yoga class.“I wanted to make the studio a whole center,” Flashenberg says of her vision for PYC, which began nine years ago as a six-person prenatal class in a closet-sized room. “I wanted it to be a place where the community was as much about the space as the yoga classes.”

Today, with a heavily attended roster of pre, post and mommy-and-me yoga classes, Flashenberg’s vision has been realized, as the center has become a veritable one-stop-shop resource for new and young families. In addition to yoga, the center offers educational workshops ranging from a comprehensive childbirth guide to finding (and keeping) a good nanny, as well as a new mom support group and breastfeeding circle. Infant massage, children’s music and sign language classes, as well as a new “Tummy Time” for developing infants’ motor skills and body awareness rounds out the center’s schedule—and that’s just at the 72nd Street location.

While the family-friendly Upper West Side has served the center’s growth well, Flashenberg is enthusiastic about the center’s satellite yoga classes around the city, at Cobble Hill’s Easeful Body and Flatiron’s apple seeds, as well as the UES’s Yummy Mummy store. For moms too busy— or far away—to get to any of these classes, PYC’s website features a library of yoga videos for at-home practice.

Prenatal Yoga Center’s everexpanding community is born out of Flashenberg’s dedication to shepherding women through the birthing process into motherhood, a passion that grew out of her own search for a yoga practice to which she felt connected. After practicing Bikram-style yoga, Flashenberg grew tired of the method’s systematic feel and, as she puts it, “I wanted to actually be able to talk to the students and honor that all bodies are different.” And what body could be more unique than a pregnant one?

Trained in prenatal yoga at Seattle Holistic Center, Flashenberg has carefully crafted a practice for the pregnant body based on a variety of methods, including a Vinyasa-style flow she picked up while studying at NYC’s Om Yoga.

She’s quick to point out her more conservative approach to the practice when working with pregnant students; she makes sure to assess “the risks versus the benefits” for her students when teaching an asana.

Flashenberg tailors classes to students’ needs by beginning each meeting with a check-in during which moms share their aches and pains. Common complaints—from pregnancy’s sciatica and pelvic issues to breastfeeding’s neck and back stiffness—help inform her instruction and sometimes even prompt her to pull out the pelvic bone displayed on the center’s shelf of pregnancy books. “We start a dialogue,” she says, “and there’s definitely a fair amount of anatomy education.” Whether by explaining Kegel exercises or pointing out where the sacroiliac joint is located, Flashenberg helps her students develop a detailed awareness of their bodies. She also strives to make those bodies feel as graceful as possible, despite the challenges that a belly at 32 weeks can pose.

Props like foam blocks, blankets and bolsters have helped Flashenberg develop a fluid practice which leaves women, as she puts it, “feeling confident… graceful and coordinated, as opposed to ‘I’m so swollen, I’m so big, where did this belly come from?’” In her quest to educate herself on this unique phase, Flashenberg became both a certified Lamaze coach and doula seven years ago. Having attended over 85 births, she credits those experiences with making a profound impact on her vision for Prenatal Yoga Center. “Every time I go to a birth I learn something new,” she says. “It really has changed my teaching. It’s not just about yoga; it’s really about giving information, giving education and building confidence.” During a typical prenatal class, students learn ways of coping with pain during labor. “From finding confidence, to finding breath, to finding strength, to finding relaxation, our classes aren’t just about asanas—it’s a lot about building into the peak pose of birth,” Flashenberg says.

For Flashenberg, the reward is personal. A bulletin board collaged with photos of students’ babies is testament to the center’s impact on women’s lives. “To be able to be there for them at this time in their life is so rewarding,” Flashenberg says, her eyes moist with tears. “To get the stories back—it’s incredible. I would not trade that for anything.”

Prenatal Yoga Center, 251 West 72nd Street, prenatalyogacenter.com.

Photo by Andrew Schwartz.