Why We Chose Yoga as the First Complementary Service at The Alliance Center
When we relaunched as The Alliance Center in 2022—after operating as Alliance Therapy Practice in Stamford since 2016—our vision expanded.
For years, I had been supporting individuals through the mental and emotional transitions of motherhood with psychotherapy. But I knew that healing and resilience don’t live only in the mind—they’re deeply rooted in the body and in community.
That’s why the very first complementary services we added were Prenatal Yoga and Baby & Me Yoga.
A Holistic Approach to Maternal Mental Health
As a perinatal psychotherapist with training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), I’ve come to deeply appreciate the role of somatic practices in emotional healing. The nervous system needs more than talk therapy—it needs movement, breath, rest, and connection. Yoga offers all of this in a simple, accessible, and beautiful way.
Pregnancy, postpartum, and early parenthood are seasons of radical change—not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically. Yoga provides tools to:
Cope with uncertainty and change
Process emotion through movement and breath
Regulate the nervous system in moments of overwhelm
Reconnect with your body after birth or during its transformation
Build community with others walking a similar path
This is something I experienced for myself. During both of my pregnancies, prenatal yoga gave me space to breathe, reflect, and release (shout out to New Belly Baby in Massapequa, New York). It was where I went to process what I was feeling—physically, emotionally, spiritually. In those circles, I met women who are still part of my life 13 years later. Those relationships and those practices carried me through the early years of parenting, and they continue to inform the work I do every day.
When we relaunched as The Alliance Center, I knew I wanted to recreate that same space for others. A place where mothers and birthing people could move, breathe, heal, and find each other.
The decision to incorporate yoga wasn’t just anecdotal. It was also informed by research. There is a growing body of evidence that supports the use of yoga in the perinatal period.
Prenatal yoga has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety during pregnancy (Field, 2012; Newham et al., 2014).
It may improve birth outcomes, sleep, and pain management during labor (Babbar et al., 2012).
Postnatally, yoga can help support emotional regulation, decrease maternal distress, and promote secure attachment in the parent-infant dyad (van den Heuvel et al., 2020; Kinser et al., 2013).
Because of all of this, we don’t view yoga as a luxury or an “extra.” We see it as a vital part of maternal mental health care—a bridge between the mind and body, between isolation and connection, between stress and self-compassion.
We’d love for you to experience that bridge with us.
One of these days, when I’m no longer in the thick of building a business, I’d love to take a yoga teacher training to continue to pay it forward, but until then, we have the most incredible instructors on hand, Barbara Heiz and Alessandra Pane.
What We Offer
Prenatal Yoga
Wednesdays at 6:00 pm
Fridays at 9:30 am
These classes focus on building strength, releasing tension, preparing for labor, and calming the mind through mindful movement and breathwork. Whether you’re in your first trimester or nearing birth, our instructors will meet you where you are.
Baby & Me Yoga
Mondays at 10:00 am
These classes offer gentle postnatal movement for parents, bonding exercises with baby, and a chance to connect with others in the early months of parenthood. It’s one of the few spaces where you’re not only allowed to show up exactly as you are—you’re encouraged to.
Join us for Prenatal Yoga or Baby & Me Yoga.
Come exactly as you are—and leave feeling more grounded, supported, and seen.
