Prenatal yoga is designed specifically for pregnant women and is a wonderful way to prepare for childbirth. Yoga aims to bring emotional, mental, physical and spiritual components of your life into balance. In pregnancy yoga, you learn how to relax your body and mind. You’ll focus on safe yoga exercises and poses at all stages of your pregnancy in order to prepare for childbirth.

Once you have the all-clear from your doctor, you can begin prenatal yoga in your first trimester. You may feel tired and fatigued at the start of pregnancy. Prenatal yoga can help to increase energy levels without overly exerting the body. If done correctly, prenatal yoga can help reduce pregnancy symptoms including nausea and backache.

Is Yoga Good for Expectant Mothers?

When it comes to exercising while pregnant, prenatal yoga is ideal. Regular yoga practice can give physical and mental benefits that can help you get through your pregnancy and beyond. Pregnant yogis can normally continue their practice as usual, but you’ll need to make certain adjustments to protect your safety and comfort.

When Should a Pregnant Woman Begin Yoga?

Yoga for pregnant women can begin at any point in the pregnancy. Depending on which trimester a woman is in, however, some exercises and positions should be limited, changed, or avoided entirely. To lower the chance of miscarriage and guarantee a safe pregnancy, most women are advised to practice moderate yoga during the first trimester, focusing on breathwork & stress relief.

The Right Yoga Poses – Prepare your Body for Childbirth

Here is a guide to practicing Yoga along your prenatal journey:

 First Trimester of Pregnancy

·        When needed, rest in child’s pose or sit comfortably and focus on your breath

·        Avoid yoga poses with closed twists, revolved poses, and vertical inversions

·        It is possible to utilize a chair or the wall as additional support if necessary

·        Prevent overstretching and hyperextension of the pelvic and hip joints

·        Substitute active positions for contraindicated poses during pregnancy, such as goddess pose or downward-facing dog

 Second Trimester of Pregnancy

·        Perform balancing postures near a wall for added support and to avoid injury

·        Instead of a snake, locust, or bow stance, try a cat, cow, or alternate arm/leg extension pose

·        Bring the legs wider apart to allow ample space between them for the belly

·        Avoid bending your back since it puts pressure on the uterus and abdomen. Practice non-weight-bearing backbends like the camel or cow stance instead.

·        Focus on relaxation/restorative poses and lay on your left side, rest in savasana

Third Trimester Pregnancy

·        Avoid inversion positions because they can change the position of the baby inside the womb and cause heartburn

·        Slow down your yoga practice and lower the level of difficulty in the asanas

·        To assist you to prepare for labor and delivery, pay special attention to prenatal positions and breathing exercises

·        While doing poses like garland pose, goddess pose, or chair pose, sit on bolsters or blocks

·        Focus on pelvic floor awareness poses that are safe and gentle to help with labor and delivery

5 Essential Benefits of Pregnancy Yoga

There are numerous advantages to practicing yoga when pregnant, including:

Yoga can help you relax during pregnancy

Parental Yoga can help relieve stress during pregnancy, as mental health affects physical health. Yoga is an excellent technique to reconnect with your breath while also calming your body, mind and nervous system. Because the baby prevents your diaphragm from dropping efficiently, you become breathless more quickly in the second and third trimesters.

Yoga during pregnancy helps your posture

Your posture changes throughout pregnancy as the weight of the baby causes your pelvis to tilt forward. This can cause some women’s upper back and shoulders to round forward, causing tension and stiffness. While practicing yoga, moving your upper back and shoulders can assist in reducing tension in these areas while also using your postural muscles to keep your spine in an upright position.

Pregnancy yoga makes childbirth easier

It’s important that pregnant women maintain their ability to squat and bend forward comfortably. This is important for the most optimal birthing positions. Yoga helps you to stay active while also maintaining strength in your core and leg muscles. This allows you to squat and enhances your ability to bear down and push during birth. It also helps with pelvic floor issues and recovery.

Yoga enhances your mental wellbeing during pregnancy

We all know that exercise is good for our mental health, especially when it comes to reducing anxiety and stress. When you’re pregnant, yoga can ease these symptoms through gentle movement, release work and its ability to calm the nervous system. Pregnant women who participated in a 6-week yoga program throughout their second and third trimesters felt stronger, more positive, and had greater overall health, according to a study published in the Nursing Science Quarterly journal.

Get better sleep in pregnancy with regular yoga

Pregnant women frequently experience sleep issues as a result of shifting hormones, physical discomfort, and concerns about parenting. One study found that yoga improved the quality of sleep during pregnancy. Research in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice found that yoga can help with sleep issues, anxiety, and pregnancy depression.

Conclusion

Prenatal yoga is absolutely safe for both mother and child and can soothe you throughout pregnancy. In addition, it can reduce the risk of preterm labor and intrauterine restriction. Before beginning any fitness plan while pregnant, always visit your doctor.