Pregnancy is a beautiful journey towards motherhood and a journey to cherish for a lifetime. Pregnancy brings in a lot of changes – to your body, to your skin, your family, and your regular daily routine. Most women face morning sickness during the first trimester, while a few others slay the first trimester with ease. If you have been following a healthy lifestyle with regular yoga practices and have a healthy pregnancy with no complications like low lying placenta position and high blood pressure, then, you can conveniently practice yoga all through the pregnancy after seeking advice from your doctor.
Benefits of Prenatal Yoga for the mothers-to-be:
Prenatal yoga offers a plethora of benefits to mothers and the tiny tots inside the womb.
- Practicing yoga during pregnancy helps to maintain the flexibility of the body. The areas around the cervix are strengthened, and any tension around the cervix is relieved. This ensures that your body is prepared for the natural birth process right from Day 1.
- Pranayamas (breathing exercises) that focus on rhythmic breathing patterns ensure adequate oxygen supply to the body and the womb.
- Breathing exercises play a significant role in lowering mood swings and stress levels that many women commonly face during their pregnancy. It also regulates the estrogen levels in the body and eliminates toxins from the baby and the mother.
- Regular yoga practices can also control problems like morning sickness, swollen ankles, and constipation that are classic of most pregnancies.
- The benefits of prenatal yoga also extend beyond pregnancy. Even after childbirth, it helps the new mothers recover faster and prevents mood swings that are seen the most in new mothers recently.
Yoga poses that are considered Safe during Pregnancy
There are thousands of yoga poses, but when you are a mother-to-be, you need to be conscious about the poses you choose so that they pose no threat to you and your little one. When you are pregnant, the center of gravity of your body shifts, and hence, not all exercises are for you. The following yoga poses are considered safe to be done by pregnant women.
- Marjariasana (Cat pose)
- Konasana(Standing sideways pose)
- Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose)
- Trikonasana (Triangle pose)
- Badhakonasana (Butterfly pose)
- Viparita Karani (Legs Up The Wall Pose)
- Shavasana (Corpse Pose)
Safest Pranayama Techniques for Pregnant Women
Breathing exercises are stress busters that remove all the negative energy and toxins from the body and calm your mind. This ensures that the tiny human within you grows peacefully. Here is a list of pranayamas that are absolutely safe to be followed during pregnancy.
- Dirgha Pranayama
- Brahmari Pranayama
- Shitali Pranayama
- Nadi Shodhana
- Ujjayi Pranayama
Practice of prenatal yoga requires some precautions
- You should always practice yoga under an expert yoga teacher when you are pregnant.
- Seek your doctor’s advice before taking up any prenatal yoga class. Go ahead with yoga classes only after your doctor approves of the same.
- During the first stages of pregnancy, practice asanas that are done in a standing position. This will strengthen the legs and improve blood circulation in the body.
- Avoid yoga poses that exert pressure on your abdomen during the third trimester.
- You can also avoid doing yoga poses from the 10th to the 14th week of pregnancy.
- Inversion poses are also to be avoided during pregnancy.
- You should always listen to your body closely. Anytime you feel tired or uncomfortable, you should stop doing it right away.
Yoga poses to Avoid during Pregnancy
Yoga bestows numerous health benefits to both pregnant women and the baby in the womb. However, there are a few poses that you should entirely refrain from doing. They are –
- Naukasana
- Chakrasana
- Ardha Matsyendrasana
- Bhujangasana
- Viparita Shalabhasana
- Halasana
Bottomline
Pregnancy is such a blissful journey of bringing a new life to Earth, and yoga can make this journey an even more beautiful one. It is a holistic way to encourage natural birth processes and to ease the discomforts that come alongside pregnancy. As you move towards the new role of a mother, do not forget shopping for organic baby clothes and baby sets to welcome your honeybunch in style and comfort.
Author Bio :
I am Enola Andreas, a post-graduate in humanities and communications, and an inquisitive person who loves writing. My forte is digital marketing and everything that has to do with phones and screens. I’m working for Tiny Twig . I am someone who believes that one person can make a change and that’s precisely why I took up writing which is the best tool to communicate these days. I have a decade of experience in writing and marketing.