Importance of Prenatal Yoga

The importance of doing yoga for pregnant women is immense. Pregnant women suffer a lot of discomforts and other physical and emotional issues. Yoga can help a woman to lead a healthy life during the pregnancy as well as make her feel relaxed, calm and happy.

Pregnancy is a period of life in which a woman's body undergoes quite a lot of changes, especially physically. In order to adapt to these physiological alterations and balance out the weight gain, it is important to stay fit and active for the duration of the nine months.

Yoga can help pregnant women maintain their fitness levels. Through regular yoga sessions, women can expect an improved sense of well-being and a healthy pregnancy.

Pregnancy is a wonderful time in a woman's life, but it can also be a challenging time. Pregnant women have many needs and these need to be met if the pregnancy is going to go full term and be a safe and healthy one. There are many things that pregnant women have experienced that make them feel better after doing yoga.

There are several advantages of doing yoga during pregnancy. It helps reduce stress, regulate sleep patterns and also strengthens muscles.

Yoga when practised regularly reduces stress, which when it is too much can lead to various other problems in pregnancy, including hair loss.

Yoga is a practice that turns the body and mind inwards, the body responds to the mind and the mind bends to become comfortable with the body. This is very important during pregnancy not only for the mother but also for the fetus: it helps in preparing the mother's mind and soul to receive her future child.

6 Easy Prenatal Yoga Poses

Yoga is a great way to stay in shape during pregnancy. Yoga maintains the body's flexibility, which is beneficial when you're expecting. It is also an excellent way to keep the mind and body calm when you're feeling fatigued by the many changes that occur during pregnancy. In addition, yoga's breathing exercises can help relieve stress during pregnancy.

The key to a safe yoga practice for pregnant women is modifying postures, which works best when done with the guidance of a trained yoga instructor.

When pregnant, you may encounter some aches and pains, like lower back pain and swelling of the ankles. Fortunately, there are some poses that will help you deal with these symptoms and enjoy your pregnancy. This article will highlight 6 simple yoga poses that pregnant women can do at home.

Yoga for pregnant women is an absolute delight. Pregnancy is a beautiful phase in a woman's life that needs to be celebrated. It is the time when a mother-to-be receives ultimate love and care from her family and loved ones. However, during this period, a woman needs to pay special attention to the health and wellness of her body.

Yoga for pregnant women has a number of benefits. She can practice it in the comfort of her home without any hindrances. The regular practice of yoga poses for pregnant women helps improve their overall health, body flexibility, strength and stamina.

Yoga is one of the most important things to practice during pregnancy because it helps with toning, strength, stress relief, breathing and stretching of muscles.

The best yoga asanas for pregnant women are simple poses that help relieve stress and strengthen the upper body, abdomen, and hips. So why not take the time to do some prenatal yoga poses that will keep your body in good shape through the entire pregnancy?

Here are 2 yoga asanas for the first trimester:

Cat Stretch (Marjaryasana)

This pose helps open up the hips and lengthen the spine. It can help reduce lower back pain. The cat stretch is also advised throughout the pregnancy to prepare the mother's body for labour.

The steps to do this pose are:

Begin on your hands and knees (like in the cat pose in yoga).
Bring your elbows in towards your belly and pull in your core muscles towards your spine.
Your head should be looking downwards between your knees, with your chin tucked down towards your chest.

Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend (Upavistha Konasana)

This pose helps in increasing flexibility in the lower back, hips and legs. It enhances strength in the spine and pelvis.

The steps to do this pose are:

Sit on the edge of a cushion with your legs out to the side and allow your pelvis to tilt forward.
Keep your arms over your head and bend at your hips as you fold forward.
Place your hands in front of you and hold this position for one minute.

Here are 2 yoga asanas for the second trimester:

Child’s Pose (Balasana)

This pose helps in relaxing your shoulders, chest and lower back. It enhances flexibility in the spine, hips and thighs.

The steps to this pose are:

Touch big toes together and spread your knees wide.
Lower your hips back onto your heels and reach arms in front of you.
Take a deep breath and hold this position for 1 minute.

Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)

This pose helps in reducing tension and promotes inner calmness.

The steps to do this pose are:

Stand with feet slightly wider than hips.
Hinge at your hips to fold forward and keep your knees slightly bent.
Place your hands on the floor and hold this position for 30 seconds.

Here are 2 yoga asanas for the third trimester:

Easy Pose (Sukhasana)

This classic yoga asana helps in strengthening the spine and promotes mental clarity.

The steps to do this pose are:

Sit on the edge of a cushion and allow your pelvis to tilt forward.
Cross right leg over left leg and place your hands in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply.
Hold this position for 1 minute and then repeat on the other side.

Side Corpse Pose (Parsva Savasana)

This pose helps in relieving fatigue and enhances relaxation in the mind and body.

The steps to do this pose are:

Lie on your right side and keep your right leg straight.
Bend the left knee and support it with cushions.
Support your head using a cushion.
Relax in this position for 10 minutes and then repeat on the other side.

Precautions for Prenatal Yoga

Pregnancy is the time when you are supposed to relax your body, not put it through a strenuous workout. But yoga helps you relax your body, body organs and mind. Yoga doesn’t require any equipment or special clothing. It can be practised at home or in any other convenient space.

Yoga postures that involve external rotation of hips should be avoided during pregnancy. When doing these poses, you should consciously use less external rotation of your hips.

Where you have less stability, there are more possibilities of injury, so you have to be aware of this while doing yoga poses during pregnancy.

Yoga poses that require bending at extreme levels should also be avoided during pregnancy.

Yogic postures or asanas are easy to adapt. During the course of pregnancy, the body undergoes many changes and hence even yoga poses can affect both mother and the baby in different ways.

For example, a simple yoga posture like a downward-facing dog needs special attention since the forward bend and raising of arms can put pressure on your back and make you feel uncomfortable. Allow yourself time to become accustomed to the movements and work with your doctor to see what yoga poses you can do while pregnant.

Yoga requires you to be in certain postures and poses during a prenatal yoga workout, which might hurt you if you are not careful. If you are not used to doing these poses then talk to your doctor first.

Take Away

During pregnancy, the body goes through a lot of changes. Yoga is often recommended as a great workout to help pregnant women stay fit and healthy. A prenatal yoga workout is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind. It has positive results on your body and it can help you look forward to the birth of your baby with more ease. Yoga is not just beneficial during pregnancy, it can also be of great advantage postpartum. Yoga and other helpful ways can also be followed in order to lose weight after pregnancy.