Prenatal yoga has many benefits for the mother and the developing baby. Pregnancy is a full-body experience. It can cause aches and muscle tension, pressure on nerves and discomfort as the mother's body adjusts to accommodate the growing baby. Yoga is a gentle way of stretching and releasing muscles, joints and nerves.
Best of all, prenatal yoga has a soothing and calming effect on the emotions, inducing a state of inner peace and helping the mom to relax. This makes sleep deeper and more replenishing, and helps provide a good emotional environment for the baby as well. Prenatal yoga and pilates are beneficial approaches to maternal health, and should be considered as part of prenatal wellness, along with rest and a balanced diet.
Yoga Breathing
Yoga focuses on breathing, which helps you relax your body. Being able to breathe fully will help you during labor, and the yoga breathing exercises can help you any time you need to de-stress. Learning to breathe deeply is part of teaching your body how to release stress. It has physical benefits as well, since stress is stored in the muscles and nerves.
Special Pregnancy Poses
The poses learned in a prenatal yoga class can help release the discomfort of back pain, increase balance, assist in relaxation and open the hips. All of these are useful during pregnancy because these areas are most affected by the demands on the body.
It's important to go slowly and gently during yoga. Do not lie on your back, but use a side-lying position or prop yourself up when needed. Special poses that aid pregnancy include squatting, which helps strengthen the upper legs and open the pelvis. Another is the cat-cow pose, which involves being on your hands and knees and gently stretching the back up and then down to release back pain. Deep relaxation at the end of yoga practice helps you discover how to enter a relaxed state at will. This will help you during labor, when relaxation during contractions is extremely important.
Things to Know
Take prenatal yoga rather than a regular yoga class, so that the positions are modified for pregnancy. The poses you will learn are those that are most beneficial for your pregnant state. If you feel uncomfortable or anything hurts, stop. Breathe and take it slow. You are not in a competition for flexibility, but gently training your body to release tension and be ready for the rigors of birthing your newborn.
 | Yes, you can exercise during pregnancy, but there are limits. Staying fit while pregnant can be good for the health of you and your baby. In most cases you can maintain your pre-pregnancy activity level, provided it doesn't include contact sports. |
 | Pool pregnancy exercises are a good way to reestablish control while you are pregnant. |
 | Pregnancy yoga helps you to stay in tune with your body and learn to concentrate on breathing, two things you'll find handy when it comes time to deliver your baby. |
Crystal Paine mentions the use of a birth ball. I want to examine this useful tool in greater detail. |
If you are willing and ready to exercise during pregnancy, Pilates exercise may be the perfect work-out. |
