Yoga and Pregnancy

Yoga and pregnancy works together hand in hand. The Practice of Yoga will help you prepare your mind and body for labor and birth as this helps you focus and keep you healthy.

There are Yoga Poses that are gentle ways of keeping your body active and supple and minimize the common Pregnancy Symptoms like morning sickness and constipation. It can also help in ensuring easier labor and smooth delivery by relieving tension around the cervix and birth canal and by opening the pelvis.

The breathing technique comes in handy during labor. It also helps in restoring your body shape, uterus, abdomen, and pelvic floor, and in relieving upper back tension and breast discomfort after childbirth. Special care, however, is needed in choosing the Yoga Poses that you will practice, you should avoid poses that requires laying on the back or belly. 

The psycho-physical stimulation of Mudras and Bandhas have powerful effects on a woman’s reproductive organs.

Yoga Nidra (Yogic sleep) is particularly effective during pregnancy for physical and mental relaxation as well as for childbirth preparation.

How then can Yoga exercise help during pregnancy? Listed below are just some of the benefits of yoga for pregnant women:

• Relieving edema (fluid retention) and cramping which can be quite common in the last months.
• Influencing the position of the baby and turning it in advance if needed. Strengthening and massaging the abdomen which help stimulate bowel action and appetite.
• Raising the level of energy while also helping in slowing the metabolism to restore calm and focus.
• Focus on relieving tension around the cervix and birth canal.
• Focus on opening the pelvis to make labor easier and quicker.

As with any exercise program it is best to consult your practitioner before beginning. However, with the exception of not lying directly on your back or stomach after the fourth month, and avoiding what doesn't feel right to you, there is very little possibility that yoga would be a problem during pregnancy.