Prenatal Yoga

"Yoga helps us reconnect into a state of trust in ourselves, one breath at a time."

- Jane Austin

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Practicing prenatal yoga can benefit you and your child. It focuses on breathing techniques, gentle stretching, and endurance. In addition, it intends to make you more flexible and prepare you for labor by helping you improve and create a balance between your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health. Finally, it is about helping you prepare for birth by relaxing the body and focusing on safe techniques and poses.

When pregnant, you and your baby should get at least 30 minutes of movement each day.

Having a low-impact prenatal yoga routine can help you:

• Improve your mood and sleep.
• Increase your strength and flexibility.
• Decrease lower back pain and other common symptoms of pregnancy.
• Reduce stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety: The combination of intentional movement and structured slow breathing along with rhythmic breaths can help you activate your nervous system. When this occurs, your body blocks cortisol, which, in high amounts, has been linked to depression.
• Improve blood flow: The stretching and movements in yoga help increase blood flow to your heart. That means more oxygen-rich blood is going to your baby, keeping it on track for healthy development.
• Betters your labor experience: Starting prenatal yoga in any trimester can help you better relax and stay positive once you go into labor. In addition, meditation and breathing exercises can help reduce pain and anxiety during labor. Being confident and building your coping abilities will also help you have a less painful labor experience.

The further along you are in your pregnancy, the less intense your workouts should be.

The first trimester:  

You may feel exhausted and sick. Try to avoid overworking yourself. Doing yoga poses slowly and carefully will prevent you from feeling worse. In addition, yoga can alleviate pregnancy symptoms like nausea and backaches.  

The second trimester: 

You should avoid belly poses and deep twists at this stage. If you are an advanced yogi, poses like backbends and inversions might need to be modified since they may compress your lungs and cause severe discomfort.  

The third trimester: 

You may feel tired more often, and your balance may be off-centered. Yoga during this time should focus on restorative and hip-opening poses. Light stretching will help ease your aches and pains. Avoid lying on your back and doing too many backbends and belly-hanging poses since they can affect your abdominal muscles. Remember to use blocks and pillows because they can help you get into more comfortable, safe positions.