Prenatal yoga is a yoga created for a pregnant female to practice till their due date. The combination of controlled breathing, stretching, and mental focus provide different benefits to expectant mother. This type of yoga can also raise flexibility and strength in the muscles used during childbirth.
Your yoga teacher will wish to know your name, how long you are pregnant, what pains or aches you are getting, and what body parts or poses you would like to work on. You will likely get a chance to mingle with other mothers during times: Most studios improve their students to chat before and after the class, and several ask moms to share something about pregnancy experiences like hopes, worries, and dreams with the group before class begins.
What Is the Difference Between Regular Yoga And Prenatal Yoga?
Table of Contents
Regular yoga has common positions like those where your feet are stretched apart, which may be very stressful for pelvic parts and joints when you are expecting. As your baby grows, there is more weight pushing down over your pelvis and bladder.
Pregnancy hormones also relax your ligaments, making bone and joint problems, particularly pubic bone a source of discomfort. Additionally, to modification points for pregnancy, prenatal yoga also focuses on breathing, strengthening, and stretching moves that help your body to prepare for labor.
Can You Do Prenatal Yoga for The First Time Without Previous Yoga Experience?
Yes, you do not have to be a yogi or have done yoga before. As long as your physician has given you the green light to keep physically active during pregnancy, yoga is an ideal activity for every expectant mother. It is gentle and created for pregnancy, which means it helps to prepare for the mental aspects of childbirth. But remember, it is always the best idea to check with your practitioner before beginning any new workout during pregnancy.
What you can expect from pregnancy yoga class, you will likely improve to use of accessories blocks, bolsters, folded blankets, or wedges to get the proper alignment. You can typically expect:
Benefits Of Prenatal Yoga
Prenatal yoga is an effective low impact fitness routine to begin when you are pregnant, even if you are not utilized to manage working out, and it boasts plenty of benefits for you and your baby, it can help:
Lower your Blood Pressure
Research has shown that a pregnant female’s heart rate and blood pressure drop after doing prenatal yoga, even more so than after doing a different low-impact workout like walking.
Prevent The Chance Of Preterm Labor And Complications
High-stress levels have been shown to raise miscarriage, birth rate, and preterm birth rates, and yoga is the best stress reducer. Females who perform yoga, including posture positions, breathing workouts, and meditation for one hour a day have been indicated to get a lower preterm labor rate and also reduce the risk of pregnancy-lowered hypertension in comparison with a female who spent a similar amount of time walking.
Balance Your Moods
Another research indicated that integrated yoga which is workout-based yoga combined with deep relaxation, meditation, and breathing workouts significantly lower levels of depression in moms-to-be.
Manage Your Weight
Like every physical activity, yoga helps you stay active, which helps to manage better prenatal weight gain.
Helps Your Changing Body
The human body always changing, said Jane Austin, a pre-and post-natal yoga instructor based in San Francisco and the Founder of prenatal yoga-School-Mama Tree. But in pregnancy, the body feels an
the accelerated pace of change and needs help in managing and compensating. Prenatal yoga practice is created to balance the changes that happen in the pregnant body by providing safe and healthy ways to stretch their strength and muscles and support the growing belly.
Tones Essential Muscle Groups
Prenatal yoga helps to tone the physical body, specifically the pelvic floor, and abdominal core muscles to prepare the body for the birthing process.
The right tone muscles have the correct balance between strength and length. It is neither very lax nor too tight. Building and controlling muscles tones during pregnancy, with yoga poses like gentle backbends, and lunges can help to lower the pains and aches of those nine months and are important to the body back to get tones after delivery.
Â
Prepares for Labor and Delivery
A top priority in a yoga session is to trust our body that it freely opens up for labor and birth. When we fear, we hold muscles tight, and that tightening cause a fear-tension pain cycle. It can sabotage a female’s effort to remain calm and present in labor, especially if she hopes to feel childbirth with less or no pain medication. Trying to connect with yogic methods of mindful and deep breathing can help the body to loosen and relax and help females get to a mammalian place.
Â
Boost Connection with Your Baby
Joining a prenatal yoga class once or more every week is a gentle reminder to get the time out of busy work and home life to care for and bond with your developing baby. As your pregnancy increase,
the different responses of the body to yoga poses will be a reminder of other physical changes occurring in the body. Certain poses, such as the Hero pose, in which you sit back over your heels and then sit up straight to lengthen the spine, can be good if you breathe deeply.
Â
Enhance Your Delivery Experience
The breathing workout you will practice in yoga can be calming when it comes time to push the baby out.
Additionally, the multiple stretching and strengthening moves can enhance your delivery experience and recovery from vaginal birth or C-section, since your core and different muscles will be stronger and toned. One small research discovered that females who participated in a yoga routine involving only six sessions before birth spent low time completely in labor than those who did not. They also reported they felt low pain and extra comfortable during and instantly after labor.
 Â
Offer Relief from Common Pregnancy Complaints
Prenatal yoga may be a relief for pregnancy pains and discomfort such as nausea, lower back pain, headache, insomnia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and breath shortness. By toning and stretching, you can help blood healthily circulate in the whole body. Also, deep breathing can provide more oxygen to the baby and your muscles.
A 2012 University-of-Michigan study indicates that mindfulness yoga, which combines physical position with meditation practice, can get measurable relief to the depression that can accompany the emotional pregnancy journey.
Of course, not all signs are guaranteed to remove altogether, but the multidimensional approach of yoga to both emotional and physical health can help the body take the uncomfortable pregnancy aspects.
Gives You a Healthier Pregnancy
It is not surprising that research has confirmed a healthy mother is responsible for a healthy baby. A 2012 study discovered that females who normally practiced yoga during pregnancy were less likely to get preterm labor or to deliver a baby with low weight during birth.
Motivate You to Make Friends with a Like-Minded Mother
One of the best benefits of prenatal yoga may be joining a community with different expectant mothers. The class becomes group support for pregnancy, where females get a chance to connect with different females who are making similar lifestyle choices and changes. Sharing your pregnancy journey with new friends can help to ease your motherhood anxiety while easing back pain and calming your body.
Lower Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
The combination of intentional moves and structured breathing can help to increase signs of depression. Breathing in slow, rhythmic breaths helps the nervous system and blocks the cortisol, which in high quantity, has been connected to depression.
Improves Blood Flow
The stretching and movement in yoga help to raise blood flow in your heart. Improved blood flow means extra oxygen-rich blood for the baby. This keeps your baby growing for healthy growth.
Helps You Develop A Support System
Prenatal yoga classes can also help in social life by connecting with other pregnant moms.
A strong support system benefits childbirth and easy postpartum. Anxiety about the delivery process can make labor worse. Being able to talk about your story and others’ experience can be comforting.
Prenatal Yoga Exercise Poses
A Short Period Of Relaxation
Like regular vinyasa classes, the session commonly starts with some time of rest and focuses inward a practice you might get useful during labor.
A Brief Warmup
You will slowly have your body moving, so your muscles and joints are ready for a yoga class.
A Standing Vinyasa Flow
It will add pelvic floor and abdominal toning move, then chest and hip opening pose, all the while focusing on deep, and diaphragmatic breathing. Generally, several of these poses you do are similar to those done in a regular vinyasa class; they will just be changed for your safety.
Gentle stretching
Your teacher will lead you with some stretches to further lengthen and relax muscles. It should be good.
A Modification of Savasana
After all your hard work your yoga teacher will direct you to chill out in savasana, where you will lie over your back and close your eyes. The pose will be changed depending on how far you can manage. In your second trimester, you would lay on your back with a bolster to prop your upper body up at a 45-degree angle, while in your third trimester, you would lay over your side with a bolster and keep a blanket to support. Expect to hold this point for 6-7 minutes. It is a peaceful pose intended to get about total relaxation.
Safety Guidelines In A Prenatal Yoga Class
If you are not taking a yoga class that is particularly for pregnant females, let your instructor know you are expecting before your class begins. That way she will be able to point out moves to skip or modify. Otherwise, remember these tips in mind:
Drink Enough Water
It goes for all time you are exercising, no matter how much of a sweat you break.
Stay Off Your Back
Skip any workout after the first trimester where you are lying over your back, since your baby is growing weight keeps pressure over your vena cava, interfering with circulation and causing you to feel nauseous and dizzy.
Skip Hot Yoga
Do not do yoga or another workout in any extreme heat, in part because exposure to extra heat could cause a defect of the neural tube. It also causes nauseous and dizzy feelings.
Skip Deep Abdominal Work, Twists, And Backbends
Your gravity center can be off during pregnancy, and twists and backbends may lead to falls. If you don’t feel good, don’t do anything.
If you feel any of the following symptoms, then stop right away and take your doctor’s help:
Any type of fluid coming from the vagina
Swelling or Calf pain
Shortness of breath, dizziness, feeling light-headed
If you feel the baby moving less
If you feel a baby pushing down or pelvis pressure
Backpain and belly cramps
Pregnancy Yoga Tips by Trimester
Experts advise having physically active every day for at least 30 minutes and yoga surely counts. Here are some tips to lower the time on the mat every trimester.
First Trimester
Since you are likely feeling extra fatigued than usual, ensure to take breaks and change your yoga positions. And if you are suffering from morning sickness, change downward dog using knees and hands not because it is not safe, but just because getting your head underbelly can make you feel extra nauseous.
Second Trimester
If you are feeling the typical second-trimester energy surge, it is the best time to master the strengthening and stretching moves, including stretches and squats that tone the pelvic part and open the hips which will help to prepare the body for labor.
Â
Third trimester
As your baby grows and your gravity center moves ahead, you are likely feeling more uncomfortable. It makes your last some weeks of pregnancy a good time to focus on meditation and breathing techniques to calm your heart rate and help to feel very cantered. Doing so can help to relieve any type of anxiety you might feel regarding the upcoming birth, additional learning how to control your breathing now will pay off in labor and delivery.