Yoga During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is an important change in a woman’s body and utmost care should be taken to help the process along. There are many options with conventional medicine, but if you would like to try something innovative, why not give yoga a shot.
Yoga is an exercise of the body and mind that has been practiced for centuries. This discipline found its origins in India as long ago as around 2000 BC. When translated into English, the word ‘yoga’ means ‘union’, referring to the union of your mind and body. Yoga is not only excellent as a form of exercise, but is also one of the best disciplines to foster spiritual growth.
Exercises To Be Done During Pregnancy
Yoga involves physical exercises that are known an ‘Asanas’ and breathing exercises which are called ‘Pranayama’. Thus, it is a powerful combination of body movements and meditation. Yoga therefore enables you to reach a state of harmony and healing, and has been proven to have therapeutic uses.
Yoga for pregnancy is extremely useful during three phases, the duration of pregnancy itself, labor and delivery. It helps a pregnant woman cultivate the art of relaxation, which is very important as pregnancy can bring fatigue and irritability.
Not all yoga physical poses such as the difficult stretches or balancing positions can be practiced during pregnancy. However, some poses can actually help you feel better. For example, ‘Shavasana’ involves lying like a corpse, but has a soothing effect on the nerves and makes the muscles function better. ‘Tadasana’ requires you to stand straight with your legs slightly apart and eyes closed. This posture helps you with your strength and willpower. These simple exercises can be practiced throughout the duration of pregnancy. The more difficult yoga poses such as an extended triangle, backward extension, warrior pose and so on should not be practiced after the first trimester.
The breathing exercises are very helpful in particular. The Ujjayi breathing exercise, where you breathe in through one nostril and breathe out through the other alternatively, is particularly useful. It helps regulate your breathing pattern and induces an overall state of calm.
If you feel tired, experience pain or discomfort, or have to strain to hold a pose, you should stop or move on to an easier pose. Each pose should be held for a minimum of 15 minutes. Do not try to over-exert yourself at any point as this could harm you or the baby. You should take care to go to a reliable practitioner as learning wrong movements is not beneficial. You can always practise yoga at home, but be careful while doing so.
