While shopping at the book store for pregnancy magazines, you have probably glanced at the yoga publications and winced at the sight of someone bent over backwards with one leg toward the ceiling or balanced on their hands with their legs criss-crossed and floating in mid air. If you practiced yoga before you conceived, you might be looking enviously at what used to be. If you have never practiced yoga, or (gasp) never exercised at all, you probably think people who do are crazy. All those women who practice yoga during their pregnancies? Especially crazy.
What Is Yoga?
Yoga, however, is more than just strange poses (called Asanas). The exercises we associate with yoga are one of several parts that compose an entire way of life. Yoga, which comes from a word that means “union,” began more than two thousand years ago in India as a way to create physical, emotional, and spiritual balance. It represents a philosophy that affects our relationships, our home and work environments, and our diets. Yoga includes breathing exercises, deep relaxation, and meditation techniques as well as physical movements.
How Is Yoga Beneficial For Pregnant Women?
Pregnancy yoga is modified to accommodate the changing body shape and energy levels of expectant mothers. The poses are designed to strengthen and stretch muscles that will come into play during labor and birth. These poses, coupled with breathing exercises, teach a woman to relax her mind and body while also staying focused on the present moment.
Asanas
The gentle poses help improve strength, stamina, flexibility, and circulation. They can help alleviate back pain and water retention, minimize varicose veins, and prepare the body for the active birth process. Yoga asanas have a beneficial affect on the endocrine and nervous system, helping the endocrine glands to function properly, and calming the nervous system, which relates to our emotions. Carefully strengthened back and stomach muscles make it easier to carry an ever growing baby and tummy. These muscles also assist the body in pushing during labor.
Pranayama
Pregnancy yoga also instructs the mother on how to breathe, which not only helps calm her nerves, but also helps alleviate the discomforts and pain of labor and birth. The breathing exercises, called Pranayama, help energize the body while also assisting it to become calm and centered. They also deliver fresh oxygen throughout the mother’s and baby’s bodies.
Relaxation
Both the asanas and pranayamas prepare the body for deep relaxation, and what expectant mother couldn’t use some of that? Yoga helps the body achieve deep relaxation of the body and mind, and serene, restful sleep. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to elaborate on how relaxation helps the pregnant woman. Each trimester of pregnancy brings its own special set of joys, discoveries, and discomforts. Learning to relax will help the pregnant mother have a more comfortable pregnancy and birth experience.
Meditation
It is true that yoga meditation does sometimes involved sitting upright, holding two fingers together, and chanting mantras (a word or phrase repeated in the mind or out loud). However, meditation has many different aspects. Meditation can involve focusing on your breathing in order to relax your body and mind, or on visualizing a peaceful birth experience. Combined with pranayama, meditation can help with pain management and assist the mother in overcoming fears. It does not require any special equipment – you can meditate while lying in your bed or even while preparing dinner. There are “guided meditations” specifically for expectant women that can be found online or in specialty stores.
How Do I Begin Pregnancy Yoga?
You do not have to already be experienced in yoga to practice pregnancy yoga. The inexperienced yogini (a female who practices yoga) will simply want to begin slowly and pay attention to how her body feels.
It is ideal to find a class taught by a qualified instructor. This teacher can further modify a yoga practice to fit the unique needs of each woman. In addition, a pregnancy yoga class offers the company of other expectant mothers. Video tapes and DVDs geared toward pregnant women are a good alternative. By availing yourself of a yoga expert, you will be able to avoid injury and extra strain that results from doing poses improperly.
A word of caution – you may find that Yoga makes you feel so good that you want to continue after baby arrives. Who knows? Maybe next time you will be able to wrap your leg around your head. A picture of a pregnant you twisted like a pretzel would make a fabulous birth announcement!
By Alisa Elizabeth King Terry