What is prenatal yoga? Is prenatal yoga safe? What are the benefits of prenatal yoga? When to start prenatal yoga? How often you should do prenatal yoga? I know you must be struggling with this question. If you need the answer then read on this article.
Prenatal yoga (R) is one of the ways to prepare the childbirth. It is all about refreshing the mind and body during the time of pregnancy. There are different phase of yoga pose that combines the physical posture, breathing techniques, medication or relaxation.
Well at the end of this article you will opt to have a clear image of information about what is all about the prenatal yoga and the benefits of prenatal yoga. You will also get to know the various yoga poses for prenatal.
What Is Prenatal Yoga?
Prenatal yoga is defined as the yoga that you do during the time of pregnancy. It is all about keeping your mind and body relaxing. Prenatal yoga helps you to prepare for the labor and leads to promote body health. Prenatal yoga focuses on positions that are specifically designed for pregnant women’s bodies.
Prenatal yoga supports the mom emotionally and physically. This leads to healthier breathing, stamina, and pelvic floor work, restorative poses and core strength. This also leads to becoming more resilient during and after pregnancy.
Prenatal yoga is also regarded as a commitment to holistic, scientific and emphatic care during pregnancy. Moreover, it helps the expecting mothers gain the physical, emotional and mental strength for the mind and body to become conscious of the needs of your baby.
Is Prenatal Yoga Safe?
Yes. Yoga is too much beneficial during pregnancy, but as long as you take certain precautions. As I said above also that yoga helps the pregnant mother to breathe and relax, which help the mom to adjust the physical demands of pregnancy, labor, birth, and motherhood. It calms both mind and body by giving a sense of relaxation. It also provides the physical and emotional stress relief that the body needs throughout pregnancy.
The prenatal yoga also helps the body to maintain the shape and size during each trimester of pregnancy. Yoga and exercise help you to keep fit. It keeps the physical and mentally fit.
As per the expert, there is no harm to do yoga during pregnancy but what matter over here is it should be a right time for when you do yoga asanas or start to yoga depends on the current condition of your health.
Once you get accompanied with the normal phase of change of your physiology and physical aspect it is wise you do any kind of yoga or exercise. Before going for yoga or exercise do refer to your doctor or pediatrician advice. Do the exercise or yoga as you are advised to do.
Benefits Of Prenatal Yoga:
There are amazing benefits of prenatal yoga. That leads to the overall wellness of the body. The yoga helps to encourage stretching, mental centering and focused breathing. As per the studies and research said that prenatal yoga is safe and can have many benefits for pregnant women and their babies.
Some of the benefits are as follows-
- Improved sleep
- Reduced stress
- Increased strength, flexibility, and endurance
- Decreased lower back pain
- Decreased nausea
- Decreased carpal tunnel syndrome
- Decreased headaches (R)
- Reduced risk of preterm labor
- Lowered risk of intrauterine growth restriction (R)
- Decrease shortness of breathing
- Increases strength, flexibility, and endurance of muscles needed for childbirth.
Yoga During Pregnancy:
Here are some of the best prenatal yoga pose that has an positive effects on baby and mother during pregnancy-
1. The Half Butterfly Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This is a superb and easy yoga pose that you can for it as it relaxes the muscles and calms during pregnancy. This is too good for the baby and mother.
How To Do:
- First start with sitting down in a comfortable pose and stretch out your legs towards the front direction of yours.
- After that you can bend the right leg at the knee and bring right foot towards the left leg. Then after place the right foot as high on the left thigh.
- Then place your right hand on your right knee. Do it as the level you are comfortable with.
- You can use your left hand to hold the toes of the right foot.
- Then start breathing in but in a very slowly move. Here you make sure your right knee should point towards your chest.
- Now slowly breathe out and push your knee downwards while trying to touch the floor.
- As I mentioned above that do it as far and comfortable you are. Then come back to your original position after doing for a 3-5 set for 2-3 seconds gaps.
- Repeat the same with your other part of the leg.
2. Full Butterfly Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This is the next best prenatal yoga for begin errs. It gives you intense relaxation both for mind and body. It keeps you flexible throughout the period of pregnancy. It also ease the sign of tiredness from the body.
How To Do:
- First, like the before yoga pose try to sit down in a comfortable position and stretch your legs outwards in front of you.
- Then make sure you bend both your legs at the knees and bring the soles together so that the legs will touch each other.
- You can try and place the heels as close to your body without feeling any pain or discomfort. Do as far you are comfortable.
- Then after try to relax your inner thighs and hold your feet with both hands.
- Once it is done slowly bounce your knees in an up and down motion. You can use your elbows to press down your legs,
- Repeat 10 to 20 times and relax.
3. Warrior II Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This is regarded as one of the best yoga poses that helps to increase the strength of your leg and do also plays an amazing role in generating courage and self-confidence in pregnant mom.
How To Do:
- First, make sure you stand in Tadasana or Mountain Pose. Then with an exhalation, step or lightly jump your feet 3 1/2 to 4 feet apart.
- After that raise the arms parallel to the floor and reach them actively out to the sides, and make sure your shoulder blades are wider enough and the palms should be down.
- After that turn, the right foot slightly to the right and your left foot out to the left 90 degrees. Do align the left heel with the right heel together for more comfortable.
- After that firm your thighs and turn your left thigh outward so that the center of the left knee cap is in line with the left ankle at the center.
- After that exhale and bend your left knee over the left ankle, so that the shin is perpendicular to the floor. Then keep of the left knee by strengthening the right leg and pressing the outer right heel firmly to the floor.
- Now you can stretch the arms away from the space between the shoulder blades, and that should be parallel to the floor.
- Make sure you keep the sides of the torso equally long and the shoulders directly over the pelvis.
- After that press, the tailbone slightly toward the pubis and turn the head to the left and look out over the fingers.
- stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute and do inhale to come up.
- Repeat for the same length of time to the left leg of yours.
4. Bound Angle Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This yoga pose helps to increase blood circulation to the pelvic floor and help a pregnant woman get used to the feeling of opening up. This also open up your hips and lengthen the spine.
How To Do:
- First, start the yoga pose by sitting with your feet together and letting your knees to open to the sides. Make sure you keep your sitting bones into the ground while you simultaneously lengthen through the spine and torso.
- Hence after that, you can press your heels together to activate your legs, and open the balls of your feet with your hands.
- Now keep on pressing your heels together to extend your thighs horizontally to the right and left, by releasing the knees closer to the floor.
- Then after start slowly moving from the base of your spine, and lift through your core.do lock, and muscles of the pelvic floor.
- While doing the exercise or yoga pose do Keep your face relaxed and inhale to find more length, and exhale to ground down
- If you want to go deeper, then you can exhale to bend forward from your hips and maintain the extension in your spine. Then you can bring the chest to the feet and the chin past towards the toes.
- Hold it for a deep breath for a couple of minutes. Then you can relax.
5. Seated Forward Bend Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This yoga pose has a positive effect on keeping the mind and body in the right track. This keeps the mind from being distracted. It is a great relaxation yoga pose also. Every pregnant mom should do it.
How To Do:
- First, start this yoga pose by sitting on the floor with your buttocks and put your legs straight in front of you.
- then you can press actively through your heels and rock slightly onto your left buttock, and pull the right sitting bone away from the heel with the help of your other hand.
- After that turn the top thighs in slightly and press them down into the floor in order to make your palms or finger tips on the floor beside your hips and lift the top of the sternum toward the ceiling.
- Now you can draw the inner thigh groins deep into the pelvis. You can also lengthen the tailbone away from the back of your pelvis.
- Make sure you don’t force yourself much as it can give pressure your belly. So do it as comfortable you can do it and do lengthen the front torso into the pose, keeping your head raised.
- After that the lower belly should touch the thighs first, then the upper belly, then the ribs, and the head last.
- Stay in the pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes and then come up.
- Then after you can inhale and lift the torso up by pulling the tailbone down and into the pelvis.
- With each inhalation, you have to lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly up and then after you can release a little more fully into the forward bend pose.
6. Extended Side Angle Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This is another major prenatal yoga pose which helps to open up the side of the body from the feet to the finger and energize the body and strengthen the legs. This is one of the doctor prescribed yoga pose as it keeps you flexible.
How To Do:
- Start this pose with the help of the warrior II pose by keeping the right knee bend and bring the right elbow down to the right knee and inhale the left arm up towards the ceiling and then exhale the arm over the ear.
- Do maintain a straight line with the left side of the body.
- Then keep the right knee bent directly over the ankle, and sink the hips down towards the floor. You can also reach the left fingers away from the left foot.
- After that breathe in and hold for 4-6 breaths.
- Once it is done in order to release you have to inhale and reach the left finger up and now you can be back into the warrior II pose or straighten the legs.
- Repeat it on the other side.
7. Triangle Prenatal Yoga Pose:
Triangle prenatal yoga is a standing yoga pose that helps to tone the legs and reduce the stress and increase the stability. It helps to open up chest and shoulder. It helps relieve lower back pain, stress, and sluggish digestion.
How To Do:
- First Stand in Tadasana (R) position and with an exhalation, make sure you step or lightly jump your feet 3 1/2 to 4 feet apart.
- Then raise your arms parallel to the floor and reach them actively out to the sides,the shoulder blades should be wide, and the palms must be down.
- Then turn your left foot in slightly to the right and your right foot out to the right 90 degrees and firm your thighs and turn your right thigh outward, so that the center of the right knee cap is in line with the right ankle.
- Then you can exhale and extend your torso to the right directly over the plane of the right leg which has to bend from the hip joint, not the waist. You can also rotate the torso to the left, keeping the two sides equally long after that left your hip slightly forward and lengthen the tailbone toward the back heel.
- Rest your right hand on your shin, ankle, or the floor outside your right foot, and stretch your left arm toward up and line with the tops of your shoulders.
- Make sure you keep your head in a neutral position or turn it to the left, eyes gazing softly at the left thumb.
- Stay in this pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute and inhale to come up, strongly pressing the back and reaching the top arm toward the ceiling.
- Reverse the same with other leg and repeat for the same length of time to the left.
8. Twisted Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This form of yoga pose helps to relax the muscles around your whole part of the body such as legs, hands, neck and your spine. This le4ads to relax the mind and the body. It also gives a gentle massage to the organs in your abdomen.
How To Do:
- First, you have to Sit down straight and stretch the legs out in front of you.
- Then after breathe in slowly and stretch the arms in upwards direction at your shoulder level. Do make the palms face downwards.
- After that, you can breathe out slowly and gently twist your body to a sideways position. Do need to make the twist from your waist area by turning from your left side to your right side from the waist and move your hands and your head together to the same side.
- Try to take your arms as much to the back as you can, without feeling uncomfortable.
- Make sure you do not bend your knees ad it will make you comfortable.
- Breathe in slowly and come back to the original pose after staying for 5-10 second.
- Repeat the same with the other side of the leg.
9. The Thunderbolt Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This yoga pose helps a lot to improves the digestion power and prevent constipation issue during pregnancy. It also helps to strengthen the pelvic muscles of the pregnant mother.
How To Do:
- Sit down on the floor in a kneeling position.
- After that touch the big toes together and place the heels differently.
- Then you can place your hips as you can sit in the middle and the heels should touch the sides of your hips.
- Put your hands on your knees with the palms facing downwards. And make sure you keep your back and head in a straight posture.
- After that be in that pose for a few minutes and relax.
- Then come back to the original pose.
10. The Chair Prenatal Yoga Pose:
Here comes with another yoga during pregnancy that you can go for. This helps a lot in strengthening the muscles in your thigh and pelvic region. This is regarded as one of the easy and simple prenatal yoga pose For beginners.
How To Do:
- First stand straight and place your feet apart at a distance of about 12 inches and it should be parallel to each other.
- Then breathe in slowly and push your heels upwards and push your arms upwards towards your shoulder level.
- Make sure that your palms face downwards.
- Now you can breathe out slowly and sit on your toes in a squatting pose. You can do in a standing pose while keeping your feet flat instead if in case you feel discomfort
- If you are squatting then make sure you breathe in slowly and rise it up gently. You can also try and rise up on your toes.
- Hence after that breathe out and bring the hands and heels down.
11. Cat Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This yoga poses internally and externally stretch the body and aids in the strengthening the neck and spine muscles. This also makes a healthier bowel movement and helps in proper functioning of the kidney and adrenal glands.
How To Do:
- First, you have to start on your hands and knees.
- You can place a towel underneath the knees or lean your chest on a birth ball, if any case of discomfort you feel
- After that your feet should be stretched, and toes should be curled under the palm of the hand.
- After that inhale and stretch yourself.
- Lift your head and chest up.
- Lift your tailbone and make sure you are dropping your belly to the ground.
- Exhale and draw your belly upwards.
- Repeat 4 to 6 times before you can call it an end.
- To rest, you can do the child’s pose which is also very much beneficial for pregnant women.
12. Tree or Vrikshasana Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This is regarded as one of the simple and easiest prenatal yoga pose. It helps a lot in stretching the muscles in the thighs, abdomen, shoulders and groin area of the pregnant women. This is also great for sciatica.
How To Do:
- First try to stand straight with your feet apart.
- Then straighten the arms and lift them up doing or posing as a namaskar pose.
- Then take your right leg up and bend towards the knees.
- After that you can place it on the left leg and stretch your body and take a few deep breaths.
- Make sure you keep your head straight up and hold this position for 6-8 breaths.
- Then after lower the arms and return your foot to the ground.
- Repeat the same with the opposite leg.
13. Full Squat Prenatal Yoga Pose:
This is a complete form of relaxing muscles and body. It stretches the muscles of legs, thighs, calves, feet, and ankles, etc. This also stretches the lower part of the body. Full squat yoga poses prepares the body for labor pain.
How To Do:
- First, you have to stand with your feet wider than your hips and inhale.
- Once you exhale, you must bend your knees as low as you can. But make sure you should not stress yourself much.
- You must be in a pose where the buttocks are only two to three inches above the ground.
- After that bring your hands together in the prayer position and lean forward to balance.
- Be in that pose for a couple of minutes and then let yourself relax.
FAQ:
Difference between Yoga And Prenatal Yoga:
First of all, it is very important to know that physical fitness matter a lot for a normal and healthy life. There is not much difference between yoga and prenatal yoga.
Prenatal yoga is more regard as a commitment to holistic, scientific and emphatic care during pregnancy. Moreover, it helps the expecting mothers gain the physical, emotional and mental strength for the mind and body to become conscious of the needs of your baby. You are restricted to do certain types of yoga during pregnancy.
Whereas the yoga refreshes the mind and body. Yoga, in general, has a greater influence in combining physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation or relaxation. You can do various yoga poses normally.
What to Wear while Prenatal Yoga?
Pregnant women should wear comfortable and loose clothes while performing yoga. The mother should wear a top that covers your bump, so there won’t be having any hesitation to keep pulling it down.
Make sure you don’t wear shoes while doing yoga. Wear loose track and loose top while doing yoga.
