Prenatal Yoga

What Are the Benefits of Prenatal Yoga?

Prenatal yoga is an excellent way to prepare for delivery. It's a multi-faceted approach to physical fitness that promotes focused breathing, mental centeredness, and stretching. This kind of yoga helps expecting mamas safely adapt to the physical and sometimes stressful demands of labor, delivery, and motherhood. What are the benefits of prenatal yoga?

The gentle stretching and rhythmic breathing associated with yoga are ideal for deep relaxation. A relaxing belly is essential for a healthy baby and getting into a relaxed state of mind will help you cope with the discomfort and changes to your body that you'll experience throughout the nine months. During the third trimester, many expectant mothers notice that their abdominal muscles and trunk become stiff and sore. Pilates, yoga, and other gentle classes can help you release tension from your body during these stressful times. You'll also find yourself feeling lighter and happier.

Prenatal classes also help you cope with labor and delivery. It may seem easy to think of pain and discomfort as something you have to put up with during pregnancy, but you'll be surprised how your muscles and spine can become affected by stress and anxiety. It's important to relax your muscles when you're under stress and it's especially important during childbirth. Yoga classes, in general, promote self-awareness and a reduction of stress.

In addition to stretching and relaxation, prenatal yoga helps you focus on breathing. Breathing is so imperative during labor and after labor. When you hold your breath, oxygen is less accessible to your newborn and you risk harm to him or her. Doing your best to slow your breathing and keep your heart rate under control will make birth much easier for you and your husband or partner.

There are many benefits to doing your best to maintain a calm mind during pregnancy and while you're pregnant. But there's a lot to be said about the simple act of stretching. Stretching regularly helps your muscles, bones, and organs get stronger and more flexible. Your circulation will improve, making you healthier overall. And, because you're breathing exercises are so similar to deep breathing, you'll find that you're able to better relax and deal with your body's many sensations. These common practices can also increase your awareness of your baby.

Hatha yoga and restorative yoga are the most common styles of yoga for pregnant women. Restorative yoga works on strength, endurance, and flexibility, while Hatha yoga focuses mainly on posture, relaxation, and breathing exercises. But whatever you do, you'll want to continue to practice yoga throughout your pregnancy, because it's a great stress reliever and can help you cope with the stress of labor and delivery.

If you're considering doing some prenatal yoga before your pregnancy to prepare yourself mentally, physically and emotionally, you might also consider taking a prenatal yoga class. In fact, many health care providers have started to include classes for expectant mothers to improve their overall health and well-being before their pregnancies. Yoga is very compatible with a wide range of medical intervention. For example, postures in hatha yoga may help the pregnant woman avoids some of the complications that come with preterm labor, such as back pain. Postures also provide relief from the nausea, vomiting and fatigue most often associated with preterm labor.

It's important that you make time for your Prenatal Yoga classes every week, even if it's difficult to fit it into your hectic schedule. Once you start prenatal yoga, you'll soon see how greatly it can help you. Try to schedule time to attend a few classes once you're pregnant, to get the full experience. While you're at it, you might also want to also sign up for some prenatal yoga DVD classes. These DVDs contain all the poses you need to practice, in a relaxed, comfortable environment, which will be good for both you and your baby.