While being preggo, an excellent exercise you can do to keep a healthy body and mind is yoga. Although you do need to be careful and not practice the power yoga routines or difficult poses to avoid hurting you and your baby, there are some basic and prenatal routines that can help you throughout your pregnancy and even prepare you for childbirth.
Yoga teaches you to have control of your breathing and increases your body’s flexibility; which is why it’s a great physical and emotional stress relief to prepare you for probably one of the most important stages in your life: motherhood.
Research sustains that prenatal yoga can improve your sleep, increase the strength, flexibility and endurance of muscles needed for childbirth, reduce your stress and anxiety, AND decrease symptoms like: lower back pain, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches and shortness of breath.
We want to share with you some basic poses that moms-to-be can do at home to start strengthening their body and mind. Our friend Gory will show them to you. Remember to breath in with your nose while expanding your belly and breath out as your belly contracts 🙂
Sitting Side Stretch Pose
Sit down and stretch your leg while bending to the side and try to reach the stretched leg with your hands. Attempt this basic posture to help stretch your hips and open your side waist and pelvis. Relax and energize your body in this position but be careful of not squeezing your belly on the side too much!
Extended Side Angle Pose
Keep your back heel anchored onto the floor as you bend your front knee into the pose and rest your arm on your bent leg for support. This position will strengthen and stretch your legs, knees, ankles, groins, spine, chest, lungs and shoulders while increasing your stamina!
Cow Pose
Start in a “tabletop” position and set your knees directly below your hips while keeping in line (perpendicular to the floor) your wrists, elbows and shoulders. Center your head in a neutral position and your eyes looking at the floor. This posture stretches your neck and front torso while providing a gentle massage to your spine and belly organs!
Extended Triangle Pose
This posture is great to relieve backache, especially through the second trimester of pregnancy! In this position your legs, hips, groins, shoulders, chest and spine stretch and strengthen while relieving stress and stimulating abdominal organs.
Child’s Pose
Sometimes you just need to take a break from all the stress involved in pregnancy and the fact that you’re preparing to be a mom (and just regular life, really), which is why this relaxing and comfortable posture can give you a moment of peace and relaxation while breathing deeply into the back. Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso and just breath momma.
Careful, even though this exercises are “basic” or “harmless”, if at any point you start feeling uncomfortable or even pain, stop doing the pose and don’t try to take your body to the limit; the purpose of prenatal yoga is to relax and prepare moms-to-be, not to injure them!
Find out if there are any prenatal yoga classes around you and consider taking one (besides it’s an awesome way to meet new moms to be friends with!). Or you could give it a try at home finding an online routine you’d like, too. But please, if you’re unsure of whether yoga is safe or not for your pregnancy, call your physician right away before performing it.
