Prenatal Yoga. With my first pregnancy, I was in denial for a long time. I believed I could continue to do everything I did before I became pregnant and just as well. I shunned prenatal yoga and continued going to my regular yoga classes for 6 months until my favorite teacher finally asked that I PLEASE stop coming to her classes. I was making her nervous, and she lovingly suggested that I could get so much more out of a prenatal yoga class. I soon became very grateful for that advice.
I credit yoga for much of my ease in birthing. I learned and practiced so many things in prenatal yoga that taught me to understand more about my body during pregnancy and childbirth. I developed an awareness of my body that I didn’t have and likely wouldn’t have had without it. This awareness was invaluable during childbirth. Knowing how to move and position your body to improve your baby’s position and progress during childbirth can increase your chances for a successful, trauma-free birth and can provide more comfort for you and baby. Of course there are other ways to cultivate body awareness, but here are some other great things about prenatal yoga.
There are studies that have suggested that prenatal yoga can:
- Help you sleep
- Reduce stress and anxiety
- Increase the strength, flexibility and endurance of muscles used in childbirth
- Lessen or relieve lower back pain, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches and shortness of breath
- Lower the risk of preterm labor, pregnancy-induced hypertension and intrauterine growth restriction — a condition that slows a baby’s growth
Sounds great! Why not try it. On top of that, spending time with a group of other pregnant women experiencing so many of the same physical changes and emotions is wonderfully liberating and comforting. You may even get some playdates out of it later. Some of my dearest friends were made in prenatal yoga, and now our kids are friends too!
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