A Yogi2Go Article: YOGA FOR PREGNANCY

“ Practicing yoga is an important step toward nurturing yourself in body and soul during pregnancy. Yoga is an ancient tradition that offers resources of strength and calm for body and mind. It imprints in your body the immense comfort of spaciousness, both between the various joints and ligaments of the body, and between thoughts so that you can focus on what you are feeling in your body. Pregnancy is the perfect time to begin yoga, because the practice of yoga can enable the process of birth to take place without resistance and tensing up in anxiety. Yoga teaches that you can surrender even during intense challenges and intense feelings, without holding your breath till you get through to the other side. The ongoing practice of yoga creates a resource of calm and steadiness within.

The Physical Benefits of Yoga for Pregnancy

The physical benefits of practicing yoga during pregnancy are numerous.* During pregnancy the body goes through many fluctuations that can cause instability and discomfort. Common discomforts range from fatigue, insomnia, nausea, lethargy, sciatic pain in the hips or down a leg, to low back pain, cramps, swelling, varicose veins, and other conditions. Yoga offers ways of potentially alleviating and addressing each of these issues if they arise during pregnancy. Often, women who practice yoga experience relief in their bodies after class, and even if the discomfort does not subside, they have a new way to deal with it that keeps them in a healthy frame of mind.
During pregnancy, the female body produces an extra 7-9 pints of blood. This does not include the 3-5 pints beyond that of other bodily fluids being made available to support your growing child. That’s like 7-9 pints of Ben and Jerry’s! That’s a lot of extra work for the heart, which is circulating all that extra blood through the body. This can bring swelling and discomfort in the joints, which a yoga practice can help to alleviate by getting the circulation moving, and placing the body in different positions that make it easier for the blood to flow.
At no time in a woman’s life is it a better time to take up yoga than during pregnancy because of a certain hormone called relaxin which is at work within the body to soften the ligaments and connective tissue to prepare the body for birth. Combined with yoga, the flexibility achieved can help a woman to feel that there is more space in her body as the baby grows bigger. Literally, more breathing room.
Performing postures such as squats also strengthens the pelvic floor muscles, which can help prevent tearing during birth, and also speeds the recovery of this area after birth. Yoga enables the body to remain resilient.
All prenatal yoga practice is accompanied by special breathing techniques that contribute immensely to a sense of inner well-being. This is because every cell in the body is showered with life-force energy, including the growing cells of the baby. Prenatal yoga classes focus specifically on the needs of pregnant women, and the benefits that can be derived from the yoga practice. Postnatal classes offer women who have gone through the birthing process a way of reconnecting to their bodies, and reclaiming them after birth.
*Please consult your physician before beginning any new form of exercise, especially when pregnant.

The Mental Benefits of Yoga for Pregnancy

Whenever we are feeling afraid or anxious, our bodies have a physical reaction to that fear. We hold our breath. Instinctually, we know this, as during a challenging time we might comfort a friend by telling her to just take a deep breath. So, just as the mind affects the breath, the breath affects the mind. This means that breathing deeply can bring a sense of peace even during times of worry and anxiety. Being conscious of our breath while we breath deeply creates an anchor that can keep us calm, even in the midst of agitation. When we practice yoga, the body has a chance to release stress created by worried thoughts. Gradually, this has the effect of training us to notice disturbed thoughts as they arise so that we can choose not to participate in them.
During the process of pregnancy, labor, and birth, things do not always go as planned. Being able to surrender to the process in each phase brings the body resources of strength that are not being drained by the stress of fear and resistance. Yoga offers a new way of being with ourselves that creates an inner sanctuary where we can restore and nurture ourselves regardless of outer circumstances.

The Emotional Benefits of Prenatal Yoga

Some women experience a great deal of emotional fluctuation during pregnancy, while others who have always thought of themselves as emotional, become extremely even-keeled. Like the ocean, one day it is calm and tranquil, and then stormy and raging the next. For women who become emotional, there may not even be any reason in their lives for them to be so. In that space, it is not uncommon for self-judgments to arise. We think we are nuts! To be struggling in a constantly shifting sea can get exhausting.
In the yoga practice, we observe a notion known as ahimsa, or non-harming. This means that we strive not to judge ourselves, our bodies, or our emotions. Ahimsa gives us the opportunity to relate to ourselves in a healthy way. When we can do this for ourselves, our children also receive the gift of our example. Whether we feel tired, frustrated, overwhelmed, worried, or discouraged, yoga places us in the mind of the observer so that we do not have to identify so closely with what we are feeling. This perspective brings clarity and freedom and the ability to cope with difficulties as they arise. In the sea of fluctuating emotions, yoga places us on the shore, able to see that even storms have their beauty, and there is no need to judge ourselves or our lives when we can live in the peace of acceptance. The circumstances might not change, but our ability to relate to those circumstances changes, and brings with it a resource of peace.

Labor, Birth, and Yoga

The processes of labor and birth are all involuntary. To respond to the intensity of contractions, the brain produces floods of hormones called endorphins which are natural relaxants and pain relievers. During pregnancy, endorphin secretion increases to prepare for birth. This process in enhanced by practicing yoga which stimulates endorphin release, preparing the body’s physiological responses to pain in labor.
The breathing done during yoga often accompanies challenging poses which are held for a certain period of time. The postures are like training for contractions, because you never know how intense they are going to be or how long the instructor will have you hold them. Learning to breathe through those challenges, remaining present without quitting or resisting, can ease the intensity of labor and birth.* Since yoga also places a great deal of emphasis on surrender, the mind and body are prepared for the deep surrender to the natural process of birth. State of mind makes a big difference during labor and birth. Fear requires energy which could be otherwise be used by the body for the birthing process. Freeing ourselves from fearful thinking through the practice of yoga can mean more energy to birth your child, regardless of the actual birth procedure. National Geographic recently released a documentary on the process of pregnancy and birth that stated new findings that the mother’s emotional state has a direct effect on her child both during pregnancy and during birth. This means that a prenatal yoga practice benefits you and your child all the way from conception to the time your little one is in your arms.
*This information comes from the author’s experience of teaching prenatal yoga and not scientific evidence.

Making healthy choices in the present create a healthy future. Giving yourself the nurturing gift of yoga during pregnancy creates a healthy habit of self-love. This sets the example for your children of how to live a healthy, happy life for themselves. From one generation to the next, we share our dreams for well-being. Prenatal yoga and postnatal yoga offer you that sanctuary of well-being to draw from for them and for you.

Always consult a physician before trying any new form of exercise during pregnancy, including yoga.