Pregnancy Yoga

The practices of yoga promote optimum health of body and mind,unifying mother’s physical, emotional and spiritual growth with that of her child.

Yoga helps you relax, which in turn can help you adjust to the physical demands of pregnancy, labor, birth, and motherhood. It calms both mind and body, providing the physical and emotional stress relief your body needs throughout the experience of pregnancy. Practicing yoga before and during pregnancy increases the chances of natural childbirth. Yoga helps develop reproductive system and pelvis such that it supports natural child birth. The yoga poses help the muscles to become more reflexive. It helps to tone the body muscles in a way that natural child birth is possible. Natural child birth is difficult as the human body is not flexible enough before performing regular exercise and yoga. Yoga enables to get a flexible body which can adjust to changes in the body during pregnancy.

Every pregnant woman desires pain-free delivery. Most women experience fear of pregnancy which further increases problems. Yoga is a beneficial way to overcome pain as well fear of pregnancy.

Yoga can be practiced Yoga at all stages of pregnancy including conception.

Contemplating Conception:

The regular practice of yoga before conception is the ideal preparation for pregnancy.

• The practice of asanas will provide flexibility and suppleness to the mother-to-be.
• Pranayama ensures that she is charged with energy, the prana/vitality enough for two.
• Meditation promotes the calmness, peace, serenity, removes fear and makes you confident.

Preparatory Practices:

For successful pregnancy and delivery emphasis should be placed on the development of the following areas:

Stomach Muscles: Abdominal strength will ensure that the baby is carried well, assisting proper development of foetus. During delivery these muscles are most important in pushing the child from the womb. Most important practices for this area are suptavajrasana, shashankasana, ushtrasana, hamsasana, matsyasanaand shakti bandha series.

Spine: A strong healthy spine is necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous system and general flexibility. A strong spine will prevent the droopingshoulders often developed during pregnancy because of the extra weight being carried. Most important practices are suptavajrasana, vyaghrasana, ardhamatsyendrasana, paschimottanasana, bhujangasana and suryanamaskara.

Back Muscles: Extra weight of the child puts a great strain on the back muscles, and added strength in this area is a great advantage. bhujangasana, paschimottanasana, halasana, sarvangasana, shashankasanaand suptavajrasana are very beneficial.

Pelvis: A relaxed flexible pelvic area makes for easy child birth. marjariasana, shashankasna, vyaghrasana, matsyasana, all squatting poses,siddhyoniasana and other crossed legged poses are most useful in this respect.

Pre-natal Yoga

Yoga helps deal with pain during delivery. The breathing exercise performed during yoga strengthens the body to cope with labour pain. Marjariasana which is also known as cat pose is very effective pose during pregnancy. This pose is good for proper circulation and digestion. It is also minimises pressure on the lower back. It is helpful for the favourable movement of baby in the womb.

Yoga during pregnancy should be practiced under the guidance of a teacher.

Asanas

First Trimester (First to third month): During the first three months of pregnancy, the program of preparatory asanas may be continued as usual, but some adjustment will be required after this time.

Second Trimester (Fourth to sixth month):

Stop: 1. Strenuous upward stretching;
2. Violent stomach contraction;
3. Practices on the abdomen like, sarpasana, bhujangasana, dhanurasana etc.
4. sirsasana and sarvangasana.

Add: 1. Pranamasana and jalandharbandha;
2. Standing snake, cobra and standing locust pose.

Third Trimester (Sixth month to delivery):

• From the sixth month both forward bending asanas (like paschimottanasa) and extreme backward bending asanas (ushtrasana) become increasingly different, can be modified and practiced.
• Suptavajrasana and squatting asana are to be avoided from this time if there is any tendency to premature delivery or to prolapse.
• The pawanmuktasana series is used at this time - muscles and joints are thoroughly exercised in a way that ensures maximum flexibility and optimum blood circulation with a minimum of energy expenditure.
• Squatting postures should be continued for loosening the hips and toningthe pelvic floor - crow walking, chopping wood.
• Namaskarasana, may be continued through pregnancy along with marjariasana, kandharasana and pranamasana.
• Sitting in cross legged asanas is recommended throughout, these will avoid circulation problems in the legs and swelling of the ankles that frequently develops inlater pregnancy.
• In the final months sitting cross legged helps to reduce the natural sensation of body heaviness.

Pranayamas – very important

• Ensures efficient removal of waste products.
• Ensures plentiful supply of oxygen for both mother and child.
• Purifies and calms the nervous system. Shashtras(spiritual texts) tells us that during the first 3 months the developing child has no pranic supply of its own. Duringthis time the baby is completely dependent on the prana of its mothers, so plenty of pranayama should be practiced.
• Yogic breathing, sheetali, seetkari, kapalbhati, bhastrika, nadishodhana, twice a day.

Yoganidra

Flexible meditation technique - 20 minutes to 1 hour. Shavasana, if not suitable than matsyakridasana, supported by a cushion.

Spiritual Nourishment:

Health and mental attitude of the mother are reflected in the development of the child. Illness and nervous tension in their mothers definitely have an adverse effect on babies, before as well as after birth.
In this regard, yogic relaxation and meditation practices are most important because of the many subtle changes in the body, pregnancy can be a time of emotional vulnerability for many women, with cravings for strange foods, intense dreams, sudden depressions, or fears without reason, they disturb the harmony of the body.

• Yogic relaxation techniques can be used to minimize emotional stress and create a harmonious environment for the coming child.
• When a mother practices mantra japa (repetition of a mantra), she is adding another dimension to the baby’s sensitivity to sound – a spiritual dimensions that will evoke a resonance at the very core of the child’s consciousness, mantra japa and dhyana allow a woman to enter the depth of her being where her consciousness merges with and may exert an influence on the consciousness of the growing child.

Post-natal Yoga

Yoga also provides lots of post-delivery benefits. It helps to maintain a proper body shape post-pregnancy. It strengthens the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles post-pregnancy. The post-delivery yoga also helps to maintain a proper body weight.

Postnatal Depression (Postpartum): It is usually attributed to hormonal imbalance after delivery in such cases it is alleviated or overcome by a regular practice of asanas and mediation.

Resume Yoga Soon: Women who have been practicing yoga regularly find that their recuperation after delivery is surprisingly rapid and their susceptibility to the ‘baby blues’ is minimized.
Within a day or two after delivery, yogic breathing and nadi shodhana pranayama can be recommenced even in bed.
If there is no complication the PM-I can also be resumed. Moolabandha is also valuable at this time to re-establish muscle tone in the pelvic floor. After 2 weeks the new mother can safely resume all the asanas she had practiced before pregnancy, should be gradual in beginning commencing with PM-II & III group of asanas, later resuming the classical asanas at the rate of one or two a week.

Programs:

We customize yoga programs for all 3 trimester of pregnancy which can be from 60 minutes to 90 minutes daily.