Prenatal Yoga
Prepping You for Birth and Motherhood
Doctors and midwives now routinely recommend prenatal yoga as a way to stay strong and fit while avoiding many of the common discomforts associated with pregnancy. And while the physical benefits are clear, there is another, often- overlooked benefit: mental preparation for both birth and the transition to motherhood.
Basics of Yoga and Breathing
Yoga is a holistic form of exercise that incorporates held postures to promote flexibility and strength, balance and concentration, while relaxing both body and mind. As you practice yoga you deepen and slow down your breathing, moving into a more conscious breath pattern than you experience in daily life. The focus on this conscious, deep breathing is the key to prenatal yoga.
Many students come to prenatal yoga asking to learn ‘breathing techniques.’ Rather than getting hung up on a particular breathing pattern, practice the technique of closely watching your breath despite whatever else is going on around you. That way, when you get to your most challenging moments of labor (or of motherhood) you don’t have to remember any complicated technique, but can simply tune into your breath as a way of reconnecting with the calm you experienced in class.
Practice for Labor
Prenatal yoga can be great practice for labor, a favorite being the standing squat pose. When held for an extended period of time it is a terrific challenge to the muscles, particularly as you reach the third trimester and are carrying the weight of a full-sized baby! Even more so, a pose like the squat challenges your mind.
You’ll practice each squat for about a minute (approximately the length of a contraction), building up to several repetitions, as you get stronger. Pay attention to your thought patterns as you experience the building discomfort in your thighs, and observe how the rest of your body reacts to the hard work your legs are doing. You’ll likely notice that as your legs tire, you transfer the tension and effort to other areas of the body. But clenching your jaw and tightening your shoulders can’t take away the burning sensation in your thighs, so instead let go of tension elsewhere in the body and conserve your energy for the work at hand. Since many first-time moms labor for upwards of 20 hours, energy is at a premium. Letting go on unnecessary tension can give you the extra oomph to get the job done.
As you repeat the squat again and again, your legs have had it and you think about how you don’t want to do another one, but rather would like to run out of the yoga room for a drink of water or to use the bathroom, anything to avoid having to face the discomfort again. How closely this resembles the thoughts that come up during labor! Bring your focus back to your breath. Say to yourself, ‘One breath in, One breath out,’ and know that you can do anything for just one breath. Yoga can transform your thinking about labor so that instead of being ruled by the clock, you face your contractions one breath at a time.
After Baby’s Birth
Birth is a transformative event in your life, and the way you prepare for the experience of childbirth can also transform your mental state postpartum. The benefits of yoga practice are no less profound after baby’s birth. When you’re sleep-deprived and frustrated at the newness of parenting and the unanchored feeling of not quite knowing what your sweet baby needs, you can come back to watching your breath. Just like the burning thighs in the squat pose in prenatal yoga class, just like the intensity of the contractions in labor, your sleep deprivation is a finite experience. If you can just take one breath in and one breath out, you can get through it.
This is easier said than done, of course, particularly when your baby is screaming. And though reconnecting with your breath won’t stop baby’s cries (just as watching your breath won’t stop the pain of labor), it will change the way you react to it. Instead of getting tense and frustrated, you can breathe through it and remember that it too will pass.
Learning to Be Present
Third-trimester-moms gush about the fabulous sleep they get after yoga class, but the mental benefits are even more striking. In your yoga practice you will discover not only a unique preparation for pregnancy and birth, but also the tools to teach you to be present for the joys and challenges of life. There is nothing more human than to experience the moment, even when it’s difficult or painful. And it all starts with just one breath in and one breath out.