Yoga During Pregnancy
Yoga has increased in popularity in recent years. It has been shown to lower blood pressure, improve sleep and digestion, strengthen muscles and joints, and increase flexibility. Yoga removes impurities from the body through the breath, sweat, liver, kidneys, and digestive system. People who practice yoga regularly report that they feel less stress and more peace in their lives.
Yoga and Pregnancy
Pregnant women can gain additional benefits from practicing yoga: relief from back pain and nausea and increased stamina. Yoga is a low-impact exercise that can help expectant moms to stay in shape. And the breathing meditations practiced in a yoga class may come in handy during labor!
You probably have observed that great changes take place in your body during pregnancy. Practicing yoga is a great way to slow down and appreciate these changes. Yoga encourages you to be in the moment — to be fully present. It encourages you to listen to your body, to accept it as it is, and to surrender to its sometimes uncomfortable changes. Through gentle stretches and simple strength-building postures, you can improve your physical health. Through meditation, you can reduce anxiety and self-critical thinking and thereby improve your mental health!
If you are interested in practicing yoga during your pregnancy, be aware that certain postures should be avoided (such as those that involve laying on the back or belly). Get a video or book that is specifically designed for expectant mothers or attend a prenatal yoga class. These videos, books, and classes will cover postures that help to reduce back pain, swelling in the lower extremities, and misalignments due to weight changes. Many postures (for example, squats) are useful preparations for natural childbirth. During pregnancy, hormones cause joints in the body to become loose (that's why women often increase in shoe size). Yoga postures can help to stabilize and strengthen these joints and promote flexibility in the muscles and fascia.
Yoga and Your Body
There are two nervous systems in the human body: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic, commonly known as the "fight or flight" system, causes the blood pressure to rise, the breath rate to quicken, and stress hormones to flood into the body. Historically, this occurred to prepare the body for fighting dangerous animals. But in today's world, we experience this response while we are sitting in traffic or feeling stressed at the office. When this system is overly stimulated, we can experience health consequences such as ulcers, migraines, and heart disease. During pregnancy, the effects of the sympathetic nervous system can be transferred to the developing baby.
The parasympathetic nervous system lowers blood pressure and slows the pace of the breath. When the blood no longer has to rush to the muscles, it is free to travel to the digestive, reproductive, glandular, and immune systems — systems made up of organs more necessary to long-term survival. Studies have shown that long, deep breathing encourages the actions of the parasympathetic nervous system and allows relaxation and healing to occur.
Yoga = Connection
The food that you eat, the oxygen that you breathe, and your state of mind are all transmitted to your baby. The stress you feel is the stress your baby feels. Yoga has developed over thousands of years to help people obtain optimal physical health and a relaxed and peaceful state of mind.
The word yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning yoke or connection. Yoga connects your body, mind, and spirit. Yoga can connect you to your baby too! The practice of yoga gives you the opportunity to create a world (your body) for your baby that is healthy and peaceful. "What a child learns in the womb cannot be learned on earth" (Yogi Bhajan).
