When you’re pregnant, there’s an almost obsessive protectiveness and an overwhelming desire to do everything you can to foster healthy prenatal development. You may have heard about yoga for pregnant women, but may have also wondered, “Is it safe?” or “What can I or can’t I do?” This article will tell you a little about this new craze sweeping the nation and seeks to explain the obvious (and not so obvious) benefits of taking a yoga class during those nine months.
Pregnant women practice yoga for physical benefits. For instance, yoga practice can teach techniques that will be helpful during labor, such as breathing and relieving tension around the cervix and birth canal. Additionally, prenatal physicians recommend combining a light cardiovascular exercise (like walking) with a relaxing, muscle-toning exercise (like yoga) to maintain your physique, in spite of the intense cravings and normal weight gain associated with pregnancy.
Other pregnant women practice yoga for mental benefits. For one, it can be a great support to meet other women going through the same thing you are. Also, there is much emphasis on focusing on the moment and deriving happiness from each and every day, which can be vital when your hormones are out of whack. Yoga has been known to stimulate beta-endorphins, which also brings comfort and a sense of relief.
During the first trimester, standing poses help circulation, strengthen legs and increase energy. Avoid bikram yoga classes that heat up the room or any kind of back/belly/inverted positions. In the second and third trimesters, yoga for your pregnancy will include more sitting positions and breathing techniques.
For yoga classes, look at Yoga.com and search for a yoga center near you. If you’d rather practice alone, some yoga videos that focus on yoga for pregnancy include: Yoga Journal’s Prenatal Yoga with Shiva Rea, Dr. Christine Anderson’s Dynamic Prenatal Yoga, Prenatal Yoga: A Complete Home Practice For A Healthy Mother and Baby, Yoga Journal and Lamaze present Yoga For Your Pregnancy and Prenatal Yoga Complete. You can read user reviews at Amazon.com — or a good place to check out is YouTube.com (just type in “prenatal yoga” and preview or watch actual videos)!
Perhaps more than any other form of exercise, Yoga has been around the longest. Originating in India, this popular form of exercise has been practiced around the world. Why? The physical portion of the workout is very low-impact and can be performed by anyone of any age. The same cannot be said of kick boxing classes or Jazzercise. But there is more to Yoga than just working out the body. It is also a lifestyle that can bring clarity to the mind through spiritual exercises of meditation and concentration. Are you ready to begin your path to a healthy body and mind? Click here to find out more: Yoga Positions and at Yoga Chairs also at Yoga Supplies
