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Yoga For Pregnant Women At Home

By Veronica Tripplethorn

There are many reasons to take a yoga class, but the main one for most Americans, is to find relaxation and improve health, not just muscular, but cardiovascular and mental health as well.

Yoga for pregnant women can make all the difference in the mother’s mindset. When combating fatigue, weight gain, tenderness, swelling, mood swings, cravings, constipation, leg cramps and headaches, yoga practice can be the only respite.

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.

Practising Yoga For Physical And Mental Benefits

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.

Helping Circulation And Strengthening Your Legs

You may be wondering which yoga poses are safe for you and your baby. In the first trimester, standing positions will help circulation, strengthening of the legs and increased energy.

Poses like "the mountain," "the triangle," "the warrior," "the tree yoga," "the standing side stretch" and "the standing spread leg forward bend" will all provide relaxing and satisfying stretches. During this time, you may perform poses that require you to lay on your back, but you should review your options and avoid back and belly poses into the next trimester.

Avoiding Fatigue While Pregnant

In the second and third trimesters, practice time should be cut down considerably to avoid fatigue or overdoing it. Don’t hold poses too long and use a chair or wall for balance, if necessary.

Remember to put pressure on the shoulders and back, but never the abdomen. The sitting poses, plus more emphasis on breathing techniques are most practical towards the end of your pregnancy. Try poses like "the hero," "the sage twist" and "the cobbler."

Prenatal Yoga Classes Online

To find prenatal yoga classes, check Yoga.com. If you’re looking for yoga videos you can do at home, here are some suggestions. "Yoga Zone: Postures For Pregnancy" is a good start for beginners.

"Yoga Journal’s Prenatal Yoga with Shiva Rea" gives you yoga for each trimester in short 15 minute segments with a guided relaxation / meditation part to help insomnia or depression. "Dr. Christine Anderson’s Dynamic Prenatal Yoga" is highly recommended, with a more spiritual focus that encompasses baby bonding, energy flow, meditation, poses and 90 minutes of total preparation for the months to come.

Pregnancy Safe Poses

Explanations are given for beginners and modifications are discussed for seasoned yoga pros. Another great video focusing equally on movement, breath and relaxation is "Prenatal Yoga: A Complete Home Practice for a Healthy Mother and Baby," which was selected as an Editor’s Pick by Fit Pregnancy magazine in 2006.

On the "Yoga Journal and Lamaze present: Yoga for Your Pregnancy" DVD, prospective moms can find: part 1 featuring energizing and strengthening, part 2 featuring relaxing and rejuvenating, as well as Pranayama breathing techniques, a guided meditation segment, birthing room techniques and postnatal workout.

"Tantric Yoga For Blissful Pregnancy" combines more authentic yoga practices with pregnancy-safe poses.

Please Note: All information given on this site is for general information purposes and is not to replace any medical opinion or medical diagnosis given by a qualified medical doctor, a dietitian/nutritional expert or any other medical expert, as individual circumstances may vary. Please see your medical doctor, before any action is taken to alleviate symptoms.

This Article was about Yoga For Pregnant Women At Home.

About the Author:
Veronica Tripplethorn is an author of yoga, meditation, health, nutrition, dieting and weight loss articles including Celiac Disease, Holistic Health, Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet, Massage Therapy.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles coming soon.

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