Yoga for pregnant woman

Yoga provides holistic health benefits for to-be-mothers

• Yoga asanas help keep the body supple. Relieving tension around the cervix, by opening up the pelvic region. This prepares to-be-mothers for labour and delivery.
• Yoga and pranayamas can train you to breathe deeply and relax consciously. Helping you face the demands of labour and childbirth.
• Yoga helps reduce the effect of common symptoms such as morning sickness, painful leg cramps, swollen ankles and constipation.
• Yoga asanas also help pregnant women recover faster post-delivery. You will be up and about in no time!

Yoga tips to be followed during pregnancy:

• Inform your instructor that you’re pregnant, and which trimester you’re in.
• Don't do any asanas (poses) on your back after the first trimester – they can reduce blood flow to the uterus.
• Avoid poses that stretch the muscles too much, particularly the abdominals.
• From the second trimester on, when your center of gravity really starts to shift, do any standing poses with your heel to the wall or use a chair for support. This is to avoid losing your balance and risking injury to yourself or your baby.
• When bending forward, will allows more space for the ribs to move, which makes breathing easier.
• Keep the pelvis in a neutral position during poses by engaging the abdominals and slightly tucking the tailbone down and in. This helps relax the muscles of your buttocks. It also helps prevent injury to the connective tissue that stabilizes your pelvis.
• If you're bending forward while seated, place a towel or yoga strap behind your feet and hold both ends. Bend from the hips and lift the chest, to avoid compressing your abdomen. If your belly is too big for this movement, try placing a rolled-up towel under your buttocks to elevate the body, and open the legs about hip-width apart, to give your belly more room to come forward.
• When practicing twisting poses, twist more from the shoulders and back than from the waist, to avoid putting any pressure on your abdomen. Go only as far in the twist as feels comfortable – deep twists are not advisable in pregnancy.
• If you feel any discomfort, stop. You'll probably need to modify each pose as your body changes.

Safe poses in pregnancy:

• Butterfly stretch
• Cat-Cow
• Cobra (in the first trimester, if you feel comfortable doing this face-down pose)
• Seated forward bend (with modifications as described above)
• Side angle pose
• Standing forward bend (with chair for modification)
• Triangle pose (with chair for modification)

Avoid these poses:

• Backbends
• Balancing poses on one leg (unless supported by chair or wall)
• Camel
• Handstands
• Headstands
• Upward bow