life. Those nine months are filled with a maelstrom of changes- physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. And for many women, being healthy has never been so important as during the time when she is carrying a little within her. One way that many soon-to-be-moms stay fit and healthy is through yoga.
Yoga works great for pregnancy. It can be of great help to the expectant mothers during the pregnancy, at childbirth time and in post-delivery stages. The simple yoga poses help to make the body more flexible, improves posture, and eases many pregnancy problems.
It prepares both your body and mind for the changes that occur during and after pregnancy.
At Maher we accentuate on Yoga and breathing meditation techniques that help you to stay fit, healthy and happy during pregnancy and prepare your body for labor. You can reduce anxiety and unwanted worries by practicing simple yoga and meditation techniques. Yoga also helps you after pregnancy; it strengthens abdominal muscles and your pelvic floor and helps you to get back to your pre-pregnancy shape faster.
- Breathing or Pranayama
- Yoga Exercises
- Meditation
- Deep Relaxation
- Yoga along with meditation prepares your mind and body for change and helps to the baby growing within you.
- Pregnancy yoga postures help to have more comfortable birthing and keep you relaxed at the time of delivery.
- It relieves edema and cramping which is quite common in last months of pregnancy.
- It helps to ease tension around the cervix and birth canal.
- Yoga and Pranayama (breathing exercises) help to reduce morning sickness, mood swings, and nausea.
- It also helps to decrease fatigue and tenderness, and also the swelling of breasts.
- It raises the energy level and helps in slowing the metabolism, thus restore calm and focus.
- Certain Yoga poses help in opening the pelvis that make delivery easier and quicker.
- Yoga also helps in reducing inflammation and swelling around joints.
- It strengthens and massages the abdomen and improves the digestive system.
- Yoga helps to restore the uterus, abdomen and the pelvic floor after childbirth.
- It also helps to relieve upper back tension and breast discomfort after pregnancy.
- It helps to regain the fit and shapely body after pregnancy.
Butterfly Pose or Titali Asana
This asana opens up your hips and inner thighs, and removes tension from the inner thigh area. In addition, it stretches your knees and groin area. It is one of the most beneficial pregnancy poses and if done consistently right from the first trimester, it will almost certainly ease childbirth to a great extent.
Cat Stretch Pose or Marjari Asana
Start this asana with the Vajrasana pose, where you sit with your buttocks on your heels. Raise your buttocks off your heels and bend forward, leaning on your palms. You are now on all fours. Move your feet slightly to the sides, so they are around a foot or shoulder width apart.
Squats or Utthanasan
Keep your feet around three feet apart, with both heels facing inwards and toes facing outwards. Interlock your fingers, and let your hands hang down in front of you. Gradually squat, lowering your buttocks. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Do not raise the heels. Stay down for a few seconds, and stand up again. Repeat around 15 to 20 times.
This is similar to the position adopted by housecleaners when they sweep the floor, which is why sweeping floors is actually excellent exercise.
Chakki Chalan Asana (Churning the Mill Pose)
Based on action of churning the mill, this excellent yoga asana tones the nerves and organs of pelvis and abdomen and prepare them for pregnancy. It is also useful in regulating menstrual cycle and as a postnatal exercise.
Sit on floor with your legs stretched in front of your body about one foot apart. Interlock the fingers of both hands and hold the arms out straight in front of the chest. Move your hands in circular movements over both the feet and try to take the hands over the toes on the forward swing and coming as far back as possible on the backward swing. Practice 10 times in each direction.
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